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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http : //books . google . com/ Hosted by Google '1^1 Hosted by Google Hosted by Google Hosted by Google THE MORNING DAWNS. HUGUENOT DESCENDANTS DAUGHTERS OF THE AUTHOR. Hosted by Google Ttlemoridls of the Huquenots in c>^mericd IPith Special Reference lo Their Emigration to Pennsgluania, — BY— Reu. A. Stapleton, A. M., M. S., D.D. Life Member of iKe Petiiisijbama "biislorical Socielij — Member of iKe PentisTjluania Qerman Socielij, — Author of "Natural liislonj of the Bible," — "Compend of Cliurcli Histonj," — and "Evangelical Annals" — "Flashliglils on "Euangelical liislonj" — "Old Time Evangelical Evangelism." .v^fC-' ''Sir, it is the part of the Church of God to endure blows, and not to deal them; hut your Majesty zmll please remember that it is* an anvil which has already zvorn out many a hammer.'' Theo. de Beza to the King of Navarre\ IIUGUKNOT PUBLISHING COMPANY, CARLISLE, PA. 1901 Hosted by Google Entered according to the Act of Congress in the year igoi, By rev. a. STAPLETOX, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. Hosted by Google AUTHOR'S PREFACE. IT must be apparent to the reader that the gathering of material for this work was immeasurably difficult because of the scanty and scattered sources of information. With the exception of the ex- cellent work of Prof. Charles W. Baird (i) and several monograms by the American Huguenot Society, no work on the Huguenot emi- gration to America has hitherto appeared. True, the Virginia His- torical Society has published a small volume on the emigration to that Province, and chapters devoted to the settlements in New England and South Carolina are to be found. Still the reader will find that, with the exception of a few newspaper articles, the history of the Huguenot emigration to Pennsylvania has hitherto remained unwritten. It is chiefly on this account that our resources have been specially de- voted to their emigration to this Province. The question may be pertinently asked why so much pains have been taken to gather particulars concerning so small a proportion of our Colonial immigrants as the French Protestants? The answer is found in their character. The Huguenots were something more than immigrants seeking a home in a new land. They were refugees, stripped of all human rights, both civil and religious, by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and not until the Edict of Toleration, in 1787, could they claim a right to full liberty of conscience in their home land. In the industrial arts, learning and religious thought, the Huguenots were of the most advanced and enterprising type of civilization, and . the impressions they have made on the institutions and character of 'the lands of their exile were more profound and far reaching in pro- portion' to their numbers than that of any other class of immigrants. This is pre-eminently true of America, as we believe this work will abundantly demonstrate, and we believe that the study of this element of our Colonial population will be pursued With greater interest by future historians as their mighty influence m shaping the character and d estinies of our country is more fully recognized. (i). "The Huguenot Emigration to America." Ill Hosted by Google IV MEMORIALS OF THE^ HUGUENOTS. With the passing years they disclose the original viriUty of their character by continually adding new names to America's roll of honor. To such imperishable names as Jay, Boudinot, Bozvdoin, Marion and Laurens, of the Provincial period, they have added others of equal greatness, and whose force of character and sterling worth is in no small degree attributable to their Huguenot ancestry. In later years Presidents Tyler (i), Garfield (2) and Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton, the Bayards of Delaware, Commodores Stephen Decatur and W. S. Schley, and Admiral George Dewey, then also the poets Whittier (3), Thoreau, Lanier and Emily Bouton, have all con- tributed largely to make America great. Although, as already indicated, the literature pertaining to the subject of this work is very scanty, we may state that considerable data was found in county histories, especially in the works of Prof. I. Daniel Rupp and General W. H. M. Davis. The Pennsylvania Archives, ''Notes and Queries'' by Dr. Egle, ''Documentary History of New York," "Baird's Huguenot Emigration to America," besides the publications of the Pennsylvania Historical and Pennsylvania- German Societies, have all yielded valuable materials. We are under very great obligations to a large number of local historians and private individuals for clues and suggestions that in many instances led toi important results. We are specially indebted to the following gentle- men for valuable assistance: The late Hon. John Blair Linn, of Belief onte; Mrs. Cora Weber Lindsey, of Pittsburgh; Henry S. Dodderer, Editor of "The Perkiomen Regeon,'' Prof. Julius F. Sachse, author of several works of great value on the emigration to Pennsylvania, John W. Jordan, of the Pennsylvania Historical So- ciety, all of Philadelphia: deB. Randolph Keim, of Reading, and Editor of "The Keim and Allied Families" ; James B. Laux, of New York; Rev. P. C. Croll, Editor of the Pennsylvania German, and lastly, the lamented Dr. W. H. Egle, of Harrisburg, late State Librarian, and Editor of the Pennsylvania Archives, to whose valuable assistance we are deeply indebted. As a matter of mournful interest we may state that one of the last acts of his busy life was to furnish the introduction to this work a few days before his death. If we have in a measure succeeded in rescuing from oblivion ' the memory of a people who have been such a potent factor in shap- ' (i). President Tyler descended from Dr. Louis Contesse, an eminent physi- cian, who fled from France to Virginia after the Revocation (Va,. Hist. Col.). (2). President Garfield descended from Maturin Ballou, a refugee to New England. (3). The ancestor of Whittier was a refugee named Fouillevert, who fled to England from Brittagne in the early stages of the persecution (vide Am. Meth. 111. Monthly, vol. 1 1, p. 229). Hosted by Google MEMORIALS 0^ THE HUGUENOTS. ing the character and destinies of our land, and preserved to posterity the names of many from whom it is an honor to claim descent, we shall consider ourselves well rewarded for our many years of toil. REV. A. STAPLETON. Cari,isi.e:, Pa. Hosted by Google Hosted by Google DR. WILLIAM HENRY EGLE. A HUGUENOT DESCENDANT. P. IX. Hosted by le Hosted by Google INTRODUCTION. By Dr. W. H. Egle, M. D., M. S., Late State Librarian ot Pennsylvania, Etc. "Sit at the feet of History — through night Of years the steps of virtue she shall trace, And shozv the earlier ages, whe^e her sight Can pierce the eternal shadoivs o'er her face.'