The
Potter Family of the Caribbean (BVI)
The History of Long Look, Tortola, British Virgin
Islands
Home of Our Potter Ancestors
The British Virgin Islands were annexed in 1672. In
1774, the House of Assembly met for the first time in Road Town, Tortola
and this is considered the official date of British settlement of the
British Virgin Islands. The settlers established sprawling cotton and
sugar plantations which quickly flourished (sugar, molasses and rum
became the largest exports) with the "free" labor from imported African
slaves. Inter-island trading in the BVI was also fruitful. The
plantation owners were wealthy, and by 1805, the population of the
British Virgin Islands had exploded to an unprecedented level of 10,520!
By the turn of the century, slavery was becoming
unfashionable as more and more people world wide, recognized the evils
involved with "owning" human beings. Several plantation owners freed
their slaves and either gave away or sold their lands for a fraction of
their value. By the time the Emancipation Proclamation was read aloud to
over 5,100 slaves at the Sunday Morning Well in Tortola, over 63 percent
of the whites had already abandoned the islands, finding it nearly
impossible to run their large plantations without slave labor. By 1844,
the majority had abandoned, given away or sold their properties and left
the islands for good. With the economy in a very sorry state, the former
slaves were left to fend for themselves with properties in various
stages of disrepair, starving livestock and only the land and sea to
sustain them.
The earliest protests against the evils of slavery in
the West Indies and in America came from a small but growing group of
converted Christians called the Quakers. In fact many Quakers freed
their slaves many years before the emancipation act was passed. One of
the first emancipation of slaves in Tortola was in 1766 where Mr. John
Lettsome freed his slaves on Jost Van Dyke.
In 1778 Samuel and Mary Nottingham of Tortola freed all
their slaves, some 58 years before the emancipation act, at Estate Long
Look (formerly called "Nottingham Estate") and gave the former slaves
common ownership of the 50 acres of land "in perpetuity". This created
one of the first free black communities in the West Indies. After the
Nottingham's went home, they sent a letter to a man whose surname was
Rabsatt, to check on their ex-slaves and to ask how well they were
doing.
Our Potter ancestors were among this group of freed
slaves who were allowed to settle and cultivate their portion of land in
Long Look. Our Potter ancestors were also among the group of recently
freed slaves who were examined by British authorities in 1822 who were
conducting a survey of freed slaves and their progress. At Estate Long
Look, they found the freed slaves to be most productive - owing cattle,
boats and property. There was also a school mistress and some of the
children knew how to read. They served as a model for other freed slave
communities in Tortola and the Caribbean.
My Potter Family
James Potter of Tortola is my 3rd great grandfather.
He was married to Margaret E. Potter (maiden name unknown), and to date
we have found record of at least three children born to this couple:
1. Richard Alexander Potter, known commonly as
"Massah, is my 2nd great grandfather. he was born in 1879 in
Tortola.
2. Rosetta Augusta Potter, born in 1881,
married Ezekiel "Butcher" Malone in 1901 in Tortola. Ezekiel was
the son of Benjamin and Ann E. Lettsome-Malone of Tortola.
3. Henrietta Amelia Potter was born in 1883 in
Tortola.
My 2nd Great
Grandfather
Richard Alexander "Massah" Potter
Richard Alexander Potter was hardly known by his
real name, as is customary in the Virgin Islands where most people are
known in the community only by their nickname. Richard was known to
everyone in Tortola as "Massah."
Massah was married to the
Rebecca "Lovely"
Malone, who was born in 1884 in Tortola to Benjamin John MALONE and
Ann Lettsome-MALONE, both of Tortola. They were married in July 1903 at
the Road Town Wesleyan Methodist Church in Tortola, BVI.
Massah died in 1925 when he was about 46 years old of
tetanus poisoning (his death was reported to the authorities by his
niece - his sister Rosetta's child -
Floresa MALONE).
