Edward Griffin Hitchcock was born January 20, 1837, in
Lahaina on the island of
Maui. His father was early missionary
Harvey Rexford Hitchcock (1800–1855), and mother was Rebecca Howard (1808–1890). They were assigned the mission station called Kaluaaha on the eastern end of the island of
Molokai. He attended
Punahou School from 1847 to 1853. He married Mary Tenney Castle (1838–1926), daughter of
Castle & Cooke founder
Samuel Northrup Castle (1808–1894) on April 11, 1862. He managed the family
sugarcane plantation at
Pāpaikou. He was appointed as
Sheriff of the
island of Hawaii on April 5, 1888. In December 1889, deputy sheriff
Rufus Anderson Lyman informed him of the lynching case of Japanese immigrant
Katsu Goto in
Honokaa. Hitchcock tracked down his suspects who were tried and found guilty, but they were later pardoned and freed by the new government. The episode was dramatized in a 2001 play by Eric Anderson "Another Heaven", and a memorial was erected in Honokaa for Goto. After the
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in early 1893, Marshal
Charles Burnett Wilson was viewed as loyal to deposed
Queen Liliuokalani. Hitchcock replaced Wilson as Marshal, the highest
law enforcement officer in the country. His effectiveness at rounding up suspects and his ties to missionaries earned him the nickname "Holy Terror". He lived in the capital
Honolulu while serving as Marshal of the
Provisional Government of Hawaii and the
Republic of Hawaii. One of the first of several uprisings he faced was called the
Leper War. He ordered victims of
Leprosy to the remote colony of
Kalaupapa. Some on the island of
Kauai had to be captured by force. The
1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii, was an organized armed revolt on the capital. After an initial victory by the Royalists, on January 7, 1895, President
Sanford B. Dole declared martial law and employed troops and artillery. Hitchcock eventually arrested the leaders and the Queen. Hitchcock resigned on August 1, 1895, and Arthur M. Brown, who had served as Hitchcock's deputy, became the new Marshal. He returned to his island Sheriff duties, until he was appointed circuit court judge of the island of Hawaii in October 1896 replacing Antone Rosa. ==Death and legacy==