Henry Perrine (H.P.) Baldwin
Year Inducted: 2017
Haleakalā Ranch | Maui
Henry Perrine Baldwin was an entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist, who made a deep and lasting impact on the development of Maui throughout his lifetime and beyond. He rose to a position of prominence as he co-founded Alexander & Baldwin, supervised the construction of the East Maui Irrigation System, and served as President and principal shareholder of Haleakalā Ranch Company following that company’s incorporation in 1888.
Born on August 29, 1842 in Lahina, H.P.’s father was an American Christian missionary, Dwight Baldwin (1798–1886), and his mother was Charlotte Fowler Baldwin. H.P. attended Punahou School in Honolulu and returned to Maui to become a farmer with the hope of earning enough money to go to medical school. This was not to be as he worked in a number of positions in the sugar industry. In 1869, with his business partner, Samuel T. Alexander, he purchased 12 acres in the East Maui, Hāmākua, poko area. In 1870, the partners went into significant debt purchasing another 559 acres to form the Alexander & Baldwin plantation.
With hard work, determination, and strong leadership, the company grew as the partners further incorporated lands on the slopes of East Maui. It was in 1876 that a license was granted by King David Kalākaua to construct a 17-mile long system of ditches, tunnels, and pipes to bring water from East Maui to Central Maui. This granted the competitive edge for the partners to buy out their competitor, Claus Spreckels, incorporating his Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company into their holdings in 1898 and expanding their company into Central Maui.
In 1888, incorporation documents record that H.P. Baldwin was present at the organizational meeting of Haleakalā Ranch as a proposed purchaser of stock. He was then elected treasurer. By 1890, H.P. had purchased a portion of the company and was elected president. Ranch minutes show that he supervised the initial ranch manager, W.F. Pogue, appointed Pogue’s assistant, Louis Von Tempsky in 1895 and took a turn as ranch manager in 1899. He made decisions regarding sustainable numbers of cattle, agricultural diversification and land acquisitions. He approved the deeding of land in Makawao to what is now St. Joseph Church. He remained active in the management of the ranch until his death in 1911.
H.P. is described as a kindhearted man with a deep understanding of human nature. Together with his wife, Emily Alexander Baldwin, he raised eight children. He made extensive charitable contributions during his lifetime and was described as the “Father of Maui.” An article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin from October 1935, described H.P. as “a man known…for his foresight, his enterprise, his energy, his honesty, and his kindliness and charity to all men, irrespective of their race or creed.” An ingrained set of values and steadfast integrity were cultivated early on and demonstrated throughout H.P. Baldwin’s life and beyond. Upon his death, his will made provision for the founding of the Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation, which continues to this day to support those most in need in Maui. In 1916, the Makawao Union Church was completed as a memorial to H.P., and later in 1934, Baldwin High School in Wailuku, Maui was named after this great man.