You may not know it, but the Hawaii State Archives has been very quietly adding indexes and digitized records to its website. There is a wealth of information being added. Alot of these documents have been difficult to find because of the confusing nature of Hawaiian research and the fact that many online genealogy websites have overlooked the state.
I’m going to dedicate a few posts to the collection so that those researching in Hawaii will have an idea of what they might find. Note that the website is being updated regularly, so if you don’t find your island or time period, check back a month or so later. What you need might have been added.
In this first post, we’ll look at the categories available. In future posts, I describe them in more detail and show how they might be important to Portuguese Hawaiian researchers. These are the categories:
Genealogical Indexes: Indexes to Marriages, Divorces, Probates, Wills, and Citizenship Records, 1826-1929.
Government Office Holders: Government officials, positions held, and dates of office.
Land Index: Index to claims, exchanges, leases, rentals, and sales of government land.
Mahele Book: Record of division of land between King Kamehameha III, the chiefs, and konohiki.
Name Index, 1790-1950: Index to Foreign Office and Exec., Int. Dept. & Privy Council records, books, newspapers, and manuscripts.
Passenger Manifests: Index to list of passengers traveling to and from Hawaii, 1843-1900.
Tax Ledgers: Tax assessments and collection ledgers arranged by location and date, 1847-1900.
Vital Statistics Collection: Includes reports of births, marriages, and deaths 1826-1929.
World War I Service Records: Records of military service of Hawaii residents during World War I.
(Note: These descriptions come directly from the archive website.)
In future posts, I will attack each of these categories and show you how to get the most out of them, what to expect, and what you probably won’t find.