Keeaumoku II

George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku II or Keʻeaumoku ʻOpio (1784–1824) was part of an influential family at the time of the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii. he served as a military leader, and then became a convert to Christianity and Royal Governor of Maui. He is sometimes called Keʻeaumoku III if Keʻeaumoku Nui is counted as Keʻeaumoku I and Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiahiahi is counted Keʻeaumoku II instead.

Life

He was born probably in 1784. His father was Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiahiahi (1736–1804), a noble from Hawaiʻi Island, and his mother was Nāmāhānaʻi Kaleleokalani, the wife of her half-brother the King of Maui, Kamehameha Nui. From his mother he was a related to many of the kings of Maui.

His father had been a counsellor and supporter of Kamehameha I during his early years. As the eldest son of Keʻeaumoku, he succeed his father as a counsellor during the last years of Kamehameha's campaigns in 1804. He was appointed governor of Maui and adjacent islands of Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe by Kamehameha I, also taking over for his father. Some early writers spell his name "Keaumoku". He served as Commander and Admiral of the King's Fleet and fought in the Battle of Nu'uanu along with Isaac Davis.