By Gail Saunders, Contributing Writer

It is believed that the first permanent settlement in Abaco was at Carleton, named for Sir Guy Carleton, British Commander-in-Chief at New York. Settled in 1783 by Loyalist refugees who originated from South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida and New York, Carleton was located in the area now known as Treasure Cay. A disagreement among the settlers soon occurred and led to the establishment of other settlements, such as Marsh Harbour and the former Maxwell Town.

It is not known exactly when Green Turtle Cay was established. It was probably between the 1780s and 1790s when a number of Loyalists and their slaves settled there.

Professor Steve Dodge in his book stated that Richard and Mary Curry moved there sometime between 1795 and 1803. He added that between 1806 and 1808, "fourteen new grants appeared on the grant list. The ancestors of Floyd and Harold Lowe appear on the list: Benjamin Curry acquired 122 acres on Crab Cay in 1806 and Gideon Lowe was granted 240 acres at Angel Creek at Rocky Harbour in 1807."

The early settlers of Green Turtle Cay were joined by the 'conchs' (early settlers) from Harbour Island and it can be argued that the Abaconians 'melded' with the 'conchs' and adapted to their way of life, e.g. fishing, turtling and wrecking. The descendants of the slaves of the Loyalists remained on Green Turtle Cay. New Plymouth township was a bi-racial settlement. Socially and residentially, the races segregated themselves.

However, as T. Wesley Mills stated in 1887, "The two races co-operate in perfect harmony for general good; the black accepting an inferior status in the society without a murmur." The whites in New Plymouth lived on the harbour side - the 'best part of town.'

By the middle of the nineteenth century, wrecking had been established as the principal industry in Green Turtle Cay. Wrecking was a legal industry, regulated by government.

Wreckers applied and were granted licenses. Boats were often wrecked on reefs. Wreckers salvaged goods salvaged goods which were taken to Nassau to be auctioned. The government received 15 percent of import duty, the wreckers 40 to 60 percent.

Commission Agents, warehousemen, labourers and the owners of the ship also earned a percentage. Some wreckers were dishonest and there are stories that wreckers lured ships onto reefs by placing false lights there. But wreckers also saved lives of many of the shipwrecked sailors. By the middle of the nineteenth century about half of the men of Green Turtle Cay were licensed wreckers. By 1870, due to the construction of lighthouses throughout The Bahamas by the British Government, the wrecking industry had declined. Abaco's lighthouses include one at Hole-in-The-Wall (1836) and the other at Hope Town, built in 1863.

Between the mid nineteenth century and 1900, New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay was the most prosperous settlement in Abaco (Steve Dodge). Whereas in 1815, its population numbered 193. By 1856 it had increased to more than a thousand.

During this era, New Plymouth prospered due to its fishing, pineapple, citrus sponging and sisal industries.

There were forty fishing vessels in 1856. In 1890 over a million pineapples, valued at £8,600.00 were exported. In addition, a pineapple canning factory was established. Over 3000 cases of pineapples were shipped to England in that year. Within few years however, the pineapple industry had declined due to competition, poor marketing and spoilage of the fruit between ports.

The citrus industry was also a staple crop in Abaco between the 1850s and 1880s. Sponge fishing, which sustained the Bahamas for about three quarters of a century, was an important industry in Abaco and Green Turtle Cay from the 1840s until the early 1920s.

The sisal industry, developed in the late 1880s and 1890s, also became animportant industry in Abaco and Green Turtle Cay. Industrialists established sisal companies such as the Munroe Fibre Company, Sisal Fibre Company and the Bahamas Fibre Company in Little Abaco. By the end of the 100' century, sisal production became the premier industry in the Green Turtle Cay district.

Unfortunately, the acquisition of the Philippine Islands by the United States led to the decline of the Bahamian sisal industry. The Philippines had privileged access to the American market and The Bahamas was unable to compete. By the 1920s, the sisal industry in The Bahamas was dead.

Boat-building was also an important industry at Green Turtle Cay. John Bartlum of Green Turtle Cay was a successful wrecker and boat-builder. He moved his household and his entire house to Key West where he rebuilt it. It still stands and is now called "Bahama House." John Russell was also a boat-builder and the largest slave owner in 1834 when he owned 45 slaves.

William Curry, born in Green Turtle Cay in 1821, was descended from the Loyalists. At the age of 16 he moved to Key West where he became a successful merchant investing in the stock market. It is said that he ate from solid gold table service, plates and a service set for 24 people. In 1896 when he died, William Curry was the richest man in Florida, its first millionaire.

(Reference: Abaco. The History of an Out Island and its Cays (1995), by Steve Dodge).