WILLIAM HILLEBRAND

Wilhelm (or William, as he was known in this country) Hillebrand was born in Nieheim, Westphalia, a province of Prussia, on November 13, 1821. He was the son of Judge Franz Joseph and Louise Pauline (Koening) Hillebrand.

Completing his early education at Nieheim, William studied in Goettingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. After receiving his medical degree in Berlin, Dr. Hillebrand began his practice in Paderborn, Germany.

A few years later illness, presumably pulmonary tuberculosis, forced him to look for a more healthful climate. In this search he sailed to Australia and then to the Philippines. In Manila he resumed the practice of medicine until poor health again induced him to travel, this time to San Francisco. From San Francisco he came to Hawaii, arriving December 28, 1850, on the bark, "Elizabeth", and soon found his health much improved. By the fall of 1852 he was in practice with Dr. Wesley Newcomb.

On November 16, 1852, Dr. Hillebrand married Miss Anna Post, the stepdaughter of Dr. Newcomb. Two sons were born to the doctor and his wife, William Francis and Henry Thomas.

Before long Dr. Hillebrand had established a successful practice and numbered the royal family among his patients. He was physician at Queen's Hospital for most of the time from its founding in 1859 until his departure from the islands. He became a member of the Board of Health in 1863 and for a period was physician at the Insane Asylum, taking the place of Dr. Edward Hoffmann when he resigned in May, 1868. In partnership with J. Mott-Smith he owned a drug store at Hotel and Fort streets. He was one of the signers of the Charter of Incorporation of the Hawaiian Medical Society in 1856 and served as its first vice-president.

In April, 1865, the doctor and his family started on a leisurely world tour by way of the Orient and southeast Asia. Before leaving he was commissioned by various boards and societies to perform numerous tasks. The Privy Council appointed Dr. Hillebrand Commissioner of Immigration in April and directed him to look into the matter of getting workers from the Orient to replace native workers. Much later (1877) he arranged for the emigration of workers from Madeira, where he was then living, and from the Azores. This pioneer group of 180 Portuguese reached Honolulu in September, 1878. At the request of the Board of Health he also investigated methods for the control of leprosy during his trip. He wrote an article, "Investigation of the Contagium of Leprosy" that appeared in The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 3, 1883.

One of his foremost tasks while on his tour was the collection of plants and animals which he felt would make a valuable addition to those species already in the Islands. The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, with which he had long been associated and had served as its corresponding secretary, together with the Planters' Association jointly raised a sum of $500 to finance these purchases. The "Hawaiian Gazette" for July 28, 1866, reported that the doctor had forwarded ten Wardian cases from Singapore, nine from Calcutta, one from Ceylon, eight from Java, and two from China. Included in the collection were camphor, cinnamon, jak fruit, litchi, mandarin orange, Chinese plum, Java plum, several kinds of eugenias and banyans and a considerable number of other useful or ornamental plants. He also imported carrion crows, goldfinches, Japanese finches, linnets, mynah birds, Chinese quail, rice birds, Indian sparrows, golden, silver and Mongolian pheasants and a pair of deer from China and a pair from Java. Dr. Hillebrand returned from his tour on July 21, 1866, aboard the "D.C. Murray", having been gone over a year.

In his almost 20 years of residence in the Islands, Dr. Hillebrand visited all the larger islands, botanizing whenever possible. He carefully preserved and studied these plants as well as those which correspondents sent to him. Many rare trees, planted by the doctor himself, are still to be seen on the grounds of the Queen's Hospital. Foster Gardens on Nuuanu Avenue, which was Dr. Hillebrand's former home, has another collection of exotic trees and flowers planted by the doctor. A lovely native begonia is named Hillebrandia in his honor.

Dr. Hillebrand and his family left Hawaii for the last time on June 27, 1871. The winter of 1871-1872 was spent in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he began with Professor Asa Gray's* assistance the manuscript of his monumental "Flora of the Hawaiian Islands". In this work some 250 species of rare plants, then unknown to the botanical world, are described.

Following his stay in Cambridge he traveled extensively in Germany, Switzerland, Madeira, and Tenerife. Finally he returned to Heidelberg where he had spent such happy student years to end his days.

Though painfully ill for his last two years, Dr. Hillebrand managed to complete writing much of the manuscript of "Flora of the Hawaiian Islands" and submitted part of it to "Carl Winer, University-Bookseller". He had the satisfaction of correcting the first few pages of the proofs of his book before he died.

His son, Dr. William F. Hillebrand, a chemist, with the help of Professor E. Askernasy of Heidelberg, carefully and expertly edited the work, publishing it posthumously in 1888.

Willis T. Pope in his article about Dr. Hillebrand in the "Hawaiian Annual" for 1919 describes the doctor in middle age as "a quiet, sober, practical man of medium height and weight, complexion fair, eyes gray and possessing an abundance of rather dark hair". He was a linguist, being fluent in German, French, English, Latin, and Hawaiian. Not surprisingly, his favorite recreation was working among his horticultural specimens in the garden of his home. He was also described as a "capable" pianist who enjoyed playing at social gatherings.

*Asa Gray, a professional botanist at Harvard, had described some new plants collected in the Hawaiian Islands, chiefly by the U.S. Exploring Expedition under Commander Wilkes. He died on July 13, 1886, in Heidelberg at the age of 64.

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