* — Bryant. ^ I *HE Huguenot emigration to America is a subject of abiding in- ^L terest to the historian, as well as to the general reader. The Frenchman's love for his home-land exceeds that of any other nationality, and the causes leading to the extirpation of any consider- able number of them must be dire in the extreme. These causes, and their far-reaching consequences, are brought out in a remarkable manner in these ''Memorials of the Huguenots." There is a peculiar charm clustering around the relations of France with the American Colonies during their struggle for freedom in the dark days of the Revolution. The Colonies were intensely Protestant in faith, and France just then awakening from her stupor, brought on by ages of priestcraft and misgovernment, sprang to the rescue of the Colonies at the period of their darkest peril. Many of her noble sons enriched the soil of freedom with their blood, for which America will always be grateful ; and many of her chief citizens to-day are proud to wear the insignia of "The Society of the Cincinnati" (i) as a memorial of the time when the infant Republic of the New World and the future Republic of the Old World, to- gether, lit the torch of freedom that still shines with increasing lustre across the dark waters of time. Thus has France, the pioneer Re- public of Europe, derived hope and inspiration in her lofty aims from the new Nation, which her exiled sons assisted to build ! The Huguenot emigrants as a class, we may safely say without fear of successful contradiction, have furnished a large number of (i). A patriotic and benevolent society, organized by the American and French officers in 1783 to perpetuate their friendship and raise a fund for relieving the widows and orphans of those who had fallen during the war. The noted French Colonel LeFnfant designed the badge of the order. General Washington was for many years its President. Hosted by Google Vni MKMORIAI^S 0^ THE HUGUENOTS. men of eminence, in proportion to their number, than any other nationality. So strongly marked were their characteristics that neither time nor amalgamation with other races has as yet extinguished the traces of their high moral sentiments and love of liberty from the character of their descendants. This character is still a dominating force in our national life. The extremes of Huguenot theology may be modified by modern criticism. Its mistaken notions of a religio- civic government may give way to broader views, but its lofty spirit and high ideals can never perish because they are the basic elements of human progress. Its spirit has been perpetuated on canvas (i) and in the drama (2) as well as in history, song and story, but its most abiding features are incarnate in the noble life and deeds which has given a new value to human eflfort and has cast new light on the path of human progress. In the fire of the pulpit, in the eloquence of the legislative hall, in the various fields of learning and research the Huguenot spirit still leads the van. On the field of battle and on the trackless seas they have not only maintained our Nation's honor but have opened new eras in the world's history. The naval glories of Stephen Decatur, the epoch-making achievements of Admiral Dewey (3) at Manila, and of Commodore Schley (4) at Santiago, are compliments to the Huguenot origin of these heroes. The reader will find elaborated in this work a phase of history relating to the Huguenots which has hitherto been either slighted or overlooked by writers on our Colonial history, namely, its inti- mate relation with the great Palatine exodus to Pennsylvania. The latter movement had its origin in much the same causes which led the Huguenots to flee from their homes and seek a new destiny in unknown lands. Hence both Huguenot and Palatine, with an al- most identical faith, tired of murder, rapine, fire, sword and spolia- tion under the guise of the Christian religion, seem to have joined in heart and purpose in working out a common destiny in the New World. In view of the fact that the Palatine emigration has received so much attention at the hands of many historians, the scant reference to the considerable Huguenot element among them seems remarka- (i). *Xes Huguenots," a famous painting by J. E. Millias, P. R. A., 1852, representing a trysting couple. (2). "Les Huguenots," an opera by Meyerbeer, still quite popular. (3). Admiral George Dewey is a descendant of Thomas Dewey who, at an early day, emigrated to Vermont from England, whither his ancestor had fled from the Huguenot persecutions. ("Notes and Queries," 1898, p. 76.) (4). Admiral W. S. Schley derives his Huguenot ancestry from Madame Ferree, whose great grand-daughter, Rebecca Ferree, wife of David Shreiber, moved to Frederick County, Maryland. (Rupp's Hist. Lane. Co., p. 112.) Hosted by Google MEMORIAI.S OF the: HUGUENOTS. ble. In this work we have this missing chapter in our Colonial history, and its rescue was made possible only by a long and pro- found study of the personality of the immigrants. The student must not expect to find in this work every name that belongs there. The subject is not exhausted. There are many more Huguenot names among us with a very thin Teutonic veneer over it and which the keen eye of genealogical research will yet un- cover. There are yet many German family names with Huguenot traditions which still remain to be differentiated from present en- cumbrances and reinstated on its proper page of a glorious history. WILLIAM HENRY EGLE, M. D., M. A. IN MEMORIAM. Dr. William He:nry EglE, M. D., A. M. Dr. W. H. Egle, the distinguished historian, was born in Har- risburg, Pa., September 17, 1830, and died in that city February 20, 1901. His ancestor, Marcus Egle, was a Swiss who came to Lancaster county. Pa., prior to 1740. Another ancestor was Fran- cis Mentges, a French Huguenot, and the father of Col. Francis Mentges, of the Revolution. In 1859 he graduated in medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, after which he established himself in that profession in his native city. In the Civil War he served with distinction as a surgeon. In 1887 he was appointed State Librarian by Governor Beaver, and was reappointed to that office by Governor Pattison in 1891 and by Governor Hastings in 1894. His life was an exceedingly busy one and the result of his labors immense. He was the author of scores of historical works of great value, among them "History of Pennsylvania,'' Histories of Leb- anon and Dauphin counties, Archives of Pennsylvania, over twenty volumes, "Notes and Queries," some twelve volumes, "Pennsylva- nia Genealogies," etc. He was a member of many learned societies both in America and Europe, and the first president of the Penn- sylvania German Society, of which society he was one of the foun- ders. He was a most amiable and approachable Christian scholar of the highest rank, whose great delight it was to place his immense stock of historical knowledge freely at the disposal of his fellow men. His sudden death amid his many unfinished literary enter- prises was a great loss and called forth universal regret. Hosted by Google Hosted by Google Memorials of The Huguenots. CHAPTER I. Extending From the Beginning of the French Reformation to the Promulgation of the Edict of Nantes-1 510-1 598. "Great truths are dearly bought, Not found by chance; Nor wafted in the breath of summer dream, But grasped in the great struggle of the soul, Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.'