His widow, Lovely, never remarried. She died in November 1968 at age 84
of complications from old age. They were the parents of nine children
(to protect the privacy of the living, I have included only the names of
the deceased children... if you would like more information write to me
at
CaribbeanKingdom@yahoo.com):
- 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 is 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.
- Thomas Leopold Potter was born in 1912 and died in 1986.
He was married and had children, but the names of his children unknown
to me.
- Elijah "Mease" Potter, who was born in 1925 and died April
2000. He never married and had no children.
My Great Grandfather
Morris Alphonse Potter
Morris
Alphonse Potter was born on Friday, 10 September 1909 in Long Look,
Tortola, British Virgin Islands. His parents were Richard "Massah"
Potter and Rebecca "Lovely" MALONE Potter, both natives of Tortola. He
was one of nine children, and together with their uncles and aunts, they
lived on their family plot in Long Look.
Morris and
Alicia
Jennings of Tortola were young parents to a baby girl in Tortola.
However the economy in Tortola was slow and Morris left Tortola in the
1920's for St. Thomas in search of work.
While in St. Thomas, Morris worked at the coal wharf as
a laborer - as many of the men on the island did at that time - loading
and unloading the cargo ships that berthed at what is now the West
Indian Company Cruise Ship Dock, or over at the coal dock on Hassell
Island in the harbor of St. Thomas. These coal workers were not paid in
money. They were paid in tallies. The tally was a big round brass object
about three inches across, which they would then exchange at the Labor
Union for money (minus their union dues).
Morris fathered four children with two different women
while living in St. Thomas. He met
Casilda GEORGE
(my great grandmother, whom he had already known from their days
living in the East End area of Tortola. They were parents to three
children: two boys and a girl. However their union did not last
and Morris moved on.
He continued to live and work in St. Thomas for a few
more years. He later met Idalia Clarke of St. Thomas and they had
one child together - a baby girl.
Morris decided to return to his beloved Tortola. Shortly
after his return to Tortola, Morris met Irene Ward and became the father
of another daughter. The couple later separated.
My grandfather Morris decided to settle down and get
married. In February 1942, he married Florence FRETT, daughter of John
FRETT and Eve-Ann Lettsome, of Tortola. Unfortunately, Florence died at
sea in a tragic boating accident on 09 March 1944. Morris and Florence
had no children together.
Morris later courted Florence's sister, Eunice "Nissa"
FRETT, and in May 1945, they were married in Tortola. Their union
brought forth 12 children. Nissa was a housewife, and dedicated her life
to caring for her husband and raising her children and grandchildren.
She was skilled at plaiting straw, and wove the traditional straw
containers for bay rum bottles from the West Indian Company. It was a
skill she passed on to her children.
Morris found work in Tortola building cement blocks for
homes, pottery, and weaving straw mats. Although Morris was not a
farmer, he did grow several crops on his property in Greenland, Tortola
including potatoes, green bananas, cassavas and other ground provisions.
He did not sell what he grew, but instead farmed his land to provide
food for his family. He also kept a small herd of sheep and pigs. He
later was employed at the toll bridge connecting Tortola to the airport
on Beef Island (this was his last job before retiring).
Morris and his wife Eunice lived together happily in
Long Look, until Eunice passed way in July 1987. Morris completed the
final chapter of his life on Friday, 15 March 1991. He died of of
natural causes at age 81. His funeral services were held at the Long
Look Methodist Church on 23 March 1991 and he was laid to rest in the
Green Land Cemetery in Tortola that same day.
Morris Potter left a legacy of love through his 18
children, (one daughter is deceased) and many grand, great and great
great grandchildren. He called for the first union of his children in
the 1980's and today his children continue the tradition each year by
joining the descendants of the Potter family on St. Thomas and Tortola
for an annual reunion, which is held in Tortola and St. Thomas on Boxing
Day (alternating two years in Tortola, then two years in St. Thomas).
Thanks to Gloria Malone-Neal, Adolph Potter, Dante
Beretta, and the Potter families of the BVI and USVI who have helped me
during my research.
