DAGS land surveyor follows in famous ancestor’s surveying footsteps

Meyer Cummins, a land surveyor in the Land Survey Division at the Department of Accounting and General Services has an interesting genealogy that connects him with major historical figures in Molokaʻi’s land history.

He is the descendant of R.W. Meyer, a German man who was sailing to California in the 1800s but, after a number of delays, ended up on Maui and made his way to Molokaʻi – settling there. R.W. Meyer married Kalama Waha, a Hawaiian aliʻi, and had 11 children, the eldest son being Otto Samuel Meyer. That’s the direct lineage that DAGS’ Meyer Cummins comes from. 

RW was a land surveyor and engineer, and starting in 1866, surveyed hundreds of acres of land on Molokaʻi. Meyer was one of the few surveyors producing maps and legal descriptions in Hawaiʻi after The Great Mahele paved the way for the private ownership of land. Decades later, his descendant Meyer Cummins would join the family business by himself becoming a land surveyor. 

 “I’ve analyzed his surveys and am amazed at how well done they were,” said the modern Meyer. (Yes, over the decades, the last name somehow became a first name for some descendants). “It was uncommonly good for that era. Other surveyors — or those purporting to be surveyors — had gaps in their boundaries, used faulty surveying equipment, or made land descriptions so poor people couldn’t determine what parcel of land was being described or where it might be located.” 

RW stands out in Molokaʻi history for other reasons. Residents may know his name because there is a museum that honors his work as a sugar farmer, Commissioner of Fences and Road Supervisor, rancher, and supply agent to the Hansen’s Disease colony at Kalaupapa. RW was the first farmer on Molokaʻi to grow and export coffee and sugar commercially, and was hired by King Kamehameha V to manage a vast ranch on the island known as Molokaʻi Ranch.  

Meyer talked about what it’s like to work in the Land Survey Division that holds his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s old maps, and what the impact of those very accurate maps means for Molokaʻi families trying to determine their land boundaries. He also embraces the connection to the ʻaina and how it informs the work he does. “It’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle,” said Meyer. 

Meyer just became a lawyer and wants to specialize in real property law. He will be leaving DAGS at the end of September to clerk for Justice Devens at the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. Meyer hopes to return to DAGS one day and use his knowledge of the law to better serve the people of Hawaiʻi. “I’d like to learn more about how the legal system works for real people and bring that back to DAGS to become an even better surveyor,” he said.