"You will never find the truth about my mother's people," shrieked Elzina when we visited her in Huntsville shortly before her death last year. My wife and I had both recently found out we were Melungeon. Teresa wondered especially about her Rameys. So we paid a visit to this formidable maiden aunt, keeper of skeletons and reigning matriarch of the family, whom Teresa remembered from her youth as invariably tight-lipped, scowling, always garbed in black satin dresses and lace-up boots. Elzina LaVera Grimwood was a schoolteacher, the daughter and granddaughter of schoolteachers, and sixth in a series of Tennessee Elzinas that stretched back to the days of Daniel Boone. As we drove away empty-handed over the mountains, Teresa remarked that Elzina would not have used those words if the big sin was that the Ramey family had Indian blood or came from France. "Maybe it was that they were bootleggers," I suggested, “or Gypsies.” Speculate as we might, it was hard to guess what dreadful ancestral guilt lay concealed in Elzina's fearful heart. She carried the secret to her grave.

"Natta Bongo, where are you going? I'm going in to warn Jah-jah children to leave out a Babylon.." The best meal one could eat in Jamaica, is a meal cooked over plain old fire wood. RESPECT: to the hard-working, Jamaican man that you see walking out there.

Westmoreland is the westernmost parish situated on the south side of the island. It has an area of 807 square kilometres (311 square miles). There are over 10,000 acres of morass land the largest part of which is called the Great Morass. This contains plant and animal material collected over centuries. This can be mined as peat, an excellent source of energy. The morass also serves as a natural sanctuary for Jamaican wildlife. The remaining area consists of several hills of moderate elevation and alluvial plains along the coast. Westmoreland was founded in 1703, and was most likely so named because it is the western most parish on the island. The parish boasts rain-fed fertile soils and low relief, well suited for sugar cane. The topography consists mainly of hills and slopes of moderate elevation. The remaining quarter of the parish consists of low lying alluvial plains and some 10,000 – 12,000 acres of wetlands. There are numerous rivers. The Cabaritta River drains the George's Plain and can accommodate boats weighing up to eight tons for twelve miles. It is 39.7 kilometres long. Other rivers are called Negril, New Savanna, Morgan's, Gut, Smithfield, Bowens, Bluefields, Robins, Roaring, Great and Dean. BRIEF HISTORY The Spaniards built one of their first three settlements at what is now Bluefields in this parish. Columbus also stopped there on his second voyage when he landed in Jamaica. They called it Oristan after a town in Sardinia which they then ruled. The parish was named Westmoreland in 1703 because it was the most westerly point in the island. In 1730 Savanna- la-Mar (the plain by the sea) replaced Banbury as the capital. The coast often provided refuge for pirates. Henry Morgan the pirate who later became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica set sail from Bluefields in December 1670 for his successful raid on Panama city. Here, in 1694, the militia repulsed a French landing party. The renowned English naturalist Phillip Henry Gosse lived in Bluefields for 18 months and sent specimens of rare plants and animals to England and dealers in Canada. He also wrote two books Birds of Jamaica and A Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica which are still valuable today. A major event which began in Westmoreland and changed the course of Jamaica's history was the 1938 riots at the Frome sugar estate. The changes that came in the wake of this led to universal adult suffrage in 1944 as well as a new constitution which put Jamaica on the road to self government and eventually independence. The two national heroes Sir Alexander Bustamante and Norman Washington Manley emerged as political leaders during this time. POPULATION: 139,000 Savanna-la-Mar is the capital town of Westmoreland. It was developed as a port from which sugar was exported and dates back to around 1730. The Spanish name Savanna-la-mar means “Plain by the sea” refers to its immediate environment. The port was built at the end of a straight road that runs perpendicular to the coastline. The road was flanked by flat mangrove swamps, which limited the lateral expansion of the development. The resulting linear development was unlike the many other ribbon-like developments along the coast. The town of Frome is located some 5 miles away from Savanna-la-Mar, and boasts one of the few remaining sugar factories in the country. Unfortunately exporting activities at the Savanna-la-Mar port ceased in 1985 and sugar is now exported from Ocho Rios. Next to sugar and rum in importance is the cattle industry, which produces dairy and beef. Farming of rice, bananas, coffee, ginger, pimento and honey were also popular in the parish in the mid 1960s. There has been a decline of the traditional agrarian industries of sugar and cattle over the years. This decline has been largely due to a shift in the local and macro economy from natural resource based industries to the more human resource based one