Samuel Gardner Wilder
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The Honourable Samuel Gardner Wilder |
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|---|---|
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| Minister of Interior | |
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In office July 3, 1878 – August 14, 1880 |
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| Monarch | Kalākaua |
| Preceded by | John Mott-Smith |
| Succeeded by | John Edward Bush |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 20, 1831 Leominster, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | July 28, 1888 (aged 57) Honolulu, Oahu, Kingdom of Hawaii |
| Nationality |
Kingdom of Hawaii United States |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Kinaʻu Judd |
| Children | 6 |
| Occupation | Shipping business |
| Signature |  |
Samuel Gardner Wilder (June 20, 1831 – July 28, 1888) was an American shipping magnate and politician who developed a major transportation company in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Samuel Gardner Wilder was born June 20, 1831 in Leominster, Massachusetts. His father was William Chauncey Wilder (1804–1858) and mother was Harriet Waters (died 1850). They moved to Canada for a few years, and then to New York in 1840, and Chicago in 1844. Part of the California Gold Rush, the family moved west in 1852. He worked for the Adams Express Company which allowed him to travel to and from the coast of California. His first visit to the Hawaiian Islands was in 1856. He married Elizabeth Kinaʻu Judd (1831–1918), daughter of missionary doctor and politician Gerrit P. Judd September 29, 1857 in Honolulu. She was namesake of the native Hawaiian civil leader Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, who was daughter of Kamehameha I.
Wilder chartered the clipper ship White Swallow and returned in 1858. He took a load of guano (bird excrement used as fertilizer) from Jarvis Island to New York City, which served as the couple's honeymoon voyage. He then started a sugarcane plantation with his father-in-law (now the Kualoa Ranch) in 1864. He sent for his brother, William Chauncey Wilder (1835–1901) who had served in the cavalry in the American Civil War. The plantation failed by 1868 and William returned to Geneva, Illinois. In 1870 other sugar planters had Wilder sent to China to bring back low-cost workers. He encountered resistance from the British administration in Hong Kong, and only 188 Chinese came as a result.
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