Dr. Susan Lowes PhD
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Further research revealed a letter from Dr. Susan Lowes dated August 19, 1982 showing that she had been in contact with Maisie and Florrie when she was doing her research. "Dear Maisie and Florrie, I expect you remember my dozens of questions about Cranstoun family history, and now that I have finally settled down and started to write up my material, I thought you might like to see what little I gleaned about the Cranstoun’s. I enclose a copy of the genealogy that I was able to draw up, mostly from various people’s wills. The first Cranstoun’s I have a record for is David, George, Ann, and Jane Cranstoun who were very prominent free coloured (this was before emancipation), with David being a planter, and even being compensated for slaves at emancipation, George a merchant, Ann was president of the Female Orphan Asylum, (this was early in my family research when I learned about the Female Orphan Asylum, long before I made contact with my cousin) a very respectable sort of work for a woman in those days. Jane married someone named Wesston, and had two sons and I have no record of what happened to them. Have you ever run into any Wesston’s? David was the only one to have a lot of children, and he had ten by two wives (I think only three by the second wife, but it’s not that clear in the Wills). Many of those either died young or left Antigua, because only three turn up in death records. And only one, John Duer Cranstoun, seems to have had children in Antigua, to carry on the line. The rest you probably know about because one of his children and his only son, was your father. Your father’s sister, one of them, was written out of her father’s will because she married a “seafarer”, apparently against her father’s better judgement. I also found out a little about Harper’s, which might interest you, if you don’t know it already. Evelina Gibbons and James Dudgeon Gibbons were apparently the children of William Henry Harper, an Antigua planter, and Ann Gibbons from Montserrat. Old William Henry left James a share of his estate, called **Manigo (can this be right, I’ve never heard of it, but it was supposedly in St. Phillips) to be shared with his wife Anna Clarke. I guess Ann Gibbons stayed in Montserrat and sent the children over, because James at least testified before the Norman Commission that he had lived in Antigua since he was a youth. I guess all this confusion is why people are vague about Bessie Harper’s background. William calls James his “natural and acknowledged son”, which lends force to the belief that I heard frequently that in the old days, fathers took care of their acknowledged children, and acknowledged them openly. That’s about all I know. There was a James Martin Cranstoun who died at Big Duer’s in 1862, and a few others in the countryside but no more. It seems to me you must have a lot of relatives abroad. I had hoped to get to work on all this much sooner, but when I came back I had to find a place to live, and get settled in a job, and so on and on, and I was only able to work at it off and on. Now I have taken some time off, and am working furiously. Luckily, the summer hasn’t been too hot and it’s been possible to work at home in the daytime. I hope that you are well, and that I will see you again in Antigua before too long. With best wishes - Susan Lowes" ** Further research shows in the History of Antigua (page 424) that the estate was called MANNINGS. “21. MANNINGS, 173 Acres, W. E. Ledatt, 68 slaves, 1829, W. H. Harper, 1871”. In January 2013 I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet my mentor Dr. Susan Lowes in Antigua. She was as I expected and continued to mentor me when I would meet her on the beach. Sometimes, I would find out new family information and go down the beach to seek her out to tell her the news. I was also able to meet her husband Martin Benjamin and we would talk while Susan was in the ocean with what he called the "gossip group". One day I went down to find her. A little background here, I had been to the photo store the day before to get some pictures printed to put in a simplified photo album for my cousin Handel, as he had asked for some pictures. While in the store the girl behind the counter asked me if I minded that she had looked at my wonderful pictures. She said she noticed the name Mercer in one of the pictures and she said she had a neighbour named Mercer and he looked like me. I asked her what her name was and she said Henry. I inquired as to whether or not she knew Mavis Ralph, she replied no, then it hit me, so I asked about Rox-Ann Henry, she replied she was her cousin, so I stuck out my hand and said, “Hello, cousin, she is my cousin as well.” Back to the "gossip group". When Susan came out of the water a lady walked by and Susan whispered to me, “You see that woman, she was telling me about a white man who was fixing up graves and searching for people named Mercer, he thinks he may be related.” Susan had seen me talking with her husband and said to the woman, “See that guy talking to Milton. He’s the guy.” She looked at Susan and said, “I’m not related to that guy!” Information From Dr. Susan Lowes Which Aided in My Research Langford Selly Cranstoun Will (1920) He is of Cochranes and dies in October 20, with an estate valued at L476/7/10. He leaves L10 to Eugene Elvira Edwards; he leaves his wife all domestic articles and the land in Cross Street. He leaves his share of and interest in property on High Street to his wife and 7 children as tenants in common and with equal shares. **He leaves his property at High and Cross Street to James, and also his property at Nevis and Cross Street. He leaves Cochranes and Thomas to his wife and sister (Mary Angelica) and the 7 children as tenants in common and with equal shares. Everything else to his wife and 7 children. ** This was the information contained in the family folklore which lead to the story about Langford leaving property to James Dudgeon Harper to leave to "Bessie" Harper, because of her "funny eye" he thought she would never marry and she would need something to look after herself in her old age. The problem with this story is that James Dudgeon Harper died in 1915 five years before Langford Selly Cranstoun and Langford left the properties in Question to his wife and seven children. Never-the-less it is curious that Dr. Susan Lowes would come up with a similiar story as the family folklore. Miscellaneous Deaths
Miscellaneous Marriages
Cranstoun Information, Gathered From Documents
Information Used From Dr. Susan Lowes Introduction to Dr. Susan Lowes thesis (gives background info about the situation in Antigua in the early days): Susan Lowes Thesis - Introduction Susan Lowes - They Couldn't Mash Ants It is with the information I obtained from Dr. Susan Lowes that I seemed to get off to a quick start on building my family tree. Without her research I most likely would still be searching as the Antigua National Archives are not user friendly.
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As I have said earlier I would not have been able to uncover my family history as quickly as I did if it was not for Dr. Susan Lowes' work and I thank her.