Walter Foss SANBORN [16484]

  General Notes:

Walter Foss Sanborn
Was born on August 30, 1877 to John William and Mary Jane Foss Sanborn in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. After studying at Hyde Park Grammar School and Hyde Park High School, Mr. Sanborn graduated from Burdette Business College in 1898. He arrived in Honolulu in September 1901 and moved to Kauai that same month, accepting employment with the McBryde Plantation in October 1901. On September 7, 1906 Mr. Sanborn married Angeline Deverill at Hanalei.
They had four children: Walter Foss, Jr., John William, Percy D., and. Helen K. Angline Sanborn died on September 29, 1925 at Kula on Maui. Shortly after she passed away, he married Alice. Mr. Sanborn's career was multi-faceted. The following information was taken from a letter written on February 26, 1948 by Mr. Sanborn to the Real Estate Licence Commission in which he documented his career: from October 1901 through about August 1903 employed by McBryde Sugar Co Ltd.; then he was with the Department of Public Works as Inspector of construction on Kauai until October 1905; and from October 1905 to July 1927 he was manager of Princeville Ranch Company. In addition, he served as deputy tax assessor for the Hanalei District from 1918 until 1932; agent for the Bernice P. Bishop Estate from 1918 until 1942; a W.P.A. area engineer 1936-1941; he became a United States Commissioner in 1936; and served as Chairman of the Board of Review for the taxation division beginning in 1938.
In the late 1930's Mr. Sanborn was the agent to grant marriage licences for the district of Hanalei. Mr. Sanborn was a Mason, a member of the Shrine, and an associate member of the Society of Residential Appraisers. His favorite hobby was fishing, (Men and Women of Hawaii, 1954, page 579).
Mr. Sanborn's son, Percy, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1955. He was only 41 years old. In 1956 Mr. Sanborn was seriously injured when a Kilauea Plantation truck's trailer swerved and struck his car. Grief over his son's death, greatly reduced Mr. Sanborn's enthusiasm for recovery. At the time his son-in-law, Alan Davis, was CEO of C. Brewer Company which owned Kilauea Plantation. He arranged for Mr. Sanborn to be admitted into Maunalani Nursing Home in Honolulu. Mr. Davis had been instrumental in establishing the facility. A routine check up indicated that Mr. Sanborn had contracted tuberculosis. He was transferred to Leahi Home where he passed away December 23rd, 1956 (Reminiscences of a Life in the Islands, Helen Kapililani Sanborn Davis, 2000 p.115). Mrs. Davis' book contains the following tribute to her father by the Honolulu Advertiser: "The Hanalei District of Kauai is not going to be the same without Walter Foss Sanborn. His tall, active figure, still erect in his late seventies, his shock of unruly hair, now snowy, his twinkling eyes and an assumption of gruffness.

WALTER FOSS SANBORN Rancher:
Walter F. Sanborn quit playing professional baseball on the mainland in 1901 to become a luna on the McBryde Sugar plantation on Kauai and that step led to his appointment later as manager of Princeville plantation, a position which he has occupied for more than a score of years.
After three years of service at the McBryde plantation he left to become associated with the territorial department of public works. He remained there a year, resigning to accept the managership of Princeville. He was made a director in the plantation corporation later and of the Hanalei Land Co. he also served two years as director of the Kalihi-kai Land Co., resigning in 1918. He was appointed deputy tax assessor and collecter for the Hanalei district of Kauai on May 16, 1918, and also is a member of the Kauai advisory board for the Bank of Hawaii, Ltd.
Born at Hyde Park, Mass., Mr. Sanborn is the son of John William B. and Mary Jane (Foss) Sanborn. He was educated at the Hyde Park high school and the Burdette Business College, Boston, Mass. He showed such ability on the school baseball team that his services were obtained by a professional organization, an engagement that was terminated when he came to Hawaii.
He married Lena Deverill at Hanalei on Sept. 27, 1906, and they have four children, Helen, John W., Percy D., and Walter F., Jr. Mr. Sanborn is a Mason and Elk.

