Jeremiah Thomas Martin

When Jeremiah first arrived in the islands in 1824 he was considred quite a specticle. He was considered very handsome and was also reported in old Hawaiian news papers as being admired by the Ali'i women as well. One such news paper article reports of Princess Ruth's interest in this foreigner, however, Jeremiah did not respond to her advances and was known to decline her invitations to her palace. Jeremiah instead linked with Ali'i families from the Ka'u chiefly lines and chose to marry a Chiefess by the name of Kalamau.

Two skills that helped Jeremiah do well here in the Hawaiian islands that he brought with him from his homeland in the Caribbeans is sailing and building beautiful enclosures out of stone. There are reports that Jeremiah had been a captain for the steamer Keoua for awhile and built strong buildings for some Ali'i. His stone building skills is typical of those found on the island of Antigua. Antigua today is known for the many stone buildings and churches that remain standing since the 18th century.

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The following is a publication--- By Edward K. Lilikalani in the Hawaiian language news paper ALOHA AINA on Feb. 24, 1897.

IEREMIAH MARTIN BUILT THE STONE CHURCH MOKU-AI-KAUA WHICH STANDS TODAY. LATER BUILT THE ROYAL HOME OF STONE THAT STANDS TODAY AS THE “HULI-HEE- PLACE,” THAT WAS THE HOME OF KING KUAKINI. HE ALSO BUILT THE HOUSE OF STONE FOR NAIHE AND KAPIOLANI, THAT STANDS TODAY AT KUAPEHU, KAAWALOA HAWAII. IEREMIA MARTIN BUILT THESE HOUSE’S OF STONE LONG AGO AND THEY STAND TODAY IN HAWAII. IEREMIA MARTIN WAS A GREAT FAVORITE OF KING KUAKINI AND OF QUEEN KAPIOLANI.

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Jeremiah's children marrying into the Naihe family are additonal evidence of his close ties to that Ali'i family.