Our Culture- The Germans

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="0c3085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Jamaica  ~ Noamie's Negril.Com </B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jamaica Noamies Negril.Com "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="West Cliffe The Place I Called Home"><U><B>West Cliffe- The Place I Called Home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>West Cliffe  - My Biography  - The Road That Got Us Here</B></div> <div> <I><B>Welcome to the Noamie's Negril Web Site</B></I><B> ~ Noamie's - Jamaican Tea Room...An Innovative Walk into Traveling & Reality </B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0c4d2e83.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 1 A Star is Born ... The Road T"><U>Chapter 1- A Star is Born ... & The Road That Got Us Here</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 2 1990: It Was April It Was East"><U>Chapter 2- 1990: It Was April; It Was Easter; Another Easter</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 3 Me and My Childhood Sickness:"><U>Chapter 3 - Me and My Childhood Sickness: 1964-1966 </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 4 A Family of Strangers Thats "><U>Chapter  4 - A Family of Strangers; That's What We Are'</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 5 List of Men whose Hearts Ive "><U>Chapter  5 -List of Men whose Hearts I've Broken</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 6 The W oman Called My Mother"><U>Chapter 6 - The W oman Called My Mother</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 7 Life is not always what its ad"><U>Chapter 7- Life is not always what its adds up to be</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 8 My Fathers Bride_ The Unfaithf"><U>Chapter 8- My Father's Bride_ The Unfaithful Bride</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 9My Mothers Evil_ My Years of Pa"><U>Chapter 9-My Mother's Evil_ My Years of Pain</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 10 My Father"><U>Chapter 10 My Father</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 11 How I Conquered, And Overpowe"><U>Chapter 11- How I Conquered, And Overpowered This Evil </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 12"><U>Chapter 12</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 13 Goodbyes: The Tragedies of"><U>Chapter 13   - Good-byes: The Tragedies of Two Men</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 14"><U>Chapter 14</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 15"><U>Chapter 15</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 16Behind The Great Mask Where Tw"><U>Chapter 16-Behind The Great Mask- Where Two Roads Meets </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 17Finally , Our of His mouth Com"><U>Chapter 17-Finally , Our of His mouth Cometh Truth</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 18 Jealousy Happiness"><U>Chapter 18- Jealousy & Happiness</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 19My Reasons for Tracking My Bir"><U>Chapter 19-My Reasons for Tracking My Birth & Life</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 20"><U>Chapter 20</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 21 Another Place Another Time "><U>Chapter 21- Another Place; Another Time </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 22 Summer of 1965"><U>Chapter 22 -Summer of 1965</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 23 The Night The Fallen Angel La"><U>Chapter 23- The Night The Fallen Angel Landed on top of my Roof</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 24 Take The Name of Jesus With Y"><U>Chapter 24 -Take The Name of Jesus With You Child of Sorrow</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mt Airy School"><U>Mt Airy School</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories of Old Negril"><U>Stories of  Old Negril</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Origins of Jamaica Fruits and Spices"><U>The Origins of Jamaica Fruits and Spices:</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jamaica An Island Possessed"><U>Jamaica An Island Possessed</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jamaicans Rituals:"><U>Jamaicans Rituals:</U></A></div> <div> <B>Our Culture- The Germans</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Camille"><U>Camille</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About RentaDreads"><U>About Renta-Dreads</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Negril: The Place I'll Rather Be</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF66FF" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><I>...</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF66FF" FACE="Desdemona" >Jamaica ~ Negril        </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF66FF" FACE="Desdemona" >     </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#CCCCE4" FACE="Eurostile" ><A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My BookWest Cliffe"><U>Home</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Seaford Town:</B> Germans were brought to Jamaica with the promise of being granted house, land, and employment. Montpelier Estate and Shettlewood Pen ~The story of the Lebanese~Read it here! </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="495" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#6666CC" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FF00FF" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#000000 HEIGHT= 346 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="2bc44520.jpg" border=0 width="324" height="338" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Seaford Town</B></div> <div> After the Abolition of Slavery (Aug. 1, 1834) many planters saw an impending shortage of labour. Consequently new measures were sought in an effort to solve this problem. One measure sought was the establishment of a European settlement by Lord Seaford, then owner of Montpelier Estate and Shettlewood Pen which were located in St. James. Over one thousand (1000) Germans were brought to Jamaica with the promise of being granted house, land, and employment.</div> <div> The township was established on five hundred acres of land in the parish of Westmoreland. Although a number of Germans migrated to North America some remained in Jamaica. Though the use of the German language has died, a few words have remained.