such as tourism and financial services. The parish also produces diverse agricultural products such as sugar cane, cocoa, coconut, coffee, citrus and pimento. The fishing industry in Westmoreland currently ranks second in the island. CAPITAL: Savanna-la-Mar MAJOR TOWNS: Bluefields, Bethel Town, Negril, Seaford Town, Grange Hill, Frome, Darliston MAJOR INDUSTRIES/ SOURCES OF INCOME: Agriculture: Major agricultural products include sugar, bananas, coffee, ginger, cocoa, pimento, honey. This sector is the largest employer. Fishing: There are 19 fishing beaches with over 90 boats engaged in the industry. Tourism: Since the 1950s this has been the single fastest growing sector. The major hotels are Sandals Negril, T Water Beach Hotel, Poinciana Beach Resort, Grand Lido, Hedonism, Negril Beach Club, Negril Cabins. Negril is one of the main tourist destinations. Manufacturing: This is the third largest sector. Manufactured items include food and drink, tobacco, animal feeds, textile and textile products and printing. Historical - Cultural: Spanish history recalls that Negril was a haven for Pirates. One French pirate reportedly used the port as his base for attacking fifteen Spanish craft.The Buccaneer John Rackham, also called Calico Jack, was captured by the English naval officer Johnathan Barnet in Negril Harbour and was taken to Port Royal and hung at Gallows Point which became known as Rackham Cay. Negril Harbour subsequently became a meeting place for convoys heading back to England. In her famous diary. Lady Nugent recounts that in 1805, the convoy was scattered by a squall when one of the ships was boarded by a Spanish pirate. The harbour was considered unsuitable for shipping produce because of the large swamp - the Great Morass, the Island's largest fresh water wetland. lt was perceived as having little value, as unsuccessful attempts had been made to drain le morass for agricultural use. As early as 1774, Edward Long in his History of Jamaica refers to the Great Morass as "a place that may possibly be drained and cultivated." The absence of fresh water and roads delayed development and was these issues that Mr.Manley raised in 1958, when he sought approval from the House of Representatives for implementatlon of the Negril project.The development cost twice the original estimate as unforeseen difficulties, including hard rock excavations, proved to be more expensive than had been anticipated. The work included construction of two ridges and a road, provision of a water supply, river control drainage to divert flood waters and to prevent silt-laden water being discharged into the bay. The Great Morass: This stretches north ten miles from the South Negril River to Orange Bay and is two miles wide. It is virtually impenetrable and is said to be the remnant of a primeval forest. It is the second largest freshwater wetland in the island and forms a refuge for endangered waterfowl. At the edges where it links to flowing water systems the endemic fish the God-a-me is found. It can live out of water in moist shady spots. The morass is critical to the Negril environment. Like a giant sponge it filters the water flowing down from the interior of the parish. The Negril Watershed Environmental Protection Area has been created to protect the morass and reefs. As the tourism sector there expands it places additional demands on the infrastructure and increases the danger to the environment. Mannings High School: In 1710 Thomas Manning left 13 slaves, land, cattle and "produce of a pen" in Burnt Savannah to endow a "free school" in Westmoreland. The school was established in 1738. More modern buildings surround the original wooden structure. It is the second oldest secondary school in the island. Bluefields House: This is noted for its association with Phillip Henry Gosse the English Naturalist who spent 18 months there (1844 - 1845). While there he collected and sent to the British Museum hundreds of specimens of local flora and fauna. In its garden today is a breadfruit tree believed to be one of the first brought to the island by Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. It is believed to be on the site of one of the three earliest Spanish settlements which was called Oristan. No remains of this settlement have been found Savanna-la-mar Baptist Church: This church was founded on June 7, 1829 by the Rev. Thomas Burchell. At this time the anti- slavery movement was gaining momentum in the West Indies and England. Another famous emancipator William Knibb was also pastor at this church. http://www.melungeons.com/genealogy/blackindianslist.htm http://www.melungeons.com/articles/march2003a.htm

Negril's Lighthouse completed in 1894 Built by the Germans and English	Negril's Lighthouse: Perched on the south-westernmost point of the island is the Negril Lighthouse which stands 100 feet above sea level with an automatic light flashing every two seconds through the night. The light house was completed (built) around 1884 by a team of Scottich/English Men, who had arrived on the Island, sent by the Queen. You can climb 103 stairs to the top for a birds eye view of the coast. En route you will see the brass lamps and pistons dating from 1894 when the light was lit with kerosene. Today, solar energy is used.
