CHARLES HINCKLEY WETMORE

Charles Hinckley Wetmore was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, on February 8, 1820. By teaching school in the winter and studying in the summer, he attained his medical degree, graduating from the Berkshire Medical Institute in Massachusetts in 1846. After graduation Dr. Wetmore practiced in Lowell, Massachusetts, while continuing to teach to supplement his income.

Taking service as a missionary doctor under the American Mission Board, Dr. Wetmore married Lucy Sheldon Taylor on September 25, 1848, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, just three weeks prior to sailing for Hawaii. The doctor was not attached to any Missionary Company; and he and his bride took passage on the "Leland", arriving in Honolulu March 11, 1849, after a voyage of 146 days.

The Wetmores were assigned to Hilo, Hawaii, and were at their new post by May 18. Dr. Wetmore considered that his first professional duty was to care for the missionary families, then the natives, and after that the foreigners. His patients were scattered over the entire island, and he traveled by canoe, when this was possible, but mostly by foot. On many occasions Mrs. Wetmore accompanied him.

In 1850 the Wetmore's first child, a son, was stillborn. It was out of their grief for the loss of this child that they were led to establish a school for half-caste children that same year. The children, who numbered 13 that first year, were, with one exception, Chinese-Hawaiian. Three years later a second son, Charles Hinckley, Jr., was born (who died in his 14th. year), in 1855 Frances Matilda was born, then Catherine (Mrs. Henry Deacon) in 1859, and in 1860 Lucy Taylor (Mrs. Charles Lewis).

The smallpox epidemic of 1853 resulted in 75 deaths in the Hilo and Puna districts. That the death toll was no higher was due to Dr. Wetmore's vaccination program and his countermeasures. In 1855 he severed his connections with the American Board of Missions. During that same year the doctor was appointed physician and purveyor to the United States Seamen's Hospital in Hilo. In 1856 Dr. Wetmore began building Hilo's first drug store. Placed in charge of the government dispensary for sick and indigent Hawaiians in September, 1862, he received a salary of $300 per year.

In 1871 Dr. and Mrs. Wetmore and their two daughters took a trip to the United States--their first in 23 years. In 1877 Dr. Wetmore made a second visit. After the death of Mrs. Wetmore in 1883, the doctor, serving as a delegate from the Hawaiian Board, and his daughter, Lucy, spent the entire year of 1885 in the Marshall and Caroline Islands.

In partnership with Mr. David H. and Edward G. Hitchcock Dr. Wetmore helped to establish and manage Papaikou Sugar Plantation but withdrew in 1883. He also had interests in Kohala and other sugar plantations, as well as in the Hilo Soda Works. In 1889 he was a candidate of the Reform Party for the House of Nobles but was not elected.

Dr. Wetmore died May 13, 1898, at Hilo at the age of 78.

The doctor was a long time trustee of the Hilo Boarding School, served as deacon of the First Foreign Church in 1867, and was a member of the Hawaiian Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. A stamp collector, he sold his entire collection in 1897 to help raise funds for the new Hilo Foreign Church. He was a lover of nature and was interested in botany, astronomy, and mineralogy.

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