According to Ma, when she separated from Dad, she moved to St. Croix with 5 children. On St. Croix, she had her mother and father, and 4 sisters - Titi Guilla, Titi Moncha, Titi Paca and Titi Felí. [Update, July 19, 2007 - Per communication with Lily, it appears Titi Guilla was the first to move to St. Croix, sometime in 1943, followed by Mamá Lola and Papá Leo in 1948. This is based on a discussion Lily had with Min (who had a discussion with Titi Felí and Toñin (one of Lily´s uncles.]
Ma said that to get to St. Croix, first she had to take a ferry to Fajardo, Puerto Rico. From there she took a ferry, which transported passengers and cargo, mostly vegetables. The ferry left in the evening and headed for St. Croix. The ferry may have stopped in St. Thomas. Ma was not sure if passengers and/or goods were picked up or delivered once docked in St. Thomas. She said the stop would have been for a short time. The ferry arrived in Christiansted the afternoon of the next day. Ma said that some people traveled via sailboats.
It appears Dad began sending Ma messages telling her how much he missed her, and she was convinced by Papá Leo to move back to Vieques. She did. When Ma returned to Vieques, via Fajardo again, I was conceived. Dad began to get sick, so he was taken to a doctor. It has never been clear what was wrong with him. On the advice of Dr. Rivera (Carmelo's father, now my brother-in-law), Pa was taken by Tío Teyo and Tío Tomás to El Centro Medico de Fajardo (which may have a different name today) for evaluation. Ma said she would go to a telegraph office in town on the island of Vieques and pay for them to find out how Pa was. She said the messages always came back stating that he was okay. She believes that Pa got better for a while and then succumbed to whatever was afflicting him. Pa died in Fajardo and is buried someplace in Puerto Rico. [I later discovered
that Pa, during his illness became very abusive. It is said he was suffering from syphilis. I find it odd because Ma was not infected. None of my siblings were infected. As far as I know, I was born okay. Could Dad have been in stage 3 of the virus when he met Ma? It is said at stage 3, syphilis is not transmittable. Is that why it was said that he was "crazy"? The disease affects the brain when at
stage 3.]
When Ma moved back to St. Croix the second time, she was pregnant. Min stayed with Titi Catalina on Vieques. After finishing 5th grade, Min visited St. Croix for the summer when went back to Vieques. On her second trip, Min stayed with Doña Juanita while she attended 6th grade. Min traveled by herself back and forth to Vieques. [Update, based on discussion with Min on July 20, 2007. My brother Paco was born in 1948. In November 1948, Mamá Lola and Papá Leo and Titi Felí moved to St. Croix. Ma and her children moved to St. Croix in the summer of 1949. Ma soon moved back to Vieques to be with Dad. In 1950, Pa became ill and was taken to Fajardo. he died December 1950. In January 1951, Titi Paca went to Vieques to get Ma and her children. Ma was pregnant with me at the time. Min stayed with Titi Catalina to finish her school year. In May 1952, Min visited St. Croix when went back to Vieques to finish 6th grade. she lived with Doña Juanita while she finished 6th grade. In May 1952, when Min came to St. Croix for a visit, she was told she would not be going back to Vieques. It should be noted that on one of Min's trips to St. Croix, she got very sick (seasick?), and they had to get her medical care on St. Thomas. [Can you imagine what it was like traveling on a boat with young children plus being pregnant? Is this why I like cruise ships so much?]
My Mother's siblings were Eleuterio (Tío Teyo, born 10/1909, deceased 06-08-1981, Vieques), Guillermina (Titi Guilla, born 06/1913, deceased 06-04-1997, St. Croix), Tomás (Tío Tomás, born 03/1915, deceased in 1982, Vieques), Juana (Titi Juana, born 07/1916, deceased 01-20-2011, Vieques), Francisca (born 10-08-1919, deceased 04-19-2008 in NY, Tía lived on St. Croix and in New York), Ramona/Dolores Cristina (Titi Moncha, born 4/1924, deceased 12/15/1991, Hato Rey. She lived on St. Croix for a while), Catalina (Titi Catalina, born 6/1926, lived in New York and St. Croix, died in Florida), María Cristina (Titi Mery, born 03.1918, died 2022, Hato Rey. She lived on St. Croix for a while.), Felicita (Titi Feli or Kiki, born 10/1932, lived on St. Croix for a while then moved to California, where she died.) Mother was born between Titi Paca and Titi Moncha, Ma was born 07/1922 and died 06/2010. [Before Titi Guilla died, she showed me a notebook where the dates of all her siblings were recorded. I was under the impression she made the annotations. I later found out that the notebooks were given to Titi Guilla by Mamá Lola. It appears Mamá Lola had someone record the date of birth of her children in the notebook. Did she know Papá Leo would screw up the names and dates? It is not definite how many of Mamá Lola's children died. Some say it is 2 and others 4. It is a known fact that two girls loved a few years. These two girls are assumed to be born after Tío Teyo. Two other girls may have been miscarried or died shortly after birth. The dates of birth that appear here were furnished by my cousin, Lily Alvarez, Titi Guilla's granddaughter, who know possesses the notebook left behind by Mamá Lola. From a conversation with María Esther, Titi Catalina's oldest daughter, there appears to have been a mix-up with Titi Moncha's and Titi Catalina's names and date of births. We know Titi Moncha's name was not Ramona but María Dolores from information furnished by one of her sons.]
