Tribute to African-Americans in Samana

Dolores1

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May 3, 2000
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John Collins writes to add to the discussion:

"Very interesting to read the ongoing discussion on the dr1 message board regarding the long overdue recognition of the Samana blacks by NY Dominicans. Mistress Copeland & others told me so many different things.

It is not easy to recall them all since our conversations were in 1974. However, a couple of corrections or clarifications are in order: 1) the remark about "raising the color" had to be viewed in the context of the situation in the DR in 1824 when the Haitian occupation occurred under Boyer. There were less than an estimated 175,000 inhabitants in the eastern half of the island. Old timers in Samana said that Boyer was obsessed with how was Haiti ever going to hold on to this new land without "populating" it with blacks.

The Samanese recalled that the idea to bring American black ex-slaves down came about through coffee since the renowned Haitian coffee was already being exported to the US. One of the coffee merchants was said to have made contact with freed blacks in Philadelphia who were ex-slaves.

Boyer proposed that they be invited down to Hispaniola and provided with land and money to settle. Leaders of the Philadelphia blacks were cautious about the idea and asked to send a delegation to check out the offer. They returned to Philadelphia & described the DR as "a paradise" and everything that was promised.

Subsequently hundreds of them traveled to accept the offer but over the years 10 or 11 settlements around the country gradually fell apart for various reasons. These reasons included tropical diseases and difficulty in adjusting to the climate. They were not farmers but rather journeymen like carpenters, plumbers, etc etc.

Mentioned several times was their shock over the behavior of the Haitian military toward Dominican Catholics. They were black & Protestants but mentioned to me several times was the behavior of Haitian soldiers in cutting the heads off of white statues in the church. It was these references that I recalled when I went to the inauguration of Aristide in Port au Prince in 1991 because all of the statues in the cathedral had white heads.

The only community to survive was the one in Samana. It was interesting to note that successive US ambassadors in Santo Domingo favored the Samanese because they spoke English & were often described as a refined lot. Their names still are recalled & still prevail in Samana & elsewhere in the DR — Kelly, Johnson, Greene, Baret & others.

I first came in contact with them at La Romana where I met a young Samanese at the refinery who was quick to point out to me that he was NOT Cocolo (West Indian immigrant) explaining to me that he was a descendant of the American immigrants to Samana at the beginning of the 19th Century. Very refined and religious, he considered the Samanese blacks different from the Cocolos because of their religious tradition & behavior. He actually invited me to go to Samana in 1974 & that was my first contact with the community. It would have been 10 years or more before Valerie Smith did her doctoral thesis & was one of the reasons I was so fascinated with her research since I had had my earlier contact with the community.

It is true that President Andrew Johnson after the US Civil War proposed to lease a fueling station in Samana. It actually reached the US Senate & was defeated by one vote. As i recall the Secretary of State was Seward who had purchased Alaska. Fascinating recollections off the top of my hea.d Let's help keep alive their contributions to the DR!"
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Ms. Manie Phipps

http://www.el-bohio.com/samana/samanaS.html

"This 92-year-old woman is the matriarch of the Phipps family. Her late husband, Mr. Tom Phipps, and Ms. Manie founded one of the first marine trasportation companies in Samana. The Phipps family has played an important role in preserving the history, culture and character of this city. Ms. Manie is a direct descendent of a group of freed slaves brought to Samana from the United States in the mid 1800's. The courage and dignity of Ms. Manie Phipps? lineage is self evident in this image--Thank you Ms. Manie for being such an example and role model to us all."

Good history lesson!
 

Quisqueya

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Nov 10, 2003
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Dolores,


Although we do need to acknowledge the Black American Slaves that migrated to Samana. We also have to take the circumstances into consideration..

Very refined and religious, he considered the Samanese blacks different from the Cocolos because of their religious tradition & behavior.


Comments such as the ones above makes me a tad bit skeptical. The fact of the matter is samanese blacks were americans slave owners properties thus picked up the customs of their masters and the cocolos were accustomed to their british masters customs.. Thus, the negro from samana & the cocolo are only different do to their uncontrolable circumstances..
Basically, the comment of above is bias, favoritism..Depicting one african descendants from the USA as more refined than the cocolo from the british w.i. is going down the divide and conquer line..make the negro I (american)enslaved feel better than the negro the bloody brits enslaved by enbracing the culture I forced on him in the first place.


