Glimpses of a West Indian Family History

1 - The project

In 1979, I started climbing my family tree. As time went on, I came to realize the complexity of the task. Gradually the frames of the research widened, finally turning into - Glimpses of a West Indian Family History. The birth of a life long project!

There are several Web sites on the Internet with bearing on Simmons´ families or the name itself. This Web site, however, will focuse mainly on the West Indian occurance of Simmons´ families and their descendants. Moreover some intermarried families will be mentioned as listed below. In addition, there will be useful links to Web-sites and pages of interest.

In the future, I hope we can link all people, each of us with our own background and interest in the Saba culture. Perhaps within the frames of Saba Historical Foundation, coming to you on the Internet. What a challenge - We need to get Saba on the "net"!
(Will, did you get my message? You and Richard are doing a marvellous job on the net - But we need you hooked up in person!)

This research project has been touching areas of different nationalities like:

• Barbados
• British Leeward Islands (like St Kitts, Antigua, Nevis & Montserrat)
• British Virgin Islands
• Dutch Windward Islands (Saba, Statia & St Maarten N.P.)
• French West Indies (here the former Swedish colony of St Barths)
• Guiana (former Dutch, later British territory of Demerara & Essequibo)
• U.S. Virgin Islands (former Danish colonies of St Thomas, St Croix & St John)
• Vieques, off Puerto Rico (former Spanish colony, today U.S. territory)

2 - Simmons´ families, patriarchs & people

• Simmons Families
• .... and thy name shall be Abraham!
• John
• Peter

3 - Allied families, surnames & people

Extensive research has also been carried out for intermarried families or in connction with people as:

Abbott*, Beaks, Benners*, Blyden, Dinzey*, Ekerman, Hassell, Hill, Hjardemaal, Horton, Johnson, 21-knot-Johnson, Lambert, Leverock, Mac Lennan*, Murta, Mussenden, Petersen*, Pfanstiehl, Vanterpool & Wright.

4 - Reference & Appendix section

A research project covering a time-span of almost two decades will create lots of information, and it soon becomes necessary to structurize source materials. So far, this has been done by a section devoted to sources. In addition separate files for geographical areas.

• About the sources
  • Basic W.I. Family History
    Caribbeana, History of the Island of Antigua, The Journal of Barbados Museum and Historical Society (JBMHS)
  • Some Caribbean families
  • Some people behind
    Calmeyer, Hamelberg, Hoff, Oliver
  • The Institutions
    Algemeen Rijksarchief (ARA), Bancroft Library (BANC), Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie (CBG), Centraal Historisch Archief (CHA), Det kongelige Bibliotek (KBD), Kungliga Biblioteket (KBS), Landsarkivet for Nørre Jylland (LAN), Landsarkivet for Sjælland (LAS), National Archives (NA), Public Record Office (PRO), Rigsarkivet (RAD), Riksarkivet (RAS), Universitetsbiblioteket (UBD)
  • Useful addresses
    Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS), Federation of Family History Societies - GB, Nevis Historical and Conservation Society - BWI, St Eustatius Historical Foundation - NA, Stichting voor Culturele Samenwerking (Sticusa) - NL, Swedish American Genealogist (SAG) - USA
  • Reference list
  • Abbreviations, explanations
  • Working notes
    Print-Outs, Distribution list
  
  
• British West Indies (only scattered notes re. Leeward Islands)
  • Extractions from Caribbeana
  • St Kitts Church Records
  
  
• Danish West Indies (today U.S. Virgin Islands)
  • Old street-names in Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas)
  • Census materials of St Thomas
  • Wills extracted from the Card Index File at RAD
  • Burgher-Oaths & Licences of Trade
    Names in Alphabetical order, D:o after place of birth
  • Photos
  • Painters
    American portrait-painter, Eliab Metcalf (1785-1834)
  • Miscellaneous
    Periodical by DVS
  
  
• Dutch West Indies
  
  • Statia
    Maps and Newspapers
    Newsletters of SEHF
  • Saba - general
    Newspaper the Saba Herald
    Index of Life and Adventures of Captain E.A. Johnson, also known as Twenty-one knot Johnson
  • Saban records
    Basic records, Marriage records - observations, Notes regarding lists of extraction, Chronological index of Saban marriages 1830-187?
  • Colonial Guyana
    Sources, History, Opening of Demerara in 1746, Berbice Slave Rebellion of 1763, Maps, The Demerara Registers, Simmons´ appearences, Planters & Plantations in 1759, Alphabetical list of surnames, Alphabetical lists of plantations, Chronological list, Useful books
  
  
• St Barths (part of French West Indies)
  • Maps
  • Paintings, sketches & engravings
  • Photos
  • Blocks & Street-names in Gustavia
  • Gustavia, eastern & southern parts
  • Archives materials
  • Population statistics
    Vocabulary, Sources, History by population figures, Population lists, Population registers, Census lists, The Swedish way of registration
  • Inventories of Estates from RAS
  Brief description of the island St Bartholomew by Per Tingbrand.
  

5 - Web sites

Many home pages by Saban descendants can be found on Internet. Some are focusing on family history, while others describe the Island of Saba, past or present. Still others are business or education orintated.
Entitled Of Saban Descent, some Web sites with bearing on Saban descendants have been geographically listed.

-Where did the Simmons people come from? We cannot say for certain, but the surname is found already in the 1680´s in connection with the small Island of Saba.
Join the following links which will guide you to the Simmons´ cradle in the Caribbean - at least as far as we have found today.

• Saba seen through the eyes of Will Johnson. A senator, local historian and former editor, his book Saban Lore will give you glimpses of passed times.
• Also on Internet, some of the prominent Sea Captains of Saba are pictured by Will Johnson.
• Saba, commonly known as The Unspoiled Queen, is here presented by "her" Tourist Bureau.
• A Venezuelan branch of Saban Simmons´es is brought by cousin Raymond´s home page. Here you can also read about his quarterly magazine devoted to Simmons.

6 - Miscellaneous

• Newsgroup W.I. Surname List is compiled by Vaughn W. Royal.

Within the frames of this family history project, the Caribbean Network was launched in 1992. This book gave a current historical description of some families (marked * above), who married into the Simmons´.
A hand-made edition of fifty copies has been distributed among those who contributed and supported the project. The book was never intended for sale. Public copies, however, are available in:

• The U.S., Library of Congress (LCCN 93-206314), Washington D.C. and The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
• The British Library (at St Panchras), a department of British Museum (1992), London.
• Barbados. The Barbados Museum & Historical Society (1993), Bridgetown.
• The Netherlands. The Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie (1993), The Hague and the STICUSA Collection at The University Library of Zoology (1994), Amsterdam.
• Denmark. The Royal Library (1996), Copenhagen.
• Sweden. The Royal Library and the National Archives (1996 resp. 1992), Stockholm.

Banner credit;