Anna Heegaard (1790-1859), her family and their life on St. Croix and her last will (all in English).
| Nummer | A98 |
| Type | Arkivalier |
| Arkivskaber | Jens Benoni Willumsen, born 1942, head of the local archive in the village Nr. Lyndelse, Denmark |
| Beskrivelse | Anna Heegaard's grandmother Charlotte Amalie Bernard (1753-1856) was house slave on St. Croix the first 40 years of her life. See her story and the story about her relatives below in the box "Bemærkning".
See also the biographical notes after the story below. Anna Heegaard, the consort of governor general Peter von Scholten, was one of Charlotte Amalie's grandchildren. |
| Født/stiftet | 1753 |
| Død/nedlagt | 1856 |
| Bemærkning | See the attached PDF-file in English "Anna Heegaards family and their life on St. Croix"
See also her attached last will (pdf-file). See also in A156 about the daily life at Bülowsminde in the attached article "Anna Heegaard og Peter von Scholten" written in Danish by H.F. Garde and published in 1958 (PDF-files) - change to A156. Genealogical tables for the family, made by Jens Benoni Willumsen, can be seen on the connected pictures B4, B9, B2316, 2317, 2318, 2319 and 2320. Pictures of Bülowsminde, see B22, B31, B32, B2326-2329. Watercoulour of Charlotte Amalie see B2330. And further, see also B4, B7 and B2330 and Benoni James Petersen's memories from St. Croix 1848-1858. "Anna Heegaard, her family and their life on St. Croix", a lecture given by her relative Jens Benoni Willumsen on various locations in Denmark in 2011 and 2012: "My great-great-great-great grandmother Charlotte Amalie Bernard from St. Croix is the oldest ancestor of my family that I know of. We don’t have any photos of Charlotte Amalie, but the well-known Danish set designer Jørn Mathiassen painted her from imagination. This painting and many others were shown in the TV serial “Massa Peter” about 35 years ago, both in Denmark and in the Virgin Islands. Amalie was black or almost black – she was what was called a sambo woman. It means that she was three fourth black. She was born back in 1753. It is, however, uncertain where she was born, maybe on St. Croix, maybe as daughter of a pirate on one of the small islands St. Lucy or St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies. The family story tells that she came from these islands to St. Croix together with some brothers named Uytendahl . Amalie was a strong woman and lived to become 103 years old. She was born as a slave and remained a slave for 40 years. She lived in Christiansted as a house slave of the planter family Uytendahl in Kongens Gade/King Street no. 1. We know this from records in the Danish National Archives. The Uytendahls had plantations on the north side of St. Croix. We also know from the records that in 1793, the 40-year old Amalie was sold at an auction in Christiansted for 200 Rigsdaler, equal to 400 Danish kroner. Shortly after, she was freed. Amalie had two daughters, both born as slaves. The oldest daughter Susanna was born in 1774 when Amalie was 21. Susanna got the family name of her father Uytendahl. It is, however, not clear whether her father was Lucas Uytendahl, the head of the house, or one of the sons. When Lucas died, the 12-year old Susanna was given her freedom in accordance with his last will. Amalie’s other daughter (Anna) Lucia Assenius, my great-great-great grandmother, was 3 years younger than her sister Susanna. Lucia’s father was Erich Assenius. He was captain of the Danish ship “Ada”. He had brought a load of new slaves to St. Croix from Africa (in 1776) and spent some time on St. Croix. During his stay he got Amalie pregnant. Lucia was baptized the following year and got her father’s last name. She remained with her mother and sister in the big house in King Street. When Lucia was 17, she was sold at an auction in Christiansted on Sept. 8, 1794. Her mother and sister made the highest bid of 400 Rigsdaler, and the following year, Lucia got her so-called letter of freedom. In 1816, all free-coloured in Christiansted were recorded by the Danish administration. According to this record, Susanna lived in Company Street no. 1 opposite Steeple Building - the old, Danish church. Nine years ago, when I visited