Regardless, I think it was a nice effort on the participants who made this event possible..Hopefully, this would build a relationship among urban black americans and dominican yorks...making them realize that their is a link and appreciating their cultural differences at the same time..

I also question that Boyer wanted to blacken the DR..he was a mulatto with euro-centric views....regardless his real motives it added to the flavor and the diversity of the dominican people..
 
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Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Hillbilly said:
The Willmores, the Coplins, Hamiltons, Greens, and a flock more, were the survivors.
I found a list of surnames as reported by E. Valerie Smith:

"Soon after their arrival in 1824, the Afro-(U.S.) Immigrants were dispersed in groups throughout the country. Two hundred families carrying the following thirty-three surnames were sent to Samana. Those names were: Anderson, Banks, Barrett, Berry, Buck, Carey, Coats, Copeland, Dishmey, Furchue, Green, Hamilton, Handsbury, Henderson, Hilton, Jackson, Johnson, James, Jones, Kelly, King, Miller, Mitchell, Paul, Redman, Rodney, Shepherd, Sidney, Simmons, Smith, Vanderhorst, Willmore, Wright."

"Like any other ethnic group, among the samanesa Immigrants the family name is extremely important; and it could be said that the degree of endogamy and assignment of names serve as an indicator of its importance in ethnic identity maintenance in individual families. A child is often named after a parent or another relative and, unlike in the United States, there is no particular imbalance between the naming of children after the mother or the father. There are many instances of daughters being named after the mother, as well as being given the female form of the father's name, e.g., for Tomasa for Tomas, Georgina for George, Angelina for Angel, or Justina for Justin. Among the Afro-(U.S.) Americans, efforts are made to marry within the generic Immigrant group, with a particular emphasis upon marrying other Afro-(U.S.) American Immigrants. This ensures the continuity in name transmission and heritage."
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Ricardo900 said:
http://www.el-bohio.com/samana/samanaS.html

"This 92-year-old woman is the matriarch of the Phipps family. Her late husband, Mr. Tom Phipps, and Ms. Manie founded one of the first marine trasportation companies in Samana. The Phipps family has played an important role in preserving the history, culture and character of this city. Ms. Manie is a direct descendent of a group of freed slaves brought to Samana from the United States in the mid 1800's. The courage and dignity of Ms. Manie Phipps? lineage is self evident in this image--Thank you Ms. Manie for being such an example and role model to us all."

Good history lesson!

I agree that the Phipps family has done a lot to help preserve the history, culture and character of Samana. I knew Tom better than her and have always been sorry that I didn't follow up on his invitation to talk with her when I was doing articles on Samana for the Santo Domingo News.
 

Ken

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Quisqueya said:
I also question that Boyer wanted to blacken the DR..he was a mulatto with euro-centric views....regardless his real motives it added to the flavor and the diversity of the dominican people..

Quisqueya, I have no way of knowing what was going on in Boyer's mind, but I can tell you the descendents in Samana believe that they were invited to settle in what at that time was a wilderness area because they were black people with agriculture experience and a good work ethic.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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More Regrding Surnames

From the document by Rev. Nehemiah Willmore: "Until now in the year 1976, or 152 since they landed here, and here in the province of Samana, where the descendents of said people are to be found, we still can find 33 surnames which are as followeth: Vanderhorst, Miller,King, Jones, Green, Anderson, Willmore, Johnson, James, Hamilton, Hilton, Jackson, Carey, Redman, Shepard, Kelly, Barrett, Coats, Buck, Dishmey, Simmons, Henderson, Handsburry, Mitchell, Smith, Rodney, Paul, Berry, Banks, Signey, Wright, Fershue, and Copeland. Of all these surnames, the only one that has lost its original identity is the one, Copeland, who were situated in the City of Puerto Plata, which, as has been said, all our people that were situated in that place lost their identity, mixed with the Spanish people and lost their names and customs. But many of these, as well as those of Santo Domingo came over to meet the group at Samana. And the Copelands, who had already changed their name to (Coplin) the Spanish way."
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Need to go off topic real quick,

