transcription guide for documents from the danish west indies...2. ciick the tab ”danish...

Guidelines for transcribing and translating documents from the Danish West Indies

Version 6, updated February 2016

Contents

Transcription and translation guide for Copybook of letters sent to the King.................................................. 1

Transcription guide for Land registers and Land lists for St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John ............................ 4

Transcription guide for Slave lists (Land register forms) ................................................................................... 9

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding Births on St. Croix and

St. Thomas & St. John ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding Marriages on St. Croix

and St. Thomas & St. John ............................................................................................................................... 18

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding confirmands on St.

Croix ................................................................................................................................................................. 22

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding deaths on St. Croix and

St. Thomas & St. John ...................................................................................................................................... 25

Transcription guide for Registers concerning arriving individuals .................................................................. 29

Transcription guide for Registers of passports for departing individuals ....................................................... 32

Transcription guide for Payrolls and Muster rolls of the West Indian Military Forces ................................... 35

Transcription guide for Muster rolls for the Gendarmerie Corps ................................................................... 38

Transcription guide for Danish West Indian censuses .................................................................................... 41

Transcription guide for Police records of arriving and departing individuals ................................................. 46

Transcription guide for Register of enlisted soldiers ....................................................................................... 50

Transcription and translation guide for Police Court proceedings and Police journals .................................. 53

From the beginning to the complete transcription ......................................................................................... 58

1

Transcription and translation guide for Copybook of letters sent to the King (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe the copybook:

(see below if you also wish to translate)

1. If the document (the digital image) is a front page, a back page or an empty page, tick the option ”yes” at the top of the page. You can now save the document without entering anything in the mandatory fields (marked with an *).

2. Click the tab “Danish transcription” to find the template for the transcription.

3. Unlike the other archival series, the letters for the copybook should be transcribed in their entirety (with some few exceptions) and not merely tagged. This why it is also only the letters that are to be translated in their entirety. See also the graphic guidelines below (figure 1) concerning the names of different elements in the text.

The section ”At the top of the page”:

a. Folio number: the number of the leaf containing two pages. The number is usually visible in the upper right corner of the document. Please be aware that as well as the folio number, another number may appear written in pencil. This number should not be typed. If there is no folio number, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Report”:

a. Report number: This number always starts with ”no.”, e.g. ”no. 12”. If there is no report number, tick ”empty field”.

b. Date: Type the date as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If there is no date, tick ”empty field”.

c. Copybook number: If there is no copybook number, tick ”empty field”.

d. Main text: Is the main body text in the document. It should be typed in its entirety (see also items 6-14 below). If the text continues on the following folio page or pages, only enter the folio number on the template for this/these pages in the section “At the top of the page”, and tick ”empty field” for the fieldes “Report number”, ”Date” and ”Copybook number”.

e. When the section ”Report” has been completed with information about the first report in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next report on the list, and so on.

The section ”Your comments”:

a. You can enter any comments you may have on what you have typed here. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.

4. Fields marked with a red asterisk * are mandatory and must be filled in. If you cannot fill in a mandatory field, tick “empty field”.

5. Personal names should be typed as they appear. This means that spellings should be retained even though they may seem to be wrong. The Danish West Indies were multinational and consequently many names appear in different languages that can be spelled in several different ways.

2

6. Place names should be entered as they appear. If you need help to identify the place name, you can refer to James William McGuire: Geographic Dictionary of the Virgin Islands of the United States (1925).

7. All other text in the document that the rules above indicate should be typed must be entered as given even though the spelling appears to be wrong.

8. Abbreviations in the document should be entered as they appear. If you wish to write the abbreviation in full, which you are very welcome to do, please do this in parentheses. For example, if a personal name is ”Geo:”, you can write ”Geo: (George)” in the field.

9. Dates should be entered as they appear in the document.

10. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread].

11. You do not have to type the entire document all at once, but we recommend that you do. (See ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document). You will only be awarded points for having completed a whole page.

Please observe the following rules when translating transcriptions of the letters in the copybook to English:

1. Click on the tab ”English translation” on the right of the screen to find the template for entering your translation.

2. CIick the tab ”Danish transcription” on the left of the screen to see the transcription in the viewer. This is easier to read than the image of the original text.

3. If the document is a front page, a back page or empty, mark this by ticking the field ”yes”. The entry can now be saved without you having to complete obligatory fields (marked *).

4. The fields in the template should be completed according to the same basic rules as for the transcription above.

5. The English translation should be as precise as possible and with American spelling, i.e. ”harbor” instead of ”harbour”, ”realize” instead of ”realise” etc.

6. When translating, please retain as much of the original sentence structure as possible while considering the proper comprehension of the content. There are many parenthetical sentences in older written Danish which will often be split into shorter sentences in English. Please try to retain the parenthetical sentences to the extent possible.

