Commewijne · coffee, sugar, cacao, citrus
Visserszorg: 286 people freed, 77 family names
Visserszorg on the Commewijne River was first granted land in 1743, switched from coffee to sugar in 1792, and in 1863 ranked among the largest estates in the country with 286 people freed under 77 family names.
Check this This page is compiled from published sources and has not yet been verified on the ground. If you know a name, a date or an ownership detail better than we do, tell us and we will correct it with the source named.
The first five hundred akkers were granted in 1743 to Cornelis Graafland Jacobsz. In Sranan the estate was called Ru. Ownership ran through Anna Catharina Arnaud, who married in turn the Scot Charles Kennedy and Jacques Roux of Lausanne, and on to Robatel and Repelaer van Spijkenisse. By 1863 the holding was split: a half share for Elonora Charlotte Meurs and an eighth each for four members of the Planteau family.
The estate began in coffee and switched to sugarcane in 1792, with its own sugar factory and a water mill; centrifuge technology was added around 1850. In 1795 it covered a thousand akkers.
At the emancipation of 1 July 1863, 286 people were declared free here under 77 family names, among them Akker, Anders, Arona, Ben, Biezen, Breda, Helder, Schuit, Wachter and Wand. That made Visserszorg the twenty-third of the two hundred and sixteen known plantations, and the sixth on the lower Commewijne. For genealogy that is a rich list.
In 1891 the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij bought Visserszorg to keep the central sugar factory at Mariënburg supplied with cane; the estate became part of the Mariënburg complex alongside Resolutie, Zoelen, Elisabethshoop, Berlijn and Geertruidenberg. From 1917 it went back to coffee, cacao and oranges, and from the 1960s increasingly to citrus. In 1917 it was absorbed by the neighbouring Sorgvliet estate and in 1979 taken over by De Ploeg N.V.
On the road near Meerzorg there is now a small resort called Plantage Visserszorg, with four pina-hut style cottages and a restaurant. Whether it stands on the historic plantation ground we have not been able to establish, and we know of no surviving plantation buildings.
Frequently asked questions
How many people were freed at Visserszorg in 1863?
Two hundred and eighty-six, under 77 family names including Akker, Anders, Arona, Ben, Biezen, Breda, Helder, Schuit, Wachter and Wand. That put Visserszorg twenty-third of the two hundred and sixteen known plantations and sixth on the lower Commewijne.
Why did the NHM buy Visserszorg?
To supply cane to the central sugar factory at Mariënburg. The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij bought Visserszorg in 1891 and added it to the Mariënburg complex alongside Resolutie, Zoelen, Elisabethshoop, Berlijn and Geertruidenberg.
Can you visit Visserszorg?
There is a small resort of four cottages called Plantage Visserszorg on the Zuster Jensenweg near Meerzorg, reachable by road. Whether it sits on the historic plantation ground is not established, and we know of no surviving plantation buildings.