* — Anon. The sixteenth century is one of the most notable periods of all history. The discovery of America, the invention of the art of printing and other elements had awakened a spirit of uni- versal inquiry and independence of thought throughout the world. The great masses began to realize that their consciences were domi- nated by the priests, while their lords regarded them as vassals and mere chattels. No particular country can be said to be the cradle of the Reformation. The time for which Providence paved the way was ripe, and, like a mighty torrent, broke away from human restraint and flooded the world with the blessings of the pure gospel. When Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five propositions on the Schloss Kirche at Wittenberg in 151 7, the gates of the reservoir were opened, where before the waters had, so to speak, only over- flowed the banks. Our aim will be simply to trace, in brief, the Reformation in France, leaving the reader to seek information concerning the work in other countries from other sources. Reformation Begins at Meaux. The Reformation in France first established itself in the de- partment of Meaux, and from thence spread rapidly. The leading spirit of this movement was Jacques Lefever who, with a fiery zeal and restless energy, proclaimed the Reformation in many places. Francis I. had, from the beginning of his reign, condemned the 1 Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. excesses of the Church of Rome, and when the Reformers of Meaux decried the evils of the Papacy it was not without countenance from the King of France. He even went so far as to join the Protestant princes in the Smalkaldic League (i). Margaret, Queen of Na- varre, a sister to Francis I., embraced the Reformed doctrines and, unlike her vacillating brother, she boldly identified herself with the cause. Had the King followed her example France would have been won for the Protestant cause. Perhaps a majority of the nobility and many of the leading ec- clesiastics were ready for reform. Even the great Sorbonne (2) looked with favor on the movement. The chief reason why France was lost to the Reformation was because the sovereign and his civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries regarded the Roman Church as the true body of Christ and favored the reform of abuses in the church. This was impossible in a body so corrupt. As the Reformation ad- vanced it became necessary for its adherents to form organizations of their own with pastors and leaders distinct from the church. The Reformed people of France were called ''Huguenots." The origin of this term is uncertain, so that a discussion of the term in this connection would be useless. The Reformation in France was somewhat unfortunate in assuming a political aspect. It early counted many of the greatest statesmen of the Kingdom on its side. Besides the House of Navarre, the members of which figure con- spicuously in this history, the Huguenot party counted among its leaders the celebrated Gaspard de Chatillon, Count de Coligny, Ad- miral of France, and also his brothers Odet, Cardinal de Chatillon, and Francois de Chatillon, Sire d'Andelot, the Captain-General of the French infantry, also the Dukes de Rohan, the La Rochefou- caulds, the Grammonts, the Princes de Porcien, the Lords of Piennes, of Soubise, of Genlis, of Mornay, of Esternay, and many others who, under various titles, figured in the history of the times. John Calvin. The great spiritual leader of the Huguenots was John Calvin, born at Noyon, in Picardy, 1509, and died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1564. Calvin easily ranked with Luther as a great reformer. With great eloquence and profound learning he expounded and de- fended the Reformed doctrines. After laboring for a number of years in France, removing from place to place because of opposi- tion, he at last established himself in Geneva, where for many years (i). A defensive alliance of Protestant European Powers, formed in 1631 for mutual protection against Charles V. and the Catholic Powers. (2). The Theological Faculty of the University of Paris. Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. he was the virtual head of the French Reformation. His theo- logical works are numerous and profound. His "Institutes of the Christian Religion" was probably the greatest work of the Reforma- tion period, and continues to exer- cise a strong influence on Protest- ant theology, even to the present day. An important factor in the religio-political struggle of the French Reformation was the Guise family, or House of Lorraine. The Guises were in close affinity with the Roman See, and were consid- ered foreigners by the French. Francois, Dtike of Guise, however, made himself popular by his suc- cess at arms against the enemies of France, and attained a high station in the army. His brother, the Cardinal de Lorraine, was an ecclesiastic only in name, and with the duke arose to political prominence. The Guises, together with Catharine de Medici, mother of the king, and herself a foreigner and a bigoted papist, were the controlling spirits of the opposition against the Reformation. Such are a few of the ecclesiastical and political elements of the great struggle. The First Martyr. It is impossible to even refer to the many struggles of the Hu- guenots through the dark centuries embraced in their history. We can only in a general way point out some of the leading events. Jean Le Clerk, one of the earliest reformers of Meaux, permitting his zeal to exceed his discretion, entered several Catholic churches, broke the images and posted placards denouncing the corruptions of the Pope and church. For this he was apprehended, condemned as a heretic, and burned at the stake in the city of Metz in 1525. He was the first conspicuous martyr of the Huguenots. Notwith- standing the great persecutions which were now instituted the Prot- estants continued to increase in numbers and influence. Armed Resistance. The year 1560 marks the period of armed collision between^ the Papists under the Guises and the Huguenots under the Prince of Hosted by Google MEMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUENOTS. Conde. One dreadful feature of the conflict was the massacre of twelve thousand Huguenot prisoners at Amboise. The Reformation also lost the noble Baron de Castlenau, who was condemned to death on the pretext of treason. Foreign complications ameliorated the struggle. On August 21, 1560, there was an assembly of notables held at Fontainebleau for the consideration of the national difficulties, at which time the EHike de Coligny presented to the King a petition coupled with an eloquent plea for religious toleration. The King and many of his party inclined to the petition, but were violently opposed by the Guises. It was agreed to defer the matter until the assembly of the States General, but before it convened Francis II. died, December 5, 1560. Francis had been a mere tool in the hands of his uncles, the Duke and Cardinal of Lorraine. In order to preserve the in- terests of her house, Catharine de Medici, the