7. You can find help for translating special Danish-West Indian terms here:

a. ”List of Institutions relates to the Danish West Indies” (Erik Gøbel):

https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/billedviser?epid=18070446#231279,43831344

b. ” Danish-English translations of archival terms (Gøbel, Holsoe, Hopkins and Rood):


We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at

[email protected] (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting

on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112104059743






3

Fig. 1: Please type the below

Report number

Main text

Copybook numberDate (day, month, year)

Folio number

4

Transcription guide for Land registers and Land lists for St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Land registers and Land lists:


2. Land registers and Land lists contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the fields (see figures 1 and 2):


a. Folio number: The number of the leaf containing two pages. The number is usually visible in the upper right or left corner of the document. If instead a page number appears on each page, write it like this: ”page x and y” (e.g. ”page 5 and 6”). Do not fill in the field if there is no folio number or page number.

b. Year: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

c. Name of the island: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the name of the island. As information for St. Thomas and St. John often appears in the same register, it may be necessary to write the name of the island as ”St. Thomas and St. John” if it is unclear which of the two islands the information is from. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

d. Name of the town: This does not appear on all pages as some of the pages deal with the rural districts. Do not fill in the field if a name of a town is not given. There were 4 towns in the Danish West Indies: Charlotte Amalie (also called ”St. Thomas”), Christiansted and Frederiksted on St. Croix, and Cruz Bay on St. John.

e. Name of the quarter: ”Quarter” means geographical area (district). It was mainly the rural districts that were divided into quarters, but the town of Charlotte Amalie was also divided into quarters. This is why the name of the quarter does not appear on all pages. If a name of a quarter is not given, do not fill in the field. If the document contains the name of more than one quarter, type both quarter names in the field separated by ”and”, e.g. ”Kongens quarteer and Dronningens quarteer”. St. Croix was divided into 9 quarters, St. Thomas’ rural district into 8 quarters, St. Thomas town (Charlotte Amalie) into 3 quarters and St. John into 5 quarters (see below).

f. Name of street or plantation and land registry number:

Street names were only used in the towns. If the document contains more than one street name, type all the street names in the field separated by ”and”, e.g. ”Dronningensgade and Kongensgade”. Search on the previous page for the name of the street if there is no street name on the page but only occupants and house numbers. If neither a street name, a house number or the name of a house appear, tick ”empty field”.

5

Street names and house numbers were not used in the rural districts; plantation names and land registry numbers were used instead. However, plantation names were only consistently used after 1800. Up to this date, the name of the owner often appears instead. The name of the owner can refer to a person, a group of persons or an institution, e.g. “Gerhard Molls Enke” (Gerhard Moll’s widow), ”Schimmelmanns arvinger” (Schimmelmann’s heirs) or ”Landkassen” (The Land Treasury). Type the information into the field in the following order: ”Name of plantation” + ”land registry number.” If neither a planation name nor a land registry number appear, tick ”empty field”.

The section “Owner and occupants”:

a. Names of owner and occupants: Type the name of the owner and any occupants of the town house or plantation.

In the case of town houses, a house name that usually refers to the owner of the house can appear together with the name of the occupant and the house number, e.g. ”Frøken Jørgensens hus” (Miss Jørgensen’s house). Type the information in the following order: ”name of occupant” + ”house number.” + if given, ”name of house”.

In the case of plantations, the names of both owner and occupant may be given together. Type these names one at a time (see item b below) with the owner’s name as the first and including all titles, e.g. enke, commandant, junior (widow, commandant, junior) etc. The name of the owner should also be typed if the name of the person already appears in the section above as the name of the plantation itself in the field ”Street name or name of planation and land registry number”. The plantations only received permanent names after c. 1800 and until then carried their owner’s name.

b. When the section ”Names of owner and occupants” has been completed with information about the first person in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next occupant in the Land register/Land list, and so on.

The section ”other text”:

a. Other text on the page: Sometimes there is more information in the margin of the form. This information can be entered into this field. It is not mandatory, but the information may be important.

b. Your comments: You can enter any comments you may have on what you have typed here. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear on this page of the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.

3. In some instances, the land registers from the period c. 1800-1848 contain lists of “Couleurte Indvaanere”, i.e. free citizens of African or Afrocaribbean descent. Generally, these lists do not contain names of town, quarter, street or plantation. In such cases, you should only type items a, b and c in the section “At the top of the page” and of course the names one by one as described above.

4. Among the forms that both the land registers and land lists consist of, there may be pages that only consist of text without names or only of accounts. Do not type such documents in. You can write the reason for the page not having been typed in the field ”Your comments”.


6

6. Place names should be typed as they appear. If you need help to identify the place name, you can refer to James William McGuire: Geographic Dictionary of the Virgin Islands of the United States (1925).

7. Fields marked with a red asterix * are mandatory and must be filled in. If you cannot fill in a mandatory field, tick ”empty field”.

8. All other text in the document that the rules above indicate must be entered as given even though the spelling appears to be wrong.

9. Abbreviations in the document should be entered as they appear. If you wish to write the abbreviation in full, which you are very welcome to do, please write this in parentheses. For example, if a personal name is ”Geo:”, you can write ”Geo: (George)” in the transcription field.


11. If ’ditto’, ’do’, ’ibid., –II– appear to indicate that a person or a place name is identical with the above-mentioned, repeat the wording from the entire field being referred to.

12. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, type [cannotread].


