Merry Christmas from 200 Years

I wish a very Merry Christmas for all of you from 200 Years in Paradise.  Christmas is a time for family and no one understands that better than those of us who spend the whole year thinking about family, genealogists and Family Historians.

For Christmas this year, I wanted to post a picture of Christmas in St Croix, but I have very few of them.  I assume that there are very few pictures that look like Christmas since decorations were typically indoors and I don’t think my grandfather had a flash in the early days.  Nearly all of my photos are outside.  I did run across this picture, a nativity scene in a church.  While there is no indication on the photo of where or when the picture was taken, I think it’s probably Holy Cross Catholic Church.

While I was looking, I found this picture.  From the railing, it may be the same church.  I’m not sure it is a Christmas picture, but it could be.  Does anyone recognize the church?  Is it a Christmas picture?  I’d love any information at all.

Pictures from Paradise

One of my readers who is suffering with the Hurricane Sandy aftermath asked for some pictures from my recent trip to St Croix. While I had planned to post some of them, as they applied to genealogy, it’s taking me too long to work through them so here’s a start.

Top 10 Sources for your Virgin Island Roots

Back when I began my search for my Virgin Island roots I found it hard to figure out where to start looking for information.  There are many books and blogs about record types and sources for US and European genealogy, but nothing that really talks to the wealth of documentation on the Danish West Indies.  In my work I have found and consulted a large variety of resources.  I have by no means exhausted them.  Below I list the Top 10 that should be on the "must read" list for anyone researching their Virgin Island family, and where these resources are.  Many of these records are available at the St Croix Landmarks Library at Whim and the Caribbean Genealogical Library in Charlotte Amalie, but as I am off-island, I have indicated where they can be found from the mainland.