I am looking for any information on Nehemia Kahuelaau Nihipali and Lehia Kaupe'a of Kalawao, Molokai. These are my GGGrandparents. Nehemias' b. abt 1831, d. 24 dec 1909 in Kalawao, Molokai, HI, Lehias' b. abt 1835, d. also in Kalawao, Molokai, HI. I was told by family members and others, that my GGGrandfathers' last name at one time was not Nihipali. And that the Nihipali name was a given name by the people that lived in the valley of Pelekunu. How this came about was that he was a missionary for the LDS or (Mormon)Church, while prosyliting and looking for prospects, he climbed down the cliff that was the back drop of the valley. I was told the only way to enter the valley was to come in by the ocean when the tide was up. The reason for this was to protect the residents from being attack or having unwelcome guest. In the pass there were numbers of (haole) missionaries that the LDS or (Mormon) Church sent to that valley, but no one ever succeeded. Until they sent a hawaiian along with them. And this is where my GGGrandfather happened to aquire the name Nihipali (Climbing Cliff). As to what his name was before that, is a mystery to all the ohana. No one ever made an effort to make a trace of it. My GGGrandfather served several special mission for the LDS or (Mormon) Church for about 14 years covering all the Hawaiian Island. Maybe there is a family out there that has family that he may have shared the gospel with and baptized in the the faith. During the early days the hawaiians only used one name. It was not consider first or last name, just a given name. You may email me at: rnihipali@aol.com MAHALO!!

Aloha
Rodney Keola Nihipali

Hello! Unfortunately I have no information for you, only a question. Kaupe is my father's name and his ancestry is German. Is there any link to Kaupe in Hawaii, or is it just a coincidence of spelling?

The name is spelled with an (a) at the end, as Kaupe'a or Kaupea. There is a possibility, that an (a) was added I don't know, there are also many Kaupe that were living in the hawaiian islands. Do you have ancestors living in Hawaii? Better yet are you from Hawaii? I do have ancestors from Germany, china, portugual, ireland, italy and many other countries. The main purpose of this search is to find out what my gggrandfathers' last name was before it was change to Nihiplai. Should you run across this name anywhere in the world we are blood related. Thank You for you inquire. Please keep in-touch.

Dear Rodney:

My name is Kawika Kolomona Kamakeeaina, great-great-great-grandson of Hattie Keamalu Nihipali (Chang).

I have been working with my cousin Liane Kaupea Monipon Rodings on the Nihipali side of a family tree I started over a month ago on another site.

To date, we have 1,347 individuals on the family tree, including several Nihipali family members, 78 to be exact.

I would love for you to join our tree and add more family members.

Please contact me at: kamakeeainaohana@yahoo.com

Once I receive your reply, I will need the following information:

Your name, your parents names, their parents names, and if possible, their parents names.

Once I have this, I can establish how you fit into the tree and then add your email address. Once that is done, you will get an automatic invite to the tree and presto, you will be on and able to add, edit, and update all you want.

There are many of us "cousins" on the tree updating it daily and it continues to grow.

I would love to have you on.

Mahalo,

Kawika