For two days, St. Thomas had a king

Editor’s note: This is part two of a thee-part series about the arrival of aviator Charles Lindbergh in the Virgin Islands. The series will continue Saturday.


When he took off in the Spirit of St. Louis and charted course from Venezuela to St. Thomas in January 1928, Charles Lindbergh was undoubtedly the most famous individual on planet Earth.

Among other things, the aviation pioneer had received dozens of awards, medals of honor and decorations for making the first solo flight across the Atlantic in his Spirit of St. Louis seven months earlier. His memoir “We” already had become a bestseller.

Moreover, Time Magazine had selected Lindbergh as its “Man of the year” for 1927, and the song “Lindbergh, The Eagle of  the U.S.A.” had been released, followed by several others with “Lucky Lindy” in their titles, and by the time he stepped on Virgin Islands soil, the “Lindy Hop” was a dance craze everywhere.

No wonder then that the welcome given to Charles Lindbergh on St. Thomas was fit for a king.

On St. Croix, though, nobody was polishing a crown for the aviation pioneer. Some Crucians planned to travel to St. Thomas participate in the big reception, but the attitude there was at best lukewarm.

Noting that, Gov. Waldo Evans set out to involve the people of St. Croix in the historical event. He sent a radiogram to Navy authorities in Panama requesting that on his way to St. Thomas, Lindbergh fly over St. Croix.

Enticements for Crucian participation began to surface.

Capt. C. Moller, harbormaster and chief pilot on St. Croix, offered the use of his yacht “To Windward” to carry a maximum of 30 passengers “free of charge” from Christiansted to St. Thomas and return. The U.S.S. Grebe, which could accommodate 100 passengers and sailed weekly between St. Thomas and St. Croix announced it would make a special trip to St. Thomas for Colonel Lindbergh’s arrival. The demand was so great that the Grebe set out to St. Thomas on the morning of January 31 with 104 passengers  — 4 over its maximum.

Some Crucians who visited St. Thomas to participate in the celebrations for Colonel Lindbergh complained afterward that they had been gouged by St. Thomas taxi drivers.

“Visitors from Christiansted, who recently spent some days in St. Thomas during the Lindbergh Festival over there, report exorbitant taxi fares in effect in the sister island,” The St. Croix Avis reported. The newspaper calculated if the rates been charged on St. Croix, a round-trip between Christiansted and Frederiksted would have cost $15.

 “In St. Croix the auto fare is 20 cents a mile; $6 for the thirty mile round trip between towns, the whole car being at disposal of the renter for his individual accommodation or that of as many others as he cares to share it with,” the Avis said.

Excitement builds

On St. Thomas, a large and perhaps tumultuous crowd was expected at the landing field at the Golf Course in Mosquito Bay to welcome “Lindy,” and for weeks the Director of Police, M.J. Nolan, had been publishing special traffic regulations that would be in force on the day of the folk hero’s arrival.

Dignitaries were to have special privileges: Cars bearing official tags and containing members of the Reception Committee and the staff of the Governor would be provided special parking facilities adjacent to the reception stand. Members of the Golf Club would be allowed to park their motor vehicles at the rear of the club.

“The golf course will be patrolled but an excellent vantage point will be the bluff on Mr. Moorehead’s estate or the bluff to the westward of the Golf Course,” the chief of police advised the public.

Excerpts from a poem by V. Richards Jr. which appeared in the Feb. 8, 1928, edition of The Bulletin illustrates the mounting anticipation and excitement of the people of St. Thomas as they awaited the landing of “The Spirit of St. Louis.”  Prefaced as “From a Son of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, to Colonial Charles Augustus Lindbergh,” the first stanza of the composition read:

Watching for Lindy

We were watching from the hillside,

We were waiting on the plain,

We were looking out in endless space

But we never looked in vain;

For from out the eastern horizon,

Like an eagle in the sky,

Flew the “Spirit of St Louis”

Lindy! Lindy! was the cry.

Despite the festive plans, letter writer to The Bulletin who signed himself as “Lindbergher” and noted that “Lindbergher” was “not cheese,” did not think it was enough.

“Whenever anything of consequence transpires anywhere in the world there is always some kind of parade or procession and it seems to me it would be sadly lacking if we did not have as grand a parade as possible as an expression of our joy at having with us the Hero of the Century.”

“Lindbergher” suggested that a parade should be big and elaborate. The Marines, the Sailors, Fire Brigade, Civic Organizations and Municipal Police should be participants, he said. There should also be a few appropriate floats, one of which will represent “Lindbergh’s Trans-Atlantic flight,” he proposed.

Moreover, he suggested that in order to give everyone a chance to see him, Colonel Lindbergh should ride in an open car at the head of the parade.

“Such a demonstration I think would bring us nearer doing the right thing for our guest than masquerading and independent jollification of any kind,” he wrote. Lindbergher.

Lindbergh arrives

According to St. Thomas Mail Notes, when news came by radio and by wire that the aviator had taken off from Caracas for St. Thomas, motor vehicles became in short supply.

“All who had a Chevrolet, a Studebaker or a handy Ford thought themselves rich, and indeed, they were, and became objects for envy as are always those who have apportionments of worldly goods that some of their fellows lack,” commented St. Thomas Mail Notes.

As the time approached for the landing, the road to Lindbergh’s Bay became crowded not only with automobiles and taxicabs but also pedestrians  and carts.

Gazing skyward, the people waited.

About 4:30 p.m., the Santa Maria took off , heading toward St. Croix, to escort the Spirit of St. Louis to St. Thomas.  Twenty minutes later, the report of a gun was heard, a signal that the aviator pioneer’s plane was in sight over St. Thomas.

Colonel Lindbergh flew at a low height and went out seaward, then turned and landed on the field.