Queen Regent, was compelled to repress the Lorraines and court the favor of the Hu- guenots. The King, her son, Louis IX., was at this time but nine years old. States General Favorable. The States General met at Orleans December 13, 1560. The Chancellor de V Hopital, who had always exercised moderation to- ward the Protestants, spoke strongly against Romish excesses. The Duke de Coligny, as the leader of the Protestants, was a tower of strength and greatly distinguished himself. The liberation of France from Papal tyranny seemed near at hand. Even the Queen Regent lent encouragement by opening the pulpit of the Palace of Foun- tainebleau to the Bishop Montluc, who boldly preached the doc- trines of the Reformation. The tide running so high in favor of the Huguenots at this assembly, was turned against them by the Lor- raines, who formed what is known as the Triumvirate for the up- holding of the Catholic Church. At the head of this league was the Duke of Guise. Great Debate at Posaey. It was then arranged to convene a great assembly at Possey, where the religious differences should be discussed in the presence of the notables by a representative from each side. The conference met September 9, 1561. The Catholics were represented by the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Protestants by Theodore de Beza The Chancellor was again the benign L'Hopital, whose opening address was most favorable to the Reformation. The great Huguenot theologian, de Beza, with nothing but the Hosted by Google MEMORIAI.S O^ THE HUGUENOTS. Bible as his text-book, completely swept away the Romish tradi- tions and dogmas of the Cardinal. The Assembly drew up a docu- ment defining the position and rights of both parties, which was in the main satisfactory to all but the Lorraines and the Sorbonne, which branded it as in the highest degree heretical. Thus termi- nated the famous council October 9, 1561. The Huguenots strenuously insisted on civil and political rights. The Queen Regent, desiring information concerning their strength, the Count de Coligny furnished her a list of two thousand one hun- dred and fifty churches that petitioned for religious toleration. In January, 1562, the Assembly of Notables issued regulations which, in a very narrow measure, granted toleration. The discontent of the Reformed was somewhat quieted by a request of the Queen Regent for loyal submission. The Guises now sought to counteract the advantages of the Protestants by isolating their nobles from the cause. Antoine de Bourbon, the King of Navarre, was the first to fall in the snare of flattery and the insidious allurements of prom- ised power and greatness. Despite the entreaties of Calvin and Beza, and his noble wife, Jeanne de Albret, who was the only daughter of Margaret de Valois, Navarre renounced the Protestant faith. It is a sad chapter in the history of this noble woman that, upon her remaining firm, she was forced to leave her home and children and retire to her estates in Bearne. Notwithstanding the attempt of the Pope to bring her before the Inquisition she remained faithful to the Protestant cause. Calamities Multiply. The defection of the King of Navarre brought immediate ca- lamity to the Huguenot party. The Duke de Coligny and his brothers left the court but remained firm in the faith. The Guises now having a free field sent a troop to Vassy and made a descent upon a Huguenot assembly numbering about twelve hundred, who were engaged in worship, a great number of whom were massacred in the most horrible manner. Great was the indignation caused by this unprovoked butchery and led to a protest to the Queen Regent against the assumption of power by the House of Lorraine. Some time later, at a meeting of the notables, the King of Na- varre in a manner justified the attack on Vassey, when Theodore de Beza, who was present, replied in these words, which have be- come historic: ''Sir, it certainly becomes the Church of God, in whose cause I speak, to endure blows, and not strike them; but may it please your Majesty also to remember that it is an anvil, which has worn out many a hammer," Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. Civil War. The aggressions of the Guises at once plunged the country into civil war. The Huguenots were led by the Prince of Conde and the Duke de Coligny. The Papists were led by the King of Navarre and the Duke of Guise. Both armies were swelled by thousands of re- cruits from foreign lands. The Huguenots were assisted by the Protestant States of Germany, the Catholics by heavy bodies of troops from Spain. The war raged with indifferent success to both sides, and resulted in terrible loss. The Papist leader, the Duke of Guise, and also Marshal de St. Andre, were slain. The Prince of Conde, the Huguenot leader, who was virtually a prisoner, concluded at Ambois, March 19, 1563, a treaty of peace with the Queen Regent, Catharine de Medici. This treaty was far less advantageous to the Protestants than the edict of January, 1562, and did not meet the approval of Coligny. By its very elements it lacked the conditions of permanent peace. The Queen Regent, Catharine de Medici, at the instigation of Papal emissaries, renewed her intrigues against the Protestant nobles, and on August 4, 1564, she gave an interpreta- tion to the edict of Ambois wholly detrimental to Protestant rights. To strengthen her position she imported six thousand Swiss merce- naries, which was rightly taken by the Huguenots as a renewal of hostilities, and they at once flew to arms, under the leadership of the Prince of Conde and the Duke de Coligny. On November 10, ^S^7, an indecisive battle was fought near Paris, in which Montmo- rency, one of the Triumvirate, was killed. The success of the Hu- guenots induced Catharine de Medici to sue for peace, on condition that the edict of pacification should be permanently established. To this the Prince of Conde, on behalf of the Protestants, assented, and the treaty of Longjumeau was signed March 20, 1568. Protestant Faith Betrayed. Never was a solemn treaty more shamefully violated. Scarcely had the Protestants laid down their arms when the priests, doubt- less instigated by the higher authorities, inflamed their people against the defenseless Huguenots and the most frightful atrocities were committed. In three months upward of 10,000 were put to death, many in the most horrible manner. The Protestant leaders, the Prince of Conde and the Dukes de Coligny and de Andelot, fled to their stronghold. La Rochelle, where Jeanne d' Albret, Queen of Navarre, and sister to the Prince of Conde, joined them with 4000 men. No decisive action took place until March 16, 1569, when the two armies met at Jarnac, resulting in disaster to the Huguenots, Hosted by Google MEMORIALS Olf THE HUGUENOTS. The noble and pious Prince of Conde, being severely wounded, surrendered himself, after which he was cruelly assassinated and his body dragged about on an ass. Coligny now took the chief command of the Huguenot forces. After gaining a few minor advantages he was overwhelmingly de- feated October 3, 1569, at Moncontour, where he lost two-thirds of his army and was himself dreadfully wounded. The faith and courage of the great Duke never shone with greater lustre than amid this crushing misfortune. In a short time he had gathered another army, gained important advantages and marched in triumph towards Paris. This speedily brought Queen Catharine to terms and a treaty of peace, more favorable than any previous, was signed August 8, 1570, at St. Germain-en-Laye. