Robert Rumer. Origin: Old Inhabitant

There was a child born 15 November 1800 on New Providence to Robert Rumer and his wife Esther Fisher. Robert Rumer was one of a small faction of Loyalists that Bahamas President John Brown labeled as the “Refuse of America.”* However, in Homeward Bound, Riley explains that the Rumer memorial on Harbour Island was put up in celebration of the Bahamians from Harbour Island who joined Deveaux’s men in the “overthrow” of Spanish Nassau. These men were called “Loyalists” and later granted land in accordance with that status. Robert Rumer was one of these Bahamians.

Rumer received 160 acres of land in the Burrows Harbour area of Long Island on 15 December 1789. The land was bounded by that of Elizabeth Smith, the sea, a salina, and vacant land. He is listed on the Tatnall Map as “Robert Rum.”

References: HB, FC, DM

*In Homeward Bound.