Names of quarters in the Danish West Indies:

St. Croix, 9 quarters: Compagniets quarter, Dronningens quarter, Kongens quarter, Prinsens

quarter, Westende quarter, Ostende quarter A, Ostende quarter B, Nordside quarter A, Nordside

quarter B.

St. Thomas rural districts, 8 quarters: Oost Ende quarter, Røde Huck quarter, Frenchman’s Bay

quarter, Nye quarters, Store Nord Side quarter, Lille Nord Side quarter, Syd Side quarter, Vestende

quarter.

St. Thomas town, 3 quarters: Kongens quarter, Dronningens quarter, Kronprinsens quarter.

St. John, 5 quarters: Cruz Bay quarter, Maho Bay quarter, Reef Bay quarter, Coral Bay quarter, Oost

Ende quarter.


[email protected] (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection your are commenting

on ) or call us at +45 41 71 73 00.





7

Fig. 1: Please type the belowName of street: Kongens Gade

Name of town: Christiansted

Name of owner and house:

Jomfruerne Ferralls Huus, A.C. Weyle,

Frue S.E. Goold.

House number: 12 Folio number: 2

8


Folio number: 1

Name of owner: Johan Arnolt

Montenacqs plantage Westen for Byen

(This page does not

contain the name of the

town, the island or the

street/quarter, the

number of the house,

land registry number or

the name of the

plantation)

9

Transcription guide for Slave lists (Land register forms) (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe “Slave lists”:


2. The slave lists are very different in appearance. Some are forms with over a hundred slaves on each, while others are brief texts with the names of only a few slaves. The document must be entered irrespective of how it looks. The lists can be written in Dutch, English and Danish.

3. The slave lists contain a good deal of information, but you should only enter the following information in the fields (see figures 1 and 2):


a. Year: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the volume and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the volume to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of the island: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the volume and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the volume to find the name of the island. As information for St. Thomas and St. John often appears in the same register, it may be necessary to write the name of the island as ”St. Thomas and St. John” if it not clear which of the two islands the information is from. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

c. Name of the town: This does not appear on all pages as some of the pages deal with the rural districts. Do not fill in the field if a name of a town is not given. There were 4 towns in the Danish West Indies: Charlotte Amalie (also called ”St. Thomas”), Christiansted and Frederiksted on St. Croix, and Cruz Bay on St. John.

d. Name of the quarter: ”Quarter” means a geographical area (district). It was mainly the rural districts that were divided into quarters, but the town of Charlotte Amalie was also divided into quarters. This is why the name of the quarter does not appear on all pages. If a name of a quarter is not given, do not fill in the field. St. Croix was divided into 9 quarters, St. Thomas’ rural district into 8 quarters, and St. John into 5 quarters (see below).

e. Street name and house number (name of house, if any) or name of plantation and land registry number:

The name of the street and the house number will be given in the towns. Additionally, the name of the house can be given, e.g. ”Frøken Jørgensens hus” (Miss Jørgensen’s house). This usually refers to the owner of the house, who is not necessarily identical with the occupant. Type the information into the field in the following order: ”Street name” and ”house number” and ”name of house”, if any. If neither a street name, a house number or house name appear, tick ”empty field”.

Street names, house numbers and house names do not appear in rural districts, only names of plantations and land registry numbers. Type the information into the field in the following order: ”Name of plantation” and “land registry

10

number.” If neither a planation name nor a land registry number appear, tick ”empty field”.

f. Name of owner: The name of the owner can refer to a person, a group of persons or an institution, e.g. ”Gerhard Molls Enke” (Gerhard Moll’s widow), ”Schimmelmanns arvinger” (Schimmelmann’s heirs) or ”Landkassen” (the Land Treasury). Type the name of the owner with all titles, e.g. enke (widow), commandant (commandant), junior etc. If the name of the owner does not appear, tick “empty field”.

The section ”Name and status (Slave/Free)”:

a. Name: All names should be entered as stated regardless of whether they are men, women, children, the elderly or other. The slave lists contain the names of both slaves and free persons.

b. Slave or Free: This is where it is stated whether the person named was a slave or free. The slaves did not usually have surnames, but sometimes two first names or a first name and a byname (”little”, ”old” etc.). Free persons had both a first name and a surname and sometimes a title. Free persons can be under the headline ”domestics”, but will always be listed separately from the slaves. The designation ”blank” or ”white” states that the person was free.

c. When you have filled in the section ”Name and status (Slave/Free)” with information about the first person in the document, press the button ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.

The section ”Other text”:


b. Your comments: You can enter any comments you may have on what you have typed here, e.g. if the document contains a list that continues on the next page, or if it is a continuation of a list from the previous page. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.



6. Fields marked with a red asterisk * are mandatory and must be filled in. If you cannot fill in a mandatory field, tick ”empty field”.










11





quarter B.

St. Thomas, rural districts, 8 quarters: Oost Ende quarter, Røde Huck quarter, Frenchman’s Bay

quarter, New quarters, Store Nord Side quarter, Lille Nord Side quarter, Syd Side quarter, Vestende

quarter.



