Notes for Frank Wesley BURNS

Descendants of
Captain Robert Brown
1809 – 1894

Notes for Frank Wesley BURNS

Our tree shows birth date as 1890
Notes for Frank Wesley Burns Jr.:
Compiled under supervision of William Richard Cutter, A.M.
New England Famlies Genealogical and Memorial Vol. 1pg 61, Civil Engineer, Hawaiian Islands.

High Lites

Came to Hawaii in 1913
7-21-1916 Engagement to Pearl Lydia McCarthy. Employed at HC&S Co.
1-12-1917 Marriage at Waikiki, Honolulu
8-10-1917 Winner of Collins Cup in tennis along with his brother Caleb E. S. Burns
2-14-1919 Daughter born in Kailua, Oahu.

Maui News 7-21-1916 pg 6 col 2
"The engagement was announced last week of Miss Pearl Lydia McCarthy, daughter of Mr. & Mrs.C. J. McCarthy of Honolulu to Frank W. Burns of Hamakuapoko. Miss McCarthy was one of the popular teachers of the Maui High School last term. Mr. Burns is a civil engineer connected with the HC&S Company. Folowing the wedding which will take place late in the winter, the young people will go to housekeeping on Maui."

Maui News 1-12-1917 pg 1 col 4
BURNS------McCARTHY
"In the presence of a goodly number of relatives and intimate friends, Frank Wesley Burns Jr. civil engineer of Hamakuapoko, Maui and Miss Pearl Lydia McCarthy, daughter of Col. and Mrs. Charles J. McCarthy of this city, were married at eight-thirty Tuesday night at the home of the parents of the bride. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father H. Valentin, pastor of the Catholic Church of St. Augustine-by-the-Sea, Waikiki, assisted by Rev. Father Ignatinus Fealy, chaplin of the First Field Artillery, U.S.A. of Schofield Barracks. The witness to the wedding were Caleb burns and Eileen McCarthy, respectively brother and sister of Mr. and Mrs. Burns."

Maui News 2-14-1919 pg 1 col 2

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Burns

"Word received this week from Honolulu of the arrival of a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Burns of Kailua. Mrs Burns has been in Honolulu for some time past, and the interesring event occurred on Tuesday morning at the Kapiolani Maternity Home. Both mother and daughter are reported to be doing nicely, Mrs. Burns was Miss Pearl McCarthy, daughter of Govnor and Mrs. McCarthy."

Obituary- Honolulu Star Bulletin
Feb 10, 1938 pg 1.

"Frank W. Burns, 48 dies after operation.
Failing to rally from an operation performed 10 days ago, Frank Wesley Burns, 48, head of the taxation map division of the territorial government, died at 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Queens Hospital. He was born in Fort Fairfield Me. and came to the territory 25 years ago. He was formerly a civil engineer on Maui and assistant manager of the Kealia plantation on Kauai.
Surving are the widow, Mrs. Pearl McCarthy Burns, and four children, Margaret, Jean, Frank Jr., and Bruce.

Mr. Burns was a brother of C. E. S. Burns, manager of Lihue plantation, Kauai. Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at William mortuary."

More About Frank Wesley Burns Jr.:
Burial: Diamond Head Cemetary, Honolulu, Hawaii- Ashes spread on Pearl's grave
Education: University of Maine, Civil Engineering
Nationality: He Scottish and Irish +.
Occupation: Civil Engineer

Source Source FWB 3 -- These are my memories of my father and his stories.

His (& his fatherÕs) middle name appears as Westly on the genealogies I've been looking at (by Jean Burns & Cuthbert Wilson Jr). But on my birth certificate it is Wesley. Wesley has been confirmed by other Burns genealogies on the internet.

He was raised on a potato farm in or near Fort Fairfield, Maine. Fort Fairfield is a small town in northeast Maine. It is about 10 miles east of Caribou.

After he graduated from the University of Maine in Civil Engineering he came to Hawaii to work on the plantations I think his specialty was the irrigation systems. He started on Maui and met his wife, Pearl McCarthy, there. It was just before her father was Governor of Hawaii. He must have had an interesting time from a political standpoint. He worked for one of the leading Republican families , the BaldwinÕs, and his father-in-law was one of the Democratic leaders. He always told people that he belonged to whatever party was in power.

He was a good athlete and was very active all his life. He played tennis & golf. Was an avid hunter (bird, deer, goats--) & fisherman (stream, Hawaiian throw-net, deep sea, spears, just about everything) and played baseball for the University of Maine. He played polo for the Maui Baldwins when he was on Maui and against them when he was on Kauai (probably played for the Kauai Baldwins). He went on many hunting/fishing trips with his brothers-in-law Oswald Lightfoot, Oswald Steven & Guy Rothwell. The big trips were to Molokai. They would fish while at sea, hunt deer on the west end of Molokai on the Molokai Ranch (owned by Guy & OswaldÕ LightfootÕs friend and neighbor Charley Cooke), and they would hunt goats on the windward coast.

