The
Malone Family of the Caribbean (BVI)
My Malone family is from the British Virgin Islands. Samson
Malone is my 4th great paternal and maternal grandfather.
He married Sylvia (maiden surname unknown), and they were parents
to at least two boys
(1) Benjamin John Malone, born in 1851 in Tortola
(2) Samson Malone, born in 1876 in
Tortola.
Any other children are still unknown at this point.
My 3rd Great Grandfather (maternal
& paternal)
Benjamin John Malone
Benjamin John Malone is my maternal and paternal 3rd great
grandfather. He was born 1856 in Tortola, BVI to Samson and Sylvia
Malone.
He courted Ann Elizabeth Lettsome of
Tortola, who was born 31 Jul
1852 in Spring Ghut Estate, Tortola to Jeffery and Theresa Lettsome.
When Benjamin was about 19 years old, he married 23-year-old Ann (also
known as Momzelle), on 18 Nov 1875 at the Wesleyan Chapel, East End,
Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
According to stories told to Gloria Malone-Neal by our cousin,
Campbell Malone (Benjamin's great, great grandson), Benjamin Malone died
in a drowning accident near Baugher's Bay (date unknown) - possibly with
two of his brothers. Gloria told me:
"...the three brothers were on their way back from either
Martinique or Guadalupe which had a volcanic eruption and they were
caught in a storm as they sailed into Baugher's Bay. As a result, the
children were provided for by a relative named Sam Malone who lived in
an area called The Hope."
Benjamin Malone and his wife Ann were parents to eight children:
1. Ezekiel "Butcher" Malone who married
Rosetta
Augusta Potter of Tortola, and had at least four children.
2. Frances "Feeny" Malone who married Buckley Lettsome and
had five children.
3. Rebecca "Lovely" Malone who married
Richard
Alexander Potter of Tortola and had nine children with him,
including my maternal great grandfather, Morris Potter.
4. William A. "Happy" Malone, who married Clarita B.
Pickering and had 11 children.
5. John Alfred Malone was born 1874 and married Ann Eliza
Lettsome of Tortola. They had nine children. John was also the father
of two children with Henrietta Venzen of Tortola, and the father of
three children with my 2nd great grandmother,
Messelita
Vanterpool of Virgin Gorda, including my paternal great
grandmother, Ruth Ann Elizabeth Malone.
6. Thomas Leopold Malone was born in 1879.
7. Samuel Malone was born in 1881.
8. Frances Ophelia Malone was born in 1892.
Once
Upon A Malone:
My 2nd Great Grandmother & My Maternal
Malone
Rebecca "Lovely" Malone
Rebecca Malone was born in Tortola in 1884. She was one of
eight children born to Benjamin and Ann Lettsome-Malone of Tortola.
Rebecca was rarely called by her real name. To everyone in Tortola, she
was known as "Lovely," and according to those who knew her, her nickname
spoke for itself! She is my maternal 2nd great grandmother.
On 15 July 1903 at the Road Town Wesleyan Methodist Church,
Tortola,
British Virgin Islands, Rebecca Malone was married to
Richard
Alexander Potter of Tortola, better known as Massah. Richard
Potter was born in 1879 in Tortola to James and Margaret E. Potter.
Rebecca's husband, Richard, died in 1925 of tetanus poisoning; he was
about 46 or 47 years old Rebecca did not remarry and lived for
many years after in Long Look. She died on 26 Nov 1968, 84 years
old, when she died of complications from old age. Her death was
reported to the authorities by her son, Thomas Potter. Rebecca is buried
in Tortola.
Richard Potter and Rebecca Malone-Potter were the parents of nine
children, all born in Tortola. To protect the privacy of their
living children, I have only listed the names of their children that are
deceased:
- Henry "Tess" Potter was the oldest child. He lived
most of his life in the Dominican Republic, and died in May 2004.
- Annette Potter is deceased. I know nothing else of
her other than she married a man whose surname was "Smith."
- Dennis Potter who was born in 1905 and died in 1957. He
was the father of 11 children with his wife.
- Morris Alphonse Potter, who was my great grandfather.
He was born in Tortola in 1909 and died there in 1991. He is
buried in the Greenland Cemetery on Tortola. Morris was the husband of
Eunice Frett-Potter, and father to 12 children with his wife, and to
six children born in Tortola and St. Thomas before he was married.
Click here to read more
about the life of Morris A. Potter.
- Thomas Leopold Potter was born in 1912 and died in 1986.
He was married and had children, but the names of his children are
unknown to me.
- Elijah "Mease" Potter, who was born in 1925 and died April
2000. He never married and had no children.
Malone x 2:
My 2nd Great Grandfather & My Paternal Malone
John Alfred Malone
Rebecca "Lovely" Malone is my second great grandmother - daughter of
Benjamin and Ann Lettsome-Malone. She married Richard Potter of Tortola,
and one of their sons,
Morris Potter,
is my maternal great grandfather.
Now, Rebecca's brother, John Alfred Malone, is also related to
me. In fact, he is my paternal 2nd great grandfather! He was the
father of 14 children with three different women.
John Alfred Malone's first two children (twins) were with my paternal
great great grandmother,
Messelita L.
Vanterpool, whom he met on his visits to Virgin Gorda. John
Malone and Messelita Vanterpool had three children, all born in Virgin
Gorda. Fraternal twins, Ferdinand and Ruth Malone, were born in February
1901, and Ellery Malone was born in March 1906. John and
Messelita's daughter, Ruth Ann Elizabeth Malone is my great
grandmother.
