Did you know that the University of Massachusetts has digitized Portuguese language newspapers? Did you know that this collection includes Portuguese language Hawaiian newspapers? Sometimes those Portuguese language newspapers are helpful and they lead to articles in English language newspapers. That’s how I learned about the Pacheco boys being the first on Kauai to sign up for the draft for WWI.
The Newspaper Trail
It took me a minute to figure out they meant the Honolulu Advertiser and not another Portuguese language newspaper. I located it online at newspapers.com and found the right issue.
It took a bit to find the article, but I was thrilled when I did. Photos. Yay!
These two are Manuel and Theodore, sons of Francisco and Alexandria (de Caires) Pacheco. Francisco is my great grandfather’s brother. So, these two guys are my grandfather’s 1st cousins.
The Article Tells Us They Were Eager To Jump In
While the headline is self explanatory, here’s a transciption:
“Kauai is not without representation “Over There.” Fighting against German kultur, are two Garden Islanders, Theodore and Manuel Pacheco, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pacheco of Kilauea, Kauai, where the father is overseer with the Kilauea Sugar Plantation Co. Two sisters Marie and Sophie are school teachers and at present attending the summer school at the normal school.
The family has much to be proud of for not only have the boys enlisted but they were the first from Kauai to do so after our entry into the conflict.
Theodore, the elder, who has just turned twenty five, is in the army and Manuel his junior by two years, is one of Uncle Sam’s jolly tars.
Both boys were away on the main land for sometime, before America decided to share the lot of the Allies. Their early education was had at St. Louis College.”
I Learned a Couple of New Things
Both brothers were in California when the US joined the war. It wasn’t uncommon for Kilauea cousins to visit their cousin in Oakland.
Although I knew that Theodore had been in the army during the war, I didn’t know about Manuel’s service. His granddaughter hadn’t mentioned it.
I was aware that Francisco and Alexandria’s daughters, Maria and Sophia, had completed school, and became teachers. Now I know that Manuel and Theodore were educated as well. They went to St. Louis College in Honolulu which is now known as St. Louis School (a college prep school).
It was unusual for plantation laborer children to get more than 4-5 years of schooling in the early 1900s, let alone be sent to a school on a different island. It tells me Francisco and Alexandria were doing okay for themselves.
Newspapers were so newsy back in those day filled with tidbits of every day life. It pays to look at US newspapers in foreign languages as well as English and to search multiple newspapers. Different newspapers give different details. Some include photos and some don’t.
Did your ancestors served in WWI? If so, tell us about it in the comments.
Learn more about Hawaii’s role in WWI from the World War I Centennial Commission website.
The Hawaii State Archives has its own collection of WWI Service Records. These cards have more information than the draft cards.
