The story has been told in many ways, by many writers, each copying from the other, over the years. None of these writers did any research. They just wrote what someone had told them. Or someone else had written.

The facts are that in 1848, Dumay Laplace was only three years of age. His brother, Toiny, was not born until six years later.

These two Laplace men were not even the first persons to migrate to St. Thomas. There were quite a few French from Saint-Barth already on the island when these two brothers arrived.

What a joke has been played on the unsuspecting populace!

In the marriage register of the Roman Catholic Church on St. Thomas, we find that Jacques Vitalis (Dumay) Laplace was born in 1845, he died in 1902… We also find that Jacques Vitalis (Dumay) Laplace was married to Marie Augustine Laplace, (a distant relative), on June 5th 1889.Dumay was 44 and Marie Augustine was 19 years. Dumay died in 1902 and Marie Augustine later married Jean Baptiste Brin, on April 27, 1903.

Antoine (Toiny) Laplace on the other hand, was born in 1854, which is six years after he was supposed to have come visiting as a grown man, At his death in 1915, the burial register states that he migrated to St. Thomas in 1865.

Toiny Laplace married Anne Josephine Laplace, sister of Marie Augustine, in April 1894. He was 40 and Anne Josephine was only 16 years of age. After Toiny died. Anne-Josephine married  Leon Brin on December 28, 1915.

It seems both brothers were widowers when they migrated in 1865. Dumay already had a son who was an adult when migration took place.

The father of the Laplace brothers was also Jacques Vitalis Laplace. The name of the mother was not listed on the register. They did not migrate to St. Thomas, only Dumay and Toiny migrated.

Jacques Vitalis Laplace III was married, on St. Thomas, to Elisabeth Laplace, on November 25, 1895. He is listed on the marriage register as being 21 years of age. Jacques Vitalis III is listed as being born in 1874, which would mean that his father, Jacques Vitalis II was 29 years old, when his son was born.

– Anne-Marie Danet

Mrs. Evelyn Hartford Van Patten, was the wife of Lt. Commander Elsworth Van Patten, USN who was second in commander of the Virgin Islands during the last four years of Navy Rule.

Evelyn Van Patten was fascinated by the weaving of straw into hats and bags by the French ladies of the Carenage. She decided to learn about the craft and help the young ladies of the Carenage (See my articles, “Strawcraft of the People of French Heritage“, part 1 and part 2) on this web site.

About the Members of the Club

Family names of the members are their maiden names in all but one case as the lady was already married.

Anne-Rose “Pauline” Bernier was 25 years of age. My Mother, Marie Helene Bernier-Danet was 21 years as was her cousin, Mercellita Bernier. Francellia Greaux was 19 years of age. These four ladies were the teachers and chaperones of the group, who were all 16 years and under.

Three of the members were still children. They were Anne-Louise Ledee, 12 years, Margueritte Duzant, 10 years and Anne-Marie Danet (myself), midway between 5 and 6 years.

Anne-Marie’s mother was the only one who was married before the club was founded. In 1928, Anne-Rose “Pauline” Bernier was married and became Bernier-Greaux.

The teenagers were Pauline “Urise” Greaux, Annicia Cerge and Marie-Josephine “Urise” Danet who were 13 years of age. Margueritte Greaux was 15 years. Juliana Turbe and Anne-Sylvanie Simeon were 14 years of age.

Florina Magras, Marie-Lucina Aubin and Marie Inger Questel were all 16 years of age.

These young ladies and a few others, whom I do not remember, were the Charter Members of The French Colony Girls’ Club. I remember almost all the details of what a day was like at a meeting of the club. I even remember the China porcelain that we used for tea or cocoa in the afternoons. It was white with royal blue motifs of which one was a Dutch windmill.

Thank you Fr. Crespo. In honoring Mrs. Van Patten for her work with the young ladies of the Carenage, you have honored the members of the Club as well.

– Anne-Marie Danet

This book was Fr. Crespo’s idea from the beginning. He assembled a team of persons he knew would work diligently until the project was complete.

When Fr. Crespo asked me to write the early history, I was surprised. Before saying yes, I thought about what it would mean and how some persons might feel hurt because they were not asked. I pondered and I prayed. Finally, realizing that if I did not help him, some items of mis-information might get into the book and add to what was already out there. Eventually, I said yes. I would help him.

We worked long hours, diligently, weeding out all mis-information that was given by others in the community. Besides writing the history of the early years, I proof-read and edited each draft as I received it.

Two other members of the team are Marianne Magras and Theresa (Terry) Richardson who together, coordinated the advance orders and payments for the book. They were swamped. Everyone wanted a copy.

