Jonathan Smith Green
| Jonathan Smith Green | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 29, 1796 Lebanon, Connecticut |
| Died | January 5, 1878 (aged 79) Makawao, Hawaii |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Missionary |
| Spouse(s) | Theodosia Arnold Asenath Cargill Spring |
| Children | 6 |
| Parent(s) | Beriah and Elizabeth Green |
Jonathan Smith Green (September 29, 1796 – January 5, 1878) was a missionary from New England to the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Green was born December 20, 1796 in Lebanon, Connecticut to Beriah and Elizabeth Green. He graduated from Andover Seminary and on September 20, 1827 he married Theodosia Arnold (1792–1859) of East Haddam, Connecticut. They traveled to Honolulu by March 30, 1828 on the Parthian, as part of the third company from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Other members of this company were Lorrin Andrews and Gerrit P. Judd. He left his wife an exploratory took a trip to the Pacific Northwest coast of America in 1829 for the mission. The family was assigned to Lahaina, Hawaii on the island of Maui until 1831, then Hilo for one year. In 1833 they moved to Wailuku, Hawaii back on Maui, and built one of the first permanent houses there. In 1836 the Greens founded a girls' boarding school called the Wailuku Female Seminary. Their house is now the Bailey House Museum.
He helped Lorrin Andrews translate the Bible into the Hawaiian language, and published the first book on the history of the Christian church in Hawaiian. He resigned from the Congregational Church in 1842 along with Andrews because he thought it should take a tougher stand against slavery. He refused to wear cotton clothing, since it was generally picked with slave labor.
In 1843 he became an independent pastor and experimented with agriculture. He was an early member of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, founding a local chapter and published reports of his progress growing wheat and other non-tropical crops at higher elevations. In 1844 he published a biography of an early convert who was known as "Blind Bartimeus", after the biblical character, born with the Hawaiian name Puaaiki. At the suggestion of local chief Kiha, he founded the independent Poʻokela Church in Makawao on land donated by King Kamehameha III, conducting services in the Hawaiian language. The expression Poʻokela means "foremost". Poʻokela Church is located at 200 Olinda Road, 20°50′59″N 156°18′32″W / 20.84972°N 156.30889°W.
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