About
Ruth A. E. Malone: As a young girl, Ruthie lived in Road Town,
Tortola with a family member named
Benjamin
"Benny" O'Neal (father of the late J.R. O'Neal). After the
birth of her first daughter in Tortola, Ruth decided to move back home
to Virgin Gorda and her three other children were born there. At
home in Virgin Gorda, she worked what was called a ground (a garden)
and grew food to support her family. At one point, she also traveled
back to Tortola to work for Benjamin O'Neal - the same family member
that had provided her boarding years ago. When she returned to
live in Virgin Gorda for good, she continued to live near her
O'Neal family
members, until 19 May 1982 when she moved to St. Thomas to live in the
Tutu area with her daughter, granddaughter, and great grandchildren.
Ruthie lived in St. Thomas until her passing in 1995. She is buried in
the Western Cemetery #3.
About Ferdinand Frederick Malone: Ferdy was the
fraternal twin of Ruth Ann Elizabeth Malone. He was raised in
Anegada by a woman named Miss Delly Norman. He lived in Anegada all
his life, but as far as we know, he had no children. When he died, his
twin sister Ruth had his body brought back home to Virgin Gorda where
he is buried.
About Ellery Malone: Ellery born in 1906. Economic
conditions in Virgin Gorda were tough during those years, so when
Ellery was just three months old, she was given to an O'Neal/Flax
family who lived on the neighboring island of St. Thomas. Her name
was changed to "Eloise" Malone and this is the name she was known by.
Eloise was a homemaker and a dressmaker. She was married first to Hans
Guiler and later married Andrew Pike, a politician and
electrician. Eloise died in 1973 and was buried in the Western
Cemetery #1, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She was the mother of
six children.
Back in his hometown of Tortola in November 1902, John Alfred Malone
married Ann Eliza Lettsome (daughter of Robert Causer Lettsome and
Catherine Rabsatt-Lettsome)
In history's odd way of repeating itself, John's wife Ann drowned,
just as his own father did many years before. Ann E. Lettsome-Malone drowned 31 Jul 1933, carrying her grandson, Alonzo
Hendrington (son of Elzeria Malone and Herbert Hendrington) who was ill,
to a doctor in Road Town, Tortola. Of the two men that accompanied her,
Alcedus Malone, a cousin, also died at sea. He was the son of a woman
named Clarins and a Malone father whose name is unknown. Gloria
Malone-Neal told me:
"...although I've found the record for Alonzo's death, I never
found the record for his grandmother's (Ann). I'm told that's because
they actually found Alonzo's body which washed up on shore but never
found his grandmother's. I also haven't seen the death record for the
other adults who also died in the tragedy. However, there's a notation
by Alonzo's record that spoke of an inquest that took place into the
drowning incident."
John Malone and his wife Ann were parents of nine children together
(to protect the privacy of the living, I have only listed those that are
known to be deceased):
1. Elzeria "Weaver" Malone was born in 1904 and is now
deceased. She married the late Herbert Hendrington and had several
children.
2. Abraham Benjamin Malone aka "Benji" was born in 1906 in
Tortola, and died in 1999. Benji left Tortola in the 1920's and
migrated to Santo Domingo. He may have went to an uncle who was
already there. (At the time Benji migrated to Santo Domingo, there was
already a group of Tortola folks who had formed a community in San
Pedro de Marcoris and they looked after each other.) Benji is known to
have had at least four children - one son and three daughters.
3. Nathaniel Atwell "Oyo" Malone was born in March 1907 and
is deceased. Oyo moved to St. Thomas and is thought to be the same
"Nathaniel Malone" who is buried in the Western Cemetery II. The dates
on that tombstone are -7 March 1908 - 15 Feb 2001. (He is buried above
William I. TITUS, Jan 1887 - June 1954), Nathaniel was a tailor in
Savan, St. Thomas.
4. Sarah Rose Malone (known as Rose Malone), born about
1909. According to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census of St. Thomas,
Sarah was born in Tortola and migrated to St. Thomas in 1923. She
lived with her husband William Potter (born about 1896 in Tortola) and
their two daughters in Crown Prince Quarter. Her daughters were
born on St. Thomas. Rose died in 1996 or 1997.
5. Catherine Eliza Malone, 1910. Catherine reportedly died
as a teenager, at age 16 in 1926. She was allegedly poisoned.
6. Shadrack Daniel "Shady" Malone, was born in 1912 and he
died in Sept. 2005. He married Amanda GORDON who died in 2003. Shady
and Amanda were the parents of 14 children (one child died in
infancy).
7. Eugene "Bena" Malone, 1919 and is deceased. He lived in
the Bronx, New York.
John Alfred Malone also had two other children with Henrietta Venzen
of Tortola:
1. William "Pepper Sauce" Malone who lived in Tortola and
married a woman named Maria. Pepper Sauce is remembered as being one
of the first people on Tortola to own an automobile (a truck).
2. Lorencena Augusta "Lolo" Malone born in 1903. Lorencena
married Joseph Pickering of Tortola. She is the ancestor of our cousin
and former senator Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, who has been known to
proudly claim her Malone roots.
Monifa thanks the following people for their help researching this
family: Gloria Malone-Neal, who did the bulk of the research on
this older generation of the Malone family of Tortola, Violet L. Thomas,
Adolph Potter, Zelma Potter-Crabb and Beatrice "LaVie" Potter-Donadelle.
