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By Will Johnson
Mr. Evert Stephanus Johannes Kruythoff was born on St.Maarten on November 14th 1893 and died on Curacao on August 26th, 1967. His parents were Evert Charles Kruythoff and Maria Rosina Catherina Pretti.
He was a teacher by profession. In his days most teachers and police officers who served on Saba were natives of St.Maarten. Some of them married to Sabans including Mr. Kruythoff. He was married to Helen C. Crossley. The Crossley family included such notable people as Dr. Moses Leverock Crossley who became a famous scientist in the United States and has several inventions to his name.
The Kruythoff couple had seven children, four boys and three girls. Mr. Steve Kruythoff was also a brother of Mrs. Marion Winifred Kruythoff born 12-08-1892 and she was married to the well known Mr. Alfred Leonald Conner.
From 1928 to 1929 Mr. Kruythoff was Vice Lt. Governor of the Island of Sint Eustatius. During his administration there the island was struck by a severe hurricane. In later years when he lived on Curacao he would write articles for the 'Amigoe' newspaper about the hurricane and other experiences he had while serving in the Windward Islands.
His work on Saba as a teacher was remembered formerly by many people now dead who knew him. They remembered him as a dedicated teacher and while teaching here he met his wife Helen who was a dedicated wife and mother.
Mr. Kruythoff was interested in photography and his children have many of the photographs he took while living on the islands. If I am not mistaken he had one of the first cars imported into Statia and I have a copy of a photo somewhere with his wife Helen standing next to the car.
It seems that Mr. Kruythoff was interested in history and writing from early on. His brother-in-law Mr.Alfred Leonald Conner (born July 4th, 1890 and died November 20th, 1960) was also a well known teacher and island historian. Besides that Mr. Conner was a member of the Court of Guardianship, land surveyor, acting Judge, agent for the Curacao Bank and so on. He was decorated by Her Majesty in 1938 and again in 1954. When Mr. Kruythoff lived on St.Eustatius he was also acquainted with Mr. Arthur Valk (Hodge) who was a teacher and a researcher on the history of St.Eustatius. Mr. Kruythoff acknowledges in his book that he had been granted permission to use research done by Mr. Arthur Valk. He was also a good friend of the well known Mr. D.C. van Romondt of Tintamarre and Mary's Fancy fame. Mr.' Dee Cee' was a big researcher himself and shared all of the information he had with Mr. Kruythoff who quotes him often in his handbook.
He frequently contributed poems and newspaper articles to the St.Maarten weekly newspaper 'De Slag Om Slag' edited by Mr. A.R. Brouwer.
In 1938 Mr. Kruythoff wrote 'The Netherlands Windward Islands', a handbook on the history of Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba.
In the preface he wrote; "I have endeavored to embody in this little work such information which I hope will prove useful as well as of interest to readers, foreign and native. To this end I made a careful study of historical, geological, and other works on the Islands, selections from which, and my own experiences from careful observations, have helped me to condense this work." A second edition appeared in 1939 and with the encouragement of Lt. Governor Japa Beaujon a third edition came out in 1967. This book is of great interest to those who are doing research on these islands.
One must not underestimate the work in bringing out a book in these islands in 1938. There were no real printers here, so that the book was printed at "The Excelsior Printery" in Antigua owned by Mr. Beresford Browne.
The foreword to the book was written by Dr. J.A. Howell of Antigua who writes;" My association with Mr. S.J.Kruythoff extends over a long period, so I am competent to judge of his breadth of knowledge, which I have always admired and from which I have learned much."
Life on St.Maarten was quite different then to what it is today. The land was empty and the population had moved to the Leeward Islands and elsewhere in search of permanent employment. To those who inherited the empty land there was a climate of plenty and a satisfied feeling to be able to survive in such beautiful surroundings which was the paradise known as St.Maarten.
Mr. Kruythoff describes life back then as follows: "Dwindling industries (cattle and salt) and blocked foreign markets have effected economic conditions resulting in the depletion of St. Maarten's population. People of all classes are forced to seek a livelihood in other countries. During the past 25 years entire families have left the island to take up abode in the U.S.A., Sto.Domingo, Curacao, and elsewhere. In such cases family-names once common in the island are now seldom heard.
"The St.Maarteners are a serious and ' mind-you-own business set,' - the majority at least - and as there is very little connection with the outer world, they, generally speaking, busy themselves with some occupation for their existence.
The people are also of an independent nature, and consequently carry along with them a cheerful and independent spirit. The island is more replete with natural resources than the other islands of the colony, which, along with their simple mode of living, accounts for the independence of the people.
"Each rustic, whether farmer, labourer or mechanic (with few exceptions) owns a home on a small plot of land which enables him to keep a horse, a cow or a few sheep; or on which he plants his favourite crop. Government mountain lands provide free grazing to his flocks of goats; these run wild but are marked for identification. In short these conditions avert the chance of starvation in St. Maarten."
This is the way of life which I encountered when I first got to know St.Maarten in the mid nineteen fifties and was able to enjoy for a few more years until development took hold.
Shortly after Holland was invaded in 1940 the Kruythoff family moved to Curacao. There Mr. Kruythoff continued to teach until his retirement.
He was also very active in the "Foundation for National Parks". He was Treasurer of that organization when it was established in 1962 until just before he died. He always fought for the preservation of what little flora there is on Curacao and did all in his power to have the old plantation houses restored, or at least preserved. In either case he had little success, first because so few people really cared about the vegetation and second because the Foundation could not afford the upkeep or the restoration of the old plantation houses. Kruythoff was an avid reader and all his life he continued his research into the history, the flora and fauna of the Netherlands Antilles.
His family has a manuscript of an unpublished novel which he wrote as well as a collection of anecdotes of the islands which last work presumably would have been entitled 'Windward Islands Folklore'.
With this article I am submitting a photograph of the old Front Street. The lovely house on the left with the flag flying was the home of Mr. Kruythoff. I think it was built by Alphonsius(Conner) Hassell of Saba. The old Saba carpenters had a good name on St. Maarten and many of the former wooden homes on Front Street were built by carpenters from Saba.
In the early nineteen nineties I was able to have the writer honoured with a postal stamp issued by the Postal Services of the Netherlands Antilles.
We should not neglectfully or intentionally forget or distort the history of those who in the past contributed to our islands history and culture. Many of them did so with no thought of personal gain but solely out of love for country. And so we salute Mr. Steve Kruythoff a son of St.Maarten and a man of the Windward Islands.
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Click on an image for a larger version.
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