During the summer of 1912, many seasonal sugarcane laborers from the British Virgin Islands, working in the Dominican Republic, returned by steamer to St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. SS Prasident At the end of July, the German passenger-cargo ship, SS Prasident departed Kingston, Jamaica with eight passengers en route to Santo Domingo. She picked up at […]
DWI Boats
Carrying Cane Workers ~ 1917
Between 1914 and 1939, the Dominican Sugarcane plantations employed hundreds of seasonal cane workers from the British Virgin Islands! 🇻🇬 According to Canefields of the Dominican Republic, by Will Johnson, the sugar factories in La Romana and San Pedro de Macoris paid between $20 and $30 weekly for six consecutive days of work. In the Leeward islands, the average salary was barely $12 per […]
Sad Sea Catastrophe: The Loss of the British Sloop, SYRIA ~ 1912
The history of the Creque family is filled with intrigue and adventure! However, it also has its fair share of calamities. Six branches of the family have been involved in terrible sea catastrophes! Six Sea Catastrophes In 1902, J. Creque, a fireman aboard the cable ship Grappler, lost his life after Mount Pelee in Martinique erupted. In 1941, a relative of a […]
A Few Lucky Residents Tour a One of a Kind Wonder Before She Sunk ~ 1914
Many generations of our family have loved touring the vessels that anchored off St Thomas. ⚓ Watching movies on the Carla C, climbing through the USS Nimitz, posing with the Cadets on the Horst Wessel or touring the Danish ship, Danmark were highlights for all! When the great, new motorship Malakka arrived in St. Thomas on October 16, 1914, there’s no doubt that family members […]
This Schooner’s Photograph Became a Popular Postcard ~ 1912
After I saw this postcard online of a vessel at the Creque Marine Railway, I thought I would share a recent discovery I made about it. Creque Family Photo Collection In our family’s collection, I found two faded photos of this identical schooner! They were 8×10’s, mounted on yellowing card stock. On the right-hand corner […]