http://armandtrousseau.wifeo.com/ Site internet consacré à :
A R M A N D T R O U S S E A U ( 1801 - 1867 )
"Ne croyez pas trop à la parole du maître, ne restez pas des écoliers serviles ; allez, voyez, comparez."
GEORGES TROUSSEAU
SON FILS
1.BIOGRAPHIE GENERALE
Georges Trousseau est le fils d'Armand Trousseau. Il est né à Paris en 1833 et est décédé à Honolulu (Etat d'Hawaii USA) le 4 mai 1894.
Quelques observations de Georges Trousseau sur l'île d'Hawai'i auront un écho jusqu'en France. Voici ce que précise le bulletin de l’académie de médecine (51ème année 2ème série tome XVIII page 484) en 1887 :
"Le Dr Trousseau, établi à Honolulu, écrit que la lèpre n’est ni contagieuse ni infectieuse mais par une contradiction immédiate, il ajoute qu’une personne prédisposée peut la contracter par cohabitation en fumant la même pipe ou en mangeant et buvant avec le lépreux etc. et il conclut que l’isolement est le meilleur moyen d’arrêter les progrès de la maladie."
Voici l'extrait d'acte de décès de Georges Trousseau (inédit) :
République Française, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, Etat civil (loi du 8 juin 1893) Iles Sandwich, Traduction
Extrait du registre des actes de décès de la ville de Honolulu : Acte de décès du Docteur Georges Trousseau, citoyen français, âgé de soixante-et-un ans, décédé le quatre mai mil huit cent quatre vingt quatorze à Honolulu et inhumé au cimetière de Makiki. Pour extrait conforme : Honolulu, le 14 mai 1894. L'Officier de l'Etat civil, signé : C. 13. Reynolds. Suivent les légalisations. Pour la traduction conforme à l'original : Paris, le 21 juin 1894. Pour le sous-directeur chargé du bureau des traducteurs du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères (L. I.) Signé : Glaser.
Pour copie conforme : Paris le 4 novembre 1896, Pour le Ministre : le chef de bureau délégué, H. Rais
2.GEORGES TROUSSEAU
VOYAGEUR DU BOUT DU MONDE
PREMIER ARTICLE
"Le fils de Trousseau
Les "Notes intimes sur Trousseau" m'ont rappelé de vieux souvenirs sur son fils Georges, que j'ai connu ; ces souvenirs sont tout à son éloge, peut-être intéresseront-ils le public. Le voici :
J'étais à Paris, passant ma thèse, au moment où est survenu l'évènement malheureux qui a transformé l'existence de Georges Trousseau. Je fus envoyé, peu après, en Calédonie, pour embarquer, comme médecin-major, sur le Marceau. Cet aviso faisait alternativement, avec un autre bâtiment de la station, le courrier mensuel de l'Australie. J'eus occasion de voir Georges Trousseau chez notre confrère, le Docteur Laure, ancien médecin de la marine de l'Etat, établi à Sydney. Trousseau était alors docteur en médecine, reçu en France ou en Australie, je ne sais. La place était occupée par notre ami Laure et un vieux réfugié du coup d'Etat, le docteur Müller, qui pratiquait avec succès l'ophtalmologie. Voyant qu'il n'y avait rien à faire là, il partit pour la Nouvelle-Zélande et alla aux mines, non comme mineur, mais comme médecin, passant sa vie à cheval, gagnant pas mal d'argent ; mais, imitant ses nouveaux compagnons, il achetait des parts de claims à droite, à gauche, partout à mesure que l'argent arrivait, espérant tomber sur un bon lot, sur un filon extraordinaire. A ce jeu, il perdit ce qu'il avait gagné. Fatigué, ne voyant pas d'avenir pour lui dans ce pays, il écouta les conseils de ses amis et partit pour Honolulu. Cette Odyssée, il me la raconta plus tard lui-même.
....
DEUXIEME ARTICLE (EN ANGLAIS)
Vous trouverez ci-dessous, dans son intégralité, l'article biographique le plus complet consacré à Georges Trousseau (en anglais). Il a été rédigé par Jean Greenwell, en 1991, historien de l'Etat d'Hawaii, lequel a su se procurer une impressionnante documentation.
Une traduction en français de cet article est en cours d'établissement par Guillaume Fleury et Stéphane Belrose que je tiens à remercier bien chaleureusement pour leur contribution.
*****
JEAN GREENWELL
Jean Greenwell, West Hawai'i resident and an associate of the Kona Historical Society, hascontributed several articles to the Journal.
Extrait : The Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 25 (1991)
Doctor Georges Philippe Trousseau,
Royal Physician
Dr. Trousseau was a charming and very able man … much thought of by everyone …
From notes kept by W. Herbert Purvis, Kukuihaele, Hawai'i, 18791
Of the Dr. George Trousseau... I need only say, that he is an adventurous Frenchman, with whose printed record in Paris, and moral career in Honolulu,
I will not soil this paper.
