The Caribbean Genealogy Library on St. Thomas will have its Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.
The meeting will feature a discussion with Dr. Aimery Caron on his newest research and book “The Danish Port of Charlotte Amalia II, 1803 to 1823”. This work is a 20-year extension of Dr. Caron’s previous book, “The Danish Port of Charlotte Amalia, 1790 to 1803”.
To conduct his research Dr. Caron used historical newspapers, specifically the Sancte Thomæ Tidende of 1816 and 1817. He identified the names of people in the community within the newspapers and documented the context. He also reviewed government records related to tax collection. In the Danish West Indies, property in land, houses and enslaved people, was registered for the purpose of collecting taxes. By using tax roll documents from 1803 to 1823 Dr. Caron identified the names of, tax paying, white and free people of color living in Charlotte Amalia. Also included in the book is a list of names of free people of color that signed a petition in 1816 requesting specific privileges and relief from certain grievances. The petition was signed by a total 331 free people of color on St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.
In addition to lists of people, Dr. Caron adds context to the history of the period, including information on the British takeover of the Danish West Indies between 1807 and 1815. His book also contrasts the demography, rights, privileges and duties of the whites with the free people of color living in the town.
Dr. Caron is a scientist by education and career. He worked as a chemist, and as an associate professor of chemistry between the 1960s and 1990s. He retired from the University of the Virgin Islands in 2000. He served as the honorary Consul of France for the US Virgin Islands from 1983-2001. Since retiring from university work in 2000, Dr. Caron has dedicated substantial time and effort to researching and documenting the history of the US Virgin Islands. He has published over 20 papers and books on Virgin Islands and Caribbean history topics.
Some of Dr. Caron’s research topics include the French on Sainte Croix in the 17th century, the St. John Slave Revolt of 1733-34 and the French intervention, the Catholic Church on Sainte Croix between 1650-1696, General Santa Anna in St. Thomas, the Amerindians and their legacy in the Virgin Islands, and the German Empire and the American Purchase of the Danish West Indies.
Dr. Caron’s presentation at the Caribbean Genealogy Library’s annual meeting on February 1st at 2pm, will be in a discussion format. He will be interviewed and discuss his most recent book, “The Danish Port of Charlotte Amalia II, 1803 to 1823”, with fellow Virgin Islands historian and author Nadine Marchena Kean. Both Dr. Caron and Mrs. Marchena Kean are members of the Caribbean Genealogy Library and are enthusiastic about the study and preservation of the Virgin Islands’ history, culture and family stories.
For people interested in doing their own research or in seeing digitized versions of the Danish West Indies taxation records used in Dr. Caron’s research on Charlotte Amalia, those can be found on the Rigsarkivet (the Danish National Archive) website. The historical newspapers from the Danish West Indies can be found on the Danish Royal Library website. When looking for records from the Danish West Indies, a good place for researchers to start is https://en.rigsarkivet.dk/guide/the-danish-west-indies/.
The Caribbean Genealogy Library’s annual membership meeting on Feb. 1 at 2 p.m., will also include the election of the 2026 board of directors and a review of library projects. Attendance at the meeting, including the presentation, is free for current library members. The public is welcome to attend at a $5 admission. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Caribbean Genealogy Library is encouraged to visit the membership page of the organization’s website at www.cgl.vi or they can join at the library. For more information about the event and library, email caribgenlibrary@gmail.com.
The Caribbean Genealogy Library is a research library located in St. Thomas, U.S.
Virgin Islands. It was founded in 2000 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The library’s mission is to identify, preserve and provide access to Caribbean genealogy, history and cultural heritage resources for the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean, and to promote and encourage their use for history documentation, education, and scholarship. The library is in building 3 of Al Cohen’s Plaza at the top of Raphune Hill, St. Thomas.
