John Dominis Holt II

For his grandson, see John Dominis Holt IV.

John Dominis Holt
Col. John Dominis Holt (center) with other members of Queen Liliuokalani's Staff: Col. James Harbottle Boyd, Col. Henry Franz Bertelmann, Col. James W. Robertson, Her Majesty's Chamberlain
Born	(1861-03-17)March 17, 1861 Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaiian Kingdom
Died	December 23, 1915(1915-12-23) (aged 54) Wailuku, Maui, Territory of Hawaii
Buried	Oahu Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom Hawaiian Kingdom
Service / branch	Governor of Oahu's Staff His Majesty's Staff Her Majesty's Staff
Years of service	1884–1893
Rank	Colonel, Major
Spouse(s)	Emma Daniels

Colonel John Dominis Kauikeaouli Holt II[1] (March 17, 1861 – December 23, 1915) was an official holding the rank of major and colonel within the Hawaiian Kingdom. After the American annexation of Hawaii, he became an early member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

Life and career

He was born March 17, 1861, in Honolulu, to Owen Jones Holt (1842–1891) and Hanakaulani o Kamāmalu Holt (1843–1904).[2] His grandfather Robert William Holt was from originally Warwickshire and Liverpool. Holt, himself, was of mixed Native Hawaiian, Tahitian and English descent, known as a hapa haole in Hawaiian. According to family tradition, his paternal great-grandmother was the daughter of a Tahitian chiefess and Lucien Bonaparte, the younger brother of French Emperor Napoleon, while his mother was the illegitimate daughter of British Admiral Lord George Paulet and granddaughter of Kamehameha I.[3][4] He was named after his uncle John Dominis Holt I, who was named after Captain John Dominis, the father of Prince Consort John Owen Dominis, the husband of Queen Liliuokalani. The Holt family were relations of the Dominises through Mary Jones Dominis, whose sister was his grandfather's first wife.[5]

Holt initially worked as a teacher at ʻIolani School before gaining royal favor.[6] Due to his family connection, Holt served many positions in the royal inner circle of the Hawaiian Kingdom during the reign of King Kalākaua. On December 23, 1884, he was appointed as a major on the Governor of Oahu's Staff under John Owen Dominis, He was appointed on October 4, 1886, as secretary and aide-de-camp to Dominis in his capacity as lieutenant general and commander-in-chief. He later served on the military staff of King Kalākaua from 1889 to 1891. He served on the staff of Queen Liliuokalani and was elevated to the rank of colonel on March 14, 1891.[7][8][9][10] Holt was described as a cavalier, a court favorite with social grace and an excellent horseman.[6]

The Hawaiian Democratic Delegation, 1900.

After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the annexation of Hawaii to United States, Holt became involved in the liquor business and was regarded "a prosperous business man and loyal Hawaiian". Holt also served as an early member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. With former Hawaiian royal Prince David Kawānanakoa, he served as a delegate to the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, in which William Jennings Bryan was nominated.[11] Between 1904 and 1917, he also served on the Board of Registration for the island of Oahu.[10] He died on December 23, 1915, at the home of his son John at Wailuku on the island of Maui.[12] Holt is buried at Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu.[13]

Personal life

He married Emma Daniels (1857–1906), daughter of Henry Wilson Daniels, the English-born circuit judge of Maui, and the British-Hawaiian Nancy Hannah Kamaekalani Copp. They had many children and their descendants include his grandson John Dominis Holt IV.[14]

References

1. Holt & Sinesky 1987, p. A6
2. "Owen J. Holt, Sr., Dead". The Daily Bulletin. Honolulu. October 8, 1886. p. 3. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
3. Holt & Sinesky 1987, pp. 16–17, 28, A1–A6; Holt 1974, p. 28; Holt 1993, p. 284
4. "John Dominis Holt, 1919–1993". The Kamehameha Schools Archives. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
5. Holt & Sinesky 1987, pp. 17, 35
6. Taylor 1954, p. 61.
7. "Local and General". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. December 23, 1884. p. 2.; "By Authority". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. December 30, 1884. p. 1.; "By Authority". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. October 6, 1886. p. 3.; "By Authority". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. October 8, 1886. p. 3.; "New Appointments". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. October 6, 1886. p. 3.; "New Appointments". The Daily Herald. Honolulu. October 7, 1886. p. 3.; "New Appointments". The Hawaiian Gazette. Honolulu. October 12, 1886. p. 8.; "By Authority". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. March 16, 1891. p. 2.
8. Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1886). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1886". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1886. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 81–88. hdl:10524/1484.; Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1889). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1889". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1889. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 117–126. hdl:10524/655.; Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1890). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1890". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1890. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 117–126. hdl:10524/31851.; Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1891). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1891". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1891. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 161–169. hdl:10524/661.; Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1892). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1892". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1892. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 144–152. hdl:10524/662.; Thrum, Thomas G., ed. (1893). "Hawaiian Register and Directory for 1893". Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1893. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. pp. 139–147. hdl:10524/663.
9. "Holt, John D. office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
10. "Holt, John D. Jr. office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
11. Van Dyke 2008, pp. 241–242; Paradise of the Pacific 1963, p. 19; "To Go To Kansas City – Delegates To the National Convention". The Hawaiian Star. Honolulu. June 12, 1900. p. 1.; "Hawaii Sends Delegates To Democratic Convention". The San Francisco Call. San Francisco. June 21, 1900. p. 13.; "Hawaii Makes The Change". Deseret Evening News. Salt Lake City. June 20, 1900. p. 3.; "Hawaiian Delegates Of Both Parties Excite Much Comment – The Democratic Delegation". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. June 30, 1900. p. 2.; "To The Voter". The Independent. Honolulu. November 5, 1900. p. 2.
12. "John D. Holt". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Honolulu. December 24, 1915. p. 6.
13. Grave Marker of John Dominis Holt II. Honolulu, HI: Oahu Cemetery.
14. Holt & Sinesky 1987, pp. A1–A6

Bibliography

• Holt, John Dominis; Sinesky, Alice (1987). "John Dominis Holt". Watumull Foundation Oral History Project. 16. Honolulu. hdl:10524/48676. OCLC 663425247.
• Holt, John Dominis (1974). On Being Hawaiian. Honolulu: Topgallant Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-914916-23-9. OCLC 1231853.
• Holt, John Dominis (1993). Recollections: Memoirs of John Dominis Holt, 1919–1935. Honolulu: Ku Paʻa. OCLC 30886291.
• "Paradise of the Pacific". Vol. 75. Honolulu: Press Publishing Co. 1963. OCLC 6372692.
• Taylor, Clarice B. (1954). Holt, Lisa Ululani (ed.). The Fabulous Holt. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016.
• Van Dyke, Jon M. (2008). Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaiʻi?. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-6560-3. OCLC 257449971 – via Project MUSE.