Negril's News: Ken Kiesler, 1945-2003 "The Great VavaVoom's Guide to the tropical Hippy Beaches of the World" Posted by Dave Winer, 9/19/03 at 3:14:14 PM. My uncle died yesterday. He was a relatively young man, 58 years old, in relatively good health, or so we thought. He was more like a brother than an uncle, he taught me so much, was a role model, both positive and negative. Today, while waiting for the Verizon repair man, I watched On Golden Pond, an amazing movie for pulling the feelings out. When Ken was born they broke the mold. A hippie and an engineer, a great thinker and reasoner, with blind spots you could drive a truck through. When my aunt Dorothy died of cancer almost fifteen years ago it set Ken adrift, he never found his grounding again. As he aged he became more loving, more of a friend, and more resigned to his own death, which he obsessed about. When I was a kid he was a teen. We rode go-karts together at the beach in Rockaway and sent secret messages up to kites we flew over Jamaica Bay. If he could read this he'd tell me to get over it. But he had a sentimental side, sort of an Eastern European sentimentalism, although like me, he was born in the US. He read voraciously. He did crossword puzzles. He swam every day. He smoked a lot. He fussed with cars. He built a windmill. It's rusting in a palmetto field west of Crescent Beach, FL. He was raised in a brutal household, he lived a lot of his life in apposition to his father who beat him every day when he was a kid. He could solve a math problem like no one else. Along with Scott Rosenberg he was one of two people I knew who solved Don's Amazing Puzzle without even thinking. He was puzzled by the Dancing Hamsters. He told stories, told them over and over again. I got to numbering them, in a playful way. I'd say "oh that's story #2764," as he'd start to tell it. He always said he'd write them, but as far as I know he never did. One of my favorite DaveNets was a recital of a Ken Kiesler rap, about the relationship between security and money. I wrote about Ken and Jamaica often in DaveNet and on Scripting News. He was one of the first to have a Manila site along with Dan Gillmor, and Jamis MacNiven at Buck's. I introduced Ken to Jamis. He was impressed with Jamis's Russian cosmonaut suit, hanging from the ceiling at Buck's. He practiced self-deprecating humor. He'd put both hands on the sides of his head and say in a mock-frail voice "I'm soooo confused." It was a joke, but he only said it when he was really confused. He probably said it about the Dancing Hamsters. Once in Miami I turned on the radio and they were playing a Rolling Stones song from the 1960s. He didn't know who it was. He said he stopped listening to new stuff in the 50s. He was a musician, but a dabbler. He formed a band called The Matanzas River Mud Stompers with people who hung around his 25-acre hippie commune in the palmetto field. The did an audition tape of a commercial for a local music store. I have it somewhere. His uncle, Arno Schmidt, was a famous author in Germany with a cult-like following. He never met Arno. They will want to know that Vava died. They probably didn't even know he was alive. He was Lucy's son. To my brother -- yes this is going to hurt. You've known the guy for many years. He bounced you on his knee. He liked to call himself The Great VaVaVoom, said he was a professional wrestler, saying he used the line to pick up chicks on the beach (at your service ma'am), but we knew he never did and kidded him about it. We called him Uncle Vava. Even people who weren't his nephew did. Then a new twist as his hair went white. He looked like Santa Claus. Kids on the beach in Negril would call him Uncle Santa. I had two uncles. Both are dead. My other uncle was murdered. A few years before my grandmother, Lucy Kiesler, died, Ken asked her if they could pre-arrange a signal that she would send after she died that would prove conclusively that there's life after death. Something we might call up at a seance. She refused. Ironically we never got around to agreeing on something between ourselves. Oh well. I'll have to wait till it's my turn. Some of Ken's friends: Woody and Nancy Pine. Barry and Elizabeth at Gloria's in Negril. Thurman Wartloe. Sparky. Clayton Straight Arm. Me And My Uncle, 1957 or so. [Negril 1999] Source: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/kenKiesler www.vavavoom.com