Guidelines for transcribing and translating documents from the Danish West Indies Version 6, updated February 2016

Transcription

1 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 Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding Marriages on St. Croix and St. Thomas & St. John Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding confirmands on St. Croix Transcription guide for Reports from Religious Congregations regarding deaths on St. Croix and St. Thomas & St. John Transcription guide for Registers concerning arriving individuals Transcription guide for Registers of passports for departing individuals Transcription guide for Payrolls and Muster rolls of the West Indian Military Forces Transcription guide for Muster rolls for the Gendarmerie Corps Transcription guide for Danish West Indian censuses Transcription guide for Police records of arriving and departing individuals Transcription guide for Register of enlisted soldiers Transcription and translation guide for Police Court proceedings and Police journals From the beginning to the complete transcription... 58

2 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 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. 1

3 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): 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 crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

4 Fig. 1: Please type the below Copybook number Main text Date (day, month, year) Folio number Report number 3

5 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: 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. 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): 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 ). 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. 4

6 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 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 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 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. 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. 5

7 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. 10. Dates should be entered as they appear in the document. 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]. 13. 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. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection your are commenting on ) or call us at

8 Fig. 1: Please type the below Name 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 7

9 Fig. 2: Please type the below 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) 8

10 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 : 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. 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): The section At the top of the page : 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 9

11 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 : 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, 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. 4. 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. 5. 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). 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. 7. All other text in the document that the rules above indicate 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 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. 11. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 10

12 12. 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. 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, New 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

13 Fig. 1: Please type the below Name of town: Christianstædt Slave or free: Slave Name: Baniba Year: 1773 Name of slave owner: Elizabeth Maas 12

14 Fig. 2: Please type the below Name: Adam Name of plantation: Högensborg & Sorgenfrey Slave or free: Slave Name of slave owner: Adam Söbötker Name of quarter: West end & Prinsens Year: 1818 Land registry number: 17 & 25 13

15 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: 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 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 If no date is given, tick empty field. b. Date of baptism: Should be entered as dd-mm-yyyy, e.g 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 14

16 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. 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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 that can be spelled in several different ways. 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. 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, write [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

17 Fig. 1: Please type the below Year: 1841 Date of birth: Name of plantation owner or plantation: North Side Date of baptism: Name of father: Manuel Location: Frederiksted Name of child: Rose Name of mother: Penny Church: St. Paul s Church Free or unfree: unfree Godfathers and godmothers: Robert James & Betsy Lass 16

18 Fig. 2: Please type the below Date of birth: Year: 1891 Godfathers and godmothers Date of baptism: Name of father: Carl Julius Christiansen Location: Christiansted Name of child: Anna Maria Christiansen Name of mother: Inez Limmone Church: Lutheran 17

19 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: 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 marriages 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 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 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. 18

20 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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 that can be spelled in several different ways. 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. 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

21 Fig. 1: Please type the below Year: 1841 Date of marriage: Name of bridegroom: Paul Simmons Names of witnesses: Benjamin James & Francis Lee Name of bride: Mary Williams Owner of bridegroom: Diamond & Ruby Owner of bride: Diamond & Ruby 20

22 Fig. 2: Please type the below Date of marriage: Church: Lutheran Names of witnesses: Andrew Ferris & George Flynn Name of bridegroom: Louis Philip Abbot Name of bride: Artemizia Constancia Raahauge Location: Frederiksted Year:

23 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: 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. 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 : 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 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 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. The section Other text : 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. 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 that can be spelled in several different ways. 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. 22

24 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in sentence, write [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

25 Fig 1: Please type the below Name: Daniel Jacob Year: 1831 Slave or free: Slave Church: Missionsmenigheden Location: Frederiksted 24

26 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): 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 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 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. 25

27 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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 that can be spelled in several different ways. 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. 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

