Hiram Bingham Memorial

Inscription:

A Centennial Memorial of Hiram Bingham. Born in Bennington, Vt., Oct. 30, 1789. Died in New Haven, Ct., Nov. 11, 1869, Aged 80 Years.

This slab is placed here in grateful remembrance of a pioneer Missionary by descendants of Hawaiians (aided by his Children) among whom he preached Christ for more than twenty years. He preached the first sermon every delivered in this City April 25, 1820 from Fear not for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy. Here he taught confiding kings, queens and chiefs, faced dangers and bore calumny from abroad, aided in reducing the language to writing, translated much of the Bible, composed books, hymns and tunes; here he baptized a thousand converts, planted a church, planned this edifice, and with his loving people on June 8, 1839, laid this adjoining corner stone, beneath which was placed a Hawaiian Bible, first published May 10, 1839. From here, amid loud wailings of hundreds of his flock, he sailed on Aug. 3, 1840 to revisit his native land, but never returning was not with them when on July 21, 1842, with joyful acclamation they thus dedicated this church To Iehova our God forever and ever.

1789 Na Binamu 1889

 

Photo By J. J. Prats, October 23, 2008 HMDB.org

From Bill Federer:

In 1820, the first missionaries arrived in Hawaii from New England on the brig Thaddeus. They were led by Hiram Bingham, and Yale graduate Asa Thurston , and his wife, Lucy. Hiram Bingham’s son, of the same name, attended Yale, then returned to spread Christianity in the Pacific. He was the first to translate the Bible into the language of the people of the Gilbert Islands. Hiram Bingham’s grandson, of the same name, discovered the Inca city of Machu Pichu in 1908, then became Governor of Connecticut and a U.S. Senator. Hiram Bingham IV was an American diplomat who helped Jews flee Nazi forces during World War II. In 1822, Missionaries Hiram Bingham, Asa Thurston , and Elisha Loomis created Hawaii’s 12-letter alphabet, then translated the Bible into the Hawaiian Language.