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew constitutes one of the darkest blots on the fair history of France. The only redeeming feature is the fact that most of the instigators were not Frenchmen, but foreigners, who, hissed on by the Papal powers, succeeded in causing their deluded and subservient subjects to strike this diaboli- cal blow. The Protestant leaders had again been deceived when, on August 8, 1570, a supposed honorable peace was concluded. The verdict of history is that the Papacy never surrenders to a dis- senter the right of conscience, hence what cannot be done by force must be done by intrigue and assassination. Charles IX. and his mother, Catharine, with the House of Guise, now feigned the greatest friendship for the Protestant no- bles. Jeanne d'Albert, the Queen of Navarre, upon the most pressing invitations, was induced, in the month of May, 1572, to pay court to the reigning house. While partaking of their sup- posed hospitality she fell sick and in five days died, June 9, of poison. The Duke de Coligny, who had in 1571 taken his place in the Court of the King as one of his most influential advisers, was shot on August 22, 1572, by a page of the Duke of Guise. This assault was rightly interpreted by the Huguenots as a fresh attack upon them. Numbers of the Protestant leaders hastened to the quarters of the Duke, who, although severely wounded, was still able to con- verse. The fateful hour at last came, and on Sunday morning, August 24, the signal was given by the tolling of the great bell, and the slaughter began. The Duke de Coligny was stabbed to death by a servant of the Duke of Guise, for which he was rewarded by the Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUKNOTS. Cardinal of Lorraine. The Protestant Princes, Henry de Navarre and the Prince of Conde, to save their Hves professed CathoHcism. The massacre of St. Bartholomev^ was the most horrible tragedy of the Reformation period, and we may well say, with an illustrious statesman, * * Let it be erased from the memory of man. " The num- ber of the slaughtered Huguenots has been variously estimated, but the best authorities agree in placing the aggregate at many thou- sands. The news of the massacre was received at Rome with great joy, and the Pope had a medallion struck in commemoration of the event, while the Protestants all over the world were steeped in mourning. The Papists, however, utterly failed to stamp out the Protestant faith. ** Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ^ TW eternal years of God are hers^ A number of Protestant cities made a stout resistance, especially La Rochelle. After the death of Coligny the leadership passed to Francis de Lanau. Many of the influential Protestants fled to La Rochelle, where a successful defense was maintained under de Lanau. The horrible outrages of 1572 had so shocked the world that a strong revulsion of feeling set in in favor of toleration, France itself felt the reaction of sentiment so strongly that a new edict was issued August 11, 1573, permitting Protestant wor- ship in La Rochelle, Nismes and Montauban. Death of Charles IX. Charles IX. died May 30, 1574, bitterly bewailing the part he bore in the terrible massacre. He was succeeded by his brother, Henry HI., who, instead of heeding the good counsel of his contem- porary sovereigns to use moderation in his dealings with his Prot- estant subjects, rather heeded the solicitations of his fanatical mother, Catharine, and the foreign Papists by whom she was controlled. The result was a civil war against the ultra Catholics on the one hand, and the Huguenots and Liberals on the other. After varying successes by both parties, a treaty of peace was concluded at Chas- tenoy May 6, 1576, which professed to guarantee enlarged privileges to the Huguenots. The stipulations, however, were soon discovered by the Protestants to be invalid, and they resumed the war. In this struggle they were left to themselves by the Liberals, and the leaders of the Huguenots concluded hostilities by the Peace of Ber- gerac. On October 8, 1577, was issued the edict of Poitiers, which pretended to grant certain privileges to the Huguenots. On Feb- ruary 28, 1579, was issued the explanatory edict of Nerac. Hosted by Google MKMORIAtS OF THK HUGUENOTS. A considerable number of the nobility still remained faithful to the Protestant cause and consequently a new order of warfare was instituted by the Papists, namely, to corrupt by flattery and prom- ises of preferment the leaders of the Huguenots. These tactics succeeded to a melancholy degree, and from henceforth the nobil- ity bore a very inconspicuous part in the religious conflicts. Hav- ing won over many of the nobility the rights of the Protestants were more and more restricted. The League of the Holy Union. **The League of the Holy Union," of which Philip of Spain was the General, having as its object the extirpation of Protestan- ism throughout the world, made inroads in France. The Duke of Guise, a leading factor of this league, brought such influence to bear upon Henry HI. that he, by the treaty of Nemours in 1585, de- prived the Huguenots not only of the right of worship but also of the liberty of conscience. Orders were given to all ministers to leave the kingdom within a month, and all the laity to abjure their faith or emigrate within six months under penalty of confiscation of property. This wanton violation of sacred guarantees was the signal for war. The Prince of Conde again espoused the cause of the Huguen- ots and succeeded in collecting a considerable army. No serious conflict occurred until October 20, 1587, when the two armies met at Coiitras. The Huguenots, before going into battle, bowed in prayer and chanted the i i8th Psalm. The result was the complete rout of Henry HI. and the lossot one-half of his army. Henry had been very unpopular with the Duke of Guise, who was now at the head of the League and a willing tool of the Pope and foreign party. His defeat therefore precipitated a crisis that had been pending fur years. The Duke of Guise, supported by the League, was borne in triumph to Paris and made demonstrations for the throne. His triumph was brief, as he was assassinated, by order of Henry, on December 23, 1588. This act naturally widened the breach between the League and the King, and he was compelled to resort to arms in order to maintain his throne. In his extremity he sought the support of his late opponents, the Huguenots. The King of Navarre, as their head, held a conference with the Sover- eign April 30, 1589, at which time a basis of operations against the League was agreed upon. The combined forces were very success- ful and repulsed the Leaguers at every point and finally invested Paris. Scarcely had