The crowd was “delirious “ and rushed forward toward Colonel Lindbergh and his plane. It was almost impossible for the Marines and sailors, who had linked arms, to hold back the surge.

Order and calm were soon brought to the proceedings, and Colonel Lindbergh was escorted to the reception stand, where he was received by Governor Evans and members of the Reception Committee.

“This over, he entered the Governor’s car and was driven to the executive mansion where he was interviewed by newspaper correspondents,” reported the St. Thomas Mail Notes.

Lindbergh’s first evening on St. Thomas was highlighted by a ball sponsored by the Governor and his wife.

The following day, February 1, the main festivities for the “Golden Eagle” occurred.

At 10 a.m., accompanied by the governor and E.H.VanPatten, Colonel Lindbergh was escorted by the Marines and Navy Band from Government House to Emancipation Garden.

Seated on the stand at Emancipation Garden to greet him were members of the Reception Committee, the Colonial Council and representatives from the media.The Navy Band accompanied the vast gathering present as they sang the hymn “O God our Help In Ages Past” preceeding the invocation by Bishop Weiss.

Lindbergh was presented with an illuminated writing desk and a mahogany table inlaid with sandalwood.

“We the people of St. Thomas to show in a lasting way our great appreciation of the wonderful accomplishments you have achieved and for the visit you have distinguished our little island with, would feel greatly honored if you will accept the slight token of our esteem, and ask that you carry with you the thought that this has come from all of us, and it is the product of both our natural resources and native craftsmanship,” Alfredo Duurloo said as he made the presentation on behalf of the Gift Committee.

Lindbergh then stepped to the podium: “Governor Evans, citizens of St. Thomas.  First, I want to thank all of you for the welcome you gave me yesterday on my landing in St. Thomas.  I appreciate very greatly what you have done to make my trip and my visit most enjoyable in your island.

“I have never made a more interesting or beautiful flight than that over the islands of the West Indies yesterday and regret greatly that it is necessary for me to leave your city tomorrow morning in order to keep up my schedule.  Before closing, however, I wish to thank you for what you have done during my visit,” said Colonel Lindbergh, followed by prolonged applause.

Another hymn, “A Prayer for Colonel Lindbergh,”specially composed by Bishop Weiss, was then sung, and the proceedings at Emancipation Garden closed with Navy Band playing the Star Spangled Banner as everyone stood at attention.

Visits to the two hospitals on St. Thomas followed and later a stop was made at the Harmonic Lodge where the flyer was presented with an inscribed silver trowel.

The day was far from over for the guest. That afternoon Lindbergh also attended a reception at the Chamber of Commerce and a special session of the Colonial Council where he was acclaimed and was given the Freedom of the City.

At the Chamber of Commerce, delivering the address on behalf of his colleagues, president of the organization, Commander William Laub, said that Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic “showed what can be accomplished through will power and energy when the right man is behind the wheel.”

Addressing Lindbergh directly, Laub said: “As to St. Thomas itself, there is ample space here for aeroplanes to land and a splendid harbor to come down in for flying boats.”

At the Colonial Council, St. Croix member Conrad Cornerio, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, was unstinting in his commendation of Lindy.

“As we contemplate the marvelous exploits of Colonel Lindbergh in the famous “Spirit of St. Louis” we find ourselves in presence of that wonderful motive power; that great dynamic force from which radiate all progress and civilization.”

Corneiro said that humanity stood amazed at the intrepidity and skill of Colonial Lindbergh.

“What a beautiful example Colonial Lindbergh has set to youth, an example that should appeal to youth of the Virgin Islands especially.  He has shown what a fixity of purpose, correct applicability to study, and firm determination to grapple and master the problems which he had selected, can produce.”

Looking toward the future, Corneiro expressed his hope for the eventual development of air transportation in the region in which St. Thomas would play a key role because of its geographical location. “Let us trust that the hope will become a prophecy, that St. Thomas will  rise Phoenix-like from its ashes and play an important role in aviation activities as it did and still does in shipping.”

Horse races and other sports events were held during the day in the honor of Colonel Lindbergh. That night, a long-planned torchlight parade turned it into something different as result of the huge crowd Lindbergh attracted.

“What was intended to be such proved to be a great mass of moving, jostling, laughing humanity, with few lights in the midst,” reported the St. Thomas Mail Notes.

Summarizing the ceremonies, The Bulletin reported that “everywhere the Colonel appeared he was met with cheers, or smiling faces, for St. Thomians delight to honor worthy fellow-citizens from the mainland.”

The next morning, it was over.

At the landing field, Colonel Lindbergh was presented with a portrait that J. Antonio Jarvis — who later co-founded The Virgin Islands Daily News with Ariel Melchior Sr, — painted of him. The portrait was to be hung in a place of honor in the St. Thomas public library.

Colonel Lindbergh departed St. Thomas at 11:50 a.m. that Thursday, Feb. 2, 1928, for Puerto Rico, where he arrived at 1:55 p.m.

Gone but still adored

The St. Thomas Mail Notes carried on its front page on February 3, 1928, what it headlined “News of the Day.” It implored all Virgin Islanders to join in the celebration of Colonel Lindbergh’s birthday, which was the next day.

The fervor surrounding the aviation pioneer and his visit here not only did not die down quickly, it bordered at times on cult worship and competitiveness.

The Bulletin reported on February 8 that “a Mr. Adolph Gereau had been boasting about having obtained Colonel Lindbergh’s autograph during the festivities on St. Thomas.” The newspaper then upbraided Gereau for his hubris.

“We are requested to make mention of the fact that Mr. Adolph Gereau was not the only one privileged to have Colonel Lindbergh’s autograph. The Colonel autographed cards etc. for half a dozen reporters and one or two photographs.”

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