Joachim (Jockum) Melchior Magens (4 March 1715 18 August 1783) was a Danish colonial administrator and planter in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

. He is remembered for publishing a grammar of

Negerhollands Negerhollands ('Negro-Dutch') was a Dutch-based creole language that was spoken in the Danish West Indies, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands. Dutch was its superstrate language with Danish, English, French, Spanish, and African elem ...

in 1770.

Magens Bay Magens Bay is a bay and beach park in the Northside region on Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean. Description Lying on the northern (Atlantic) side of the island, Magens Bay (Estate Zufriedenheit) features a well-prot ...

is named after his father. He was the grandfather of

Joachim Melchior Magens (1775–1845) Joachim Melchior Magens (2 July 1775 3 June 1845) was a Denmark, Danish jurist who served as ''notarius publicus'' and public prosecutor in the Danish West Indies. He played a key role in the case against Peter von Scholten. He was the grandson ...

Early life and background

Magens was born on St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies, the son of planter Jacob Jørgensen Magens (1682–1731) and Maria van Beverhoudt (1675–1718).

Career

Magens and a

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

-based younger brother inherited plantation No. 7 on St. John. He later served first as on St. Thomas (1760) and then as bailiff (''

landfoged A ''Landfoged'' (Icelandic: ; Danish: ; Faroese: ) was a civil servant who saw to the finances of the Danish king in islands such as Iceland and the Faroe Islands, collecting revenue for the whole country. The usual English translation is 'sheriff' ...

'') and council chairman () on the island.

Written works

Magens published a grammar of

entitled (1770). Magens also translated
The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession as Set Forth in Forty Sermons
'' originally written by 17th century Danish theologian Petrus Sacharie Nakskow, into English in 1754 for the benefit of local Lutheran clergy and laity while he lived in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magens, Joachim Melchior 1715 births 1783 deaths 18th-century Danish jurists People from the Danish West Indies 1760s in the Danish West Indies 1770s in the Danish West Indies