How This “Paris of the Caribbean” Forged a Unique Bond With the United States

The town of St. Pierre, in northern Martinique, is world-famous for the appalling tragedy that took place here on May 8, 1902, when an eruption of Mount Pelée destroyed the urban area and killed nearly 30,000 people. This marked the end of the history of the “Little Paris of the Antilles”, a prosperous and vibrant city that had one of the busiest ports in the insular Caribbean, a dynamic chamber of commerce, prestigious buildings such as the theater and the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, and modern services including electricity and telephone.

Ten consulates were established there, representing the interests of Belgium, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Haiti, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and the United States of America.

The exceptional development of St. Pierre dates back to the 17th century. Founded in 1635, the settlement was the capital of the French colony of Martinique until 1692, when the seat of island’s government was transferred to Fort-Royal (now Fort-de-France). However, the city remained the economic and cultural capital of the colony. It initially prospered thanks to agriculture and the sugar industry (associated with slavery until the definitive abolition of this sinister system in the French colonies in 1848), but in the 19th century, it also established itself as a major center for rum production. 

Considering this unique history, it is not surprising that St. Pierre maintained close ties with the United States from the country’s founding. It was in this city that the Continental Congress appointed its second overseas agent, William Bingham, on June 3, 1776 (Silas Deane had been appointed to Paris in March). For this mission, Bingham boarded the brig Reprisal, which was placed under the command of Captain Lambert Wickes and set sail from the port of Philadelphia on July 3. Reprisal passed off Bermuda and the Virgin Islands before reaching the Lesser Antilles, capturing three English merchant ships during the voyage. 

Arriving in Martinique waters on July 27, the American brig was approached in a hostile manner by a British vessel anchored in the harbor of St. Pierre, Shark. Bingham was then taken ashore, and the two ships engaged in combat, but this was interrupted by cannon shots fired on Shark from the Sainte-Marthe battery (in St. Pierre). For the very first time, the French army had assisted American Patriots. Subsequently, the latter received a very warm welcome and official protection in Martinique. Bingham was recognized as the representative of the United States by Governor d’Argout and settled in St. Pierre (where he remained in office until 1780). As for Wickes, he left the island on August 26, taking with him four French officers who wished to join Washington’s army.

The exchanges between Bingham, Wickes, and the authorities of Martinique led to the establishment of a genuine strategic alliance between this French colony and the United States, heralding the great Franco-American alliance formalized by the treaty of February 6, 1778. Until the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, St. Pierre played a crucial role in the conflict, serving the common interests of the French and Americans.

Naturally, the United States opened one of its first consulates in St. Pierre in 1790, with President George Washington appointing a young veteran of the Revolutionary War, Fulwar Skipwith from Virginia, to the post. After serving in difficult conditions – France was in the midst of revolution at the time – Skipwith left Martinique in 1794, as the island began to be occupied by the British. It was not until 1815 that the consulate reopened, amid growing trade between the young North American republic and Martinique. The post subsequently experienced significant and varied activity, but this was brutally interrupted by the eruption of May 8, 1902, which killed almost the entire population of St. Pierre, including U.S. Consul Thomas T. Prentis, his wife Clara Louisa, their daughters Mary and Christine, U.S. Vice Consul Amédée Testart, and his daughter Marie Louise.

This disaster had major repercussions in the United States, which was the first foreign power to provide assistance to suffering Martinique, under the leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt. On May 12, 1902, the U.S. Congress voted a budget of $200,000 for emergency relief including food supplies, clothing, shelter materials, medicines, and the deployment of military medical personnel. It was the most substantial aid granted by a foreign country to Martinique following the devastating eruption of Mount Pelée. Beyond the action taken by the federal government, the tragedy sparked a widespread movement of solidarity across the United States. In recognition of this support, the municipality of Fort-de-France awarded the title of Citizen of Honor to the then former President Theodore Roosevelt during his visit to Martinique in February 1916. 

Furthermore, the memory of Consul Prentis, Vice Consul Testart, and their family members who died in the 1902 disaster was honored both in the United States and in Martinique. In the town of St. Pierre, which slowly rebuilt itself among the ruins, American engineer and volcanologist Frank Alvord Perret dedicated a monument to Prentis in 1935, and in 1984, the U.S. Ambassador to France, Evan Griffith Galbraith, had a plaque affixed to the monument in memory of Clara Louisa, the two daughters of the Prentis couple, and Vice Consul Testart.

As this monument had deteriorated over time, the municipality of St. Pierre dedicated a commemorative stone to the victims of the Prentis and Testart families on May 8, 2022, during a Franco-American ceremony that also highlighted the history of the former American consulate, as part of the traditional period of commemorative events known as “May of St. Pierre”. Located in the Louis Ernoult Garden behind the Cathedral, the stone was incorporated into a memorial of the consular corps inaugurated in May of the following year, alongside monoliths honoring the memory of the five other consular officers who perished in the eruption of May 8, 1902.

Concerning Perret, he came to Martinique to study another eruption of Mount Pelée in 1929, and four years later he founded a volcanological museum in St. Pierre (which was already a notable tourist destination, including for Americans). To pay tribute to his commitment to the town, the municipality made him a Citizen of Honor in 1937. After Perret’s death in 1943, the museum was bequeathed to the municipality, in accordance with its creator’s wishes. It underwent extensive renovation in 2018, through a public service delegation awarded to the Clément Foundation, and was renamed the “Memorial to the Catastrophe of 1902 – Frank A. Perret Museum” (“Mémorial de la Catastrophe de 1902 – Musée Frank A. Perret” in French). This site has become a major tourist attraction in Martinique. 

Today, the municipality of St. Pierre, led by Mayor Christian Rapha, remains committed to highlighting the historical relationship that I have briefly outlined in this article. As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence next year, discussions are currently underway regarding the commemoration of the unique role played by the “Paris of the Isles” in the American Revolution, but also, beyond, with a view to promoting exchanges between St. Pierre and the homeland of George Washington, in light of their shared history.