Feb. 13, 2008 — He's been dead for nearly 43 years, but the name Julius E. Sprauve may be one of the best-known on St. John: His name graces the island's largest school, thanks to an act of the Legislature in 1957.
Sprauve had a school named in his honor because he served 20 years on the St. Thomas Municipal Council and in the Legislature after the government was reorganized. He started trekking from St. John to St. Thomas in 1937 to represent St. John on the First Municipal Council. He was still there when the ninth and last Municipal Council ended in 1954, and went on to hold a seat in the 1st Legislature. He retired in 1956.
Born on March 26, 1892, Sprauve died May 27, 1965.
His accomplishments during his time on the Municipal Council and the Legislature are getting lost in the mists of time, but his goal was always to help St. John people.
"His greatest accomplishment was the Homestead Act," said his son, Elroy Sprauve.
His father convinced people who owned large tracts of land in the Enighed and Contant areas to sell land to the local government, Elroy said. In turn, the government sold lots at $19 each to residents who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them. Five-acre parcels went for $125.
The land stretched from near the Cruz Bay cemetery to near where the Westin Resort and Villas now sit, Elroy said. It also included the land on the other side of the road from where the Texaco gas station recently sat to the Sirenusa condominium project.
According to the book Profiles of Outstanding Virgin Islanders, by Ruth Moolenaar, in 1940 Sprauve introduced a resolution authorizing the governor to negotiate with people who owned large parcels of land in those areas. The intent was to establish a school for wayward juveniles, but instead the land was sold at low prices to St. John residents.
Elroy said his father was also responsible for road development on St. John and social programs to help residents.
Sprauve also pushed legislation that helped bring in water-storage facilities, a new school, increased health services, banking facilities and extended welfare services, according to Profiles of Outstanding Virgin islanders.
He was also instrumental in fostering laws that regulated motor vehicles on St. John and the authorization of special scholarships for St. John students traveling to St. Thomas for their education.
Sprauve was responsible for the first bank on St. John in 1958. Before that, residents had to go to St. Thomas to do their banking. He and St. John Administrator George Simmonds persuaded the West Indies Bank and Trust Co. to establish a bank on St. John. In 1962, it became Chase Manhattan Bank. Sprauve provided rental space at a low cost to help get the bank established.
He also was a proponent of the V.I. National Park, which opened in 1956.
Elroy remembers his father as a man of compassion. His father owned two stores, one in Cruz Bay next to where Lemon Tree Mall now sits and the other at Palestina, located outside Coral Bay.
"He was always giving things away," Elroy said.
Sprauve was the son of Rupert and Moriah Frederick Sprauve. He attended the Bethany School. After his father died, he went to work and later operated his own cargo vessel, the Loyal. He was the prime supplier of wood for fuel to the Lockhart Bakery on St. Thomas.
On Jan. 3, 1934, Sprauve married Izza Dunlop of St. Thomas. She died in 1961. They were the parents of Elroy, Julius, Vernon, and Liston Sprauve. Sprauve was also the father of Hilton, Herman, Kenneth, Clarissa, Sylvia and Leona Sprauve, and Rhynita Thomas, Joan Ricey and Idalia Varlack.
And that E in Julius E. Sprauve? It stands for Ebenezer.
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