Ende quarter.



on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

12


Name of town: Christianstædt

Year: 1773

Name of slave owner: Elizabeth Maas

Name: Baniba

Slave or free: Slave

13


Year: 1818

Name of quarter: West end & Prinsens

Name of plantation: Högensborg & Sorgenfrey

Land registry number: 17 & 25

Name of slave owner: Adam Söbötker

Name: Adam


14

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding Births on St. Croix and St. Thomas & St. John (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Parish records of births:


2. Parish records of births contain a great deal of information but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):

The section “At the top of the page”:

a. Year: Does not always appear on the page. If there is no year at the top of the page, this field should not be filled in.

b. Name of the island: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the name of the island. As information for St. Thomas and St. John often appears in the same register, it may be necessary to write the name of the island as ”St. Thomas and St. John” if it is unclear which of the two islands the information is from. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

c. Location: The location of the church, e.g. ”Christiansted”. If no location is given, tick ”empty field”.

d. Church: The name of the church or parish where the baptism took place. If no church is given, tick ”empty field”.

e. Free or unfree: Until 1848 it was stated at the top of the page whether the form concerned free persons or slaves. If free or unfree are not given as status, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Information about the child”:

a. Date of birth: Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Date of baptism: Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

c. Name of child: Enter the name if the child. If no name is given, tick ”empty field”.

d. Name of father: Enter the name of the father here. The names of the father and the mother can be in the same column. If the father is unfree (i.e. a slave), there will not be a surname but instead the name of the owner or plantation, e.g. ”Daniel fra Belvedere” (Daniel from Belvedere) . If the name is not given, tick ”empty field”.

e. Name of mother: Enter the name of the mother here. If the mother is unfree (i.e. a slave), there will not be a surname but instead the name of the owner or plantation, e.g. ”Charlotte fra Canebay” (Charlotte from Canebay). The names of the father and mother can be in the same column. If the name is not given, tick ”empty field”.

f. Names of godfathers and godmothers: Names of godfathers and godmothers (also called ”Sponsors”) appear in the same column. The names should be written in the order they appear, separated by a semicolon (;). If godfathers/godmothers are slaves, they will only

15

be noted with first name and the name of the owner or planation. If the names of godfathers/godmothers are not given, tick ”empty field”.

g. Name of the plantation owner or plantation: If the child is unfree/a slave, the name of the owner or of the planation will appear. If the child is free, this information will not appear and the field should not be filled in.

h. Notes: This column can contain extra information about the circumstances surrounding the baptism. If there is no information in the column, the field should not be filled in.

i. When the section ”Information about the child” has been completed with information concerning the first child in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.



b. Your comments: You can enter any comments you may have on what you have typed here. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.




6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, write [cannotread].




on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

16


Year: 1841

Date of birth: 05-07-1841

Date of baptism: 08-08-1841

Name of child: Rose

Name of father: Manuel

Name of mother: Penny

Godfathers and godmothers:

Robert James & Betsy Lass

Church: St. Paul’s

Church

Location: Frederiksted

Free or unfree: unfree

Name of plantation owner or plantation: North Side

17


Date of birth: 09-07-1890

Date of baptism: 11-01-1891

Name of child:

Anna Maria

Christiansen

Year: 1891

Church: Lutheran

Location: ChristianstedName of father: Carl

Julius Christiansen

Name of mother: Inez Limmone

Godfathers and godmothers

18

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding Marriages on St. Croix and St. Thomas & St. John (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document).

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Parish records of marriages:


2. Parish records of marriages contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):





d. Church: The name of the church or parish where the marriage took place. If no church is given, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Information about the couple”:

a. Date of marriage: Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of bridegroom: If no name is given tick ”empty field”.

c. Owner of bridegroom: If the bridegroom is a slave, the name of the owner or the name of the plantation will also usually be given. If no owner/plantation is named, the field should not be filled in.

d. Name of bride: If the name is not given, tick ”empty field”.

e. Owner of bride: If the bride is a slave, the name of the owner or the name of the plantation will also usually be given. If no owner/plantation is named, the field should not be filled in.

f. Names of witnesses: The names should be written in the order they appear, separated by a semicolon (;). If the witnesses are slaves, they will only be noted with first name and the name of the owner or planation. If the names of witnesses are not given, tick ”empty field”.

g. Notes: Even if the bride and groom are not enslaved there might appear information on the name the place they work (plantation). Such information may be added here.

h. When the section ”Information about the couple” has been completed with information concerning the first couple in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.

19











on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

20


Year: 1841

Date of marriage: 04-07-1841

Name of bridegroom:

Paul Simmons

Owner of bridegroom:

Diamond & Ruby

Name of bride: Mary Williams

Owner of bride: Diamond &

Ruby

Names of witnesses: Benjamin James & Francis

Lee

21


Church: Lutheran


Year: 1888

Name of bride: Artemizia

Constancia Raahauge

Names of witnesses: Andrew Ferris

& George Flynn

Date of marriage:

13-04-1888

Name of bridegroom:

Louis Philip Abbot

22

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding confirmands on St. Croix (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Parish records of confirmands:


2. Church reports about confirmands contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):

The section ” At the top of the page”:




d. Church: The name of the church or congregation where the confirmation took place. If no church is given, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Information about the confirmand”:

a. Name: If no name is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Slave or free: Not given after 1848. If it is not stated whether the confirmand was a slave or free tick ”empty field”.

c. Name of owner or plantation: If the confirmand is a slave, the name of the owner or the name of the plantation may be given. If no owner or planation is named, the field should not be filled in.

d. When the section ”Information about the confirmand” has been completed with information concerning the first confirmand in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.


a. Your comments: You can enter any comments you may have on what you have typed here. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.


