Signed by the US consul, Elias Verhuis, this remarkable document links Hawaiians to the American Civil War, whaling and even African American history. It lists the names of thirteen Hawaiian sailiors who joined the Jireh Swift at Lahaina in the final year of the Civil War.
Built by the African American shipwright and former slave John Mashow at Dartmouth (near New Bedford, Ma.) in 1853, the whaler Jireh Swift measured 122 feet and 454 tonnes. The ship’s captain was Thomas Williams. Williams was a notable figure in the American whaling industry, not least for being accompanied by his wife on voyages.
The Jireh Swift was on her third voyage to the Pacific when she stopped at Lahaina for new recruits. Despite the 1861 proclamation of Hawaiian neutrality, men served on both sides of the war. On 22 June, 1865, less than two months after this document was signed, she was captured in the Arctic by the Confederate raider Shanendoah, which also counted twelve native Hawaiians among its crew. Although she was burned, there was no loss of life. Presumably, the crew were taken as prisoners of war.