the old house, I was told that it was built in 1790, so it really is the original one. Susanna was now 43 years old and had a shop in the basement where she sold cloths and knitwear. And her mother Amalie, now 61, lived with her. A 12-year old son, Johannes Ludvig Wittrog, also lived together with Susanna. He later became a busy and wealthy businessman and administrator on St. Croix. He ran businesses as a cattle farmer, butcher and merchant and owned the cattle estate “Aldershvile” just outside Christiansted. He also became manager of military installations and the hospital in Frederiksted. Susanna had also 3 daughters. The oldest of them was Anna Ulricka Elisabeth Heegaard who was baptized Febr. 14, 1790. Her grandmother and aunt were still slaves at that time. Anna’s father Jacob Heegaard was one of the Danish officials in the local government. He was married to a girl from the British congregation shortly after Anna was born. Unfortunately, he died only 14 years later, and at that time he owned two estates on St. Croix. Around 1809/10 Anna lived together with attorney Christopher Hansen. According to the records from 1816, Anna Heegaard at that time lived in the same house in King Street as where her mother and grandmother had been house slaves. The Irish merchant Paul Twigg now owned the house, and the 25-year old Anna was house keeper for him. But later the same year, Anna moved to her mother’s house in Company Street on the corner of Church Street, where she now lived for the next four years. Then from 1821 she lived together with the planter and colonial adjutant, captain H.C. Knudsen, to begin with at the estate “The Grand Princess”, later at his own plantation “Belvedere” on the north side of St. Croix. 6 years later she changed her address again and moved on to governor general Peter von Scholten. After having lived together with several men from the higher society, Anna Heegaard was now quite a wealthy woman. She became von Scholten’s mistress and they started to build an estate, Bülowsminde, west of Christiansted. Von Scholten was a man who loved to build and to have splendid parties. Bülowsminde was therefore expanded several times. The expansions required money – more than von Scholten could afford. So by time a great part of Anna Heegaard’s means was put into the estate and she ended up being the sole owner. As mentioned earlier, Susanna had two more daughters, Charlotte Christina Birgitte Cappel and Sophia Magdalene Cappel. The first one was 3 years and Sophy 6 years younger than Anna Heegaard. Their father, Hans M. Cappel, was a captain on Danish ships going to the Danish West Indies. He was married to a Danish girl in Copenhagen, but as it might happen, he had two native daughters on St. Croix as well. Unfortunately, his ship went down in November 1798 outside the coast of Norway. Cappel and the whole crew apart from two seamen drowned. Before his departure from St. Croix, he had presented his property in Hill Street in Christiansted to his two Crucian daughters, and their mother Susanna was allowed to live in the house together with the two small girls as long as she kept the house properly. Many years later, the oldest daughter Christina fell in love with a Scottish merchant and ship owner on St. Thomas, James Miller. As a free-coloured woman she couldn’t marry a white person, but they lived as husband and wife in what was called a natural marriage. They had many children, both sons and daughters. One of them is my great-great-grandmother, Agnes Patterson Miller, born in 1813. During James Miller’s later years, he owned the sugar plantation “Charlotte Amalie” in the central part of St. Thomas and also a property in King Street, Christiansted, later inherited by his children and their mother. We will now go back to old Amalie’s second daughter Lucia. Only one year after the 18-year old Lucia got her freedom, she gave birth to a son Peter Andreas C. Petersen and two years later to another son, Hans Peter Wilhelm Petersen, born in Dec. 1797. The last one is my great-great grandfather. The father of the two sons was a Danish merchant and ship owner on St. Croix, Thomas Petersen. One year after the second son was born, Thomas Petersen was married