</div> <bR> <div> Some buildings in Seaford Town have retained varying aspects of German architecture, and Catholicism has remained the dominant religion. Today, there are many members of the community with Caucasoid physical features and it is not uncommon to see a blond haired, blue eyed member of the community. There is a museum in the town displaying the history of the township.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE BEGINNINGS</B> </div> <div> <I><B>The story of the Lebanese</B></I><I><B> </B></I>in Jamaica begins towards the end of the nineteenth century. Unlike their fellow immigrants from China and India who had begun arriving in Jamaica in the mid-19th century, the Lebanese did not land on the island as indentured labourers. They, like the Jews that had come centuries before, arrived by their own free will, albeit fleeing religious persecution. </div> <div> Most of those that fled were Christians who suffered religious persecution at the hands of the Muslim Turks who controlled most of the area under the Ottoman Empire. At the time, that region of the Middle East contained people from an area known as Mount Lebanon which was then part of Syria  hence the common confusion between the terms Syrian and Lebanese and why they tend to be used interchangeably. Having heard of the wonders of the New World, a place where the streets were supposedly paved with gold that was there for the taking provided one worked hard enough, many sought to escape as quickly as possible and build new lives for themselves and their families. </div> <bR> <div> <B>WHY JAMAICA?</B> </div> <div> There are a few theories put forth as to why Jamaica was chosen as a destination. Nellie Ammar, the daughter of one of the earliest Lebanese immigrants and matriarch of the well-known Ammar retail family, collected stories from many of her relatives and friends prior to her own passing in the late 1990s. </div> <div> In an article for the <B>Jamaica Journal</B> she referenced her father who explained that for many who left the Middle East in the 1860s and 1870s, Britain was seen as the country of freedom. America was still emerging from the throes of its own bloody civil war. Therefore, according to him, the earliest Lebanese/Syrian immigrants seemed to have decided to seek the protection of the British Flag wherever they could and Jamaica fell into that category. He went on to explain that many of those who came later were joining relatives and friends rather than striking out for entirely new territory. This is known as "chain" migration, where prospective immigrants hear success stories and are provided with passage and a job on arrival through family or other social connections. Other descendants of early immigrants told Ammar that their relatives came because Jamaica was where their ships first landed and since many who bought their passages in the Middle East had no clear idea where they were going they simply disembarked. Still others explained that their family members spoke of first landing in Cuba after having left the Middle East and stopping in the French port of Marseilles or some Italian port. They didn't like Cuba and so came across to Jamaica. </div> <bR> <div> In addition, stories recount that many Lebanese/Syrians first heard of Jamaica as a result of the Great Exhibition of 1891. The Exhibition held on the grounds of what is now Wolmer's Schools drew over 300,000 visitors from around the world including some from the Middle East. They spoke of opportunities in Jamaica and soon, middle easterners from Lebanon, and Palestine such as noted Father of Jamaican Tourism, Abe Issa's grandfather and father, decided to journey to Jamaica and try their luck at selling dry goods. </div> <bR> <div> On landing in Kingston, new arrivals in the 1890s often encountered a full harbour and a vibrant market scene. Labourers in distinctive jippi-jappa hats, businessmen in morning coats, and East Indians in dhotis, all haggling over prices. Finely dressed women abounded. Single and double horse-drawn traps recruited passengers while mule-drawn tramcars offered alternate means of transportation. Even though they had to jump over open drains, there was electricity and potable piped water. The city was booming  there was good reason to believe that a pedlar would do well (Issa, 1994, p. 5). </div> <bR> <div> Earlier Lebanese/Syrian immigrants seemed to have been active in the banana industry but faced with its decline in the beginning of the 20th century, most turned to buying and selling and eventually to retail, following members of the Jamaican-Jewish community. At first, very few had enough money to buy shops so they turned to peddling (Sherlock and Bennett, 1998, p. 334). </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="624" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#000000 HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="620"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="23" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="620" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#000000 HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="620"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="23" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="620" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2bd2cce0.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="206" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>CAST IRON FOUNTAIN</B><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> Located near to the Courthouse in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland, is a Corinthian fluted Cast iron Fountain. This beautiful and unique Fountain was presented to the town of Savanna-La-Mar in 1887 by E. J. Sadler, a planter from Westmoreland. </div> <div> Rising from the base of the Fountain are eight iron columns which give the structure an octagonal appearance. On each of the eight columns is an arch, and over each arch is a plaque with a pelican motif. Inscribed on the pelican motif is the admonition “Keep the pavement dry”.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Moreland Pen</B> </div> <div> This 10,000 acre farm, located in the hills is an old Working Farm. Once owned by a German Family, the farm was sold to Ricky Jackson in 1984/85?. </div> <div> <I>                                                                                                            (More to come)...</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>