Vivian Arnold was born in Westerly, Rhode Island on October 22, 1893. She died in October 1981.

The Bahamas were the first landfall for Christopher Columbus, who landed on San Salvador in the Eastern Bahamas in 1492. The Bahamas were first settled by the Lucayan Indians a branch of the Arawak people who fled to these islands to get away from the fierce Carib Indians, who had invaded their home islands. Slavery, and disease had wiped out the entire tribe less than 25 years later. 

Eleuthera was the first island to be settled by the English in 1648. The Islands were a popular hideout for pirates during these early times and for a time Nassau was homeport to Edward Teach, (Blackbeard). In 1776 there was a large influx of British loyalist (Tories) to the Islands who bought their slaves with them and proceeded to grow cotton, tobacco and other crops.

During the American Civil War, the Islands provided an exchange point for Confederate blockade runners to sell their goods and buy supplies from the British. When Prohibition was enacted in the U. S., the Islands once again became a haven for smugglers and a huge flow of Scotch Whiskey entered the states from this area. After the 1920s, the tourism industry became the mainstay of the Islands economy.

The Bahamas became a Commonwealth in 1969 and an independent Nation on July 10, 1973.

SEE: Paquebot Markings  for further information concerning Paquebot Mail.