Part 451 – Smith Robertson Genealogy – Thank You, University of Florida, dLOC

Good day,

It is true! "Good things come to those who wait". And no I'm not talking about Guinness Stout, nor about Heinz ketchup.

Working on the present 1819 Document of my Indenture Research Project I chanced upon a tremendous find. This find goes beyond anything I expected of myself. In this day and age of technology, digitization, and the Internet, I can only say that I now hold with bated breath to each of my searches and discoveries.

Thanks to the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) at the University of Florida, Gainesville, their ever-increasing research and efforts most certainly provides this researcher with many a new vehicle. In my consistent search and research for the origins and genealogy of my great-great-great-grandfather James Smith I stumbled upon a digitized copy of Vere Langford Oliver’s 1910 publication of Caribbeana.

The 6+ volumes have been available in libraries, usually in reference areas. At one point in time it was available-for-sale for approximately $1500. And now it is available, digitized and indexed to a degree, online at the dLOC at the University of Florida.

Caribbeana is a collection of miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, and other factors of the British West Indies. It is a series of volumes of work that was begun by Vere Langford Oliver in approximately in 1894 and was stopped in about October 1919. The prime areas of the British West Indies included are Antigua, St. Thomas, Middle Island, and St. Kitts. Other islands and countries are included. Information provided is extensive, but at times somewhat cryptic. It does appear to be the family and associated research reflecting the Oliver Family.

But this has been and will continue to be a source of my information and connections in my research. See Parts 239s and 317o.

Once again thank-you to the UF Digital Library of the Caribbean for providing this tremendous resource.

Enjoy,

Jim