The fifth member of the team, Cindy Richardson, had perhaps the most difficult task of all. She designed the ads and did the layout of the book.

Together, the five of us worked as a team and prayed for guidance. At last, we have a beautiful history book of St. Anne’s Chapel, brimming with photographs, collected from the community, from the early years to the present.

– Anne-Marie Danet

Fishpots were constructed of lianas called Whist. These lianas grew wild in the wooded areas of the islands, on Honduras Hill and on Hassel Island and other nearby islets.

The fishermen would go into the hills to harvest the lianas. These thick vines were debarked and split into thin strips, which were then worked smooth. The strips were then soaked in seawater to make them pliable so that they could be easily woven.

Fishpots were constructed of two panels, each in a hexagonal shape (6 sided). A long narrow panel was woven to connect to the two hexagonal sides. The three panels were sewn together to make a box-like trap. Very small lianas or twists of silk palm straw were used to sew the pieces together. A short, narrow panel was woven to make the funnel, which would allow the fish to enter the trap. This also was “sewn” onto the trap, using twists of silk palm straw.

Once constructed, the fishpot was reinforced with young saplings that had been debarked.  Buoys of light wood were attached to the trap by a length of rope the buoys marked the spot where the fishpot was located, making easier to find them.

–Anne-Marie

On Saint-Barthelemy, since the early days of settlement, the ladies practiced the art of braiding straw and sewing the braid into hats.

The straw used was from the red Latania palm. At that time, only hats were made from the straw on Saint-Barthelemy. When the migrant French came to St. Thomas, they also practiced using the straw to weave braids which they sewed into hats.

Back on Saint-Barthelemy, in 1902, the Rev. Father Morvan introduced the Blue Latania palm which he imported from other islands. It is not certain which islands.

Father Morvan encouraged the ladies to start using the Blue Latania, which is more substantial than the Red Latania. And so the new straw was put into use for braiding and sewing into hats.

According to information on the Internet, the Blue Latania palms  are native to Mauritius. The Blue Latania can achieve heights of 40 feet.

Preparing the straw for weaving: First, the “head” or frond was severed from the tree before it opens. When workers in straw received the head of straw, they separated the leaves each from  the  other, while still on the frond. Then the whole head of straw was hung on a line, in the sun, to bleach until white.

Enterprising French immigrants to St. Thomas, brought seedlings and planted them on the Northside, where there are acres of land available for farming.

While the seedlings grew, the residents continued to import the Latania straw from Saint-Barthelemy and continued making hats for themselves and for sale to the tourists.

During the last four years of Navy Rule in the new territory of the Virgin Islands of the United States, from 1927 t0 March, 1931, the wife of the second in command, on St. Thomas, Lieutenant Commander,  Elsworth Van Patten, USN, took a special interest in the French ladies of the Carenage. (The village was not known as Frenchtown until years later). Mrs. Evelyn Hartford Van Patten was fascinated by the weaving of straw into hats. She wanted to learn more and to encourage the ladies to create new forms straw work.

Mrs. Van Patten organized the younger ladies into a sort of social club, which she named, “The French Colony Girls’ Club”. She induced her husband to ask the Navy to build  a club house so there would be a special place for meetings and activities. The ladies even wore a special uniform for their meetings.

When the club house was ready, Mrs. Van Patten furnished it with tables, chairs and benches. She provided books for the adult ladies and for their children. She provided a tea set of fine china so the ladies could have tea parties in the afternoons. This club was almost like a finishing school for the ladies of the Carenage.

Mrs. Van Patten even furnished a Victrola record player and records.  She taught new dance steps to the ladies. Besides the hats, Mrs. Van Patten ecouraged the ladies to sew the braids into bags of many shapes. She taught them to make a bag in which to carry a thermos bottle. This bag had a cover, which together with the bottom part, covered the whole thermos bottle.

Other bags evolved into many shapes and forms. Mrs. Van Patten taught the ladies to weave the straw into place mats and into ladies’ hand bags and clutches. These went over big with the tourists.

It is amazing how Mrs. Evelyn Hartford Van Patten helped transform the straw craft of the French ladies of the Carenage.

Mrs. Van Patten had been in Hawaii before coming to St. Thomas. She had bought some Hawaiian Hula skirts Now she brought one to the clubhouse and encouraged the ladies of the French Colony Girls’ Club” to fashion a hula skirt out of the Latania straw. The result was an immediate success with the tourists, the Virgin Islands Cooperative and years later, with Carnival troupes in the 1950′s.

Anne-Marie Danet

(To be continued in part two)

Answer: A Spanish gentleman named Don Jose Fuentes.