CHamoru Whalers Stranded in Hawaii

When Don Felipe Dela Corte was Governor of the Mariana Islands (1855-1866), he allowed CHamoro men to embark on whaling ships under a contract with the Captains of ships.^[1]  He felt that there would be some benefits to them such as a learning opportunities. Upon their return, he had hoped that they would become good seamen to further benefit the Marianas.  As part of the contract with a Captain of a ship, the Government required a deposit.  However, some Captains abused the agreement. Dela Corte learned that some of those CHamoru men were disembarked in Honolulu and were never returned as agreed. Those sly Captains would deduct earnings from those CHamoru men to recover the deposit cost and left them stranded in Hawaii.  Dela Corte proposed to his superiors that he be allowed to send the schooner Secreto to pick up the stranded men, especially those who were married and have not seen their family in many years prior.

Pale' Eric's has also written about this back in 2016, "Recruiting Chamorro Whalers," and provides a sample copy and translation of the contract involving Jose Quintanilla. https://paleric.blogspot.com/2016/06/recruiting-chamorro-whalers.html. He also blogged on other Bayineros during the 1800s.

Below is a list of names from some contracts issued in the 1800s.^[2] This list is not intended to imply that these men were stranded and never returned. It is just a list of men named in contracts. 

Although I have yet been able to ascertain if in fact the Secreto ever sailed and recovered some of those CHamoru whalers, we know that several CHamoru whalers did end up settling in Hawaii during the 1800s.

Also, below is a list of Surnames recorded in the 1900 Census for Hawaii where an individual's place of birth is listed as Guam. Some had married native Hawaiian women and began their families.  It is not known if these men were abandoned in Hawaii by the Captains of the ships.

Calyhan
Guerrero
Ignacio
Legama
Luhon
Martin
Otis
Pangelinan
Perez
Reys
Rosario
Rose
Sanpos
Santos
Shaw
Tenora

And then finally, in the 1928 Honolulu Star-Bulletin obituary of Isidro Peter Mendiola, he is identified as coming from Guam via a whaling ship in 1852. It was challenging tracking down his identity in early Hawaii census documents. He was not part of the list of surnames above. However, I was able to find him and his family recorded with the surname Mendira and his birthplace was listed as Spain in the 1900 census. Subsequent census documents list his birthplace as Guam. Several recordings in Hawaii list his race or nationality as Spanish, Polynesian and sometimes Asian Other. Also sometimes he is listed as Isidro and other times as Peter....this one remains a work-in-progress, more to come.

Bibliography

[1] Rodrigue Levesque. 2004. History of Micronesia: The Progress of Civilization, 1852-1858, Volume 27, pg. 658-660. Levesque Publications, Quebec, Canada.

[2] Omaira Brunal-Perry (Editor). 1997. Index of Guam Judicial Records, Spanish Records 1807-1920 (Compact Disc). Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam.