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*Dictated by Papa (Emil de Harne) to Mary de Harne Walsh: Before the year 800 A.D. the lands forming the country of Harnus or Haerne were held in fief by the Abbey of St. Peter of Ghent from the King of France and were mostly situated in Artois. At about 800 A.D. however, the Normans drove the monks away and occupied the land. After many years the King of France, wishing to regain his lands, gave out an edict granting these lands in fief to whoever reconquered them from the Normans. In this our ancestors succeeded well and were created Counts of Haerne. They prospered so well that they were called “reguli” – small kings. Two Michels de Harnus went to the crusades, one with Godfrey de Bouillion, the other with Louis IX (St. Louis) of France. All we know about the family de Haerne for the next several centuries is that Michel de Harnus set fire to his castle in the 16th century. Michel’s deed was the result of a war between the Kings of France and Spain. Since the Counts of Harnus held lands in fief from both Kings, the King of Spain (either Charles V or Philip the Great), being with his army in the vicinity of Harnus, sent a herald to Count Michel requesting hospitality. Michel answered, “Say to the King that it is impossible, as there is no more castle of Harnus.” He then set fire to the buildings, furniture and documents. When that was done he went to the Abbey of St. Peter of Ghent and became a monk. When Michel became a monk he bequeathed his title and all his possessions to the Abbey, thereby leaving his younger brother, from whom our branch of the de Haernes descended, to earn his bread by the sword. The de Haernes settled in Ypres and were generally government employees. Between the years 1793 and 1815, great grand Uncle Antone (who died three times) lived. We descend from his brother, who had many children. The eldest one, Desire (a priest), was, on account of writing against the Dutch government (Belgium and Holland were one then), obliged to flee, disguised as a horse merchant, to France. When Belgium became independent, Desire was elected a member of Congress to frame the Belgian Constitution and later became a Representative, until his death. He was also director for a school for deaf, dumb and blind girls. (Papa often spoke of him. He used to visit the school with Uncle Desire). Another son, August, died “Doyen of Ninove”, where he had a dozen priests under his direction. Three daughters died as nuns. There remains Louis, from whom we descend. He died as Governor of the District of Till-Roulers. Of his marriage with Mathilda Roman were born: Armund, who served as a soldier under Pius IX and died the editor of a newspaper in Canada.
End of Dictation *Emil de Harne dictated the above about 1916 to his daughters Mary de Harne Walsh and Josephine de Harne Jones. It subsequently appeared sometime before 1922 in Josephine's diary, and then appeared again in the 1960s in a history on the family prepared by Mary for a family reunion.
Information of the family furnished by Mary de Harne Walsh: Of the above mentioned, the only ones who were known to have remained in Belgium were: Werner (no children), Michel (one daughter) and Celin’s children, Joseph and Marie Louise. Two or three of Armund’s children lived in Canada. One of them, Fernand, is the head of La Globale Campagnis D’Assurance, in Montreal. Fernand has two sons, Jean and Michel, and one of his nieces is a nun. He has several grandchildren. There remains in Belgium Michel’s (now deceased) daughter. She is Mm. M.L. van Nispen tot Savenaier, 52 Avenue, Elizabeth Le Zonte, Belgique. Papa, Emile Antoine Marie Ghislain de Haerne, was born in Echlo, Belgium on October 17, 1847. He was the son of Ludovicus (Louis) Henricus Longius de Haerne and Mathilde Marie Ghislain Roman. At the time, Louis was 30 years old, having been born in 1817 at Ieper (Ypres), and he occupied the position of the king’s district commissioner of Echlo. Mathilde was 21, having been born in 1825 at Drongen. The family moved from Echlo to Turnhout, Belgium on May 27, 1849. Papa was well educated. He attended Louvain University and the University of Brussels. He was a bookkeeper. When he arrived in the United States, he lived in Ohio; and it was there that he was robbed of his watch, stickpin (with coat of arms), and papers pertaining to the family. He moved to Portland, Oregon. He had friends there, but when his classmate, Father Sylvester, invited him to Hawaii, he accepted. He went to Halawa, North Kohala where he taught English at a private school run by Father Sylvester (this was the first English-speaking school in the district). Emil married Francisco de Jesuz Camacho on August 28, 1886. Her brother Manuel attended the private school where Emil taught, and it was thus that he made her acquaintance. Frances was almost 18 at the time, having been born on December 24, 1868, in Lovada Cruzeira, Madeira Islands. When Frances was about ten, her parents, Clement Gomes and Anna Ferreira Camacho, left Madeira, sold their bakery and winery near Funchal and left Madeira. Clement and Anna and their four children--two boys and two girls--sailed for Hawaii on the British ship Ravenscrage. The Ravenscrage had 419 souls on board: 176 were children. There were many relatives with them. The boat sailed around Cape Horn and took 123 days to reach Honolulu, on August 23, 1879. Emil, his wife and daughter Mary, who was about two years old then, moved to a homestead they bought at Hualua, near Hawi and about nine miles from Halawa where Frances’ family lived. Emil was offered a job (principalship?) at Sprecklesville, Maui. Frances had to stay on their homestead for several years or forfeit it. Emil was finally transferred to Honomakau Public School where he was principal for many years. When he retired, he opened the Hawi Post Office. Daughter Josephine was his assistant. Paul also helped. On August 15, 1914, the whole family of ten children moved to 1245 Wilder Avenue, Honolulu. Mother decided the children had to be educated, and the only good schools were in Honolulu. It was a good move, but she missed her homestead and all of its beauty--the fields of corn, vegetables, and hundreds of trees, bushes, flowers, etc. On November 10, 1918, Emil died after a long illness. He was buried on Armistice Day at the old Catholic Cemetery on King Street. Frances died on December 22, 1957 and was buried near daughter Louise at Diamond Head Cemetery, when she was about 90 years old.