Statement of John L. Stevens
U.S. Minister to Hawai'i, 18922
DOCTOR GEORGES PHILIPPE TROUSSEAU a physician and friend of several of Hawaii's monarchs, often provoked such dogmatic and diverse opinions as those expressed above. This article will explore his life, particularly those years spent in Hawai'i where he was often in the public eye. Georges Trousseau was born in 1833 to a prominent Parisian family. His father, Armand Trousseau, a distinguished physician and surgeon, was also the author of medical books used throughout the world.3
Georges Trousseau at the age of 21 married Edna Vaunois, who was also from Paris. At the birth of his two sons, Armond and Rene in 1856 and 1857, his profession was listed as an agriculteur, perhaps indicating a gentleman farmer since his home address was in the center of Paris.4 He was to follow his father's profession, however, and graduated in Paris as a physician in 1858.5
In 1865, Madame Trousseau was legally separated from her husband.6 Shortly after his father's death in 1867, Trousseau left France for Australia, penniless. What his life was like in Australia has not been discovered, but it appears not to have been a prosperous time since Madame Trousseau loaned him money on three occasions while he was there.7 The well-known name of Trousseau in medicine must have preceeded him to Hawai'i. Almost immediately upon his arrival in Hawai'i in 1872 from Auckland, New Zealand, he was appointed by the Board of Health to serve as Port Physician for Honolulu.8 Smallpox had recently been introduced to Hawai'i from San Francisco. Doctor Trousseau handled this epidemic with expertise and soon had the disease under control, there being but 37 cases and only 18 deaths.9 This was Trousseau's first encounter with the Board of Health. He was associated with the Board for the next 20 years, often serving as a member and for a short time as its president.
In his capacity as a physician, he also cared for the inmates of the insane asylum and supervised the leper treatment center, both located in Kalihi.10 Doctor Trousseau was called on as a consultant by Doctor Ferdinand W. Hutchison, Minister of the Interior, during Kamehameha V's last illness and was at the King's bedside when he died.11 King Lunalilo, who succeeded Kamehameha V, appointed Trousseau a colonel on his personal staff.12 Following Lunalilo's brief reign, Kalakaua was elected King of the Hawaiian Islands, and Trousseau was his physician and became a close friend. Trousseau was truly a royal physician.
This talented man had many interests other than medicine. In the mid-i87os, he gave up his Honolulu medical practice and moved to Kona, Hawai'i, where he purchased a sheep and cattle ranch high on the slopes of Mauna Loa. He later became a part owner and manager of a sugar plantation in Hamakua, Hawai'i.
The last years of his life were spent in Honolulu where he hadreturned to the practice of medicine. But, again, medicine did not command his complete attention. In 1890, the first ostriches for his ostrich farm in Kapahulu, near Waikikl, arrived. These valuable birds caught the public's fancy, and they received a good deal of attention in the local press.13
It was Trousseau's outspoken support of Queen Lili'uokalani and the royalist position, however, that generated a great deal of criticism toward him during the overthrow of the Monarchy and the period following in which the annexationists controlled the government.
Trousseau died at his home on Punchbowl Street in 1894. He had made out his will earlier in the year and left everything to his mistress, Makanoe, the widow of Kaaepa.
Vue du centre d'Honolulu avec en rouge le tracé de Punchbowl Street : c'est donc ici que se trouvait la dernière maison de Georges Trousseau et là où il mourut en 1894. Comme on peut le voir, cette rue est située en plein centre.
THE BOARD OF HEALTH AND LEPROSY
To return to his years as a Honolulu physician, in 1873 Doctor Trousseau served with E. O. Hall, Samuel G. Wilder, and Charles Gulick on the newly appointed Board of Health. Early in February of that year, he was appointed by the Board to be in charge of the medical care for the Kalihi Leper Asylum.14
In 1865, the legislature of the Hawaiian Islands had passed "An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy." This law called for a place to be set aside for the isolation of those found to have leprosy in order to curb the spread of the disease.15 It was not until 1873, however, on Doctor Trousseau's recommendation, that a vigorous effort was made to segregate lepers.16
In March of 1873, Doctor Trousseau and Samuel Wilder gave a report to the Board of Health of their recent visit to Moloka'i. Trousseau strongly urged that the only method at all likely to be successful in the possible extermination of leprosy was "the immediate, energetic and to, a certain extent unsympathetic isolation of all who were afflicted with the disease…,"17 It was not long after this renewed effort at segregation began that the following article appeared in the Hawaiian and English language newspaper, Nuhou:
Considerable excitement was roused on Wednesday last by the report of an uprising of lepers at Kalihi, and of an attempt to shoot Dr. Trousseau …
Among the suspected lepers detained at Kalihi for treatment and probation, was one Jim, a well known shipping agent and boat-boy, who has long been suspected of having the dread disease. The Doctor appointed for the purpose decided that he had had it and during his visit on Wednesday fixed on him as one of those to be exiled to Molokai. Jim violently resisted the fatal decree, and pleaded in vain, that he was the victim not of leprosy, but of awa drinking, and finally in reckless despair, attempted to shoot Dr. Trousseau, and being by God's providence foiled in his fell purpose by the accidental dropping of the cap off his pistol…
We are happy to hear that the brave doctor escaped unhurt…18
The year of 1873 Proved to be a busy one for the Doctor. In April, he was appointed "medical charge" of the Insane Asylum at Kalihi with a yearly salary of $1,200.19 He was also serving as a staff doctor along with Doctor Robert McKibbon Jr. at Queen's Hospital. Nuhou noted that the hospital was "under the intelligent direction of the hospital physicians, McKibbon and Trousseau." 20
Dr. Trousseau frequently visited the leper settlement at Kalaupapa on Moloka'i. He took a special interest in Peter Kaeo, the Dowager Queen Emma's cousin, who was a patient there.21
In July, a column written by Dr. Trousseau appeared in the Advertiser which expressed his views on leprosy. He stated that leprosy is not infectious nor contagious in the true sense of the word, merely by contact. He went on to say, however:
The promiscuous habits of the natives, and their renowned hospitality are such, that they are pretty sure to catch the least contagious of diseases. Isolation, and thorough isolation, as the Board understands it, and is carrying it out, will be one of the most efficient means of arresting the progress of the disease...22
After working with lepers for many years he modified this opinion and felt he could no longer support the practice of segregation.23
ROYAL PHYSICIAN
By mid-August of 1873, became apparent that King Lunalilo was extremely ill. Doctor Trousseau was quoted as saying, "he cannot live very much longer, unless he totally abstains from the use of intoxicating drinks."24 Lili'uokalani, the future Queen, wrote, "By the advice of Dr. Trousseau, the king's physician, it was decided to go to Kailua; and thither went the royal party..."25 Trousseau accompanied this stately group and stayed with Lunalilo at Hulihe'e in Kailua, Kona, from mid November to the middle of January 1874. After about two months, it became apparent that Lunalilo was not going to recover, and the royal party returned to Honolulu where Lunalilo died on February 3.