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. Orr jessicanorr@gmail.com January 5, 2012, 3:17 pm

Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ltd. Territory of Hawaii, 1925
Author: Edited by George F. Nellist


File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: J. Orr 2012
File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/sanborn529bs.txt

Princeville Plantation House-Walter Foss Sanborn.
Walter Foss Sanborn served as the manager of Princeville Ranch until 1927, first working for Albert Spencer Wilcox, and then for the new owner, the Lihue Plantation. Sanborn came to Kaua'i in 1901, serving as the U.S. District Commissioner for Kaua'i and Federal Court Representative.
After becoming manager of the Princeville Ranch, Sanborn lived in the Princeville Ranch House with his wife, Lena Deverill Sanborn, who was raised on Kaua'i. Lena's father was Alfred Palmer Deverill who came to the Islands with his brother William as part of a contingent to present a christening gift to the Crown Prince Albert [Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa o Kamehameha] (1858-1862) from his godmother, Queen Victoria.
Alfred Deverill married Emma Lindsey and gave birth to Lena and three other children that he later abandoned. Lena was adopted by William and Sarah Deverill, and grew up in Hanalei as part of their family.
Alfred Deverill married Emma Lindsey and they would have four children in Waimea on the island of Hawai'i, before Alfred abandoned his family and moved to Maui. On Maui, Alfred Deverill worked on the ranch of Captain Makee and married a Hawaiian. Lena's mother Emma later remarried and had a daughter and son with George Thomas William K. Bell.
Walter and Lena married in September of 1906, and the next year gave birth to their first child, Helen, and then three boys: Walter F. Jr., Percy, and John (Jack). Helen grew up in the Princeville Ranch House with her three brothers, and during this time the house served as the center of operations for the large Princeville cattle ranch. The Sanborn children "rode with the cowboys, drove cattle, and watched the roping and branding."

