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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.

Schooner "T.N. Barnsdell" of Captain Ernest Alfred Johnson.

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.

The Author

This page was last updated on 06/29/2008