Apr 15, 2021 - Sale 2564

Sale 2564 - Lot 224

Price Realized: $ 594
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(HAWAII.) Aaron S. Daggett. Letter describing a royal Hawaiian funeral. Autograph Letter Signed as "A.S. Daggett" to his niece. 6 pages, 7 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches, on 2 folding sheets; a few small ink blots, minimal wear. Honolulu, HI, 4 July 1899

Additional Details

Aaron Daggett (1837-1938) had served as a Union general in the Civil War. At this writing, he had recently been appointed as colonel of the 14th United States Infantry, passing through Hawaii en route to the Philippines. He arrived on 2 July, and wrote "How strange that we should have arrived just in season to witness what, it is said, can never again occur on these islands, a funeral of the last of the original of the royal family. It was gorgeous, beautiful in many aspects, and interesting to all. . . . A weird atmosphere seemed to pervade the ceremonies, but they were mostly those of the Episcopal Church." He added that "we are all enjoying ourselves by visiting the town . . . and, I fear, will be overwhelmed by proffered hospitalities."

Hawaii became a territory of the United States in 1898. The Dowager Queen Kapi'olani, widow of Hawaii's King Kalakaua, had died on 24 June 1899, and was buried on 2 July, the day of Daggett's arrival.