On February 12, 1874, Kalakaua was elected King of the Hawaiian Islands. It was a bitter election between Kalakaua and the Dowager Queen Emma. Following the election, a huge crowd gathered at the courthouse, and a riot ensued. The riot was even126 tually quelled with the arrest of about ioo of the protestors. Sanford B. Dole described Kalakaua as a timid man and said that following his election to the throne of Hawai'i he was found by C. T. Gulick and Doctor Trousseau hiding in a wooden house opposite the palace.26 Another account of that incident said that David Kalakaua hid in Doctor Trousseau's home during the election and the riot which followed.27
Throughout 1874 and the first half of 1875, Trousseau remained active with the Board of Health and the Kalihi Leper Asylum. In the spring of 1874, he accompanied King Kalakaua on a visit to the leper settlement on Moloka'i. Nuhou reported:
The King kindly spoke to his suffering people and having caused an especial medical examination, several were pronounced by Doctor Trousseau as no longer showing any leprous indications… Dr. Trousseau is indefatigable in his investigations. He shows the spirit of the true man of science. He handled filthy cases in order to illustrate to medical observers particular points… 28
Not long after this visit, Trousseau recommended to the Board of Health that all kokua (helpers), who accompanied afflicted loved ones in order to care for them, be removed from the leper settlement. This was a controversial statement and certainly an unpopular one with the patients at Kalaupapa.29
RANCHING IN KONA
Near the end of September in 1875, Trousseau resigned from the Board of Health and moved to Kona on the island of Hawai'i.30 In October, he negotiated a bill of sale with Charles Wall for $12,500 for 6,500 sheep, 2,000 goats, horses, mules, beef cattle, and pigs, and a $6,000 mortgage on the lease of a large acreage in mauka (inland) Keauhou.31
Perhaps it was about this time that Trousseau entered into a relationship with Makanoe and her husband Kaaepa. The Hawaiians call this punalua, an agreeable association in which two women, often sisters, share one husband, or, as in Makanoe's case, two men share the affection of one woman.32 It may have been during Trousseau's two months stay in Kona with Lunalilo that he first met Makanoe and her husband. This proved to be a long-lasting union. Kaaepa died in 1894 just a few months before Trousseau's death.33 Makanoe, Trousseau's heir, buried her husband and Trousseau side by side in a wrought iron fenced plot at MakikiCemetery on O'ahu.
Both Makanoe's and Kaaepa's names appear on the LanakilaChurch membership roll in 1875. There is, however, a small notation by each of their names; by Makanoe is written " 'oki" (excommunicate), and next to Kaaepa is "hihia" (trouble or entanglement).34 So, in spite of the agreeable punalua relationship they apparently had with Trousseau, it seems not to have been looked upon aspono or morally correct in the eyes of the church.
Trousseau was actively involved with his ranch lands from 1875 to 1879. A number of improvements were made on the property. A road was constructed which ran from Kanahaha, a sheep station on Mauna Loa, to the beach at Kainaliu. This old cart road is used by jeeps today and is known as the Trousseau Trail. At Kanahaha there was a wool press. The wool was baled there and transported by cart to KainaliuBeach, from where it was shipped. At Kainaliu Trousseau had an attractive thatched roof house built on a stone platform. Roof iron later replaced the thatch, and the house stood for many years, eventually serving as a storehouse for honey.