4. Abbreviations in the document should be entered as they appear. If you wish to write the abbreviation in full, which you are very welcome to do, please do this in parentheses. For example,if a personal name is ”Geo:”, you can write ”Geo: (George)” in the field.

23


6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in sentence, write [cannotread].



[email protected] (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are

commenting on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

24

Fig 1: Please type the below

Year: 1831

Church: Missionsmenigheden


Name: Daniel Jacob


25

Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding deaths on St. Croix and St. Thomas & St. John (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Parish records of deaths:

1. If the document (the digital image) is a front page, a back page or an empty page, tick the option ”yes)” at the top of the page. You can now save the document without entering anything in the mandatory fields (marked with an *).

2. Parish records of deaths contain a great deal of information but enter the following only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):




c. Location: the location of the church, e.g. ”Christiansted”. If no location is given, tick ”empty field”.

d. Church: The name of the church or parish where the funeral took place. If no church is given, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Information about the deceased”:

a. Date of death/funeral: Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of the deceased: The name of the deceased should be entered here. If the name is not given, tick ”empty field”.

c. Religion: The congregation the deceased belonged to. For example, the Lutheran Church, the English (Anglican), the Dutch (Reformed) Church, the Roman Catholic Church or the Mission/Moravian Brothers etc. If the name of the congregation is not given, tick ”empty field.

d. Slave/unfree: Before the manumission of slaves in 1848, it was usually stated whether the deceased was a slave/unfree. If the deceased is given as a slave or unfree, or if an owner is named, ”slave” should be entered. The field should not be filled in if the deceased is given as free or if it is not stated whether the person was a slave or free.

e. Name of owner: If the deceased was unfree/slave, the name of the owner or the name of the plantation will appear. If the deceased was free, this information does not appear and the field should not be filled in.

f. When the section ”Information about the deceased” has been completed with information concerning the first person in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next person on the list, and so on.

26











on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

27


Year: 1816

Date of burial: 04-01-1816

Name of deceased: Fruen Watlington

Church: English (Anglican)/Catholic/Dutch reformed Owner: Nancy Smith (i.e.

the deceased was a slave)

28


Date of burial: 02-10-1880

Name of deceased: Louisa Petrus

Year: 1880

Church: Lutheran


29

Transcription guide for Registers concerning arriving individuals (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Registers of arrivals:


2. Registers of arrivals contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1):

The section ” At the top of the page”:

a. Folio number: The number of the leaf containing two pages. The number is usually visible in the upper right or left corner of the document. If instead a page number appears on each page, write it like this: ”page x and y” (e.g. ”page 5 and 6”). The field is not to be filled in if there is no folio number or page number.

b. Place: This statement of where the register has been kept does not appear on all pages. Sometimes it only appears on the front page of the register and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find a statement of place. If there is no indication in the register or the title of the archival series of where it has been kept, click ”empty field”.

The section ”Arrival”:

a. Date of arrival: Is stated in the column furthest to the left. Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of passenger: As well as first name and surname, the column with the passenger’s name may include titles (e.g. Madame, jomfru (maiden), doctor (doctor) and statements of travelling companions (e.g. ”and domestique”, ”with servant”, ”and 3 children”). The items of information should be entered in the order they appear. However, the name of the person should always be entered with first name (or initials) followed by surname(s), even though the surname can be written first followed by first name and separated by a comma. If there is a column entitled “Stand” (social station) with extra information about the person, this should be added after information from the column with the name of the passenger etc. If several personal names appear after each other in the same entry, but without the persons having had any relation other than that they travelled on the same ship, each passenger should be entered in separate sections. If the name of the passenger is not given, tick ”empty field”.

c. From where: The name of the place the passenger came from is stated in the column titled “Hvorfra”.

d. When the section ”Arrival” has been completed with information concerning the first person in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.



30

3. Personal names should be typed as they appear. This means that spellings should be retained even though they may seem to be wrong. The Danish West Indies were multinational and consequently many names appear in different languages and can be spelled in several different ways.







on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

31


Date of arrival

Passenger’s name

Folio number

From where

32

Transcription guide for Registers of passports for departing individuals (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Passport registers for departures:

1. If the document (the digital image) is a front page, a back page or an empty page, tick the option “yes” at the top of the page. You can now save the document without entering anything in the mandatory fields (marked with an *).

2. Passport registers for departures contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):




The section ”Person departing”:

a. Date of departure: Is stated in the column furthest to the left. Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of passenger: As well as first name and surname, the column with the passenger’s name may include titles (e.g. Madame, jomfru (maiden), doctor (doctor) and statements of travelling companions (e.g. ”and domestique”, ”with servant”, ”and 3 children”). The items of information should be entered in the order they appear. However, the name of the person should always be entered with first name (or initials) followed by surname(s), even though the surname can be written first followed by first name, separated by a comma. If the name of the passenger is not given, tick ”empty field”.

c. Destination: Is stated in the column titled “Hvorhen”.

d. When the section ”Person departing” has been completed with information concerning the first traveler in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.





