Lucius E. Pinkham
| Lucius Eugene Pinkham | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 4th Territorial Governor of Hawaii | |
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In office November 30, 1913 – June 22, 1918 |
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| Appointed by | Woodrow Wilson |
| Preceded by | Walter F. Frear |
| Succeeded by | Charles J. McCarthy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 19, 1850 Chicopee, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 2, 1922 (aged 72) San Francisco, California |
| Political party | Hawaiʻi Democratic Party |
Lucius Eugene Pinkham (September 19, 1850 – November 2, 1922) was the fourth Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1913 to 1918. Pinkham was the first member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii to become governor.
Pinkham was born September 19, 1850 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. His parents were Lucius Moulton, a cotton mill proprietor, and Caroline Smith (Fiske) Pinkham. He attended public schools in Boston and Hartford, Connecticut. Although he intended to attend Yale, a horseriding accident prevented him from walking for several years and he never attended college. Pinkham arrived in Hawaii in 1892 to build a coal handling plant for Oahu Railway and Land Company, and then went to California in 1894. From 1898 to 1903 he was manager of Pacific Hardware, another family business of Benjamin Dillingham. He also oversaw well projects for the sugarcane plantations.
On April 13, 1904, Pinkham was appointed President of the territorial Board of Health. While President of the Board of Health, he developed the idea of dredging the marshlands of Waikīkī via a two-mile long drainage canal. Although the idea was approved by the Board of Health, no action was taken on the proposal. His achievements included improving the conditions of the lepers at the Molokai settlement, economically reducing the occurrence of bubonic plague and cholera in Hawaii. He was removed from the Board of Health on April 12, 1908.
Despite having no previous political experience, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson appointed Pinkham territorial governor of Hawaii on November 29, 1913, succeeding Governor Walter Frear. He was the first governor from the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
In 1917, the deposed former monarch of the Hawaiian Islands, Queen Liliʻuokalani, died and was buried at the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii. The construction of what would become the Ala Wai Canal and the drainage of the Waikīkī marshlands are credited for enabling the development of Waikīkī as a tourist center, and are considered to be one of the most enduring legacies of Pinkham's tenure. Pinkham also worked aggressively to improve the military defense of Hawaii.
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