[2] After Richard H. Stanley died in office in 1875,[4] he was appointed to be Attorney General for King David Kalākaua from February to December 1876, when he was replaced by Alfred S.

[7] After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, he served on commissions to lobby for annexation by the United States, was president of the Board of Education, and commissioner of public lands.

[6] He bequeathed a book fund at Harvard College Library in his name, focusing specifically on South Seas literature.

[10] He was a pitcher on the Harvard baseball team, and won 11 championships of the Hawaii Tennis Association.

His book Hawaii Past and Present, on the history and people of Hawaii, is dedicated to "My Father: Lifelong friend of the Hawaiian People; foremost among those who have laboured for the upbringing of the Islands—his unselfish devotion is the inspiration of his children.

"[12] He also had a daughter Beatrice who was born July 30, 1888, married Burton Edgar Newcomb, and died June 8, 1931.