33






on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

34


Date of departure

Passenger’s name: Sophia Joffroi

Folio number

Destination

35

Transcription guide for Payrolls and Muster rolls of the West Indian Military Forces (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Payrolls and Muster rolls:


2. Payrolls and Muster rolls contain a great deal of information, but only the information in the forms should be entered. There are a number of certificates at the end of the roll (the volume) that should not be entered.

3. Enter the following information only in the fields (see figure 1):


a. Folio number: The number of the leaf containing two pages. The number is often visible in the upper right or left corner of the document. If instead a page number appears on each page, write it like this: ”page x and y” (e.g. ”page 5 and 6”). The field is not to be filled in if there is no folio number or page number.

b. Year: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Name and rank of the soldier:

a. Rank: Is always given before the soldier’s name, sometimes in a separate column. If ”…”or the like appears, this means that the rank is the same as that of the soldier mentioned above. The rank can consist of several words, e.g. ”Fendrich reformé gratificirt mit Second Lieutenants Characteer”. The whole sentence should be written in these cases. If rank is not given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name: Enter the full name of the soldier and nothing else. If only the word ”vacant” appears, this should not be written. If no name appears, tick ”empty field”.

c. When the section ”Name and rank of the soldier” has been completed with information concerning the first soldier in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.




4. The Payrolls were kept in German in the 1770, because German was the language of command in the army at that time. Danish is the language of the later rolls.


36







on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

37


Rank: Gemeiner

Name: Lars Larsen

Folio number (if any)

38

Transcription guide for Muster rolls for the Gendarmerie Corps (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Muster rolls for the Gendarmerie Corps:


2. Muster rolls contain a great deal of information, but only the information in the forms should be entered. A number of certificates and counts of the troops can appear at the end of the roll (the volume), but these should not be entered.

3. The following information should be entered in the fields (see figure 1):


a. Year: this information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”tomt felt” (empty field).

b. Quarter: Should be entered as ”1st quarter”, ”2nd quarter” etc. This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the quarter it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

c. Place: This information sometimes only appears on the front page of the register, and/or in the title of the archival series. If the information cannot be seen on the page, you must go back to the beginning of the register to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Rank and name”:

a. Rank: Is always given before the gendarme’s name, sometimes in a separate column. If ”…”or the like appears, this means that the rank is the same as that of the gendarme mentioned above. If rank is not given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name: Enter the full name of the gendarme and nothing else. If only the word ”vacant” appears, this should not be written. If no name appears, tick ”empty field”.

c. When the section ”Rank and name” has been completed with information concerning the first gendarme in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.





39







on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

40


Rank: Spillemand

Name: Viggo Axel Biesemann

Year: 1907

41

Transcription guide for Danish West Indian censuses (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Danish West Indian censuses:

1. If the document (the digital image) is a front page, a back page or an empty page, tick the option ”yes” at the top of the page. You can now save the document without entering anything in the mandatory fields (marked with an *). Please be aware that the censuses are pre-printed forms that often have standard front and back pages that should not be transcribed.

2. Censuses contain a great deal of information, but you should only enter the following information in the fields (see figures 1 and 2):


a. Year: This information does not always exist in the document. But as censuses are always held in a specific year, the year will appear from the name of the archival series, e.g. ”Census of 1850, Danish West Indies”. If there is no year, tick ”empty field”.

b. Name of the island: This information is not always in the document. If this is the case, it can often be found on the front page of the document, i.e. the previous page. If the name does not appear in either place, tick “empty field”.

c. Name of the town: This does not appear on all pages as some of the pages deal with the rural districts. However, the information can appear on the front page of the document, i.e. the previous page. If the name does not appear in either place, do not fill in the field. There were 4 towns in the Danish West Indies: Charlotte Amalie (also called ”St. Thomas”), Christiansted and Frederiksted on St. Croix, and Cruz Bay on St. John.

d. Name of the quarter: ”Quarter” means a geographical area (district). It was mainly the rural districts that were divided into quarters, but the town of Charlotte Amalie was also divided into quarters. This is why the name of the quarter does not appear on all pages. However, the information can appear on the front page of the document, i.e. the previous page. If a name of a quarter is not given, do not fill in the field. St. Croix was divided into 9 quarters, St. Thomas’ rural district into 8 quarters, and St. John into 5 quarters (see below).

e. Street name and house number or name of plantation and land registry number: In the towns, the name of the street and the house number will be given, but in rural districts the plantation’s (property’s) name and land registry number are given instead. The information should be entered in the following order: ”Name of street” and ”house number” or ”name of plantation” and ”land registry number. ”If neither a street name nor a house number appear, tick ”empty field”.

f. Name of owner: The name of a property owner can be the name of a person, an authority, e.g. Borgerrådet (Burgher council), or an organization (e.g. the Lutheran Church). However, the information can appear on the front page of the document, i.e. the previous page. If the name of the owner is not given tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Occupants:

a. Name of occupant: The name of the occupant of the town house or the plantation is not necessarily identical with the owner. The name should be entered with all titles, e.g. enke (widow), kommandant (commandant), junior etc. If the name of the occupant is not give, tick ”empty field”.

