Faustin Edmond Wirkus (16 November 1896 – 8 October 1945) was an American marine stationed in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

during the

United States occupation of Haiti The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the National City Bank of New York convinced the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, to take control of ...

(1915–1934). He was reputedly crowned Faustin II, King of La Gonâve, a

an island west of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, by Queen Ti Memenne of La Gonâve on 18 July 1926, and co-ruled until he was transferred by the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

to the United States mainland in 1929.

Early life

According to an official biography, Wirkus was born in 1896 in

Rypin Rypin (german: Rippin) is a town in north-central Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 50 km east of Toruń. It is the capital of Rypin County. Population is 16,950 (2009). History Rypin was founded in the Middle Ages, and ...

(

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) a small town now in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, however, numerous ship passenger lists (records of the U.S. Customs Service) show his correct birth place as Pittston, Pennsylvania. He and his parents settled in

Dupont, Pennsylvania Dupont is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,536 as of the 2020 census. History The community was incorporated as a borough in 1917; it was originally called "Smithville," i ...

, a coal mining community northwest of

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

, where he was raised. At the age of 11, he started sorting coal in Pittston.

Military career

Wirkus enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1915 and served in the 1st Advance Base Brigade in Haiti and rose to the rank of corporal in 1918 then to gunnery sergeant in 1920. During his service in the Marine Corps, he was promoted to a lieutenant in the Garde d'Haiti, commanding a squad of native troops on La Gonâve. After rescuing a young woman in trouble, he found out that she was Queen Timemenne of La Gonâve. He was welcomed by the population as Timemenne had told them how kind he was to her, and in part, due to the unusual circumstance that he had the same first name as the former emperor of Haiti,

Faustin Soulouque Faustin-Élie Soulouque (15 August 1782 – 3 August 1867) was a Haitian politician and military commander who served as President of Haiti from 1847 to 1849 and Emperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859. Soulouque was a general in the Haitian Army w ...

, later known as Faustin I ("Faustin the First"), who died in 1867. Somewhat bizarrely, the natives proclaimed him Faustin II in a

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

ritual and he ruled jointly with Queen Timemenne for three years. He became known for dispensing ready but gentle justice.

Later life

Wirkus left the Marine Corps in 1931 as a gunnery sergeant. He returned to the Marine Corps in 1939 as a recruiting specialist where he rose to the rank of

marine gunner In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer ( grades W‑1 to W‑5; see '' NATO: WO1–WO5'') are rated as officers above all non-commissioned officers, candidates, cadets, and midshipmen, but subordinate to the lowest o ...

. In 1944 he was appointed an aviation gunnery instructor at the

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

Navy Pre-Flight School. He died at the

Brooklyn Naval Hospital Brooklyn Naval Hospital was a hospital in Brooklyn, New York City, within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was one of the oldest naval hospitals in the United States, having operated from 1838 to 1948. Two of the structures in the former hospital's sit ...

In popular culture

Wirkus wrote an autobiographical account of his time in Haiti, with Taney Dudley and an introduction by

William Seabrook William Buehler Seabrook (February 22, 1884 – September 20, 1945) was an American occultist, explorer, traveler, journalist and writer, born in Westminster, Maryland. He began his career as a reporter and City Editor of the ''Augusta Chronic ...

, entitled ''The White King of La Gonave: The True Story of the Sergeant of Marines Who Was Crowned King on a Voodoo Island'', published by Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc. in 1931. Seabrook also published Wirkus' account of the occupation in his travel narrative, ''The Magic Island''. A 1933

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

titled ''Voodoo'' produced by

Sol Lesser Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961. Biography In 1913, while living in San F ...

featured Wirkus telling his story. Wirkus is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

References

1896 births 1948 deaths United States Marines Monarchs of Haiti 20th-century monarchs in North America Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Pittston, Pennsylvania American people of Polish descent Monarchs who abdicated Catholics from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania {{Royal-stub Nobility of the Americas