to a white girl from St. Croix and had a son with her, Boas Petersen But Thomas didn’t neglect his sons with the mulatto girl. So two years after his marriage, he presented his two sons a sum of money and a property with two houses in Hill Street No. 47, Christiansted. As it was written in the deed of gift, their mother Lucia was allowed to stay with the sons if she behaved properly and if she managed to raise them in a good way. She probably did that as she lived in one of these houses for the rest of her life, and she became more than 90 years old. It should be noted here that the two houses were neighbour houses to a house given to Lucia’s sister Susanna and Susanna’s two daughters. So the whole family could now live next doors. And grandmother Amalie also moved in and lived together with Lucia the rest of her life – for more than 50 years! My ancestors’ house in Hill Street has now been replaced by St. Mary’s (Catholic) School. My great-great grandfather, Hans Peter Wilhelm Petersen (see B2798 and B2321) kept his house in Hill Street/Bjerg Gade all his life, but left it for several years when he was young. This was because his mother managed to send him to Copenhagen to go to school. After his school years and after his confirmation, he remained in Copenhagen for some years of studying. Finally, he got a law degree and could return to St. Croix as a lawyer in 1818. Probably, he had a good time in Copenhagen. We know that he loved Denmark, and all his life he was very interested in all that happened in Denmark. On St. Croix, Hans P.W. Petersen started to work for a private lawyer but didn’t like to be involved in the trials against slaves. So he decided to start a career in the local government and ended up having a position as the royal treasurer for many years. He also had a career in the local military where he became the commander of the so-called Jægerkorps composed of free-coloured men. He died in 1863. Petersen belonged to the steadily growing class of free-coloured people. They couldn’t marry everyone, only one from their own class. This may explain his two marriages. He first married his half-cousin Sophia Cappel with whom he got several children. However, they all died young, and when his wife also died he married his other half-cousin’s daughter Agnes Patterson Miller, my great-great grandmother. My great-great grandmother Agnes had 4 children, among them my great grandfather Benoni James Petersen. He was born in 1848, the year of the emancipation. When Benoni was 10-years old, he was sent to Denmark on board a sailing ship to go to school in Copenhagen - the same as his father did when he was a boy. Benoni’s mother joined him. Such a voyage took about 5 weeks. They left the ship on the Isle of Wight, they took from there a small boat to Southern England, a train to London, a ferry to Hamburg, a train to Kiel in Northern Germany, and finally a boat to the town Korsør in Denmark and a train to Copenhagen. Really a long and complicated journey! But his father and mother were accustomed to such a long journey. They had done it several times before. Benoni never came back to St. Croix. He continued his education in Copenhagen studying medicine. He completed his studies, when he was 28. He settled in the town of Nakskov in the southern part of Denmark and opened a private clinic here. 25 years later, Benoni was appointed a new chief doctor at the local hospital. He also got married and had three daughters, one of them is my grandmother. After his retirement, Benoni wrote down his memories from his childhood on St. Croix, telling about his many relatives on the island and about the daily life in his parents’ house in Hill Street. Benoni remembered clearly his great grandmother Amalie who lived in the neighbouring house together with Benoni’s grandmother Lucia. When Amalie was old, she was usually sitting in the open door out to the street with a turban and a straw hat on her head. The school children passing the house had to say hello. If they didn’t, Amalie called them back in an angry tone “come back you young rascals!” Every Old Years Eve she stood up to propose a toast to the Danish king. Finally, when she felt the many years as a burden, she was afraid