42

b. When the section ”Occupants” has been completed with information about the first person in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.











10. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, type [cannotread].





quarter B.

St. Thomas rural districts, 8 quarters: Oost Ende quarter, Røde Huck quarter, Frenchman’s Bay

quarter, New quarters, Store Nord Side quarter, Lille Nord Side quarter, Syd Side quarter, Vestende

quarter.



Ende quarter.





43



on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

44


Name of occupant: Eleonor Hannemann

Name of island: St. CroixName of town: Christiansted

Street name and house number:

Hill Street, 7B

Name of owner: Frederikka Hennemann

45


Name of occupant: Theodora Keating

Name of island: St. Thomas

Name of owner: Zephenieh Keating

Name of quarter: Ny Qvarter

Name of plantation and tax land registry number: Hospitalsgrundene 1B

46

Transcription guide for Police records of arriving and departing individuals (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe registers of arrivals and departures:


2. Registers of arrivals contain a great deal of information, but enter the following information only in the spaces (see figures 1 and 2):




The section ”Arrival or departure”:

a. Name of passenger: As well as first name and surname, the column with the passenger’s name may include titles (e.g. Madame, jomfru (maiden), doctor and statements of travelling companions (e.g. ”and domestique”, ”with servant”, ”and 3 children”). The items of information should be entered in the order they appear. However, the name of the person should always be entered with first name (or initials) followed by surname(s), even though the surname can be written first followed by first name and separated by a comma. If both the arrival and the departure of a passenger are given in the document, the passenger must be entered twice. First with date of arrival and later in a new section with date of departure (see item d and figure 1). If the name of the passenger is not given, tick ”empty field”.

b. Date of arrival or departure: Is stated in the column furthest to the left. Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If no date is given, tick ”empty field”.

c. Name of the captain: This information does not appear on all pages. If no name is given the field is not to be filled in.

d. When the section ”Arrival or departure” has been completed with information concerning the first person in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.



47








on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

48


Date of arrival: 31-07-1794

Folio no.: 4

Name of the passenger: Stephan Gorhoum, kiöbmand

Captain of the ship: Francis Brown

Captain of the ship :

Mathias Berryman

Date of departure (Stephan Gorhoum): 13-08-1794

49


Date of arrival: 12-02-1844

Captain of the ship: Capt. Petersen

Name of the passenger: Procurator Kierulff

Folio no.: 3

50

Transcription guide for Register of enlisted soldiers (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Lists of enlisted soldiers:


2. Lists of enlisted soldiers contain a great deal of information, but only the following information should be entered (see figure 1):


a. Folio number: The number of the leaf containing two pages. The number is often visible in the upper right or left corner of the document. If instead a page number appears on each page, write it like this: ”page x and y” (e.g. ”page 5 and 6”). The field is not to be filled in if there is no folio number or page number.

The section ”Name and rank of the soldier”:

a. Name: Enter the full name of the soldier. However, the name of the person should always be entered with first name (or initials) followed by surname(s), even though the surname can be written first followed by first name and separated by a comma. If no name appears, tick ”empty field”.

b. Rank: This information may appear after the name of the soldier or in a separate column. If ”…”or the like appears, this means that the rank is the same as that of the soldier mentioned above. The rank could be for instance “musqueteer”, “Art. Lærling” (artillery apprentice) or “corporal”. If rank is not given, tick ”empty field”.

c. Date of recruitment or deployment: Enter the date when the soldier enlisted or when he was dispatched to the West Indies by ship from Copenhagen. Type the date as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If there is no date, tick ”empty field”.

d. When the section “Name and rank of the soldier” has been completed with information concerning the first soldier in the document, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for entering the next on the list, and so on.







51





on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

52


Name: Peter Fred. Hoffmann

Rank: Piber

Date of recruitment: 24-03-1818

Folio number, if available

53

Transcription and translation guide for Police Court proceedings and Police journals (See also ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document)

Please observe the following rules when you transcribe Police Court proceedings and Police journals:

(see below if you wish to translate)

1. If the document (the digital image) is a front page, a back page or empty, tick the option ”yes” at the top of the page. You can now save the document without entering anything into the mandatory boxes (marked with an *).

2. Click the tab ”transcriptions” to see the template for the Danish transcription.

3. Unlike most of the other archival series, the text in Police Court proceedings and Police journals should be typed in its entirety (with some exceptions) and not merely tagged. This is why it is also to be translated in its entirety. See also the graphic guidelines below (figure 1) concerning the names of different elements in the text.


a. Folio number: the number of the leaf containing two pages, which is often in the upper right or left corner of the document. If instead there is a page number on each page, enter it this way: ”page x and y” (e.g. ”page 5 and 6”). If there is neither a folio number nor a page number, tick ”empty field”.

b. Location: This is where the records/registers were kept, i.e. on St. Croix, St. Thomas or St. John. This information may sometimes only appear on the front page of the register and/or in the title of the archival series. If you cannot see the information on the page, you will have to scroll back to the beginning of the register to find the year it covers. If the information does not exist, tick ”empty field”.