Several other houses were built by Trousseau on the Keauhou land. At Pulehua, about two miles from Kanahaha, he constructed a comfortable and picturesque house that was used for years by ranchers until it burned down in 1980.35 Contact with the royal family continued even from this isolated location. Trousseau wrote, "King Kalakaua appealed to me to form a cabinet, once coming all the way to Kona, Hawaii, all alone, but for a native retainer, to a place 5,000 feet up Mauna Loa…36
There were also trips to Honolulu. Found among Queen Emma's notes was this memo about the classes for Native women that were organized by the Ladies Guild of St. Andrew's Cathedral:
We have a women's English class and mens also at our priest's house. The two numbers 100 now. (Kalehua's) wife says Doctor Trousseau's mistress who is in one of the classes told them that the Doctor praises the effort very much on our part…37
In April of 1877, Trousseau received word of the death of his mother. He considered returning to Paris and wrote from the Keauhou sheep station to his friend Alexander J. Cartwright, a Honolulu businessman:
Although my financial situation is going to be altered a great deal I wish she had lived many more years to enjoy her money that neither myself or my sister need. I might go to Paris to settle the business there but I would certainly return and remain in the Sandwich Islands now my home. I have up here a business in which I have confidence and that I like and will carry out.38
Trousseau had a great deal of correspondence with the Department of Interior regarding land while he was living in Kona. He added several kuleana (property, claim) to his property as well as a lease from the government on a large piece of land in the ahapua'a (land section) of Honalo adjoining his Keauhou sheep ranch.39
In June of 1877, m e LanakilaChurch deacon's meeting minutes reveal that Makanoe came before the church officials with mihi (repentance). She was accepted back into the church family, and soon after, her son Keoki (the Hawaiian spelling of George) was baptized. Makanoe and Kaaepa were named as the parents. In October of the following year, Makanoe's name was again brought forward for discussion by the deacons. This time she was excommunicated from the church for committing the sin of moekolohe dkea (blatant adultery).40
Early in 1879, Trousseau sold all of his holdings in Kona to Henry N. Greenwell.41 In a little over three years, he had increased his livestock to 11,000 sheep, 5,000 goats, 14 horses, 10 mules, and 70 beef cattle, plus 3 pigs.42 Besides the animals and land, he included in the sale numerous buildings and growing crops of every description with the exception of one-half the growing taro which he reserved. He also kept for himself the Kainaliu beach house which he later gave to Makanoe.
THE SUGAR PLANTER—HAMAKUA
In the spring of 1879, shortly after the sale of the sheep ranch, Trousseau bought out two sugar planters at Kukuihaele on the Hamakua coast. He became partners in the Pacific Sugar Mill with the Purvis family. Trousseau had an excellent relationship with John Purvis and his son Herbert. In October, he was appointed manager of the Sugar Mill Company and moved into the manager's house. Near the end of the month, John arrived and wrote, "Put up by Dr. Trousseau, the Manager, a singularly gentlemanly well informed and active man in mind and body."43
Herbert Purvis was actively involved in the plantation and wrote about the partnership, "I was fortunate in this arrangement as Dr. Trousseau was a man much thought of by everyone and under his authority I learned much."44
The plantation thrived for a time, and the share holders of Pacific Mill agreed that Doctor Trousseau's salary should be raised to $250 per month.
John Purvis left Kukuihaele in the spring of 1880. He noted in his diary, "Left Kukuihaele about 10 A.M. where I have been since October under Dr. T.'s most hospitable roof and whose agreeable lady did much to make time pass agreeably..."
By late summer, however, the mill was experiencing some difficulty. John received letters from Dr. Trousseau and Mr. Schaefer, their agent in Honolulu, giving a somewhat discouraging account of the difficulties encountered at Kukuihaele due to defects in the furnaces of the mill.45
Young Purvis wrote, "We continued to extend our planting operations under money advanced from our Agents in Honolulu and assisted by my father till Dr. Trousseau suddenly and unexpectedly, in 1881 decided to leave and gave me the option of purchasing his half-share of our plantation."
The Saturday Press in Honolulu headlined, "Manager Pacific Sugar Mill at Kukuihaele, Hawaii—resigns and is presented with a gold watch by employees." The story followed:
Doctor Trousseau who has been manager of the Pacific Sugar Mill at Kukuihaele for 3 years past on severing his connections with the plantation was presented, by employees, most of whom have been on the plantation during the entire period of his management, with the handsomest gold watch and chain to be had in Honolulu on which is engraved the following inscription 'Presented to Doctor Trousseau by his friends and employees at the Pacific Sugar Mill in token of their respect and esteem February 1,1882..46
Early in 1881, Trousseau's estranged wife started proceedings in Paris, France, to regain money she felt was owed to her by her husband. She claimed at the time of their legal separation that he was already in debt to her for a large amount and that since that time she had paid for or given her husband other sums of money. Among the various amounts due her was 750 francs paid by Madame Trousseau to redeem Trousseau's own watch and chain as well as his father's from the pawn office of Marseilles.47 On March 17, Trousseau deeded several pieces of land he owned in Kona over to Makanoe.48
In July of 1882, a discontinuance was filed in the First Circuit Court of Honolulu because an agreement had been reached in March between Madame Trousseau and Doctor Trousseau regarding the money owed to her by him. At that time, he paid her a portion of his debt and promised to continue paying off the rest as he was able. This was, however, the only payment he ever made, and the large debt was left to continue to grow.49
HONOLULU
By May of 1882, Trousseau had resumed his medical practice at 73 Punchbowl Street, opposite the Makiki gate of Queen's Hospital. He was reappointed by the Board of Health as Port Physician for Honolulu.50 At this time, Walter Murray Gibson was President of the Board. He shared Trousseau's opinion concerning the segretation of lepers and often expressed these thoughts in his newspaper Nuhou.51
In January of 1885, Father Damien, on a visit to Honolulu from the leper settlement on Moloka'i, accidentally scalded his left foot and felt no pain. Doctor Trousseau, who was supervising the leper treatment center at Kalihi, diagnosed Father Damien as having leprosy.52
It was in mid-1885 that J . Marion Sims's book, The Story of My Life, reached Hawai'i. Sims, a pioneer in gynecology, had been president of the American Medical Association and a friend of Dr. Trousseau's father. A number of pages were devoted to the praise of the senior Trousseau: " …the great Trousseau, one of the greatest physicians of the age, a man endowed with physical beauty as well as fine intellect, etc.53 …Following this commendation of the senior Trousseau, Sims had this to say about the son Georges:
He had an only son, who was a scape-grace. He was a gambler and every thing else that was bad. His father was worried to death with his dissoluteness and foolish extravagance, and had to pay enormous sums of money to extricate him from his disgraceful orgies and gambling complications. He was married to a fine women, who ought to have made any man happy, but he neglected and made her miserable.