they achieved this triumph when Henry died at the hands of an assassin, August 2, 1589. The murderer, Jacques Hosted by Google 10 MKMORIA.I,S OF THE HUGUKNOTS. Clement, was eulogized by the Romanists for this bloody deed, and commended by Pope Sextus ** as an act comparable for the salva- tion of the world with the resurrection of Christ." The Protestant House of Navarre now succeeded the Catholic House of Valois to the throne of France, and Henry of Navarre, the Huguenot leader, took his place on the throne of France as Henry IV. The path of Navarre was beset with difficulties, the most pow- erful dignitaries of his realm as well as the majority of his subjects were Catholics, and bitterly hated his religion, while on the other hand many of his chief supporters and advisers were Protestants, among whom was the talented and pious Duke of Mornay, who may well rank with such noble Huguenot spirits as the Duke de Coligny and the Prince of Conde. The Protestants, headed by Mornay, brought pressure to bear on the King to mitigate their religious con- dition, and accordingly, in July, 1591, an edict of toleration was issued, which restored to them the privileges of 1577, but this was still far from religious liberty. While the Protestant cause in France had now every reasona- ble prospect of triumph, it was doomed to disappointment through the instability and duplicity of Henry. For several years Mornay was able to keep him nominally in line with the Protestants. CHAPTER IL Extending From the Promulgation of the Edict of Nantes, in J 598, to its Revocation in 1685. ** Ours is the seed-thne ; God alone Beholds the end of what is sown ; Beyond our vision^ weak and dim, The harvest time is hid with Him.'' — Whittier, ^ /JlTHOUGH the abjuration by Henry IV. of Protestantism ll and its toleration at the same time created considerable Q) dissatisfaction, yet by a combination of circumstances the Huguenots at last reached the highest point of religious freedom they ever enjoyed until the complete triumph of the cause in the eighteenth century. The country was beset with perils. Spanish forces were at his doors. Henry must do something to rally once more his brave Huguenot generals to his side. By according some measure of protection he hoped to quiet his subjects of the Re- formed faith. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THK HUGUENOTS. 11 The Edict of Nantes. Accordingly, in the month of April, 1598, he promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes, which was irrevocable in its character. Although it granted but limited toleration, it nevertheless put an end to the terrible wars which had already cost France over a mil- lion of her subjects, reduced many of her towns to ashes, ruined her industries, and brought her to the verge of destruction. The contest between the Reformed and Catholic faith was now removed from the field of battle to the arena of theological dis- cussion. Public debates between the champions on both sides were common and the country was flooded with controversial literature. One by one the House of Navarre fell into the snares of Popery. Catharine de Navarre, the King's sister, alone remained faithful to the religion of her mother, the noble Jeanne d'Albret. She died in 1604, the last Protestant Bourbon. After the promulgation of the edict the National Synod of the Reformed Church met regularly. Seven hundred and sixty churches were reported, some of which had thousands of members. Gen- eral tranquility prevailed until May 14, 16 ro, when a sad event took place which was a great disaster to France but more especially to the Protestants. This was the assassination of the King by a Jesuit because of his defiance of the Pope and toleration of Protes- tants. The death of Henry was the signal for new troubles for the Huguenots. The Queen Regent, Mary de Medici, and the new King, Louis XHL, who was then but eight years old, were wholly under the influence of Papal intriguers. A collision between the Protestant nobles, headed by the Duke de Rohan and the King, was narrowly averted in 161 5. This was the first dark cloud that pre- saged the reopening of the religious wars. The Principality of Navarre, which was annexed to France upon the accession of Henry IV., was almost wholly Protestant. Yet in this Province all church properties which, since 1569, had been appropriated for religious purposes by the Protestants, were ordered to be restored to the ** Church." This, of course, meant confiscation by the government of all places of worship of the Huguenots. The non-compliance with these orders induced the King to lead an army thither in 1620. Pillage and robbery by the soldiery became rampant and a veritable reign of terror prevailed. The Last Civil War. These outrages naturally aroused all the Protestants of France. Their rights, guaranteed by the edict of Nantes, were more and Hosted by Google 12 MKMORIAI^ OF THK HUGUENOTS. more infringed and the limit of endurance was reached. They called a political assembly to meet in December, 1620, at La Ro- chelle. The Huguenot nobility, however, were not so ready as formerly to appeal to arms for their religious convictions. The Duke de Bouillon remained neutral ; Marshal de Lesdiguieres, the Dukes de la Tremoille and the Marquis de Chatillon — the latter a grandson of the great Coligny — the Marquis de la Force, the Duke de Sully and Mornay were either vacillating or undecided. But two distinguished noblemen, the Duke de Rohan and his brother, the Duke de Soubise, sons of Sully, were ready to draw sword in de- fense of Protestanism. Armed resistance was agreed on May 10, 1621. The first triumph of Lonis XIII. was his obtaining possession of the town and stronghold of Saumur, held by Mornay. This he accomplished by false promises. The aged Mornay, who had so long and valiantly battled for religious freedom, refused all offers of preferment and bribes to forsake his religion, but repaired to his castle, where he died in 1623. Pie was one of the noblest of the political leaders of the Huguenots and a worthy compeer of Calvin and the great Coligny. The progress of the King was unsuccess- fully resisted until Montauban was reached. This great Protestant stronghold was held by the Marquis de la Force, with the Duke de Rohan as support. After a siege of two months and a -half the King withdrew. The war was, however, resumed the following year with terrible fury. The Papists perpetrated many horrible outrages, especially in the vicinity of Montauban, where many Hu- guenots were put to the sword in cold blood. De la Force, to save:? himself, made an inglorious treaty with the King. Montpellier, however, under the Duke de Rohan, held out, and the King was glad to conclude a treaty of peace in October in which the Edict of Nantes was confirmed. This, however, did not end the trouble. The reader should understand that in France, above all other countries, the Reformed were a political as well as an ecclesiastical power. The Papists of the Reformation period held that only one religion could be true, and that, of course, was their own, and that it was the duty of the State to suppress all innovations