that God had forgotten her. She died in 1856, 103 years old. Benoni further remembered the Sundays on St. Croix as the highlight of the week. The family always drove out to his grand aunt Anna Heegaard, called “Nanan”, at her estate Bülowsminde, a wonderful place with flowers and fruit in the big garden. It was after governor von Scholten had left the island for ever. The estate was sold after his departure, but Anna Heegaard bought it back and lived at Bülowsminde the rest of her life. Every Monday, Anna Heegaard went into Christiansted to do business. And she always stopped outside the home of Benoni and his parents in Hill Street to bring them fresh bread, cakes and fruit. She was a very respected and lovely person according to my great grandfather. Unfortunately, we have no letters or other written material from her hand. The only thing we know of is her last will and testament which in fact fascinates me. As she didn’t have any children herself, all of her many relatives inherited a sum of money or something else, even relatives to one of her former lovers. And all females inherited more than their brothers! I don’t know why. Her servants also inherited and also “a little girl Martha whose mother had neglected her”. After Anna Heegaard’s death in 1859, her two nieces, my great-great grandmother Agnes Patterson Petersen and her sister Susanna Elizabeth Knudsen, inherited Bülowsminde and the many items belonging to Anna Heegaard. Susanna was married to the military chief doctor on St. Croix, Adrian Benoni Bentzon Knudsen (1806-1879), a half-brother of H.C. Knudsen. Agnes sold her part of Bülowsminde to her sister Susanna who moved to Bülowsminde with her family and lived there for about 15 years. The many items from Bülowsminde now belong to the two sisters’ descendants in Denmark. This is the story of my Crucian ancestors. It has never been a secret that they started life as slaves. They managed to buy their own freedom. Through friendships and love affairs with various European men they gradually climbed to the top of society and gained money enough to send their children to schools in Denmark. As free-coloured they were allowed to have their own businesses and allowed to own property. But they were restricted in one way. They couldn’t officially marry a white man or a white girl. Nowadays, some of the Danish descendants have inherited a personal gift from our Crucian ancestors: The curly hair. Even among the 7th and 8th generation after old Charlotte Amalie some descendants have been born with a very curly hair inherited from her – no doubt about that." A lecture given by Jens Benoni Willumsen in 2012 Biographical data from archives collected by one of the descendants, Hother F. Garde (1910-1992): Charlotte Amalie Bernard, born 1753, died 7 May 1856 on St. Croix. According to the family, she was a sambo (3/4 negro) and born as a slave on the Dutch island St. Lucy in 1753 (her father should have been a well-known pirate) and later she came from the Dutch island St. Eustace to St. Croix together with some brothers with the name Uytendahl. They bought plantations on St. Croix. One of them later bought a baron title von Bretton. Charlotte Amalie had 2 daughters and was 40 years old in 1793 sold to her son-in-law, Hans Cappel, who freed her. The 2 daughters were: Susanna Uytendahl ("Mama Susanna"),, baptized on St. Croix 3 Nov. 1774, slave until 12 years old. Died 10 July 1847 in Christiansted.. Mother: C.Amalie Bernard. - 4 children. (Anna) Lucia Assenius, baptized on St. Croix 25 Dec. 1777, slave until she was sold and freed in 1793. She died 12 July 1869 in Christiansted. Mother: C. Amalie Bernard. Father: Sea captain Erich Holgersen Assenius, born 1743 on Endelave, died c.1781. Lucia had 2 sons with merchant Thomas Petersen, born 1768 in Denmark, died 10 Jun. 1803 in Christiansted. 