Re: Wilsons from the Virgin Islands
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In reply to:
Wilsons from the Virgin Islands
William Kiernan 6/29/02
Tried to e-mail this to you and it came back "return to sender."---
Although I am not a Wilson, I am interested in one J.C. Wilson who was a pioneering photographer in Kingstown St. Vincent around the turn of the century.He took a lot of photos of my family, some of which I have, and seems to have been well acquainted with them.I have been in touch with a person who is trying to track down his descendants to find out what became of his collection of negatives, which would be of great historical interest (at least to people interested in St. Vincent) if they still existed.I suppose the chances that they still exist are miniscule, but I would sure like to get a look at them myself, as I am sure there were many other photos of my ancestors among them.There seem to be many JC Wilson photos 'floating around,' including some of the inside of the crater of La Souffriere which I think are the first ever taken (and precede the 1902 eruption).
I wonder if your wife's great grandfather is "my" J.C. Wilson, as my source (the photo scholar) told me he was also John Cyril and had a daughter named Elsie, and ended up in New York (as did my ggrandfather from St. Vincent.)I have no information that JCW the photographer was ever in the Virgin Islands, but there is no reason to think he wasn't.The Ellis Island records show (I am getting this from the photo scholar as well) that they arrived in NYC in 1923.
I would be very interested in your thoughts.