Valdemar Knudsen

Knudsen was successful both as a Publisher in New York and as a merchant during the California Gold Rush of the 1840s. Knudsen arrived in Kekaha , Kauai , Hawaii in 1856 . After coming to Kauai , he managed the Grove Farm Plantation when it was owned by Herman Widemann. Some say that Knudsen ran a Brothel from his Plantation , but no one knows to what extent this is true.

Seeking a drier climate, Knudsen bought a 30-year lease on Hawaiian crown lands in the Waimea district where he established a Ranch .

The Kingdom Of Hawaii tasked Knudsen with the removal of Armaments from Russian Fort Elizabeth , east of the town of Waimea . In a letter sent to Honolulu , Knudsen listed an Inventory of the guns at the Fort following a survey made in 1862 . Details of the dismantling appear in the book ''Hawai‘i's Russian Adventure - A New Look at Old History''.

Knudsen married Anne McHutcheson Sinclair on February 12 , 1867 , on Niihau . They had five children, including Eric Alfred Knudsen .

Using an old Hawaiian ditch at Waiele, Knudsen drained and reclaimed about 50 acres on which he and Captain Hans L'Orange planted Sugar Cane in 1878 . This cane, of the Lahaina variety, was the first commercially grown Sugar Cane in Kekaha . This Plantation formed the basis of the Kekaha Sugar Company.

Knudsen's nephew, H.P. Faye , drew up much of the plantation's design. Kekaha Sugar was initially seen as a shaky investment with a need for great amounts of capital to build an infrastructure of Canals , pumps, water systems and other facilities needed to overcome its inherent physical disadvantages. These pioneering years were rough ones for the growers who lacked an abundant water supply on Kauai .

Information About

Valdemar Knudsen