Near the end of the chapter about the senior Trousseau, he added:
He had not seen his son for a long time before he died. About a fortnight or three weeks before this event his son went to one of the gambling hells of Paris and lost all his money, and more than he could pay besides. He became desperate, rushed madly from the scene of disaster determined to end his miserable existence; but, on second thought, he concluded, when he got into the cool way of the Place de Concorde, to write parting lines to his wife and mother. On reaching his apartment he accordingly wrote to each that he had been unworthy of them, and that he would be no more by the time they received his notes. They naturally supposed that he had committed suicide. His poor father died soon after this, and his unworthy son saw a notice of his death in a London paper the next day; and I saw the tall, handsome, wretched man bending heart-broken over his great father's coffin …
Georges Trousseau wrote to Doctor George Fitch, resident physician at the Board of Health, commenting on Sim's book:
Sir, I hear from various sources much at the Drill of the Honolulu Rifles a day or two ago you mentioned what Marion Sims says about myself in his posthumous book, which book I have read, and own. I have the greatest respect for the memory of Marion Sims, who was one of my father's friends. One thing I always have had a horror of has been to sail under false colors, there fore I own that I am the person mentioned in his book, and that most of his accusations although written in a sensational way are true. Whenever people have desired to know my past history, I have made no secret of it, and you will understand that had I not, as well as many in this underworld, a skeleton in my closet, I would not be in Honolulu, as you will admit, after reading whatever you have read, that if I had been wiser, I might by this day have in Paris a far different position from the one I have in this little corner of the earth.
I will rectify only a few statements of Marion Sims accusations.
My poor father died, not of grief on my account (I know by personal experience that nobody dies of grief) but from cancer of the stomach. I never left my father's bedside for the last two months of his life, gave him myself every hypodermic injection he had to get, as often as every two hours during the last fortnight and he was in our house 13 Rue Cassmar in Paris during these last two months.
My father never knew much of my affairs and died believing me rich and provided for forever.
The rest is true with the exception that I never drank and lost my money, no one else's, at the club, in stock speculation, at the Golden -- and on the race course.
My father died June 23,1867.
In July of the same year, after providing for the education of my two sons, the eldest now a successful occultist in Paris, I left for Australia penniless, came here very poor in 1872 and think Dr. Fitch, that in these nearly 20 years, I have lived down my past life. If you do not think so others do…
Yours Very Truly, G. Trousseau.5
By 1886, Trousseau had settled back into Honolulu city life. Henry Greenwell from Kona called on him in his Punchbowl Street home and noted in his journal, "Dr. Trousseau has a picturesque house or houses, and the rooms are most tastefully fitted up. He has quite a talent for architecture and interior decoration." 55
Trousseau was appointed President of the Board of Health on July 7, 1887.56 This appointment resulted from the arrest of Walter Murray Gibson and his son-in-law, Fred H. Hayselden. Gibson, who played such a prominent role in King Kalakaua's regime, had been serving as head of the Board and Hayselden as the Board's secretary. They were arrested on charges of embezzlement of public funds.57 President Trousseau announced to the Board the day of his appointment that he was unable for the present to proceed with current business of the office on account of the keys, papers, and other materials being still in the possession of Hayselden, in custody at the O'ahu jail.58
Later in the year, Doctor Nathaniel B. Emerson, a missionary descendent, replaced Trousseau as President of the Board and thanked him for his able and valuable services rendered during his tenure as president.59 Trousseau remained a member of the Board.
In September, a group from the island of Kaua'i requested a leper settlement be established on their island. Trousseau strongly opposed this petition. He continued to propose the complete segregation of lepers on Moloka'i.60
Although no longer president, Trousseau remained active on the Board of Health and introduced many motions. Lorrin A. Thurston, a member of the Board, and Trousseau often backed each other's proposals,61 although Thurston had helped to engineer the 1887 "Bayonet Constitution" which drastically reduced Kalakaua's powers. Thurston would later became Trousseau's ,adversary.
Trousseau was again serving as Port Physician. He stated for the benefit of the Board that there was no salary attached to the office of Port Physician and that he was at liberty to charge what fee he liked although the usual charge was $25. He said it was a matter entirely between the ship or agents and the Port Physician, the Board of Health having nothing to do in the matter.62
In December of 1887, Trousseau resigned from the Board although he stayed in close touch with them and was often invited to meetings as a consultant during the following year.63 He remained a member of the Examining Board of Physicians and testified before the Board of Health in that capacity on June 15, 1888. At that particular meeting, regular business was postponed, and the matter of segregation of lepers and the treatment of lepers was taken up. Trousseau stated that in his opinion every leper should be sent to Moloka'i and treated there.64
Trousseau still served as Port Physician in 1889 and 1890 and dealt mainly with Japanese immigrants.65 It was around this time that he along with others helped to revive the sport of yachting in Honolulu.
THE OSTRICH FARM
The first ostriches for Trousseau's famous ostrich farm arrived in mid-1890 on board the Australiafrom California.66 In these Victorian times, great value was given to the feathers of these birds for ladies' hats and for decoration, and Trousseau hoped to make this a profitable enterprise. The farm was located in the Kapahulu area near the present zoo. The following year Captain John Morriseau,Trousseau's nephew, who was on leave from the French Army, came to Honolulu to assist the doctor with his ostriches. The public became very interested in the birds, and the local newspapers kept a close account of their progress.67
In 1892, Morriseau was recalled to duty in France. The ostrich farm began to suffer, and Trousseau's great expectations for its success did not materialize.
