St. Erasmus and St. Elmo's

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article with a good introductory style.

The island of St. Erasmus was first colonized in 1625, and the town of St. Elmo's was founded. Most scholars and historians simply refer to the island as St. Erasmus, as the island is quite small.

[edit] Short History

St. Erasmus was founded in 1624 in relative peace, considering what was happening on the islands around it. However, in the fall of 1640 the island began to be rocked by waves of pirate attacks. Colonial reports of the action are taken from the very few preserved copies of broadsheets from the period, The Saint Erasmus Times, and from letters to relatives who lived back in England at the time. Interestingly enough, we can even glean a bit of history from the tax codes of the period.

Through all of these documents, and the vast array of myths surrounding the islands, we can begin to piece together the very colorful history of a small island during the English Civil War.

Starting in 1640, St. Erasmus suffered a rather amazing jump in its homicide rate, due to a rash of murders in October and December respectively. The perpetrators were never caught, possibly because they left the island before any strong investigations could be lost. It's not believed that the murders were in any way connected to each other. The October ones targeted both male and female adults. The December victims were primarily young girls, excepting the massacre of the town's guards in the woods (no specific force, Indian or other foreign national was ever blamed.) Another set of murders in 1641 was focused on several local sailors.