Henry Martyn Whitney

Henry Martyn Whitney (June 5, 1824 – August 17, 1904) was an early journalist in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Born of early missionaries, he became the first postmaster and founded several long-lasting newspapers. Early life Henry Martyn Whitney was born June 5, 1824, in Waimea on the island of Kauai. His father was missionary Samuel Whitney (1793–1845) and he was the namesake of English missionary Henry Martyn. His mother was Mercy Partidge (1795–1872), granddaughter of Adonijah Bidwell. His sister Maria Kapule Whitney (1820–1900) married missionary John L. Pogue (1814–1877). His father was originally a lay teacher, but was ordained in the field on November 30, 1825. The family moved to Lahaina on Maui in 1827, and then back to Waimea in 1829. Whitney was sent to Rochester, New York, for school in 1831, and graduated from the Rochester Collegiate Institute in 1841. He planned to enter college, but a hearing loss convinced him to work in journalism. He worked for Harper & Brothers in New York City where he learned the printing trade and became a foreman in two years. He also worked in the American Bible Society printing office. He might have had a piece printed in the New York Tribune of Horace Greeley. His relatives and other missionary friends, such as Gerrit P. Judd who was now in the government, tried to persuade him to return to Hawaii, since few journalists had left to join the California Gold Rush. Whitney married Catherine Olivia March (1821–1896) in June 1849, and travelled via Panama to San Francisco. He happened to meet Judd there with two young Hawaiian princes. By November Whitney arrived back in Hawaii; his new wife arrived in January 1850. Pioneer publisher