Quisqueya,
As reported by Loring Daniel Dewey:

"In 1824, the New York Colonization Society received a commitment from Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer to pay the passage of U.S. emigrants. Boyer also promised to support them for their first four months and to grant them land. The same year, African-American leaders, including wealthy Philadelphia businessman James Forten and Bishop Richard Allen, formed the Haytian Emigration Society of Coloured People. They arranged for the transportation of several hundred people, not only to Haiti but also to Santo Domingo, the Spanish-speaking western part of the island of Hispaniola that had been conquered by Haiti in 1822."

Now the problem that arose in Haiti was that Boyer had the idea of "Haitianizing" the afro-americans, especially the practice of language and religion. That did not go well with most of the afro-americans due to their strong beliefs in the church. Many afro-americans decided to return to america during various the phases of emigrating to Haiti and the ones that stayed were assimilated into Haitian culture and pretty much disappeared from the radar.

If you want I can e-mail you the original documents including the one drafted-up and posted by Boyer in 1824.
"EMIGRATION TO HAYTI, OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR, IN THE UNITED STATES."
 

Dolores1

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May 3, 2000
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Ricardo900, please email these. I think they will make interesting material for all to share. Also what you have by E. Valerie Smith. Do you have her thesis? Please send.
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Dolores said:
Ricardo900, please email these. I think they will make interesting material for all to share. Also what you have by E. Valerie Smith. Do you have her thesis? Please send.
I've sent you an e-mail thru DR1.
 

Dolores1

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May 3, 2000
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I am posting here the link where Ricardo900 found the information he has shared:

http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm?migration=4&topic=5

On this same page, there is a photo gallery with a photo of Professor Wilmore.

The explanation under that photo reads:

Saman?, Santo Domingo
In 1824, President Boyer and Bishop Allen helped thirty-three families (about two hundred people) from Philadelphia settle in Saman?, on the northeast coast of Santo Domingo, which was under Haitian control from 1822 until 1844. The immigrants received money and land in Saman? according to the size of their families. They were skilled and became more prosperous than other groups that had settled in Haiti proper, which encouraged them to remain in their new homeland. They built an African Methodist Episcopal church and English schools for their children. Today, their eight thousand descendants—who mostly live in poverty—still speak an early-nineteenth-century American English. They have kept alive American songs and recipes, and identify as Americans. Franklin Wilmore, a descendant of the early settlers, is an English teacher.

There is also the mention of a collection of photographs on the Americans in Samana, carried out by Andrea Robbin and Max Becher: “The Americans at Saman?, 1998-2001.”

Maybe some day this exhibition could be brought to Samana again, or at least a copy.

Now with the cruise ships dropping by, this would be a worthy attraction.
 

Dominicanidentity

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Feb 28, 2006
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Ken, I have my copy of the "Historical Outline of the Landing of Afro-Americans Immigrants on the Island of Santo Domingo" written by Rev. Nehemiah Willmore too.

It has useful information. I just spoke with his son Franklyn Willmore at the event we coordinated in Samana on Feb 22, 2006 and he admitted copy has some information that needs to be corrected. As soon as I have time, I will write to point out specifics.

Overall, I love discussion being entertained about this issue.

Nestor Montilla
 

Ken

Rest In Peace Ken
Jan 1, 2002
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Dominicanidentity said:
Ken, I have my copy of the "Historical Outline of the Landing of Afro-Americans Immigrants on the Island of Santo Domingo" written by Rev. Nehemiah Willmore too.

It has useful information. I just spoke with his son Franklyn Willmore at the event we coordinated in Samana on Feb 22, 2006 and he admitted copy has some information that needs to be corrected. As soon as I have time, I will write to point out specifics.

Overall, I love discussion being entertained about this issue.