28 Fig 1: Please type the below Church: English (Anglican)/Catholic/Dutch reformed Owner: Nancy Smith (i.e. the deceased was a slave) Date of burial: Name of deceased: Fruen Watlington Year:

29 Fig 2: Please type the below Year: 1880 Church: Lutheran Date of burial: Location: Frederiksted Name of deceased: Louisa Petrus 28

30 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: 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. 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-mmyyyy, e.g 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. The section Your comments : 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. 29

31 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. 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. 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

32 Fig 1: Please type the below Date of arrival Folio number Passenger s name From where 31

33 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 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 Person departing : a. Date of departure: Is stated in the column furthest to the left. Should be entered as ddmm-yyyy, e.g 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. The section Your comments : 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. 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. 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. 32

34 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

35 Fig 1: Please type the below Date of departure Folio number Passenger s name: Sophia Joffroi Destination 34

36 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: 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. 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): The section At the top of the page : 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. 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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. 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 and can be spelled in several different ways. 35

37 6. 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. 7. 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. 8. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 9. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

38 Fig 1: Please type the below Folio number (if any) Rank: Gemeiner Name: Lars Larsen 37

39 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: 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. 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): The section At the top of the page : 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. 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 4. 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. 38

40 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 8. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

41 Fig 1: Please type the below Rank: Spillemand Name: Viggo Axel Biesemann Year:

42 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): The section At the top of the page : 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. 41

43 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. 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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. 4. 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). 5. Fields marked with a red asterisk * are mandatory and must be filled in. If you cannot fill in a mandatory field, tick empty field. 6. All other text in the document that the rules above indicate must be entered as given even though the spelling appears to be wrong. 7. 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. 8. Dates should be entered as they appear in the document. 9. 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. 10. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word in a sentence, 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. 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, New 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. 42

44 We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

45 Fig 1: Please type the below Name of occupant: Eleonor Hannemann Street name and house number: Hill Street, 7B Name of owner: Frederikka Hennemann Name of town: Christiansted Name of island: St. Croix 44

46 Fig 2: Please type the below Name of occupant: Theodora Keating Name of quarter: Ny Qvarter Name of plantation and tax land registry number: Hospitalsgrundene 1B Name of island: St. Thomas Name of owner: Zephenieh Keating 45

47 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: 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. 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 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 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 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. The section Your comments : 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. 46

48 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. 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. 5. 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. 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

49 Fig. 1: Please type the below Date of arrival: Captain of the ship: Francis Brown Date of departure (Stephan Gorhoum): Name of the passenger: Stephan Gorhoum, kiöbmand Captain of the ship : Mathias Berryman Folio no.: 4 48

50 Fig. 2: Please type the below Date of arrival: Captain of the ship: Capt. Petersen Folio no.: 3 Name of the passenger: Procurator Kierulff 49

51 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: 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. Lists of enlisted soldiers contain a great deal of information, but only the following information should be entered (see figure 1): The section At the top of the page : 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-mmyyyy, e.g 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. 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 in the document. You should be aware that your comments will be visible to everyone on the website. 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. 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. 5. 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. 50

52 6. If you cannot read a sentence or a single word, type [cannotread]. 7. 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. We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at crowd@sa.dk (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

53 Fig. 1: Please type the below Name: Peter Fred. Hoffmann Rank: Piber Folio number, if available Date of recruitment:

54 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. The section At the top of the page : 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 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. The section Your comments : 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. 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. 53

55 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. 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, (Erik Gøbel): b. Danish-English translations of archival terms, (Gøbel, Holsoe, Hopkins and Rood): 54

56 We would like to hear from you if you wish to comment on this guide. You can either write to us at (remember to indicate in the subject field which archival collection you are commenting on) or call at

57 Fig 1: Please type the below Location: Christiansted Folio number: 6 Date: Description of the case Case number:

58 Fig 2: Please type the below Date: Folio number: 2 Description of the case 57

59 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. 58

60 Transcribe Occupied Partially transcribed Not proofread View (done) 59