Henry Nicholas Greenwell (9 January 1826 – 18 May 1891) was an English merchant credited with establishing Kona coffee as an internationally known brand.

[8] When the ship arrived in San Francisco, the crew immediately left and headed for the gold fields, leaving him with goods he intended to sell.

Asher B. Bates was prosecutor, William Little Lee judge, and a jury of British subjects was found for the trial in January 1853.

The few earlier attempts had uneven results, but the Greenwell brand developed a reputation for consistent quality for Kona coffee.

A stone building was built just south of the wooden house, in the traditional land division (ahupuaʻa) known as Kalukalu (for a type of grass that grows there).

[19] The Greenwell family traded in sheep skins and dairy products, eventually using the profits to buy more land in the area.

Coffee only grows in a narrow elevation band, so drier areas above the usual cloud cover were used as pasture land for cattle, sheep, and horses.

[22] Elizabeth Greenwell operated the store after his death, and many children and grandchildren became active in farming and ranching on the nearby lands.

While the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 had caused most large Hawaii coffee plantations to convert to sugarcane, this was not practical in the steep Kona district.

Instead, small plots were leased to individual families, often Chinese, Japanese, or Portuguese immigrants after their labor contracts on sugarcane plantations expired.

Fourth son Wilfrid Alan Greenwell was born 7 November 1878, graduated from Yale in 1905, became a lawyer and married Lulu J.

Leonard Lanchester Greenwell was born 4 December 1884 married Dora Beebe in 1909 and died in January 1975 in California.

Daughter Dora Caroline Greenwell was born 15 October 1870, married Gerald E. Bryant 6 September 1894,[27] and died in 1952.

Francis Radcliffe (Frank or "Palani") Greenwell was born 26 August 1876, worked as a manager of Coffee and Tea plantations and cattle rancher.

He then held management positions at Palani Ranch and organized the Lanihau Properties, LLC real estate company.

[40] Arthur Leonard Greenwell was born 7 December 1871 married Beatrice Holdsworth 12 November 1912, and died 3 June 1951.

Arthur's daughter Amy Beatrice Holdsworth Greenwell (1920–1974) attended Stanford University and served as a nurse in World War II.

[41] Amy established a garden to preserve the Kona Field System, and left it to the Bernice P. Bishop Museum on her death.

[52] Norman's wife Jean Greenwell (1929–2009) was another founder of the Kona Historical society in 1976, and wrote articles on the area history.

Norman's son Thomas Frederick born 2 June 1958 (great-grandson of Henry Nicholas) and his family still grow and sell coffee on a farm adjacent to the original homestead.