The Merikins (Merikens) in Trinidad (Supplement)

Dear Members and friends:

I’m excited to share with you some additional history on the Merikens.  I must admit I’d never heard of the Merikens until my fellow team member, Duane Scott suggested that we do a piece on them.  Little did I know that my friend, ardent supporter and soon to be member of TTADC, Ms. Brenda Gilkes Turner, who lives in the Washington, DC area, is a descendant of the Merikens.

Brenda's maternal grandfather

, Herbert Cooper was born in 1889, in the Fifth Company in Moruga.  She recalls as a little girl visiting him there and that "he was always decked out in his tall garden boots working in the fields."  Unfortunately, she does not have a photograph of her grandfather, but she kindly shared some other photos of her family.  Her beautiful mom, Agatha Ann Cooper born in 1923,  her brother, Robert Gilkes who she says is the image of their grandfather (tall, strapping, dark and handsome), her sister, Maureen George, her niece Rachel Weatherless, her daughter Erica Thwaites and her son Brandon Turner who sadly passed away in June 2020.

Meet three generations of descendants of the Merikens--some good-looking people!!  Thanks Brenda for allowing us to share a little bit of your family history.  

Tonight, we feature "The Story of the Merikins or Merikens in Trinidad"

The Merikins or Merikens (a creole version of the word American) were African-American Marines (former African slaves) who fought for the British against the US in the War of 1812, in the Corps of Colonial Marines.  After post-war service in Bermuda, they were established as a community in the south of Trinidad in 1815–16.  They were settled in an area populated by French-speaking Catholics and retained cohesion as an English-speaking, Baptist community.  Some of the company villages and land grants established back then still exist in Trinidad today.

After the end of the War, the Colonial Marines were first stationed at the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda.  Although they had signed on for a military life, they rejected government orders to be transferred to the West India Regiments, and finally agreed to be settled in Trinidad.

The Governor of Trinidad, Sir Ralph Woodford, wanted to increase the number of small farmers in that colony and arranged for the creation of a village for each company on the Naparima Plain in the south of the island.   Local planter Robert Mitchell managed the establishment and maintenance of the settlements, petitioning the governor for supplies when needed.

The Veteran Marines were brought to Trinidad in 1816, with their families, in the hired transports Mary & Dorothy and Lord Eldon.  There were 574 former soldiers plus about 200 women and children. To balance the sexes, more black women were subsequently recruited – women who had been freed from other places such as captured French slave ships.  The six companies were each settled in a separate village under the command of a corporal or sergeant, who maintained a military style of discipline.  Some of the villages were named after the companies and the Fifth and Sixth Company villages still retain those names.  In fact they were responsible for the creation of what is now called the Moruga Road, which leads to the Columbus Channel along Trinidad’s southern coast. 

The villages were in a forested area of the Naparima Plain near a former Spanish mission, La Misión de Savana Grande.  Each of the Veteran Marines were granted 16 acres of land and some of these plots are still farmed today by descendants of original settlers.  The land was fertile but the conditions were primitive initially as the land had to be cleared and the lack of roads was a problem.  The settlers built houses from the timber they felled, and planted crops of bananas, cassava, maize and potatoes.  Rice was introduced from America and was especially useful because it could be stored for long periods without spoiling.

Twenty years after the initial establishment, the then governor Lord Harris supported improvements to the infrastructure of the settlements and arranged for the settlers to get deeds to their lands, confirming their property rights as originally stated on arrival, though it is not clear that the initiative was carried through universally.  As they prospered, they became a significant element in Trinidad's economy.  Their agriculture advanced from subsistence farming to include cash crops of cocoa and sugar cane.  Later, oil was discovered and then some descendants were able to lease their lands for the mineral rights.  Others continued as independent market traders.

Many of the original settlers were Baptists from evangelical sects common in places such as Georgia and Virginia.  The settlers kept this religion, which was reinforced by missionary work by Baptists from London who helped organize the construction of churches in the 1840s.  The villages had pastors and other religious elders as authority figures and there was a rigorous moral code of abstinence and the puritan work ethic.  African traditions were influential too and these included the gayap system of communal help, herbal medicine and Obeah – African tribal science.  A prominent elder in the 20th century was "Papa Neezer" – Samuel Ebenezer Elliot (1901–1969) – who was a descendant of an original settler, George Elliot, and renowned for his ability to heal and cast out evil spirits. His form of religion included worship of Shango, prophecies from the "Obee seed" and revelation from the Psalms.   The Spiritual Baptist faith is a legacy of the Merikin community.

The following people are descendants from this community:

·         Tina Dunkley, American museum director

·         Hazel Manning, Trinidadian senator and education minister

·         Althea McNish, British textile designer

·         Brent Sancho, footballer, Minister for Sport for Trinidad and Tobago

·         Lincoln Crawford OBE, barrister, Chair, Independent Adoption Service

Read more about this most interesting group of people at:

Merikins-Wikipedia.

The Story of the Merikens in Trinidad

Video on the Merikens

Claudia and Angela

On behalf of the IMC, TTADC