Short History of St. Eustatius
as told and Handed Down
from Generation to Generation
Compiled by late Clifton. E. Lopes
St. Eustatius
This short history of St. Eustatius 1770 -1990 should not be seen as an exact account of events which took place during that period.
The manner in which those events are told, is for the reader to get a more
vivid picture from an entirely different angle as, related by people who
actually lived in that time.
Historians most naturally would like to tell it with a greater degree of accuracy,
which I'm afraid in this case is limited to what's been handed down from one generation to the other.
I'd like to believe however, that I've succeeded in presenting my readers with an exploratory glimpse into that part of history, where little is known and recorded.
The old folks from whom I got most of my information including my grandfather whose grandfather had been a slave have long since passed to the beyond.
In giving their accounts, very little did they conceive that they were helping to reconstruct events even if not in their exactitude having to do with that colourful period in history surrounding the GOLDEN ERA.
Hadn't it been for those good old souls, these particular details would
have been lost forever.
Because of their readiness to tell all that they remembered, as it had been told for decades readers can now understand the predominate role St. Eustatius played in helping also to forge the history of the U.S.A.
Readers are given a virtual treat as they read about slaves, encounters with ghosts,
tales of BURIED TREASURE,
the relentless deterioration of the island's prosperity,
the first salute by a foreign power to the flag of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the drastic population decline by migrating to other areas.
