Person:Jean Bernier (2)

There was the decline of the economy on Saint-Barthelemy because the Danish Island of St. Thomas, had been declared a free-port and merchant ships chose to trade there instead of on Saint-Barthelemy. This sales caused many French citizens to decide to relocate to Spanish Puerto Rico. [[1]]

!Jean Pierre Bernier is Resident of Puerto Rico from 1806 and was naturalized in April,1816, under the "Cedula de Gracias".

French Relocate From Saint Barthelemy (San Bartolomé) to Puerto Rico 1804-1807 - Jean Pierre Bernier, Manuel Maurice Bernier, Andre Bernier (Coleche). [2]

It will be a surprise to many descendants of the French from Saint-Barthelemy, when we tell of the French immigrants who chose to settle in Puerto Rico rather than travel to other French islands.

One big attraction was the land grants to these settlers under the Cedula de Gracias of Spain.

There were several causes for this immigration to the Spanish island… There was, first of all, the French Revolution of 1789… Royalists were at risk of losing their heads to Madame la Guillotine, even though Saint-Barthelemy was now under Swedish rule. Then there was the Emancipation Proclamation of Sweden and of France and there were many rich men on Saint-Barthelemy who possessed enslaved persons and who were not ready to grant freedom to their enslaved servants. The Spanish had not yet granted freedom to their servants.

Then there was the decline of the economy on Saint-Barthelemy because the Danish Island of St. Thomas, had been declared a free-port and merchant ships chose to trade there instead of on Saint-Barthelemy.

On Haiti, Touussaint L’Ouverture was leading the population in revolt against France, in demand for their freedom and independence.

In the United States, the French Territory of Louisiana was sold to the United States in 1803. This sales caused many French citizens to decide to relocate to Spanish Puerto Rico.

On 10 August, 1815, the Spanish Crown enacted the Cedula de Gracias, which granted many rights and privileges to the immigrants who would cultivate the land and bring in machinery and slaves to cultivate sugar cane. Although there were already French from Saint-Barthelemy on the island of Puerto Rico, many more now came to settle and take advantage of the land grant.

We must alert the reader and researcher that names were changed and mis-spelt because of the language.

The following is a list of some of the French from Saint-Barthelemy who relocated to Puerto Rico:

Bernier, Andre Resided in Puerto Rico since 1807. Was naturalized in April, 1816 to take advantage of the Cedula de Gracias

Bernier, Jean Pierre Resident of Puerto Rico from 1806 was naturalized in 1816 under the Cedula de Gracias

Bernier, Maurice Resident in Puerto Rico since 1804 was naturalized in 1816 under the Cedula de Gracias.

(The names have been translated from the Spanish back to the original French. All were registered in Spanish for convenience of the language)

…From the Register Of Baptisms, the parish of Guayama, we find the following baptisms. All persons white unless noted otherwise…

Pierre, Legitimate son of Michel Ledee and Venancia Roche. 16 January, 1820. The godparents were Jean-Pierre Bernier and Catherine Roche

Josephine, Legitimate daughter of Joseph Ledee and Simonne Bernier. 18 March, 1824. Godparents were Pierre Greaux and Catherine Mayer

Jean-Louis, Born 30 December 1825; Legitimate son of Jean-Pierre Serge and Marie Antoinette Aubin. Godparents were Georges Aubin, Maurice Bernier and Rose Bernier