The section ”Cases”:

a. Case number: Not all cases have a number, but if there is a case number enter it here. If there is no case number, tick ”empty field”.

b. Date: Type the date as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 10-07-1820. If there is no date, tick ”empty field”. c. Description of the case/cases: This should be typed in its entirety (see also items 4-11

below). If there are several cases under the same date but no case numbers, just type the cases one after the other in the same section. If the text continues on the following folio page or pages, only enter the folio number on the template for this/these pages in the section ”At the top of the page”, while the field for ”date” and ”case number” are ticked off as ”empty field”.

d. When the section ”Cases” has been completed with information about the first case number in the document or all cases under the same date, press ”Add section”, which opens a new section for transcribing the next case (case no.) or cases under the same date, and so on.


a. You can enter any comments you may have on what you have transcribed here. This also applies if you have background knowledge about the persons or places that appear in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website.


54


6. Place names should be transcribed as they appear. If you need help to identify the place name, you can refer to James William McGuire: Geographic Dictionary of the Virgin Islands of the United States (1925).

7. All other text in the document that the rules above indicate should be transcribed must be transcribed as given even though the spelling appears to be wrong.

8. Abbreviations in the document should be transcribed as they appear. If you wish to write the abbreviation in full, which you are very welcome to do, please do this in parentheses. For example, if a personal name is ”Geo:”, you can write ”Geo: (George)” in the field.

9. Dates should be transcribed as they appear in the document.

10. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, type [cannot read].

11. You do not have to transcribe the entire document all at once, but we recommend that you do. (See ”From the beginning to the complete transcription” at the end of this document). You will only be awarded points for having completed a whole page.

Please observe the following rules when translating transcriptions of Police Court proceedings and Police journals to English:

1. Click on the tab ”English translation” on the right of the screen to find the template for entering your translation.

2. CIick the tab ”Transcription” on the left of the screen to see the transcription. This is easier to read than the image of the original text.

3. If the document is a front page, a back page or empty, mark this by ticking the box ”yes”. The entry can now be saved without you having to complete obligatory fields (marked *).

4. The fields in the template should be completed according to the same basic rules as for the transcription above.

5. The English translation should be as precise as possible and with American spelling, i.e. ”harbor” instead of ”harbour”, ”realize” instead of ”realise” etc.

6. When translating, please retain as much of the original sentence structure as possible for purposes of understanding. There are many parenthetical sentences in older written Danish which will often be split into shorter sentences in English. Please try to retain the parenthetical sentences to the extent possible.

7. You can find help for translating special Danish-West Indian terms here:

a. ”List of Institutions related to the Danish West Indies, 1600-1900” (Erik Gøbel):


b. ”Danish-English translations of archival terms, 1800-2015 (Gøbel, Holsoe, Hopkins and Rood):









55

We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at [email protected] (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at +45 41 71 73 00.

56


Case number: 35-1839

Description

of the case

Folio number: 6Location: Christiansted

Date: 29-06-1839

57


Folio number: 2Date: 16-06-1843

Description of

the case

58

From the beginning to the complete transcription

From the moment a document (digital image of archival material) is made available online for transcription and until it is presented as fully transcribed it will pass through four stages (see the illustration below). We have chosen this structure to secure the highest quality of our common work.

All documents are of course visible to everyone during the entire process, and your transcriptions can be read by all from the moment you click on “Save document”.

1. Documents with the status “Transcribe” are available and can be opened and transcribed by anyone, who has registered for the archival collection in question. For instance the collection “Danish West Indies”. You do not need to choose the first available document on the list, you can choose freely between all available documents.

You can choose to transcribe one document from beginning to end and then click on “Save document”. Or you can choose to transcribe part of the document and save it as a draft: click on “Save as draft”.

Documents shown as “Occupied” are either in the process of being transcribed by someone or have been saved as a draft.

If you save a draft it cannot be changed by others until 24 hours after you have saved it. Hereafter, the draft is automatically unlocked and obtains the status “Partially transcribed”, unless you save it as a draft again or save it as completed within the 24 hours. There is no limit to the number of times you can save a document as a draft.

2. When you finish the transcription of a document and click on “Save document”, you will be forwarded to the next available document, while your transcription is sent to a proofreader. Transcriptions that have not yet been proofread have the status “Not proofread”. Until your transcriptions have been proofread, you and the proofreaders can open and change your transcription.

3. We all make mistakes when reading a document and errors when transcribing. This is why all transcriptions are proofread. When your transcription has been proofread you cannot change it any longer.

The proofreaders can also save transcriptions as drafts. Transcriptions saved as drafts by a proofreader also obtain the status “Occupied” and can only be edited by the proofreader who saved them. The draft is locked for 24 hours, just as when a transcriber saves a draft (see item 1).

4. When a transcription has been proofread it can only be changed by an editor. The editors are the staff members in charge of crowdsourcing at the Danish National Archives (Rigsarkivet). In general, the editor will only become aware of an error if a transcriber, proofreader or a guest on the homepage draws his/her attention to the problem. Then the editor can choose to correct the error or reopen the document and change its status to “Partially transcribed” or “Transcribe”.

59

Transcribe OccupiedPartially

transcribedNot

proofreadView

(done)