Hawaii, Tahiti, and the Pacific Rim
King Kamehameha Stamp
The first Jews came to Hawaii during the 1850s.
The first Jewish business to open in Hawaii was M.S. Grinbaum & Company, which was established in 1856, by A. S. Grinbaum.
His nephews, Morris S. Grinbaum and Morris Louisson ran the firm, making it one of the most successful import export firms in the Islands.
In 1877, Elias Peck, founder of the Peck Draying Company, arrived. Peck officiated at the first Jewish wedding in Honolulu in 1879.
There were about 10 Jews in Honolulu at the time.
By 1898, with the annexation of Hawaii by the United States, the Jewish population began to grow.
Members of the earliest Jewish community in Honolulu include: Abraham and Cecile Gartenberg, Morris S. Grinbaum, A. S. Grinbaum, Morris and Therese Louisson, Samuel Ehrlich, who owned the Pacific Import Company, Elias Peck, who owned the Peck Draying Company, and Hirsch Rayman, who briefly ran a successful business.
Early Hawaiian Capital Building, vintage postcard
Hawaii
Elias Abraham Rosenberg: Jewish Astrologer and Hebrew Teacher to the Hawaiian King
Morris Louisson: Pioneer Jewish Businessman & The First Jew to Live in Hawaii
Abraham Gartenberg: Pioneer Jewish Businessman and Hawaiian Revolutionary
Australia
Sir John & Lady Monash of Melbourne, Australia
Tahiti
Alexander Salmon: Pioneer Jewish Businessman & Diplomat Who Married into the Tahitian Royal Family
