Paul Isenberg

Paul Isenberg
Newspaper sketch from 1904
Born	(1837-04-15)April 15, 1837 Dransfeld, Germany
Died	May 27, 1903(1903-05-27) (aged 66) Bremen, Germany
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Amfac, Inc.
Spouse(s)	Maria Rice

Paul Isenberg (April 15, 1837 – May 27, 1903) was a German businessman who developed the sugarcane business in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Paul Heinrich Friedrich Carl Isenberg was born April 15, 1837 in Dransfeld, Kingdom of Hanover, Germany. His father was Lutheran minister Daniel Isenberg (1807–1875), and mother was Dorothea (Strauch) Isenberg (1808–1871). He came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1858, and became known as Paul Isenberg.

Isenberg moved to the island of Kauaʻi and first worked in Wailua. In October 1861 he married Hannah "Maria" Rice, daughter of William Harrison Rice, who was born February 17, 1842, and died April 7, 1867. They had two children, Mary Dorothea Rice Isenberg (1862–1949) and Daniel Paul Rice Isenberg (1866–1919) known as "Paul Jr." He traveled back to Germany in 1869 where he married Beta Margarete Glade (born 1846) before returning to Hawaii. They had six more children: Johannes "John" Carl Isenberg (born September 12, 1870), Heinrich Alexander Isenberg (born January 17, 1872), Julie Maria Pauline (Isenberg) Barckhausen (born November 1876), Clara Margarete (Isenberg) Wendroth (born 1878), Richard Menno Isenberg (born 1880) and Paula Bertha Johanna Isenberg (born 1883).

Isenberg took over managing the sugarcane plantation at Līhuʻe in 1862, after the death of his father-in-law who was previous manager. The plantation was founded by diplomat Henry A. Peirce, but struggled to make a profit until Rice built an irrigation system. Isenberg made improvements to the cane sugar mill such as using an evaporating pan and steam pipes to concentrate the cane juice. In 1872 the Lihue Plantation company was officially incorporated, and the 3,300 acres (1,300 ha) expanded by 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) at Hanamāʻulu. On January 24, 1874 he was appointed to the upper House of Nobles in the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom by King Lunalilo. He officially became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii at that time. In 1877 he bought equipment for a new mill from George Norton Wilcox and installed it at Hanamāʻulu to be managed by Albert Spencer Wilcox.