When I attempted to write this book I wondered
if anyone would even be interested buying a copy. Who would want to know so
much about Saba, I asked myself? The first edition came out in 1979 and here
we are ten years later going into an expanded third edition. Much additional
research has taken place since this book was first published. Facts have
come to light concerning the first Indian inhabitants, which now have
justified the tales our ancestors used to tell of the first inhabitants.
Our photo collection has also increased as to
warrant the inclusion of many new photographs. They have their own way of
telling history. When we look at the photographs of the Croquet Club and the
Tennis Club which existed at the start of this century, we see a people who,
without outside help, had built a society for themselves which could afford
them leisure time. Our children have to know that their ancestors were
capable of accomplishing much with very little. The photographs in this book
will help to tell that story. The book has been completely updated and
expanded. Corrections have been made where they were called for. We hope,
indeed pray, that the third edition will meet with the same wide acceptances
as the first two editions have.
Although this book deals with facts and not fiction, I first became
interested in the history of Saba and its people through tales from my
grandmother. She lived in the village of Hell's Gate and I would sometimes
spend weekends with her and my grandfather. After supper she would sit on
her doorstep and would steal a puff or two on an old corncob pipe while I
questioned her about life on Saba when she was a girl, and about stories
which had been handed down to her by her grandmother. She was an avid
reader, and enjoyed recounting stories she had read, and yet she never did
master the art of writing.
I left the island in 1955 to further my education in Curacao, and my
grandmother passed away in 1962. I finally returned to Saba in 1973, better
equipped to take up from where my grandmother and I had left off.
For the interest she instilled in me to delve into our past here on Saba, I
would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my grandmother, Mrs. Agnes
Simmons (1880-1962). I would also like to dedicate this book to my sons
Teddy, Chris and Peter, and to the children of Saba. Hopefully they will be
interested in carrying on and expanding the work I have commenced.
I must thank the late Harry L. Johnson, a former regular contributor to the
Saba Herald for most of the initial research of our association with the
sea. Also Mr. Richard Austin Johnson for his tales of Indians and sea
stories. The chapter Big Jim came about partly through my own research and
also from an unpublished manuscript by the late Mr. Kenneth Bolles. I also
wish to acknowledge the contributions of Captain Randolf Dunkin, the late
Captain George Irvin Holm, and Professor Eric Simmons, all of whom verified
many of the stories of our men at sea, as well as many other senior citizens
of Saba who gladly submitted to my questions about the old days. Where
credits are not given, the articles are taken from the Saba Herald in
interviews conducted by the late H.L.Johnson, by R.A.Johnson and by myself.
I am also grateful to my beloved wife Lynne whose formal education and
patience made the necessary corrections possible and this book more
readable, and finally my thanks to Mrs. Linda Hassell-Bontenbal for doing
such an excellent job on the typing of the manuscript.
The goal of this book is to preserve many of the stories which have been
handed down to us by our ancestors. In this day and age of modern
communications the old art of telling stories the way my grandmother did has
been replaced by the watching of soap operas on television. This book aims
to preserve those stories handed down to us which otherwise would have been
lost.
West Indians today are trying to get to know as much as possible about the
peoples in their region. I hope that in some small way this book, written by
a native West Indian with roots going back some 400 years in these islands,
will contribute to a greater understanding of and among our peoples.
