from a photograph by G. D. Morse, 1882 He worked for fellow-
German American Claus Spreckels (1828–1908), who maintained a monopoly of the refining of sugar from Hawaii in California. Neuman met Hawaiian royalty when they would come to California to be entertained by Spreckels. Neumann was the
Republican Party of California's candidate for the
United States House of Representatives in November 1882 for the
San Francisco district. However, he was attacked by the
San Francisco Chronicle as being a "sugar coated candidate", claiming he's being used by Spreckels, and was defeated in the election. In 1883, Neumann came to the
Hawaiian Islands to serve as legal counsel for Spreckels who was now the publisher of the
Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, first in the fall for a short visit. He was one of the first
Jewish leaders in the Hawaiian Islands, although in later years he led a more secular life and did not raise his children in the Jewish faith.
King David Kalākaua and other members of the government depended on loans from Spreckels to support their lifestyles. Within days of returning, Neumann was admitted to the bar and appointed as
attorney general of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and a member of Kalākaua's
Privy Council on December 14, 1883. In 1884 Neumann was appointed to the
House of Nobles in the kingdom legislature, and the board of health. He served as envoy to
Mexico in 1884, and investigated forming a consular office in
San Francisco in 1885. Under the new
1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the House of Nobles became an elected office, so he lost his seat, until winning the election of 1892 for one more session. throne room Neumann became the private attorney of the queen after the
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. He was sent to
Washington, DC to protest the overthrow and plead for the restoration of the monarchy. After an editorial in the
Advertiser offended him, Neumann (who had a wooden leg) attacked new editor Henry Northrop Castle (son of
Samuel Northrup Castle) with his cane in December 1893. He defended Liliuokalani and other prisoners in a military tribunal following the failed
1895 rebellion against the
Republic of Hawaii, where she was convicted of
misprision of treason. He advised Liliuokalani to issue a formal abdication, which she did, and the revolutionaries were pardoned. When a circuit judge position opened up, he was passed over for the much younger
William Stanley. After the islands were annexed to the
United States in 1898, he became more resigned to the situation, and applied to be the first attorney from Hawaii to practice before the
Supreme Court of the United States. He did think the
Crown Lands of Hawaii had been seized illegally, a case that is still controversial. Although he had no government position, he was accepted in society enough to become toastmaster of the local
Masonic Lodge, and president of the Hawaii Bar Association. He represented many of the Chinese victims of the
Great Honolulu Chinatown Fire of 1900. He died July 2, 1901. At his funeral he was called "one of the most brilliant men who ever set foot on Hawaiian soil". He was buried in
Oahu Cemetery. ==Personal life and death==