In December 1854, while en route to a mission post in Micronesia, Jane Shipman gave birth to a son in Lahaina, Maui. For the sake of his wife's health, the Reverend William Cornelius Shipman decided to forgo the trip to Micronesia and took his family instead to the island of Hawai'i, to a lonely mission station in Ka'u.

Several generations later, the Shipmans were among the island's best-known families, recognized to this day not only for their contributions to East Hawai'i's civic life, but to a variety of charities and other worthwhile causes.

After poring over hundreds of missionary documents and family papers, Emmett Cahill has pieced together the history of a proud Island family that bears witness to the many personal and public achievements of its members while providing readers with an entertaining record of life in Hawai'i in days past. The Shipmans of East Hawai'i will be of great interest to those concerned with the missionary era and the development of agriculture in Hawai'i and the history of East Hawai'i in general.