Brig. Gen. John H. Soper was born on Nov. 17, 1846 in Plymouth, England. He moved to the U.S. as a child and was educated in Chicago at the Illinois Normal School. In pursuit of new opportunities, he arrived in Hawaii from San Francisco on Dec. 13, 1877, and became the manager of the Pioneer Mill Company in Lahaina, Maui. He remained in the sugar industry across various islands until 1884, when he was appointed Marshal of the Kingdom of Hawaii by King Kalākaua. After resigning in 1886, he entered the stationery business, founding a company that eventually became the Hawaiian News Company. He was reappointed as Marshal in 1888 and played a significant role in suppressing the Wilcox Rebellion in 1889.

With a background in the California National Guard, Soper was commissioned as a Colonel of Infantry on Jan. 23, 1889. Following the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani in January 1893, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the military forces under the Provisional Government of Hawaii. On July 5, 1894, he resigned from this position and, the following day, was appointed by President Sanford B. Dole as the first Adjutant General of the newly formed Republic of Hawaii, initially holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He continued in this role through the transition to U.S. territorial status and was promoted to Colonel on Aug. 7, 1903. At his own request, he retired on April 1, 1907, with the rank of Brigadier General.

In addition to his military and government service, Soper remained active in his business ventures until the Hawaiian News Company was sold to the Honolulu Paper Company in 1925. He lived the rest of his life in Honolulu, where he died on July 27, 1944, at the age of 97. His career spanned the Kingdom, Republic, and Territorial periods of Hawaiian history, marking him as a key figure in the islands’ political and military evolution.

Last updated October 1965