against the established religion, not only as an ecclesiastical but also as a civil necessity. From this standpoint it is apparent that all edicts of toleration to the Protestants were mere subterfuges and temporary makeshifts, and as soon as opportunity afforded the conflict was again renewed. To break up the political power of the Protestants and at the same time begin a systematic extirpation of the ** Pretended Re- Hosted by Google MKMORIAI.S OF THK HUGUENOTS. lo formed Religion/' as it was officially termed, was determined on by Cardinal Richelieu, who was the virtual power behind the throne of France. The first step to this end was to capture La Rochelle, a city of great commercial importance and the stronghold of Protestanism. The Huguenot merchants of La Rochelle were the most enterprising in the Kingdom, and by their maritime interests were connected with the commercial centers of the world. The city had for cen- turies been a semi-independent municipality, and during the relig- ious wars had successfully resisted every attack. The siege of La Rochelle began in 1627 and continued for more than a year. A relief expedition from England failed to render the needed assist- ance and the Huguenots were left to their fate. Finally, after two- thirds of its inhabitants had perished, the city capitulated October 28, 1628. This was virtually the downfall of the Huguenots as a political power. In vain did the Duke de Rohan attempt to rally the Protestants to a continuance of the struggle. Calamities multi- plied ; at Privas the Huguenot garrison, eight hundred in number, were put to the sword under the most atrocious circumstances. In July, 1629, the King issued an edict of pardon which, in effect, was an abridgement of the Edict of Nantes. On August 21 Montauban, the last Huguenot stronghold, surrendered, and the struggle of the French Protestants to maintain their guaranteed rights by force of arms was at an end. The gallant Duke de Ro- han, the last great Huguenot military leader, laid down his arms. Dispirited and almost heart-broken, he forsook his native country and died in the service of a foreign land. Although attempts were made in later years by enemies of the Sovereign to incite them to armed resistance, they never again, as a body, took up arms to as- sert their rights. The political power of the Huguenots being broken up the pro- cess of corrupting the ecclesiastical heads of the church by the Papists w^as next attempted but without success. The greatest dif- ficulties were thrown in the way of holding the National Synods, consequently but three were held between 163 1 and 1645. In 1652 was issued a proclamation which re-established the Huguenots in their rights under the edicts, of which they had been deprived, and from this period until 1656 they enjoyed compara- tive tranquility. The rest, however, was brief, as in this year a new crusade was instituted against them, and which did not cease but grew in fanatical virulence under the direction of Papal agents until it culminated in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Hosted by Google 14 MKMORIAtS OI? THE HUGUKNOfS. In 1656, at a convocation of Catholic clergy, there was made a violent attack on the growing influence of the Protestants. Many evils were laid at their doors, and even treasonable designs were imputed to them. This charge was of course made to incense King Louis XIV. against them. As an immediate consequence many of their privileges were abridged, and when, in 1658, the Provincial Synods sent ten deputies to Paris to lay their wrongs before the King, he compelled them to wait four months before granting them an audience and then curtly dismissed them with an indefinite promise. The Last National Synod. On November 10, 1659, was convoked the National Synod, which had been permitted by the Prime Minister Mazarin only after the most persistent entreaty. At the opening of the Assembly the Commissioner of the King announced that His Majesty would not tolerate any complaints, which consequently made any petition or representation to the Sovereign of violated rights impossible. It was also intimated that the National Synod would not be permitted to meet hereafter, and when they adjourned on January 10, 1660, the ecclesiastical organization of the Reformed Church of France was virtually destroyed after an existence of about one hundred years. Although the Prime Minister Mazarin was no friend of the Huguenots, yet his moderation kept the hatred of Louis IV. against them in check, so that his death in 1661 may be regarded as a mis- fortune to the cause of the Reformation. The general course of events from this time on was more and more disastrous to the Huguenots ; the Jesuits were everywhere and all the time busy, and with tireless energy worked for the complete eradication of the *' Pretended Reformed Religion." Many places of worship were now interdicted, charitable institutions were con- fiscated and churches destroyed under the most frivolous pretexts and the sufferers were denied all legal remedies against their op- pressors and despoilers. Thus was the way gradually paved for the final revocation. Infractions of the edicts were made under the guise of ordinances which invaded the most sacred rights of the Protestants — even the privacy of the home was no longer respected. In May, 1665, was passed the ordinance authorizing the priests, in company with an officer, to appear before the sick and induce them to abjure heresy and die in the faith of the church. In Oc- tober of the same year a decree was issued that male children at the age of fourteen and females at the age of twelve were capable of embracing Catholicism. Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THK HUGUENOTS. 15 The force of this decree may well be imagined when the sus- ceptibility of youth is considered and the nature of the inducements that were held out for their abjuration. Protestant burials were made permissible only at daybreak, and funeral corteges exceeding ten persons were prohibited except in a few cities. They were not allowed to marry except at set times and nuptial assemblies were limited to twelve persons. Poor churches were prohibited from re- ceiving aid. Ministers were prohibited from receiving titles, etc. In 1666 a new set of regulations comprising fifty-nine articles was issued, the provisions of which so invaded all the rights of humanity that they evoked a remonstrance from several Protestant Sover- eigns in whose continued friendship Louis XIV. was interested. This had some effect, and in 1669 several of the most inhuman ar- ticles were revoked and others were modified. The Regulations of 1666 was the occasion of the first emigra- tion of the Huguenots, and in a short time thousands of the better class had sought refuge in foreign lands. In 1669 Marshal Turenne, one of the former military leaders of the Huguenots, ab- jured the Reformed faith and became a confidential agent of the King to bring the Protestants back into the Catholic fold, promis- ing that the gross abuses of the church should be corrected. Many of the Protestant nobles yielded, but the clergy, whose piety and