On St. Croix there were many Viequenses living by the time Ma arrived the second time.
I remember Estate Coble being mostly Puerto Ricans, many of whom worked in one capacity or another for the sugar factory in Bethlehem (or as Puerto Ricans would say, "Belehen"). Keep in mind that when the Navy took over part of Vieques to make the military base, many residents were displaced. The Central Playa Grande Sugar Mill was closed. The Central was a thriving sugar industry. Many moved to St. Croix. The Navy base stopped operation in 2001 and closed in 2003.
Another section that had many Puerto Ricans was Machuchal. But for some reason the area
had a bad reputation. People were advised not to go to the area alone.
Titi Paca and Don Carmelo lived in Frederiksted and owned the Caribbean Bar on King and Lagoon Streets (#28, now a two-story cement building that once housed a drug store). At the Caribbean Bar dances, parties, and boxing matches were held. Titi Paca was a seamstress
during the day and lived next to the bar. [In March 2004, Don Carmelo explained to me that the
fights were not arranged by him and that some of the boxers came from St. Thomas.]
Titi Moncha lived in River and possibly someplace else before that. She may have also lived in Concordia and also in one of the homes on Hill and New Streets. From River, Titi Moncha moved
to Puerto Rico and became part of the Mita religious movement. The Mita congregation had visited St. Croix a few times to give services and recruit new members. Titi Guilla lived in Coble then for a while lived in the small house on Titi Paca's property in Whim and later in Harrigan and from there, she moved to a house she built in Carlton. Titi Paca lived on or close to Strand Street for a while before moving to King Street. Titi Mery lived in a house in Whim close to Mamá Lola.
From here Titi Mery moved to Hato Rey, Puerto Rico to join the Mita congregation. Titi Felí may have lived with Mamá Lola then later with Titi Paca in the house close to the Caribbean Bar and then moved to New York and later to California. [I obtained this information from Ma on May 3, 2004. She is not sure of all the details so some of the information may not be correct.]
Though many Puerto Ricans that came to St. Croix worked in Bethlehem, many turned out to be prominent businessmen in Frederiksted - Don Miguel García, Don Suarez, Don Chanchin
n (García), Don Chico (Morales), Don Johnny (Belardo), etc. There were also many in Christiansted.
Puerto Ricans called the Black female Crucians "madamas". The Black Crucians in general were called "íngleses", since they spoke English.
By the way, Puerto Rican males were called Papá and the Puerto Rican females were called Mamá. I think this started off as a term of respect, but it eventually changed. I suppose Black Crucians heard us using the terms so much that they decided to respectfully refer to us using the terms. Eventually, the word began to be used in a derogatory manner. According to the Black Crucians, Puerto Ricans brought lice, ringworm and other infections to St. Croix. We were called Hookworm Puerto Ricans or Licey Puerto Ricans, etc. Puerto Ricans were blamed for every theft, accused of taking jobs from the locals, etc. What they did not understand was that the Puerto Ricans had come to the island to make a better living and improve their financial situation and were not ashamed to accept demeaning jobs in order to survive. [The same is happening in the USA with Mexicans, Central and South Americans, etc. Many claim they are taking jobs from Americans yet the jobs these immigrants perform are jobs that pay very little and are not jobs most Americans really want.]
A little about Vieques. The island is 135 sq. Km (51.7 sq. miles). It is 21 miles (34 Km) long, 3 miles (5 Km) wide. Vieques was founded in 1843 by Francisco Sainz and annexed by Puerto Rico in 1854. It's was derived from the Taino Indian word for small island, "bieques". The island is also called Isla Nena. Vieques is divided into Isabel Segunda Florida, Puerto Diablo, Puerto Ferro, Puerto Real, Llave, Mosquito and Punta Arena.
Ma once told me that she remembers living in Mosquito. From there she moved to what they called Tapia or La Aldea. She said she remembers a "quebra" (spring) in the area. From there she remembered moving to Campaña (La Hueca) and then Santa María. From Santa María she moved to Puerto Nuevo, which they called El Hoyo Bin (or Hoyo Bin). Eventually, she moved to Playa Grande with Dad and then to Puerto Nuevo and from there to St. Croix.
