Paul Isenberg
Paul Isenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 15, 1837 |
| Died | May 27, 1903 (aged 66) |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, Planter |
| Known for | Amfac, Inc. |
| Spouse | Maria Rice |
Paul Isenberg (1837–1903) was a German businessman who developed the sugarcane business in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Life
Heinrich Friedrich Carl Isenberg was born April 15, 1837 in Dransfeld, Germany.[1] His father was Lutheran minister Daniel Isenberg, and mother was Dorothea (Strauch) Isenberg. He came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1858, and took the more English sounding name Paul Isenberg.
Isenberg moved to the island of Kauaʻi and first worked in Wailua. In October 1861 he married Hannah "Maria" Rice, daughter of William Harrison Rice, who was born February 17, 1842, and died April 7, 1867. They had two children, Mary Dorothea Rice Isenberg (1862–1949) and Daniel Paul Rice Isenberg (1866–1919) known as "Paul Jr." He traveled back to Germany in 1869 where he married Beta Margarete Glade before returning to Hawaii. They had six more children.
Isenberg took over managing the sugarcane plantation at Līhuʻe in 1862, after the death of his his father-in-law who was previous manager. In 1878 he retired as manager, but kept and ownership interest while moving his family back to Germany, visiting the islands every two years. In 1881 Isenberg became a business partner with earlier German merchant Heinrich Hackfeld.[2] He died in Bremen on January 16, 1903.[3]
| Hawaii's Big Five |
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Hackfeld & Company grew to be one of the "Big Five" corporations that dominated the economy of the Territory of Hawaii. During World War I, Hackfeld & Company was seized by the U.S. government along with other assets owned by Germans. It was sold to a consortium of Hawaii businessmen in 1918, who changed the name to "American Factors" and the company's store Liberty House. A 1920 lawsuit argued the price was below market value, and some former stockholders including John Carl Isenberg recovered some damages.[4] In 1966, the name was further shortened to Amfac, Inc.
See also
References
- ^ Marylou Bradley; Carolyn Dettling (2010). "Finding Aid for Isenberg Collection" (PDF). Kaua’i Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ^ George F. Nellist, ed. (1925). "Isenberg, Paul". The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Honolulu Star Bulletin.
- ^ "Paul Isenberg Dies at Bremen, in the 66th Year of his Age". Hawaiian Gazette. Honolulu. January 20, 1903. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- ^ Frederick Bernays Wiener (1982). "German Sugar's Sticky Fingers". Hawaiian Journal of History. 16. Hawaiian Historical Society: 15–47. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
Further reading
- Ethel Moseley Damon; Mary Dorothea Rice Isenberg (1931). Koamalu: a story of pioneers on Kauai, and of what they built in that island garden. Vol. 2. Honolulu Star-Bulletin press. (Author Isenberg is his granddaughter)
- William A. Simonds (October 1, 1949). Kamaaina — A century in Hawaii. Keichi Kimura, illustrator. American Factors, Limited.