Isaac Davis

Isaac Davis (c. 1758–1810) was a Welsh advisor to Kamehameha I, who recruited him to help conquer the other kingdoms in Hawaii, resulting in formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He arrived in Hawaii in 1790 as the sole survivor of the massacre of the crew of the . Davis and John Young became friends and advisors to Kamehameha. Davis brought western military knowledge to Hawaii and played a prominent role during Hawaii's first contacts with the European powers. He spent the rest of his life in Hawaii and was known as Aikake. Life Isaac Davis was born about 1758 in Milford Haven, Wales. He was a seaman on the American schooner Fair American, commanded by Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe, engaged with a larger companionship, the Eleanora, in the maritime fur trade between the Pacific Northwest and China. In 1790, the Eleanora was under Captain Simon Metcalfe, when one of his skiffs was stolen by chief Kaōpūiki at Honuaula on Maui. Metcalfe nevertheless invited the locals to trade with him, only to fire his cannons at the approaching canoes with unarmed traders, killing more than 100 Hawaiians at Olowalu. Metcalfe also once mistreated Kameeiamoku, a high chief on the island of Hawaii, and one of the sacred pio twins, by whipping him. The humiliated Kameeiamoku swore vengeance on the next ship to arrive. He attacked The Fair American at Kaūpūlehu, which was under the command of Metcalfe's 18-year-old son, Thomas. Thomas and all of the Fair American’s crew were killed, except for Isaac Davis, the sole survivor of the attack, who was tied to a canoe and left nearly dead. It is said that Davis's life was spared because of his brave fighting. An alternative historical account that originated in a Hawaiian language newspaper in the early 20th century states that Kamehameha did not kill the crew of the Fair American.