Draft:Sydney Uriah Bogues

S.U. Bogues was born and raised at the family homestead at a place known as Dark Hole in Bellas Gate, St. Catherine"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1878-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XN9W-VVF : Sun Mar 10 05:52:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Sydney Uriah Bond and Rebecca Bond, 03 May 1883.. It is a quaint hollow on the side of a mountain facing Point Hill about (10) miles North of Old Harbour.

He was the son of William Benjamin Bogues"Jamaica, Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VH6W-V22 : Wed Jan 22 02:18:04 UTC 2025), Entry for William Benjamin Bogue and Macduff Bogue, 26 Mar 1858. and Anna Rebecca Bogues née DeLattibodier. William B. Bogues was born in Bellas Gate and was at least the 2nd Generation to live there. According to oral tradition S.U. Bogues' grandfather, McDuff Hart Bogue"Jamaica Births and Baptisms, 1752-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XNJS-YYR : 27 July 2023), Mc Duff Bogue, 1835. was from Clan MacDuff which is the highest-ranking family and is Scottish royalty. The MacDuff Family crest, a red rampant lion also signifies royalty in the Royal Banner.

S.U. Bogues and his brothers, Egbert"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1878-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5M3-RC2 : Mon Mar 11 01:38:29 UTC 2024), Entry for Egbert J Bogues and William Bogues, 24 Mar 1918. and Leopold helped their father, William Benjamin with farming and maintaining the Stamford Hill"Jamaica, Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VH64-3W2 : Sun Mar 10 21:35:17 UTC 2024), Entry for Betsy Ann Thomas Bogue and Mac Duff Bogue, 22 Feb 1861 (Stamford Hill.) gold mine there on the property which ceased operation about (2) decades prior to their birth. Even to this day international prospectors mine for copper and gold the area. There is still a riveted old wood-fired steam boiler there from the 1850's. The steam was the only power at the time to pump water out of the mine to prevent flooding.

The exploration of the Stamford Hill Prospect was done originally by the Clarendon Consolidated Copper Mining Company of Jamaica which started in 1852-53 and continued till 1863. The mine was abandoned after the death of a mine captain, the failure of the pumps, and several other inadequacies experienced at the time."The Stamford Hill Mine Exploration Report" Compiled by: Minroc Management Limited, for Trevcorp, 1991.

Sydney Uriah’s Mother, Anna Rebecca came from an orthodox Jewish family heritage of whom were likely lawyers concerning the gold mine. Although she was born in the 1850’s, as late as the early 2000's some of her grandsons who could still describe her, said she was a short lady with long straight hair, and she was dark skinned; as the DeLattibodier in Bellas Gate originated a few generations back to freed slaves. Personal historical research shows that slaves born of Jewish descendants were often still treated as children of Abraham and were cared for as such.

S.U. Bogues later met Helen Hill, before his marriage to Florence Matilda Billings. They had a daughter in 1905, Willhel Bogues"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1878-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVSP-1WN5 : Sat Mar 09 14:17:58 UTC 2024), Entry for Walter Valentine Gordon, Wilhel Louise Bogues, and Sydney Bogues, 06 Apr 1941., more affectionately known as Aunt Lola to those in the more recent generations.

Between the 18th and 19th centuries oral tradition says there were (3) original Scottish settlers from the Bogue family to the “New World.” They were (3) brothers, one settled there in St. Catherine (which was St. Dorothy at the time,) one settled in Bogue, St. James, and one went to the colonies of the now, United States (likely North Carolina where there are several Scottish Bogue settlers.)

File:Sidney Uriah Bogues graduation photo Howard University circa 1925.jpg

Sydney Uriah and his brother, Frank (Milholland) travelled to Washington D.C. to pursue a formal degree. His Ellis Island records show him to be attending school at Howard University in the early 1920’s[https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-details/czoxMjoiNjA0MzgyMDYwMTI4Ijs=/czo5OiJwYXNzZW5nZXIiOw== "Sidney Uriah Bogues Arrival"] at heritage.statueofliberty.org. Also migrating from Jamaica; his son, H.E.Dorrien Bogues in his biography says that he lived and studied in his own youth at New York, U.S.A. from 1919-23.The British Caribbean, Who What Why (1955-1956,) Page 245, Printed by Bell & Bain Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland 1951.

File:Mary Ann Bogues Death Certificate.jpg

Sydney Uriah Bogues was about 6 years old in Dark Hole, Bella’s Gate when his Grandmother Mary Ann passed away"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1878-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5MM-46N : Sat Mar 09 12:53:18 UTC 2024), Entry for Mary Ann Grant and William Thomas, 14 Dec 1890. from an intestinal problem likely from bacteria. It was the year 1890 and about 10 months earlier his 2-year-old younger brother, Algernon passed away from whooping cough. Many small children and newborns had also passed away from whooping cough in the Bella’s Gate community in that same time period.

It is for reasons like these; it would seem, why young S.U. Bogues decided to pursue a career in the field of preparing medicine.

After the earthquake of 1907 S.U. Bogues travelled to New Market, St. Elizabeth, St. Elizabeth where he found his new bride. He was the Secretary of a Relief Fund seeking donations from several organizations after the devastating effects of the earthquake in Jamaica.The Gleaner (Jamaica) 1907 August 28, Page 3.

He married the daughter of Robert Leslie Billings, Miss Florence Matilda Billings in 1910; she was born and raised in St. Elizabeth. Later in life, she was also the organist at the East Queen Street Baptist Church downtown Kingston.

In 1919 Sydney Uriah and Florence Bogues along with their five children migrated to New York on separate voyages.

They resided in the burrows of Harlem according to addresses provided to the port officials at Ellis Island[https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-details/czoxMjoiNjA0MzgyMDYwMTI4Ijs=/czo5OiJwYXNzZW5nZXIiOw== "Sidney Uriah Bogues Arrival"] at heritage.statueofliberty.org

Image:Sidney Bogues Ellis Island.jpg

Image:Sidney Bogues Ellis Island 2nd Page.jpg

After graduating from Howard University, he returned South and practiced as a pharmacist in Cuba and Belize.

File:Gleaner Article 1915.jpg

Descendants of Sydney Bogues speak fondly of his being a contemporary of Rt. Hon. Marcus Garvey and of him being a part of the Harlem Renaissance. He was in New York during this time and seemingly well known to Garvey through records such as the Gleaner article inset circa 1915.The Gleaner (Jamaica) 1915 June 26, Page 21.

His nephew, Sen. Leon Bogues stayed in New York and later became a State Senator representing Harlem.

His eldest son H.E.Dorrien along with his younger brothers, Francis and David founded the Jamaican conglomerate, Bogues Brothers Ltd.The British Caribbean, Who What Why (1955-1956,) Page 245, Printed by Bell & Bain Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland 1951. in 1939 when they imported Jamaica’s first modern dry-cleaning plant for the Hamilton Suit Company.

Sydney Bogues’ son-in-law, David Leopold Baugh"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1878-2000", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVS5-SHJS : Tue Jan 21 17:44:43 UTC 2025), Entry for David Leopold Baugh, Ora Guiovanni Bogues, and Sydney Bogues, 21 Sep 1946. was instrumental in assisting his own cousin, Thomas Phillip Lecky, Ph.D., O.B.E., O.M., Agricultural Geneticist in his research by way of facilitating his experiments on his farm resulting in famous cattle breeds, such as the Jamaican Red Poll.

{{Reflist}}