# Adolph Esmit > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Adolph_Esmit > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Adolph_Esmit.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Esmit > Source revision: 1349584064 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Danish colonial administrator and slave trader}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Adolph Esmit | image = | caption = | birth_date = unknown | birth_place = Probably [Holstein](/source/Holstein) | death_date = unknown | death_place = [Courland](/source/Courland) | party = | occupation = | relations = | spouse = | children = | office = Governor of [The Danish West Indies](/source/The_Danish_West_Indies) | term_start = 1683 | term_end = 1684 | predecessor = [Nicolai Esmit](/source/Nicolai_Esmit) | successor = [Gabriel Milan](/source/Gabriel_Milan) | constituency = | majority = | office2 = Governor of [The Danish West Indies](/source/The_Danish_West_Indies) | term_start2 = 1687 | term_end2 = 1688 | predecessor2 = [Christopher Heins](/source/Christopher_Heins) | successor2 = [Christopher Heins](/source/Christopher_Heins) | constituency2 = | majority2 = | office3 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | constituency3 = | majority3 = | footnotes = | website = }} '''Adolph Esmit''' was a Danish colonial administrator and slave trader who served as [governor](/source/governor) of [St. Thomas](/source/Saint_Thomas%2C_U.S._Virgin_Islands) in the [Danish West Indies](/source/Danish_West_Indies) from 1683 to 1684, and again from 1687 to 1688. He was born in [Holstein](/source/Holstein). His older brother [Nicolai Esmit](/source/Nicolai_Esmit) preceded him as governor of St. Thomas.Bricka, Biografisk, 599 ==Biography== When Adolph's brother's was proclaimed governor in 1679, Adolph was in [Courland](/source/Courland), but he quickly went to the West Indies, where he captained a [slave ship](/source/slave_ship). When there, Esmit led a faction of planters in opposition of his brother, and deposed him in the fall of 1682. Westergaard describes him as "shifty, shrewd, vain, and at times boastful, and an exceedingly exasperating neighbor to deal with."Westergaard, Danish West Indies, 29 Meanwhile, his (likely English) wife Charity Esmit was in [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen), securing the official proclamation of his inauguration as governor in 1683. During his rule, St. Thomas gained a reputation of being a haven for [pirate](/source/pirate)s such as [George Bond](/source/George_Bond_(pirate)).{{cite book|last1=Dookhan|first1=Isaac|title=A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States|date=1974|publisher=Canoe Press|location=Kingston, Jamaica|isbn=9789768125057|page=112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxT8qxBjwoUC|accessdate=28 August 2017|language=en}} This was due in part to that when the fact that a sloop owned by a Briton was seized in the harbor of St. Thomas reached [Governor Stapleton](/source/Sir_William_Stapleton%2C_1st_Baronet) of [Nevis](/source/Nevis), he attempted having the sloop restored to its owner. He also required the delivery of seven white servants who had run away. Esmit was evasive, saying it was a free port. and Stapleton sent his deputy, Thomas Biss, who said "Sir, if your port is free, why did you seize the sloop? If some rogues have freedom here, why not all?" Esmit later offered to return the sloop, even after having sold it on auction.Westergaard, Danish West Indies, 30 Likewise, French pirate [Jean Hamlin](/source/Jean_Hamlin), being pursued by [Jamaica](/source/Jamaica)n governor [Thomas Lynch](/source/Thomas_Lynch_(governor))'s men, arrived on St. Thomas in the spring of 1682.Haring, Buccaneers, 137 Under the protection of Esmit, Hamlin made the island his base and proceeded to rob several English vessels. When Stapleton's men encountered Hamlin's ship in the harbor of St. Thomas, they set it on fire. Although Esmit complained, claiming that the ship had been seized for the Danish Crown, he secretly sold Hamlin a sloop and let him escape the English. Upon Esmit's arrival in Denmark, he was able to convince Danish West India Company that he could help them locate a sunken [Spanish](/source/Spain) silver transport, and thus avoided the consequences of his rule. He was proclaimed governor again in 1687. When it turned out that he would not be able to fulfill on his promises, and the citizens would not accept him as their governor, he was brought to Denmark again in 1688. Once there, Esmit managed to evade the impending trial by leaving for [Courland](/source/Courland). == Bibliography == * Waldemar Westergaard, ''The Danish West Indies under Company Rule (1671 - 1754)'' (MacMillan, New York, 1917) * ''C. F. Bricka'' (editor), Dansk biografisk Lexikon, first edition, 19 volumes, 1887–1905, Vol. IV. Online edition available: https://runeberg.org/dbl/4/ (page 599. Numbered as 601 in the online edition). * Philip Gosse, ''The Pirates' Who's Who'' (Plain Label Books). [https://books.google.com/books?id=rIXe67Wp2sIC Online edition available] * C.h. Haring, ''The Buccaneers in the West Indies'' (Plain Label Books). [https://books.google.com/books?id=fo2mnY30uYgC Online edition available] == References == {{reflist}} {{s-start}} {{succession box | title=[Governor of the Danish West Indies](/source/List_of_Governors_of_the_Danish_West_Indies) | before=[Nicolai Esmit](/source/Nicolai_Esmit) | after=[Gabriel Milan](/source/Gabriel_Milan) | years=1683–1684}} {{succession box | title=[Governor of the Danish West Indies](/source/List_of_Governors_of_the_Danish_West_Indies) | before=[Christopher Heins](/source/Christopher_Heins)
''(ad interim)'' | after=[Christopher Heins](/source/Christopher_Heins)
''(ad interim)'' | years=1687–1688}} {{s-end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Esmit, Adolph}} Category:Governors of the Danish West Indies Category:Year of death unknown Category:Year of birth unknown Category:17th-century Danish businesspeople Category:Danish slave traders Category:17th-century slave traders Category:1680s in the Danish West Indies --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adolph Esmit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Esmit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Esmit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.