He arrived in Hawaii sometime between 1809 and 1811 on the American trading ship
Albatross from
Boston. He met King
Kamehameha I and joined English sailor
John Young, who had arrived in 1790, to command the navy of the
Kingdom of Hawaii. He was awarded control of over in the Niu Valley, including control over the Kupapa Fishpond, which he later filled in for purposes of growing sweet potatoes. (east of
Honolulu, coordinates ). In April 1816 at
Kawaihae Bay, Adams negotiated to buy a ship called
Forester under Captain John Ebbetts which had been owned by American
John Jacob Astor. Prince
Liholiho (soon to become King Kamehameha II) purchased the ship with sandalwood
(Santalum ellipticum), and changed its name to
Kaahumanu after his powerful stepmother
Queen Kaahumanu. A condition of the deal was for Adams to take command of the ship. It was a small two-masted trading ship called a
brig. On March 7, 1817, the
Kingdom of Hawaii sent Adams to
China on his ship to sell sandalwood. To enter the harbor, the ship paid $3000 in port charges, making it not a financial success. Upon returning October 5, 1817, at
Hilo and hearing of the amount Adams had to pay, King Kamehameha decided Hawaii should also generate revenue from port charges. His reasoning for adding the British
Union Jack into the flag was due to the power of the
British Empire at the time. He quotes "if we don't pledge allegiance to Britain we may all perish". He was sent to
Kauai by Kamehemeha I to remove
Russian Fort Elizabeth that had been set up in 1817. His words were "upon arriving they were soon dispatched". He stood on the shore with John Young when the first
Christian missionaries anchored offshore in 1820. He helped convince the King to allow the missionaries to come ashore and speak to the King. He served as the Honolulu Harbor Pilot after
Naihekukui left in 1823. When arrived in 1825, Adams helped the Scottish naturalist distribute some plants he thought would be commercially successful in the tropical climate. Queen Kaahuman gave Adams over of land in
Kalihi Valley (on the island of
Oahu a few miles from
Waikiki) in gratitude for his services. The area was called Apili. After 30 years of piloting, Adams retired in 1853, grew fruit on his land in Kalihi Valley, and was great host to visitors. Adams kept a journal which his notes were taken from and printed in Honolulu Star Bulltein May 4, 1935. Adams lived the remainder of his life in the
Hawaiian Islands, where he married three times and left many descendants. He was given the Hawaiian name
Alika Napunako Adams. His first wife was Sarah Kaniaulono or Kale Davis, daughter of
Isaac Davis. Two of his marriages were to Sarah Ulukaihonua Harbottle and then to her sister Charlotte Oili Harbottle (died 1893). Both were daughters of Papapaupu (or Papapaunauapu, the adopted granddaughter of King Kamehameha) and John Harbottle, another Scotsman serving as Honolulu pilot. By his account he had 15 children; 10 were still alive at the time of his death. He had a home on what was named Adams Lane in 1850, in his honor, a small lane in downtown Honolulu next to the
Hawaiian Telephone company building at coordinates , as well as in Kalihi Valley. Adams died October 17, 1871. He is buried next to his friend and fellow Scotsman
Andrew Auld in the
Nuuanu Cemetery. Their common tombstone contains the following inscription in the
Scots dialect:"Twa croanies frae the land of heather, Are sleepin' here in death th'gether." One grandson of Lucas was Air Force General Benjamin B. Cassiday Jr., Another grandson is Nainoa Thompson, who revived the ancient Hawaiian craft of instrumentless navigation and founded the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which sponsors voyages by traditional Hawaiian sailing wa'a (canoes) Hokulea and Hawai'i Loa. Another was Paul R. Cassiday, trustee of the
Campbell Estate. ==See also==