REVOLUTION, 1893
Trousseau wrote a lengthy account of the revolution and the events which led up to the overthrow of the Monarchy in a memorial directed to James Blount, the United States Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands. Mr. Blount had been sent by the President of the United States to investigate the events leading up to the noverthrow of the Monarchy and what part officials and the armed forces of the United States may have played in it. Trousseau's opinion, however, was initially unsolicited. Blount testified regarding Trousseau's statements:
There was a communication he sent. I did not like it. I never said a word to anybody about this paper from this physician, and I never sent for him. I made it a point not to get acquainted with him for some time after that occurred. For some time he used to come to the hotel, and for a long time I never met him… I must add this qualification: Learning much later on that Trousseau and other persons were with the Queen when she learned of the landing of the troops, I sought from them the effect on her mind and on the minds of those about her. For this purpose I asked Doctor Trousseau to write me his recollections of this matter.68
In his initial statement to Blount, Trousseau wrote:
Almost daily, to my personal knowledge, meetings were held at Mr. Stevens's house on which the possibilities of a peaceful revolution with the prospects of annexation [to the United States] were discussed. Prominent at these meetings were the Chief Justice, Mr. Dole, Mr. Thurston, Mr. [Alfred S.] Hartwell, [Charles] Carter and others…,69
In his drawn-out memorial, Trousseau also expressed his opinion of the missionaries to Blount:
As far as the missionaries proper are concerned, they brought exactly nothing. They were housed and fed by the natives, their children tended for them, their churches built them free of expense. They were given land by the people, who served them, did all the most menial work without compensation, drew them about in hand carts to church and to their social entertainments, and paid them besides a tax of 10 cents a week per head for each adult all through the districts over which they had spiritual control….
Trousseau blamed sons of the missionaries for the revolution:
The revolution was made by Messrs. Dole, Thurston, W. O. Smith, C. L. Carter, [Albert F.] Judd, all sons of missionaries, who owe the whole of their social and pecuniary position to the natives… In their respective professions as lawyers they were never able to make a living.
The doctor added:
These people on the whole are good enough people, honest, I dare say on any subject in which their ambition or their interest is not directly connected. But they are all suffering from a very serious complaint of a swelled head, incurable I'm afraid...
Contradictions to Trousseau's statements appeared in Honolulu newspapers later in the year. Copies were sent to the United States Senate and were recorded in the testimony given before the committee on foreign relations.70 Dole, Judd, and Hartwell each denied that they had met with Stevens to discuss annexation.
Trousseau's letter, dated December 28, 1893, written in answer to their denials, also appeared:
Hon. S. B. Dole, President of the Provisional Government: Dear Sir, When I made to Mr. Blount the statements you refer to in your letter of the 27th, I believed them to be correct, as my information came from a source that I could not consider but reliable. In spite of difference of opinion and bitterness of feeling on my part engendered by the vile abuse I have been submitted to by your political side, I have always considered you as a gentleman.
You say that you attended no meetings at Mr. Stevens's house; let it be so; I accept your word for it.
Very respectfully yours, G. Trousseau71
Added to his outspoken memorial was his defense of Queen Lili'uokalani. Mr. Stevens, during his testimony before the Senate committee, made numerous slanderous attacks on the private character of the Queen. Trousseau disclaimed any impropriety committed by the Queen and informed Blount:
That Mr. Stevens believes these stories I strongly doubt. They suit his purpose. If he is not wholly responsible for them, he has accepted them, without control, from Sereno Bishop, and others who know better… The whole matter, Mr. Blount, is an outrage that makes an honest man's blood boil.72
These statements, no doubt, triggered Mr. Stevens's derogatory comments about Trousseau cited earlier.
In spite of Trousseau's strong royalist sympathies, he was asked by the Provisional Government to again serve as Port Physician for the Board of Health and on the Board of Physicians for examining lepers. But in July of 1893, he resigned from the Board of Physicians. His short letter of resignation appeared in the Advertiser along with the following editorial comment:
The resignation of Dr. Trousseau from the medical board of examiners of leprosy was tendered at the meeting of the Board of Health yesterday and accepted.
Accompanying his resignation was a long private letter, in which the doctor stated reasons for his course. The letter in question referred directly to the late exhaustive report on leprosy by the Indian commission, which holds that leprosy is non-contagious by inoculation. The doctor certainly has the courage of his convictions, if he holds this view, for it is well known to be against the consensus of the medical opinion of the world. The board refused to allow the publication of Dr. Trousseau's letter without his consent. It is to be hoped the doctor will allow its speedy publication, as it raises important questions, which are of interest here and which cannot be fairly discussed if the doctor allows his light to be hidden under a bushel.73
In this private letter to W. O. Smith, an attorney who was appointed President of the Board of Health, Trousseau stated that his opinion regarding leprosy had never changed and that he had merely been abiding by the law of segregation all these years. He wrote that he could see no advantage in the segregation of lepers, "hence my resolution to be no more a party to a measure that I think useless and unscientific."74
Trousseau continued to hold the position of Port Physician. This motivated the editor of the new Hawaiian Star to write under the headline, "The Monarchists Must Go":
Doctor Trousseau, an avowed Royalist, still holds the job of Port Physician and pulls down between three and four thousand a year. How much of this money goes to support one of the Royalist organs he of course will not say. How much time its possession gives to him to invest anti segregation doctrines and other schemes inimical to the Provisional Government may only be inferred. It appears that while he enjoys his fine public income, several Annexationist doctors who bore arms in 1887 and again in 1893 are left out in the cold. Any one of these could serve as Port Physician with credit to himself and loyalty to his employers.