2 daughters with Jakob Keylow(?): Christiane Frederica (baptized 29 Mar.1804) and Anna Charlotte Elizabeth (baptized 22 Sep. 1805). What happened to the two daughters is not known. Anna Ulricka Elisabeth Heegaard, baptized 14 Feb. 1790 in Christiansted, died 1. Jan. 1859 at Bülowsminde. Anna was the hostess at Bülowsminde and a kind of consort of governor Peter von Scholten for many years. Mother: Susanna Uytendahl. Father: Jacob Heegaard (1761-1804), attorney and customs treasurer on St. Croix. Charlotte Christina Birgitte Cappel, baptized 3 Feb. 1793 on St. Croix, died 19 Jan. 1828 in Christiansted. Mother: Susanna Uytendahl. Father: Hans Michael Cappel (1752-1798), captain on Danish ships. Charlotte had 8 children with the Scottish merchant James Miller (died 1822) and 1 son with Laurentius Søbøtker (born 1804 in Copenhagen). Sophia Magdalena Cappel, baptized 11 Sep. 1796 on St. Croix, died 10 Sep. 1835 on St. Croix. Mother: Susanna Uytendahl. Father: Hans Michael Cappel (1752-1798), Married 25 Aug. 1821 to H.P.W. Petersen (1797-1863), see below. Sophia had 4 children. Johannes Ludvig Wittrog, born 30 Aug. 1803 in Christiansted, died 20 Jan. 1851 on St. Croix. Mother: Susanna Uytendahl. Father: Peter Abraham Wittrog, a mate, (born 1771 in Copenhagen, died 1814 in Christiansted). Married 1826 in Christiansted to Anna Maria Elizabeth Cuming (1803-1851). - Owner of estate “Aldershvile”. 5 children. Among them Catherine and Anna Emma: Catherine Ophelia Wittrog, born 1828 on St. Croix, died 10 Dec. 1885 in Copenhagen. Parents: J.L: Wittrog and A.M.E. Cuming. Married 1848 to Cornelius Heyliger, baptized 9 Jan.1820 on St. Croix, died 29 Oct. 1850. 1 son: Cornelius Heyliger, born 30 Aug. 1849 on St. Croix, died after 1858. Anna Emma Elisabeth Wittrog, born 20 July 1833 on St. Croix, died 28 Mar. 1868 on St. Croix. Parents: J.L: Wittrog and A.M.E. Cuming. Married 5 July 1856 in Christiansted to overseer Gerhard Tetens (born in Denmark 1831, died 10 Nov. 1878 in Louisiana). 6 children. See their story in the membership journal from the Danish West Indian Society 2009, No. 2. Peter Andreas Carl Petersen, baptized 20 Mar. 1796 on St. Croix, died 3 July 1880 in Christiansted, a cabinetmaker. Mother: Lucia Assenius. Father: Thomas Petersen. Married to Jane Mathilde Neilson (1807-1883). 1 son. Hans Peter Wilhelm Petersen, lawyer and royal treasurer on St. Croix, born 13 Dec. 1797 on St. Croix, died 12 July 1863 in Copenhagen. Mother: Lucia Assenius. Father: Thomas Petersen. Married 25 Aug. 1821 to his cousin Sophia Magdalena Cappel (1796-1835), 4 children. Married again 24 Jun. 1841 in Christiansted to another cousin's daughter Agnes Patterson Miller, baptized 11 Jun. 1813 on St. Thomas, died 6 May 1873 in Copenhagen. 4 children, among them Benoni James: Benoni James Petersen, chief doctor in Nakskov, born 18 June 1848 on St. Croix, died 21 June 1930 in Copenhagen. Married 1887 in Denmark to Ingeborg Marie Heise (1864-1942). 3 daughters. Susannah Elizabeth Miller, called Susan, born 30 Jan. 1811 on St. Thomas, died 23 Dec. 1902 in Copenhagen. Mother: C.C.B. Cappel. Father: James Miller (died 1822). Susan married 1833 in Copenhagen Dr. Adrian Benoni Bentzon Knudsen, born 1806 in Denmark, died 9 Apr. 1879 in Christiansted as garrison doctor. - 4 children. Later generations are members of the Garde family. Susan and family moved to Bülowsminde after the death of Anna Heegaard in 1859. Susan and her sister Agnes had inherited Bülowsminde from Anna Heegaard. Finally,some remarks in Danish: Et billedforedrag om Charlotte Amalie og hendes slægt er afholdt 6 gange i årene 2007-2011 forskellige steder på Fyn af Charlotte Amalies Bernards tiptiptipoldebarn Jens Benoni Willumsen med bopæl i Nr. Lyndelse. Charlotte Amalie var mormor til Anna Heegaard, generalguvernør Peter von Scholtens lyskulørte samleverske på deres landsted Bülowsminde lidt uden for Christiansted på St. Croix. Foredragene blev afholdt følgende stede: 16/10 2007 og 12/2 2008 i Historiens Hus, Odense. 27/10 2010 i aulaen på Nr. Søby gl. Skole (140 deltagere). 8/12 2010 i Nr. Lyndelse Kirkesal (50 deltagere). 18/1 2011 i Højby i Højskolekredsen. 18/1 2011 i X-huset i Vester Hæsinge for Broby arkiverne. En lettere redigeret udgave af PowerPoint foredraget er vedhæftet i en Word-fil. (Filerne er vedhæftet, men kan p.t. kun åbnes og læses ved henvendelse via e-mail til Nr. Lyndelse Sogns Lokalhistoriske Arkiv). |
| Periode | 2007 - 2011 |
| Dateringsnote | Anna Heegaard's last will from 1859. |
| Arkiv | Nr. Lyndelse Sogns Lokalhistoriske Arkiv |
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