Remembrances of Mary de Harne Walsh about mama (Francisco Camacho de Harne) Mother was born on December 24, 1868 in Lovada Cruzeira, Madeira Islands. Her parents, two brothers and sister and herself left Madeira on the vessel Ravenscrage for Honolulu. They landed in Honolulu on August 23, 1879. Mama had a faint remembrance of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. From her birthplace, which was on a hill, she could see Funchal lying below. From the home, it was not visible, but from the terraces around the home it could be seen. She remembers Funchal extending far out into the bay, where many fishing boats tossed about in the sea. A winding road beside her home led to several hills. On one of them there was a road to a church named “Nosa Senora da Monte”, which impressed her as being very large. There was a life-sized statue of the Savior lying in a tomb, and many other statues. There were no seats and people sat on the floor, which was made of square, colored marble. The men stood at the back of the church. On the way to this church, there was a small, miraculous statue, “Nosa Senora da Monte” near a pond. People believed that the waters were healing. There were many trees, birds, and running water near the statue, which gave a child an awesome feeling. Mama’s home was near the main highway. It was made of stone. The house was very large and had been purchased from priests by her maternal grandfather and grandmother, John Ferreira and Maria Ferreira. The house had two floors. The lower floor was once used as a store by her grandfather. At the back of the store was the kitchen with stairs leading to the second floor where the family lived. There was a balcony in front of the second floor with stairs leading to it. There was a library. It is believed to have been a priest’s home. Before her father left for Hawaii, he sold the place and the man who purchased it, rebuilt it. In the garden, there was a majestic oak tree, as well as a chestnut and a pear tree, many plum trees, red rose bushes, and many other plants. Also, there were jack rabbits who used to hop out from under rocks and bushes and frighten mama. Her father, Clement Gomes Camacho, somehow did not cultivate this land. He farmed on his brother-in-law’s property, which was three miles away. This uncle, Augustine Ferreira, owned a large piece of land. He was seldom home since he spent most of his time in the West Indies where he owned a store. He traded with the natives in a place named Marira, which was somewhere near South America. When the family left for Honolulu they stopped at Argentina, where savages surrounded the ship. Men on board brought out their arms and then fed these hairy, big-toothed people crackers, after which they peacefully sailed away in their canoes. Papa said that they must have been Patagonians. The Ravenscrage ran into a storm and a mast was smashed. When the ship neared Cape Horn, Captain Biggam (British) and the first mate had a fight about whether to sail the Straits of Magellan or around Cape Horn. (To a ten year old it was an awful fight, with blood shed.) They sailed around Cape Horn. Grandfather Camacho had three persons under his care. One was a woman whose husband abandoned ship when it left the harbor of Funchal, Madeira, and her son. She was related to grandfather by marriage. Another was a daughter of his sister. This beautiful girl had a stepfather who made the child’s life miserable. So her mother asked her brother Clement to take her with him to Hawaii. Mama and the other children loved this “red head” because she kept them amused on board. The Portuguese counsel took her to his home to help with the housework, and later this beauty married the counsel’s nephew. Grandfather had two sisters in Madeira who were government teachers. They taught hand work; embroidery and lace making. This is still an important industry in Madeira. They were orphans. After Mother’s marriage, she worked hard on the homestead supervising the planting of sweet potatoes, all sorts of vegetables, and fruit trees. Josephine kept house. She loved to make pies: mulberry, papaya, etc. I helped Mama kneed the bread and bake it in our wood stove. Sometimes, she used the Portuguese oven which was at the back of the kitchen. She usually had a poor neighbor bake the bread for her as it was very hard work. We had pigs and chickens to feed, and a cow and horses. The hired hand did this hard work. Mama made good money from the farm. The laborer took the produce to Hawi plantation, and he always came back with an empty cart and cash. Papa bought the seed from different seed farms in the mainland--kept track of the seasons in which to plant the seeds, etc. He also kept the books. He was not a well man, and he became deaf in his old age. He had a very serious accident when they were married. The roads were very, very poor in Kohala. While driving to Halawa down a steep gulch, the horse stumbled--Mama jumped out, but papa tried to prevent the horse from breaking its legs by holding the horse back. He saved the horse, but he was badly hurt and became deaf later on - and had to retire from teaching. He opened up the Hawi Post Office. Paul and Josephine ran it for him. Paul was given a calf by grandfather Camacho. The calf was put into a ranch (Maulio) near our home. Every time it had a calf, cowboys brought it home, and Paul and Mother milked it. This happened three times. It was sold when the family moved to Honolulu. For the sake of her three sons, Mama gave up her farm as she decided that they had to have an education. Of course, Papa was very ill, and she was getting old and wanted to have her daughters settled. Papa was one of the first teachers to be pensioned. He received thirty dollars per month, but that stopped when he died. So we had some very lean years. Papa was very much liked as a teacher and there is an old pupil of his who always tells me what a very good teacher he was; and another pupil who tells me what a fine family we were, and he wants to hear news of us. After grandfather Camacho died, grandmother Camacho came to live with us. She was very old and had several strokes. In the last months, she was bed fast--an awful burden on mother. She died in 1913 or 1914, about 80 years old. She was a “holy soul” and sang religious songs and poems. Paul still remembers some of the poems she used to recite. I learned to understand Portuguese from her but never to speak it. She learned to read as a girl so she could read her prayer book. She was short, plump, and dark complexioned. She said her ancestors came from Castile. Her people were wealthy and important.
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Historae de Haerne 
Copyright © Michael S. Clark, Ph.D., 1998- - All rights reserved.