http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Dillingham
Benjamin Franklin Dillingham was my Great-Great-Great Uncle, and was a larger than life figure in Hawaiian Industrial History in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. His legacy is remembered as one of the first industrial men who capitalized on growing Hawaii into what it is today. He had his hands in many different industries and battled through debt most of his adult life.
Benjamin Franklin Dillingham was born in 1844, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where the Dillingham family had lived since coming over on the Mayflower in the 1600s. Massachusetts is all the Dillingham family ever knew, that and farming. BF Dillingham survived the Civil War as a merchant sailor and continued sailing after the war. It was one fateful day, on a stop in Hawaii in 1865, that the 21-year-old broke his leg, after being thrown from a horse, and was left behind by his crew. Dillingham was faced with creating a new life for himself in a new place.
BF Dillingham started working as a clerk in a general store soon after his injury. Within two years, he was a co-owner of that general store. This young man fought his way to a position of leadership in Hawaii. Although he lived most of his adult life on the brink of financial ruin, he managed to come out a successful man. He borrowed money as a young man and remained in debt until he was 68. He held onto his business ventures through natural disasters, depressions, revolutions, and failures. He passed his enterprises on to his sons Walter and Harold, who grew the business substantially.
BF Dillingham used his good connections and personality to live a successful life in Hawaii. His daughter married the future Governor of Hawaii Territory, and his sons succeeded in Hawaiian business and politics. He played a leading role in building Hawaii into what it is today. He started 5 sugar plantations, built the Hilo Railroad, and helped modernize Hawaii into the 20th century. Dillingham’s strongest trait is listed as having “Unfailing Optimism”.
I would hope that I inherited a small amount of the traits that made Benjamin Franklin Dillingham successful. It would seem to me that I am a very optimistic person, and that I truly might have inherited this from this great man. The most amazing part of the story to me is that he could have just given up when he broke his leg. He was in a place where he knew no one and didn’t understand the way things were done. He could have easily justified not caring about where he was, or left Hawaii after his broken leg was healed, but he did NOT. He stayed in Hawaii because he saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime. I think that I share this in common with my relative as well. Although he and I could have given up easily, faced with the things that we have faced, we both made the decision to make the best out of our situation. I cannot think of a more valuable trait to have because even in times of failure, we try to make the best of it.
harrypetersonleadership 
Nice history. I worked with your “cousin” Ken Dillingham in San Diego. He was originally from Hawaii; went to the Punahou School, etc. He introduced me to the Dillingham history one day when he said he was going go visit his Dad, who lived on the Big Island where he had a Ranch. I envision a cute comfortable ranch of maybe 11 or 12 acres, maybe with some horses and coffee plants.
I asked him how big it was, and he said “4,000 acres.”
Holy Cow!
That was the start of my interest in Hawaii and introduction to the history of the Hawaii Dillinghams. Have you read James Michener’s book HAWAII?
Ken filled me in that some of the main characters in that book are his (& your!) relatives .. and that the stories are actually true (although the names are changed to protect the innocent, so to speak – LOL).
Thereafter I was very interested in Hawaii. I later visited the Islands and wound up buying a bunch of property, ultimately I and my wife built our dream home on the Big Island at the 3,000 foot level in a town called Waimea-Kamuela.
A lot more to the Dillingham story. Ken Dillingham graduated high school with Barack Obama. And there’s quite a backdrop story to that. Some other time.
Good luck to you in your career Harry!
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