Aaron Åhman

https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=15...

Aaron Ahman was born in the Cathedral Parish in Goteborg 28 March
1751, the son of Olof Ah man, a prominent merchant, and Elisabeth Rauwerdt.
He followed his brother, Simon Jacob Ahman, to the West Indies and
seems at first to have settled on the Dutch portion of the island of St. Martin,
where, according to his own account, he had served as governmental
secretary to the Governor Comptroller, Abraham Heijliger, and later to his
successor, John Solomon Gibbes.
When Sweden acquired St. Barthelemy from France in 1784, Ahman
moved over to that island and served there as secretary to the Swedish
governor, Pehr Herman von Rosenstein, whose tenure lasted from 1787 to
1790. Von Rosenstein was not satisfied with Ahman, claiming that he was
deficient in languages- Swedish and French. During van Rosenstein 's period
on St. Barthelemy, he and Ahman were constantly feuding. Toward the end
of his mandate von Rosenstein wrote a letter 21 Oct. 1789 to Count Eric
Ruuth in Stockholm, the King's personal representative on the Board of
Directors of the Swedish West India Company, saying that Ahman was
more incompetent than ever and asking Ruuth's help in getting rid of him.
Ahman was a controversial figure and had angered quite a few residents,
including Robert Montgomery, a Swedish officer, who had been sent into
exile to St. Barthelemy for his involvement in the Anjala conspiracy, aimed
at King Gustaf Iii, and who wrote home to his wife in Sweden 28 April 1791
thar "Ahman, .. . , was a stupid, arrogant, bankrupted gambler, who had
married an old, ugly wornout actress from Bordeaux."
Actually Ahman had married the 27 year-old Catherine Pouthalier
Duchesac 18 Nov. 1787 on St. Barthelemy. She must have died, since Ahman
married again 22 June 1796 Dame Elizabeth Z. Doncker, widow of Martin
Du Bois Godet on St. Eustatius.
In I 790 Ahman asked for six months' leave of absence from his
employment on St. Barthelemy and went to Europe to tend to some private
business as well as to visit relatives in Goteborg. Wohlfart claims that
Ahman had been born 17 July 1751, which must be an error, inasmuch as
Wohlfart's reminiscences were written down toward the end of his life from
memory. He does elaborate on Ahman's visit to Sweden in 1790 by offering
the following narrative"He (i.e. Ahman) was tall of stature, slim, thin and
possessed a sallow complexion ... (He) was dressed in a suit of cashmere,
complete with a sword at his side and gold buckles on his shoes. He was
accompanied by a young negro servant ... and it seemed that the real
purpose of his journey to Sweden was to seek the position of governor ( of St.
Barthelemy). He had an audience with King Gustaf III and in order to
ingratiate himself with the King, he made a present of the slave to His
Majesty ... Whether it was the gift, or Ahman, himself, who did not win
favor with the King is not known. Ahman's request was turned down ... (and
he) returned to his birth place dejected and without his slave. Soon thereafter
he returned to his .. . beloved Barthelemy.-"Swedish Parish church record
on St. Barthelemy", courtesy Rolf Lamborn, Winter Park, FL; Adolf
Christian Wohlfart, "Wohlfartska Familjens Slagt-Register" ( 1863), manuscript in the University of Goteborg Library, Goteborg; Ingegerd Hildebrand, Den svenska kolonin S:t Barthelemy och Viistindiska kompaniet
fram till 1796 (Lund I 951), pp. 85, 70 and 193.