Two days later, the editor continued his attack on Trousseau:
Can it be that no annexationist doctor, of the proper medical attainments could be persuaded to take the place of that unconscionable Royalist, Dr. Anti-Segregationist Trousseau? We have heard the official income of the Port Physician rated all the way from $5,000 to $15,000 a year. . . . By much searching could not the Government find a physician to accept this tempting billet?— One who would not use his means to discredit the cause of annexation and oppose the tenure of his employers?75
Following this last onslaught by the Hawaiian Star, Trousseau handed in his resignation. The Board officers were not all in agreement whether or not to accept it. Feelings ran high. One member announced that if Trousseau's resignation was accepted he, too, would resign; yet another said if it was not accepted he would leave.76 Finally, a consensus was reached. The Board passed this resolution:
Resolved that the Secretary of the Board acknowledge the receipt of Doctor Trousseau's letter tendering his resignation as Port Physician of the Port of Honolulu and to inform him that his resignation has been accepted and to state to the doctor that the Board desires to express its high appreciation of the able manner in which he has discharged the duties of his office and to thank him…77
This ended Trousseau's long association with the Board of Health.
The Hawaiian Historical Society was founded in 1892, and Trousseau became one of its early members. Years earlier he had been an active member of the Natural History and Microscopical Society, serving as its corresponding secretary. King Kalakaua was chairman of the organization. The purpose of the latter society was to collect artifacts of stone, calabashes, and even feather capes. While Trousseau was in Kona, he must have discovered the "Cave of Idols" on the land of Keauhou. The following statement regarding wooden images is recorded in the BishopMuseum's collection of Hawaiian Ethnological Notes :
… because they were so heavy that they could not be taken anywhere, they were kept in secret caves in the mountains of Kona, Hawaii and stone images were made as substitutes for the wooden images. Some of the wooden images were found in the upland of Kainaliu by the French doctor who was raising sheep on Hualalai.He took them all.78
Robert Louis Stevenson made a return visit to Hawai'i in the fall of 1893. Stevenson shared Trousseau's enthusiasm for the Monarchy. He took no notice of the Provisional Government and declined to see President Dole. Trousseau was consulted by Stevenson as his physician, and they held long conversations in French.79
Makanoe's husband, Kaaepa, died in the spring of 1894. It was not long after his death that Trousseau made his will. He left everything to Makanoe, the widow of Kaaepa: "My insurance policy is already transferred to her and the house at Makiki belongs to her by deed." He instructed the executers of his estate, "Let my funeral be as inexpensive as possible and bury me in the MakikiCemetery lot belonging to the native woman, Makanoe, who is living on my premises." He concluded:
Now you fully understand that all my Property after all debts paid goes to the woman Makanoe. Pay the mortages, do not let her hold any thing but perfectly clear sell every thing except what furniture she wishes to keep for her own use, and above all be kind and good to her. I die poor and I am only sorry for her sake, as I never had any love for money and always had enough. I thank you both for the trouble you will take and wish you good bye. As far as I am concerned I am tired of life and wish for death.80
The will was witnessed by A. J. Cartwright and his son Bruce on March 8,1894.
Trousseau died two months later on May 4, just after his 61st birthday. Unfortunately for Makanoe, most of his property was encumbered by large mortgages. Several papers carried his obituary.
The sketch appearing in the Advertiser stated that he had been ill for several weeks, and it was believed that his death had been caused by an overdose of sedative.81 The Hawaiian Gazette gave this account of the funeral:
Laid at Rest The Funeral of the Late Dr. Trousseau Largely Attended. The funeral of the late Dr. George Trousseau took place yesterday afternoon from the residence on Punchbowl Street. During the day a large number of people called. Three o'clock was the hour named for the funeral to take place and long before that hour the house and grounds were crowded with people from all walks of life. The body was encased in a handsome casket which rested in the parlor. It was surrounded by many floral pieces.
Out on the lawn, the Government Band was stationed and when the body was being carried to the hearse a dirge was played. The funeral cortege was a long one. It was led by a squad of police followed by the National Band. Then came the hearse and carriages. The body was interred at the MakikiCemetery [fig. 2]. The services of the Catholic Church were held at both the residence and grave site…
This was followed by a list of pall-bearers, most of whom had been Royalist sympathizers.82
It was not long after Trousseau had been laid to rest beside Kaaepa that Madame Trousseau petitioned the court as the legal heir to his estate. The petition was finally settled in March of 1897.
All parties agreed that upon payment of one-sixth of the purchase price (of the real property to be sold) to Madame Trousseau she would release her right of dower.83 The public auction of the real estate took place on April 3rd and in most cases for far less than the value Trousseau had placed on it. A small item appeared in a local paper, "Catamarans are not in demand just now. One belonging to the estate of Dr. Trousseau was sold on Saturday for $10."
