Gerrit Parmele Judd (April 23, 1803 – July 12, 1873) was an American physician andmissionary to theKingdom of Hawaii who later renounced his American citizenship and became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to KingKamehameha III.
Judd was born April 23, 1803, inParis, Oneida County, New York, the son of Elnathan Judd and his wife Betsey Hastings. On his mother's side, he was descended fromThomas Hastings, who came from theEast Anglian area of England to theMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. He received his middle name in honor of his maternal grandmother, Eunice Parmele.
In 1842 he resigned from the mission and became an advisor and translator to KingKamehameha III.He also became involved in the civil concerns of the islands, and was the King’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 1843 to March 1845, Minister of Interior from March 1845 to February 1846, Minister of Finance from April 1846 to September 1853, and in theHouse of Representatives from 1858 to 1859.[3] He was commissioned in 1849 as Minister Plenipotentiary to England, France and the United States.
He was one of the founders of thePunahou School for children of the missionaries in 1841. He founded Hawaii's first medical school in 1870, and was the author of one of the first medical texts written in Hawaiian,Anatomia : he palapala ia e hoike ai i ke ano o ko ke kanaka kino, in 1838.
In 1850 Judd purchased from King Kamehameha the land which became theKualoa Ranch on the Windward Coast ofOahu. His descendants still own and operate the ranch today.[4]
Helen Seymour born August 27, 1833, and died April 2, 1911.
Charles Hastings born September 8, 1835 (twin) died April 18, 1890. Married November 1, 1859, to Emily Catherine Cutts (1840–1921), four children. Worked in theGuano and farming businesses, and held several posts in the Kingdom.[7]
Laura Fish born September 8, 1835 (twin) died November 22, 1888, at San Francisco, California. Married February 22, 1861, to Joshua Gill Dickson (1830–1880), four children.
Albert Francis born January 7, 1838, died May 20, 1900. Married April 4, 1872, to Agnes Hall Boyd (1844–1934) nine children. Last childLawrence M. Judd became Governor of theTerritory of Hawaii in 1929–1934.[8]
Allan Wilkes born April 20, 1841, and died March 26, 1875.
Judd's life was the basis of the novelThe White King. A biography,Dr. Judd, Hawaii’s Friend[9] was written by his great-grandson Gerrit P. Judd IV (1915–1971) and published in 1960.[10] His papers were kept under restricted access at theBishop Museum until his great-grandson Albert Francis Judd III died in 2006.[11]
Judd Street in Honolulu is named in his honour, as is Judd Trail off Old Pali Road in Nu'uanu.[12]
Buckminster, Lydia N.H., The Hastings Memorial, A Genealogical Account of the Descendants of Thomas Hastings of Watertown, Mass. from 1634 to 1864, Boston: Samuel G. Drake Publisher (an undated NEHGS photoduplicate of the 1866 edition).
Judd IV, Gerrit P., Dr. Judd, Hawaii's friend, A biography of Gerrit Parmele Judd (1803–1873), Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1960.
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