The family moved to Kauai prior to 1923 (I was born there).

He was the assistant manager at the Kealia plantation on Kauai at the time he quit the plantations. I remember him taking Bruce and I out in the cane fields to set irrigation ditch gates.

At some time during his work with the plantations he made a trip to Japan to hire field workers. He apparently was much impressed with Japan. He spoke of the trip a lot with his friends. When I was around my ears were in full receiving mode. One of the questions that kept coming up was the fairness of bringing the Japanese and Philippine laborers in, paying them very low wages and not providing good housing. Housing was crowded ÒcampsÓ. His answer was along the lines that even the conditions that werenÕt up to US standards were far better than most of them had in Japan or the Philippines. Also at home they were stuck in a society that wouldnÕt let them advance above their class, which for most was a very low class. In Hawaii after annexation to the U. S., they were free to leave the plantation after their contract was up and could then go home or stay in the islands. If they stayed, their children could obtain free education and their opportunities were virtually limitless (as was proven later). These opportunities werenÕt available under the Kingdom or any of the governments between the Kingdom and the U. S.

He was one of the instigators of planting trout in the streams at Kokee on Kauai. The way I understood it, he really missed stream fishing like in Maine so he got behind the project.

After he left the plantation he helped found the original Hawaiian Airlines. The original Hawaiian Airlines operated with land aircraft. The "Inter Island AirlinesÓ, owned by Castle and Cooke, used amphibian aircraft. Inter Island Airlines cut prices and finally drove Hawaiian Airlines to the point of bankruptcy, bought them out and changed the name of Inter Island to Hawaiian.

He then went through two bankruptcies in private business. One was a drive-in type place like Orange Julius.

He always carried a pistol, at least during the time he was in private business.

He spent the rest of his career working for the Territory of Hawaii. He was the head of the office that surveyed property for tax purposes. He did an extensive resurvey of the Kona coffee farms in about 1936. Bruce and I got to spend the summer there as his chain men. The story was that he felt he should do this work because the farm boundaries had been lost and taxing the farms was very imprecise. My mother said OK-- but take the boys with you. (I treat this further in my section).

He was a very friendly outgoing person. He liked to tell wild stories that were based somewhat on the truth. Like stories about his 12 brothers and sisters--as far as the genealogies go he only had seven . When we went throw-net fishing or squid spearing at Punaluu he struck up a conversation with everyone we met. He got tips on how to fish for different varieties and how to prepare whatever he caught. I think that is how he learned to prepare the squid in every imaginable way--Hawaiian, Japanese or what ever. One day he caught a shark in his throw net. I donÕt remember what he did with it (maybe Margaret can add to this).

He loved everything Hawaiian and/or Hawaiian/Asian. The weather, the customs, poi, luaus, the parties, chop sui (as Chinese was called), sashimi, the paries---. He was the one who insisted that the family go to Lau e ChiÕs (Spelling?) often. He tried to teach Bruce and I how to fish with a throw-net, but we werenÕt tall enough--the net dragged on the ground. He also taught us all how to use chop sticks.

He clearly knew the difference between womanÕs work and menÕs work. IÕve always admired that.

He told us about life in Ft. Fairfield. Most of what I remember is about how cold the winters were (possibly exaggerated). It involved things like how messy the spring thaws were, the year that the river and bay froze over. He also had a bunch of New England receipts. Like cooking beans under ground just like an Imu. He did other things that I assume are New England customs like putting butter on his steak (try it its good).

He died from unsuccessful surgery while his wife (my mother) was in the hospital dying of leukemia. He had a pain in his right side and the doctor thought he had appendicitis. During the surgery the doctor found that the appendix were OK. So he went into the intestines trying to find the problem. Without penicillin there was no way to survive. He did live for about a week. While he was in the hospital two of his younger relatives , Òthe boysÓ, from Maine arrived in Honolulu. I think they were in their early twenties. He had planned to meet them but of course couldnÕt. He told Margaret that he wanted to see Òthe boysÓ. She thought he meant Bruce and me. He said we werenÕt the boys he had in mind, but seemed happy to see us. So we did get to see him and talk to him. The ÒboysÓ went on to Maui. They were probably his brother Alfred (Pete) and nephew William Preston.

| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |

This information was collected from various individuals and sources and is correct to the best of our knowledge.
**We've got a lot more information to add — just need a little more time to get it into the database. Please don't give up! We'll get it there eventually. If you have questions, corrections, or would like more information, please contact the site administrator or join our gam (discussion area)

Material here is intended solely for the purpose of sharing genealogical information with other family members. Any other use may constitute abuse subject to legal action.