Nestor Montilla

Nestor, I would certainly appreciate knowing the corrections. I've spotted and corrected some typos, like Vanderhorst being spelled Vanderherst, but have no way of determing what factual details need to be corrected.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Ken De Pree
 

Stodgord

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Nov 19, 2004
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I know of a couple with the last names of Vanderhorst (the man) and Shepard (the lady) that are from Samana but have lived in the capital for a long time. They were my neighbors when I was a child in the DR and when I visit the DR, they are one of the first people I visit. I can tell you that I have never seen people so devoted to religion and to the community, like they are. In fact, back when I was a child, they used to gather all the kids on Sundays and take them to Sunday school. They are soft spoken and don't have the general Dominican 'a lo loco' attitude thing. They cherish silence and peace. Next time I go back to DR, I will inquire more to their past history. The lady who we call her Nuna once told me that in her household as a child they only spoke English.
 

mountainfrog

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www.domrep-info.com
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Ken

Rest In Peace Ken
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Quisqueya said:
Another fallacy is that Boyer was trying to darken the eastern side. For one Boyer was a mulatto who wanted the island to be a haven for all people & not necessarily black..His philosophy was that the island of Espaniola would be the mecca for people against oppression & colonialism..

I'm curious as to what you are basing your statements on. Everything I've read indicates that he was actively recruiting in the black communities of northeast United States, especially those with skills as farmers and craftsmen, promising liberty, free passage to the island, free room and board for up to four months, and 36 acres for every 12 workers.

The 19th century Dominican historian Jos? Gabriel Garc?a claimed that what Boyer was really interested in was getting more blacks to settle on the Dominican side. As proof, Garc?a pointed to the fact that most of the new settlers were spread throughout Dominican territory.
 

Kidd Creole

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Nov 29, 2005
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Were there any people in the Dominican territory that immigrated to other countries while they were under Haitian control?
 

deelt

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Mar 23, 2004
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What you posit, is again as pointed out by Quisqueya, a divide and conquer mentality. What Boyer was talking about is a country with "freed people of colour." This is an idea that can be intrepreted as that as a people of color we are human, independent, and self-actualized. The fact that wealthy businessmen of color opted to come to DR is just a self-fulfilling prophecy, in action, of what Boyer wanted to see happen. These men of color were already at the cutting edge of the tenuous racial equation of their times.

"Haitianizing" as you frame it comes with a national identity, culture, etc. An identity that was in evolution; in fact, an identity still evolving.

Remember, most people live what they know. It takes a extraordinary effort to welcome change. I think these people that moved to Samana practiced selective change. Nothing more, nothing less. No need to read into it more than what it is because to do so just serves to promote a hatred agenda that gets us nowhere.

Best
Deelt

Ricardo900 said:
Need to go off topic real quick,

Quisqueya,
As reported by Loring Daniel Dewey:

"In 1824, the New York Colonization Society received a commitment from Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer to pay the passage of U.S. emigrants. Boyer also promised to support them for their first four months and to grant them land. The same year, African-American leaders, including wealthy Philadelphia businessman James Forten and Bishop Richard Allen, formed the Haytian Emigration Society of Coloured People. They arranged for the transportation of several hundred people, not only to Haiti but also to Santo Domingo, the Spanish-speaking western part of the island of Hispaniola that had been conquered by Haiti in 1822."

Now the problem that arose in Haiti was that Boyer had the idea of "Haitianizing" the afro-americans, especially the practice of language and religion. That did not go well with most of the afro-americans due to their strong beliefs in the church. Many afro-americans decided to return to america during various the phases of emigrating to Haiti and the ones that stayed were assimilated into Haitian culture and pretty much disappeared from the radar.

If you want I can e-mail you the original documents including the one drafted-up and posted by Boyer in 1824.
"EMIGRATION TO HAYTI, OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR, IN THE UNITED STATES."
 

pkaide1

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Aug 10, 2005
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A movie must be mada abut this history. It is excellent. I know people in La Romana who are related to some of the communities in Samana.
 

deelt

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Mar 23, 2004
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Sweetie, a documentary was already done about this by Nestor. It was sponsored by Hostos Community College. Check out the preceding postings introducing the thread.

The film was done for educational purposes only and should be open for viewing to the general public. So if you are interested in seeing it you need only to plan a venue for viewing through a school then open the venue to the general public.

pkaide1 said:
A movie must be mada abut this history. It is excellent. I know people in La Romana who are related to some of the communities in Samana.