Tag Archives: John Rollin Desha

John Rollin “JACK” Desha, 1917.

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J. R. DESHA

DESHA, JOHN ROLLIN, Washington, D. C.; born at Napoopoo, S. Kona District, Hawaii, Jan. 22, 1887, a descendant of the Desha family of Kentucky; son of Stephen Langhern and Mary Kaakopua (Kekumano) Desha; educated at the Kamehameha School and Oahu College (Honolulu), Harvard University, A. B. 1912, attending Geo. Washington University, Law Dept.; married Agnes Ready at Medford, Mass.; two children: Evelyn and Jacqueline. Has been private secretary to the Hon. J. K. Kalanianaole, delegate to U. S. Congress from the Territory of Hawaii since 1912. Conducted the Congressional Party to Hawaii, which included more than 125 people, in 1915. Member of the Delta Upsilon Frat. (Harvard), Harvard Club of Washington, D. C., Harvard Varsity Club and Chiefs of Hawaii.

(Siddall, John William, ed. “Men of Hawaii,” Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd. 1917.)

J. R. DESHA

Siddall, John William, ed. “Men of Hawaii.” Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd. 1917.

 

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More on Jack Desha, 1912.

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KIWINI HAS A GRANDCHILD.

Amongst the youth of Hawaii nei who are pursuing education who have gone to “Foreign Lands” [Aina E], one of them is the son of our friend, Rev. Stephen Desha. He left for Harvard College. This Hawaiian youth lived at the home of the parents of a girl by the name of Miss Agnes Reddy, in Medford, Massachusetts. This Hawaiian youth was enraptured with this young lady. With all the might in the young Desha, he asked the father of the woman who he was taken with to agree that there be the bond of holy matrimony between him and his daughter. The father of the young lady refused, that his daughter could not marry a Protestant being that this family was of the Catholic faith.

So the two young ones fled to Nashua, New Hampshire, without the parents of the woman or anyone else knowing about it. And there they were wed; then they went before her father and revealed to him of their marriage. The father told them that they must have a Catholic marriage. This was carried out. The day they were were wed was on New Year’s Day, of the year 1910, and on the 11th of Dec., 1910, they had their baby. She was named Evalina C. M. Desha.

The schoolmates of young Desha had no idea that living amongst them was a boy that was married and had a large baby; until the next New Year’s Day, when for the first time that the knowledge-seeking Hawaiian announced it outright before his schoolmates.

We hear that the young Desha will enter into Medical School.

(Aloha Aina, 7/13/1912, p. 1)

KANI MOOPUNA NO O KIWINI.

Ke Aloha Aina, Buke XVII Helu 28, Aoao 1. Iulai 13, 1912.

It seems that Jack was not all work and no play, 1912.

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Desha Elopes, Weds; Keeps Secret 2 Years

Jack Desha of Hawaii, Harvard’s star baseball player, marries girl of his choice despite opposition of stern parent. Two ceremonies held, and he becomes proud father before his classmates learn the story that he has long left the ranks of single men.

—Photo by Perkins.

Harvard Hears News When He Presents a Candidate for Class Baby

Jack Desha of Hilo and Harvard, famed as a football and baseball player, is a benedict. Further than this, he entered the ranks of married men two years ago by way of an elopement with the daughter of his landlord and was married on New Year’s Day, 1910. It may also be stated that Jack Desha has been a proud father since December 11, 1910, when Evelyn C. M. Desha came into the world.

Friends of Jack Desha in the Hawaiian Islands need not feel disappointed or grieved at the fact that the young athlete failed to confide in them, for it appears that the members of his own class at Harvard, that of 1912, knew nothing about it until Desha as a candidate for the class baby, to which position she was at once elected by the class. Continue reading →

Hawaiians at Harvard, 1908 / 2014.

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A Letter From Lands Afar

Cambridge, Mass.,
Nov. 4, 1908.

My beloved father;

For a long time now I have not received a letter from you, and I assume you are in the midst of political battles. I am very interested in the results of the election over there, and I hope very much that you were elected. Please, papa, tell me what became of the elections there. There was not much of great import in the elections here being that it was known in advance that Taft would come out as the new President of America. Taft was elected victoriously, and he was far ahead of his fellow candidates, and maybe you all have heard before the arrival of this letter of mine.

The parade of the Republicans on this past Friday before election day was one of the grandest seen here in the town of Boston. Thousands of students from the colleges joined in this parade, and students from our school, Harvard were out first leading the parade, and I was one among the students marching in this parade beyond compare. We were dressed in crimson caps of the college of Harvard with the school uniform, and each student held a candle in his hand, and the old town of Boston glowed red in its light. The candle-light parade was 11 miles long. We marched on the streets of town, and when we arrived before the Governor, we removed our crimson caps and gave our greetings to the Governor. This was a great parade indeed, and everything went well. It was a Republican Governor that was elected yesterday. Continue reading →