St. Croix Landmarks Society

Library & Archives

Presents

Allen Voorhees Lesley - 1822-1881

Dr. Allen Voorhees Lesley would be pleasantly surprised to find that 150 years agter his visit to the Islands of the Danish West Indies, his drawings of them have been returned to the Virgin Islands.

The Philadelphia born physician was trained at the University of Pennsylvania and practiced medicine in the area. He was clearly a talented and educated man.

Allen Lesley married his cousin Jennie Lesley Voorhees: together they enjoyed a comfortable life which included travel to many parts of the world including the Caribbean and Venezuela.

The Lesleys visited the islands in 1855 and returned again in 1856 for a number of months. Many charming drawings from this period are in the collection purchased by the St. Croix Landmarks Society in 1995. They are important documents that accurately illustrate general views of the estates, the most interesting buildings of the cities, and some aspects of everyday life in the mid 1850s.

The Lesley collection consists of over 70 drawings from St. Croix and St. Thomas. The Lesley drawings of Venezuela were acquired by the National Art Gallery in Caracas.

Professor James Dallett from Philadelphia discovered the album which contained the Lesley drawings (Cuba, VI, and Venezuela) at a friend's house (The Patten) in Iowa. We owe him the first biography of the artist as well as many documents about Lesley's life.