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Genealogy Guide to US Virgin Island (formerly Danish West Indies)

Gary Horlacher

Background

1493 Columbus' 2nd trip, discovered and named Virgin Islands, "Las Virgines" after St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.
1600s Islands used as a haven for privateers. Dutch and English attempted to start settlements there.
1665 1st Danish colonization attempt to St. Thomas.
1672 2nd Danish colonization of St. Thomas, permanent colony established.
1685 Electoral Prince Frederik Vilhelm of Brandenburg signs 30 year contract to have a center for commerce in the Caribbean on St. Thomas.
1690-1694 Danish King mortgaged St. Thomas to Jørgen Thormøhlen, a merchant
1718 Denmark forcefully occupies and settles the island of St. John
1733 Slave revolt on St. John
1733 Denmark purchases the island of St. Croix from the French
1801-1802, 1807-1815 English occupation of Danish Islands (during Napoleonic wars)
1807 Slave trade ended on English (and occupied Danish) islands
1848 Slave emancipation on Danish islands.
1878 October [black] field worker's revolt on St. Croix.
1917 Denmark sells its West Indies islands to USA for $25 million.

General histories:

  • Knox, John P. A Historical Account of St. Thomas, V.I. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1970 (reprint from 1852 edition). (FHL book 972.9722 H2kj)
  • Lewisohn, Florence. St. Croix under Seven Flags. Hollywood, Florida: The Dukane Press, 1970. (FHL book 972.9722 H2L)
  • Vore gamle tropekolonier [Our old Tropical Colonies]. 2nd Edition, 8 vols. København: Fredmad, c1966. (FHL book 948.9 W2v)

 

Several hurricanes... (40 in last 300 years, in seasons of 20years) 1695 (2), 1707, 1709, 1714, 1728, 1729, 1733, 1738, 1742, 1748, 1772, 1780, 1785, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1798, 1804, 1819, 1825, 1827, 1830, 1835, 1837, 1851, 1852, (1866), 1867, 1871, 1876, 1889, 1893, 1899, 1916, 1924, 1928, 1989 (Hugo), 1995 (Louis), 1995 (Marilyn), 1996 (Bertha), 1998 (George)

Demographic/Nationality Statistics - Neutral power in the Caribbean made it a key place for transactions between major powers that were often at war i.e. English, French, and Dutch.

Census Records

  • Danish Census Records: 1841, 1846, 1850, 1855, 1857, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1901, 1911 (FHL film 0039199...)
  • US Federal Census 1920; (soundex FHL #1831662-1831664; census #1822076)
  • Horlacher, Gary T. & David W. Knight. The 1688 Census of the Danish West Indies, Portrait of a Colony in Crisis. St. Thomas, USVI: Little Northside Press, 1998. (FHL book 972.9722 X2h) List names of each of the planters, their wives, and children, number of slaves, nationality, religion, occupation, and a description of the plantation.
  • Knight, David W. & Laurette de T. Prime. St. Thomas 1803, Crossroads of the Diaspora. St. Thomas, USVI: Little Northside Press, 1999. (972.9722 X22h??) 1803 census of free blacks listing age, when they became free and by whom, proof, when they came to St. Thomas island, etc.
  • 1722 St. John Inhabitants

Church Records

Lutheran Danish People's Church (Folkekirke). Records at the Family History Library include St. Thomas 1691-1920, St. John 1871-1918, and St. Croix 1740-1917. St. Thomas records 1691-1732 published in Personal Historisk Tidskrift 37th year 1916, 7th series, Vol.1.
Dutch Reformed Largest Congregation on St. Thomas & St. John, primarily Dutch inhabitants. Records at Family History Library include St. Thomas 1744-1825 and St. Croix 1764-1814.
Moravian Moravian missionaries went to St. Thomas in the 18th century. They worked primarily converting slaves to Christianity. Christening and other records of slaves. Original records at the headquarters of the church at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Anglican The number of English settlers on the islands increased in the late 18thcentury. Church records include St. Thomas All Saints Episcopal Church 1785-1979. (Church records on St. Croix haven't been microfilmed but are in the landmark society [?])
Catholic Many French settlers came to these islands from French colonies, especially during the Napoleonic era when the slaves on French islands were freed. Catholic records include Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul on St. Thomas 1778-1970.
Jewish Many Jewish people came to the islands from other places in the Caribbean. Although we have no Jewish records on microfilm, there was a Jewish cemetery on St. Thomas for which we have tombstone inscriptions.

Land Lists & Matricals

Land lists St. Thomas 1688-1754, St. John 1728-1739, and St. Croix 1742-1750; matricles 1755-1915 for St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix (1758-1915) available on microfilm at the Rigsarkivet in the West Indies-Guineas Company archives. These records are much like a census record, kept year by year, which makes it easy to see changes on the property. Earlier ones included more family information. They were used for tax purposes so listed information on each of the inhabitants (head tax).

Wills & Probates

Repositories

  • National Archives in Washington DC has many useful items, not well cataloged, including transcripts of early land lists and other records by Westergaard, probate records, and many miscellaneous items (ID cards with pictures). These records are mostly found in Record Group 55.
  • Rigsarkivet (National Archives of Denmark) includes the largest collection of original documents for the islands. They will need to be ordered beforehand. Genealogical records include probate, auction, land lists, matricals, and many other things. Before 1760 most records are in the "Asiatic, West Indies and Guineas Merchant Company Archive". From 1760-1918 most records are in the "West Indies Local Archive".

    Rigsarkivet Rigsdagsgården 9 DK-1218 København K. Denmark http://www.sa.dk/content/us/ 

  • Those researching St. Croix records should contact the Landmark Society on St. Croix that specializes in records and information from that island.
  • A new library just established on St. Thomas may also be something to investigate:
    • Caribbean Genealogy Library 
      6501 Red Hook Plaza PMB-201 
      St. Thomas, USVI 00802-1306

Other Sources

  • Westergaard's Index. About 400 legal sized pages that index DWI inhbitants mentioned in various records, called A List of the Names of Inhabitants in the Danish Westindian Islands from 1650-about 1825. A copy of it is in the National Archives of Denmark and in the public library (Enid Baa's Library) on St. Thomas.

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