"The old dairy is now used as a fernery, and there have been minor changes, such as the rearranging of partitions, extending of verandas, etc., but the old original shell of the house [Kikiula] still remains. It commands a marvelous view of the valley and mountains. Captain Rhodes had a beautiful garden, with many rare trees...the garden-walks were all edged with pineapple plants, then rather rare in the Islands."
Elsie Wilcox, 1917
The Sanborn children delighted in going to movies shown in Hanalei at Wai'oli Mission Hall (the old Wai'oli Church). A Packard car parked outside the church building provided electricity to run the movie projector "which continually broke down or had to be stopped to rewind the old reel before going on with the next."
The Sanborn children were taught by Hawaiians how to fish for mullet on the Hanalei River at the first rapids at the kahe, "..a small homemade bamboo raft stacked with honohono grass on one side." The raft was "anchored in a narrow stretch...men had scooped out a pond nearby to hold the trapped fish."
After the fish trap was ready, they all hiked about three miles upriver and begin to swim downstream to drive fish toward the bamboo trap. Note: The Hawaiian names for mullet (Mugil cephalus) range from 'ama'ama (finger-length) to 'anae (30 cm or more).
A downstairs storeroom of the Princeville Ranch House held flour and other supplies that were sold to cowboys working on the ranch, and a nearby building housed the Princeville Ranch Office. The Ranch's branding corral, blacksmith's shop, and a home for the blacksmith were located near what is now the intersection of K Highway and Ka Haku Road.
Other ranch operations buildings were also located in this area, including milking pens and a stable with corrals.Helen Sanborn Davis recalled "slaughter day," when "the butcher passed through the village peddling meat in his beef car."
Homes for the cowboys, who were mostly Hawaiian, were built on both sides of the highway near the current site of the Princeville Shopping Center. The ranch's mules and horses were taken down to the shore at 'Anini once a week. A wagon path lined with plum trees led from the Princeville plateau down to the shore. (The path can still can be seen along Ka Haku Road.) Helen Sanborn Davis recalled that "on Saturday, the riding pace picked up, for that was when they galloped bareback along the beach, herding the horses and mules to 'Anini Beach to bathe them."
During the 80 years that the Princeville Ranch House (Kikiula) was used as a dwelling, it was home to many different Princeville Plantation and Ranch managers, including the Wundenberg, Low, Conradt, Koelling, Willis, and Sanborn families. The Sanborns also had a house on the shoreline of Hanalei Bay, which they built in 1910 and referred to as the Mauka (Mountain) House.
Numerous additions were made to the Princeville Ranch House by its different owners. For example, Gottfried Wundenberg built a second story, Charles Koelling put an addition on the second story, and C. M. Willis removed the old kitchen and stone out-buildings.
At the turn of the century the Sanborns modernized the Princeville Ranch House and the grounds included stables, flower and vegetable gardens, fruit trees, and "outbuildings for Walter's office, the servant's quarters, a warehouse, chicken coops, pig-pens, and a building for small-animal supplies."
In a separate building constructed of corrugated iron, "laundry was boiled in huge pots over a fire before being scrubbed by hand on wooden washboards in large cement tubs, then rinsed and hung out to dry."
The Princeville Ranch House eventually became dilapidated. Honeybees that enjoyed the flower gardens and fruit trees during the days nested in the home's walls at night. Unable to eradicate the bees, Walter was said to have told his children "Sit still and they won't sting."
As the bee infestation grew worse, the walls of the Ranch House dripped with honey, and finally the structure had to be abandoned. The old home, which was originally known as Kikiula when it was built by Godfrey Rhodes in 1845, was torn down in the fall of 1918. The Sanborn family moved to their beach home in Hanalei.
[Photograph: Princeville Ranch House]
As the years passed, the Princeville Ranch saw changes in personnel and many new structures were built. Before his retirement in 1927, Walter Foss Sanborn served as the north shore's tax assessor and collector. Sanborn also built and operated a poi mill in Hanalei.
Fred Conant replaced Walter Foss Sanborn as the Princeville Ranch manager in 1927. Conant built a ranch office just to the east of the current entrance to Princeville "near the pink plumeria tree which was the inspiration for the Princeville Resort logo."
Princeville's cattle were exported to Honolulu on freighters that arrived in Kalihiwai Bay and Hanalei Bay. A corral was built near the Hanalei Pier to hold the animals as they awaited being loaded onto the ships. Because the nearshore waters of Hanalei Bay are quite shallow, freighters had to anchor farther offshore in deeper waters. This required the cattle to be "roped, dragged into the water and swum out to whaling boats. Five cattle were tied by their horns to each side of a boat."
Up to five cattle were tied to each side of the long and narrow whaleboats. This made rowing difficult, so a cable was rigged and the cattle-laden whaleboat was pulled out to the freighter. Straps were then slung beneath the belly of each animal, and one by one the cattle were hoisted aboard the freighter.
Fred Conant was instrumental in the creation of the Hanalei Valley Lookout. Also under Conant's direction, a new home for the Princeville Ranch manager was built in Hanalei on Weke Road. The Princeville Ranch Manager's House later became the home of Larry and Jeanie Ching (see Chapter 5). The lands of the Princeville Ranch continued to be used for cattle in the 1930s, and an area of the upper slopes was planted with pineapples.
"Hanalei is one of the most tropical districts on the island, because of the many mountain streams which traverse it. The view from the plateau is unsurpassed. The wide Hanalei valley, with its beautiful river of the same name, can scarcely be equated for loveliness. The mountains in the distance noted not so much for their height as for their peculiar formation, and their distinctive, broken, curved and jagged peaks, throw their weird shadows over a vale luxurious with forest growths."
Whitney, 1890
Ref: http://www.hawaiianencyclopedia.com/hanalei-history-part-3.asp - where there are many footnotes to this article.

Image Courtesy: http://thegardenisland.com/lifestyles/island-history-princeville-ranch-manager-walter-foss-sanborn/article_793eed92-d1c7-11e1-bc94-0019bb2963f4.html

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Walter Foss Sanborn Sr.
1877\endash 1956

Birth 30 AUG 1877 • Hyde Park, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA

Death 23 DEC 1956 • Oahu County, Hawaii, USA
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Source citation for U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
NameWalter Foss Sanborn Sr
GenderMale
Birth Date30 Aug. 1877
Birth PlaceNorfolk County, Massachusetts, United States of America
Death Date23 Dec. 1956
Death PlaceHonolulu County, Hawaii, United States of America
CemeteryO'ahu Cemetery
Burial or Cremation PlaceHonolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States of America
Has Bio?N
SpouseLena Alicia Kapililani Sanborn
ChildrenHelen Kapililani Davis

Walter married Lena Alica Kapililani DEVERILL [2748] [MRIN: 5896], daughter of Alfred Palmer DEVERILL [2742] and Emma Angeline LINDSEY [2743], on 7 Sep 1906 in Hanalei Kauai Hawaii. (Lena Alica Kapililani DEVERILL [2748] was born on 7 Oct 1881 in Waimea Village Sth Kohala Hawaii, died on 29 Sep 1925 in Kula, Maui, Hawaii and was buried on 30 Sep 1925 in Kula, Maui, Hawaii.)