5 　Joseph Heco Story


Honolulu in 1858
The high numbers of seamen entering and leaving the port of Honolulu drove a large part of the economy, as these sailors needed to be sheltered, fed and entertained while ashore.
They potentially were a problem, too, as many would desert ship, get drunk, fight or otherwise find trouble. Samuel Chenery Damon of the Seamen’s Friend Society became Honolulu’s Seamen’s Chaplain in 1842, taking up a ministry that was dedicated to helping sailors with their needs: spiritual, intellectual and physical.

A great advocate of temperance, Rev. Damon helped find free housing for seamen, keeping them out of unsavory boarding houses at the port, he provided a reading room where they could catch up on the latest news, and edited and distributed The Friend, a free monthly newspaper.

By the time Joseph Heco came to Honolulu, he had spent 8 years in the United States, and was now an educated young man, and the first American citizen of Japanese ancestry. But his dream was to return to his home country, and through his efforts as a civil servant and through influential friends, he was on his way.








Rev. Damon met Joseph Heco on board the Fenimore Cooper when he arrived in Honolulu on November 9, 1858. Joseph Heco had gotten passage on Fenimore Cooper thanks to his friend Lieut. John M. Brooke, who agreed to take Heco to Japan on his surveying expedition. Lieut. Brooke was a brilliant surveyor and engineer who developed technology to accurately map the deep sea floor. He was later deeply involved in developing the “ironclad” ships used by the Confederacy in the Civil War.

On March 15, 2008, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Joseph Heco’s naturalization as an American citizen, Dwight Damon, the 5th generation descendant of Rev. Samuel Chenery Damon, and Col. George M. Brooke III, the 4th generation descendant of Lieut. John M. Brooke will present the story of Joseph Heco at the Honolulu Festival’s 5th US-Japan Cultural Exchange Program. Don’t miss this exciting event!

written by Joanne Fujita
Joseph Heco Society of Hawaii