Makanoe eventually moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where one of her daughters lived. She died there in 1899 at just 41 years of age. She left land on O'ahu and Hawai'i, all of which had been given her by Georges Trousseau, to her daughter Hanna Kaaepa of Utah. Hanna was instructed to see that her sister, Emilia Prosser (nee Emilia Kaaepa), and her brother, George Kaaepa, each receive $100. Emilia and George, both lepers, resided at Kalaupapa on Moloka'i.84
The last 20 years of Trousseau's life spent in the Hawaiian Islands were often troubled. He was constantly plagued with money problems. Though a man of vision, ready to try new ventures, he apparently used very poor judgment when it came to business matters. He had a cross section of friends, both foreign residents as well as Native Hawaiians, as was evident at his funeral. He faithfully supported the Hawaiian Monarchy and stood up for the royalists which caused bitter feelings among many of his associates who backed the annexationists. It must have been very disappointing for him to see so little progress in the treatment of leprosy, particularly since two of Makanoe's children were victims of the disease. Perhaps it was because of this disenchantment with the medical world that he lost his will to live.
Photo de la tombe de Georges Trousseau à Honolulu.
J'ai découvert qu'une rue nommée "Trousseau Street" existe à Honolulu, en hommage à Georges Trousseau ! Elle est matérialisée par le trait rouge sur le plan ci-dessus, et est située à la base du "Diamond Head".
Autre vue de "Trousseau Street" : c'est le trait rouge ci-dessus.
NOTES
1 W. Herbert Purvis, unpublished notes concerning time spent at Kukuihaele,
Hawai'i, during the years 1879-1882: copies of notes owned by Sherwood
Greenwell, Kona.
2 Lorrin A. Thurston, Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution (Honolulu: Advertiser
Publishing, 1936) 402.
3 Francis J. Halford, M.D., 9 Doctors and God (Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1954)
303-4.
4 Three documents attesting to the birth of Georges Philippe Trousseau and his
sons, Armand Henri and Rene Adolphe, Extrait des Minutes des Actes de Naissance,
Prefecture du Department de la Seine, AH.
5 PCA, obituary, 5 May, 1894.
6 First Circuit Court, Law 1942, Trousseau vs Trousseau, AH.
7 First Circuit Court, Law 1942, Trousseau vs Trousseau, AH.
8 Trousseau arrived on the Nevadaon May 8, 1872: F, 1 June 1872; Board of
Health Minutes, hereafter referred to as BHM, 25 May 1872, AH.
9 BHM, 11 July 1872.
10 BHM, 8 Feb. 1873; IDLB, 5 Apr. 1873, AH.
11 R. A. Lyman, "Recollections of Kamehameha V," in Third Annual Report of
the Hawaiian Historical Society (1895) 19.
12 Certificate from Lunalilo to Dr. Geo. Tousseau, 6 Feb. 1873, A.H.
13 PCA, 27, 28, and 30 June 1890.
14 BHM, 8 Feb. 1873.
15 Linda W. Greene, Exile in Paradise: The Isolation of Hawai'i's Victims and Development
of Kalaupapa Settlement, 1865 to the Present (Denver: U.S. Department of
the Interior, National Park Service, 1985) 12-3.
16 Halford, g Doctors and God 303-4.
17 BHM, 1 Mar. 1873.
18 Nuhou, 4 Apr. 1873.
19 IDLB,5 Apr. 1873.
20 Alfons L. Korn, The Victorian Visitors (Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1958) 310.
Doctor Robert McKibbin Jr., a court physician and a friend of Kamehameha
IV, served as a surgeon at Queen's Hospital in the 1860s and 1870s; Nuhou, 11
Apr. 1873.
21 Alfons L. Korn, News From Molokai(Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1976). There
are many references to Trousseau in the letters between Queen Emma and
Peter Kaeo.
22 PCA, 12 July 1873.
23 Board of Health Letters, 15 July 1893, AH, hereafter referred to as BHL.
24 R a l p h L. K u y k e n d a l l , The HawaiianKingdom, vol. 2,1854-1874, Twenty Critical
Years (Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1966) 259, n. 64; Henry Peirce to George
Fitch, no. 220, 2 Sept. 1873, USDS (United States Department of State) Dispatches,
Hawaii, vol. 25, AH. Peirce, a supporter of David Kalakaua's successful
campaign for the throne, accompanied the King to Washington, D.C.
in 1874 on behalf of a reciprocity treaty.
25 Liliuokalani, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (Boston: Lee and Shephard, 1898)
39-
26 Ethel M. Damon, Sanford Ballard Dole and His Hawaii(Palo Alto: Pacific
Books, 1957) 127.
27 Alfred S. Hartwell, "Forty Years of Hawaii Nei," in 54th Annual Report oj the
Hawaiian Historical Society (1945) 17.
28 Nuhou, 21 A p r . 1874.
29 BHM, 20 Aug. 1874.
30 IDLB, 29 Sept. 1875.
31 G. Podmore, "A Narrative on Keauhou 2, North Kona, Hawaii," 1964, ms.
written for the Bishop Estate trustees, copy in Kona Historical Society.
Charles Wall, who came to Hawai'i in the late 1850s, held lease 271 from
Charles R. Bishop and J. O. Dominis, administrators of the Estate Kamehameha
V, 15 May 1873; Bill of Sale, Charles Wall to George Trousseau, 21 Oct.
1875, Bureau of Conveyances, Honolulu.
32 Providing insight to the term punalua are Mary Kawena Pukui, E. W. Haertig,
M.D., Catherine A. Lee, Nana I Ke Kumu, vol. 2 (Honolulu: Hui Hanai):
90-1, and E. S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui, The Polynesian
Family System in Ka 'u, Hawai'i(Rutland, VT: Chas. E. Tuttle, 1972) 56-7.