devotion to principles was of a higher type and uninfluenced by po- litical motives, remained firm. Louis XIV., w^hose immoralities had greatly scandalized his court, professed in 1676 to have reformed, and in order to signalize his devotion to the church undertook anew the complete extirpa- tion of heresy in his Kingdom. This was the beginning of the end of the horrible tragedy under the guise of the Christian religion. A well regulated system of * * Conversion" was established under Pellison, who had formerly been a Huguenot but was now a most bigoted Catholic. This system provided for bribing the conscien- ces of the Protestants with money and other rewards ; the procur- ers were also rewarded according to the rank and importance of the converts. Records were kept of the so-called ** converts." As may be supposed, thousands of the weak and ignorant gave way to this new crusade. In this diabolical business great frauds were perpe- trated against the government by the procurers, causing the most outrageous scandals. After the peace of Nimegue in 1679 Louis reached the climax of his power. It was apparent that he was now fully bent on making short work of his intractable Protestant subjects. Accord- ingly all his courtiers and subordinates vied with each other in an- Hosted by Google 16 MEMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUENOTS. ticipating the designs of the King. Among these was Madame de Maintenon, with whom the King contracted a secret marriage. Her grandfather, Agrippa d'Aubigne, was one of the great Huguenot leaders in the days of their strength. The most shocking atrocities were committed. The Dragonades. Among the means of extirpation was the introduction of the Dragonades. This consisted of quartering the soldiery upon the Huguenots and they were compelled to support them. The Dragonades were considered the most dreadful infliction that could be imposed. The privacy of the home was broken up, all valu- ables were taken, defenseless women ravished and all manner of horrors perpetrated by the brutal soldiery. Any remonstrance on the part of the Huguenots was regarded as resistance against the authorities and was met by the most inhuman punishment, and even death. Such were the Dragonades ! The Protestant courts of Europe again protested against this inhumanity, but their protestation were met by the King s declara- tion that the Edict of Nantes was duly observed and that only law- lessness was punished. More and more dreadful became the regu- lations of suppression. All Huguenots were debarred from holding any public office ; they were virtually stripped of all civil rights. Even Protestant midwives were prohibited. The new regulations on marriage created scandalous situations for Protestants — in fact thousands awoke to the fact that they were not legally married. Children at the age of seven years were given the right of abjuration which resulted in wholesale transfers to Catholic charges and guardians, while their Protestant parents were compelled to support them. All converts to Catholicism were given exemption from taxes and military services for a certain time ; three years' grace for the payment of debts was granted them. Benefi- ciary funds for schools and church purposes were seized, property was confiscated under color of law, no new Protestant converts were allowed to connect themselves with churches. The privileges of worship were so narrowed down that it was almost impossible to have public services at all, while the pastors were not allowed to make mention of any of these hardships imposed upon them. Protestant Churches Destroyed. One by one the great Protestant churches were demolished ; in many cases the wretched Huguenots were compelled to perform the work of demolition themselves at the point of the bayonet. Hosted by Google * ^MM^^^ 1 i#i^: ■■-..i?: 1 >*"^iili|w'^v ^ ^f ■ -r; : :4igv- •■■ •"■'"' ■*!^, •..^m W:-m.:M '^^H ■ ^ijpi " A HUGUENOT BIBLE. FOR CENTURIES IN THE PECHIN FAMILY, AND NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF MISS LILLA PECHIN OF PHILA. P. 57. Hosted by Hosted by Google M^MORlAtS Ol? THE HUGUENOTS. 17 The situation was now terrible ; thousands sought relief by flight which the authorities sought to prevent, but in vain. All Protest- ant Europe was aroused in behalf of the suflferers. By official proclamation England, Holland, Switzerland and Denmark ofifered asylum to the refugees. Many of the nobles and literary men who had escaped to foreign lands exerted a powerful influence in their adopted countries in behalf of their oppressed countrymen. Great pressure was brought to bear on the King to modify his harsh measures but in vain. Petitions were ignored and eminent depu- ties were turned away. The heart of the grandson of Henry of Navarre, the Promulgator of the Edict of Nantes, was rendered callous by the corruption of his court and the influence of a fanati- cal priestcraft. CHAPTER III. Extending From the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685^ to the Edict of Toleration, 1787. *' Hope looks beyond the bounds of time When what we now deplore^ Shall rise in full itnntortal prime And bloom to fade no more.^^ ^T HE time for the revocation of the great charter of religious * I liberty in France was now ripe and Louis XIV. was ready to perpetrate an act that should forever blight his memory and place an ineffaceable blot on the history of France* His cruel blow, aimed at a class of his own subjects for no other reasons than that they differed from him in their views and practice of Christianity, simply rebounded upon himself. Illustrious France failed to inter- pret the signs of the times and turned away from the light of her own bright star of destiny ! The pall of night settled down upon her. Her expatriated sons enriched the literature, built up the commerce and brought prosperity to other lands, and by the true nobility of the Huguenot character and its influence upon the na- tions in which they found asylum they illustrated to coming genera- tions what France might have been had she listened to the voice of reason instead of a corrupted and bigoted priestcraft. Hosted by Google 18 MKMORIAI.S OF THK HUGUKNOTS. The Revocation. On October i8, 1685, the King signed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes for the reason, as he says in the preamble, that his subjects of the ** Pretended Protestant Rehgion" had in the main returned to the CathoUc fold and hence there was no occasion for its statutory existence. The world stood aghast at the stupendous falsehood. By the terms of the Revocation it became unlawful to exercise in the Protestant religion. Pastors were ordered to leave the country in fifteen days. Parents could no longer instruct their children in the Reformed faith, but were compelled, under heavy penalty, to have them baptized and instructed by the priests. They were forbidden to emigrate, and those who had done so must re- turn in four months or suffer the confiscation of their property. A cry of agony went up from every Huguenot home of France and resounded throughout the world. The Revocation had the imme- diate effect of alienating the Protestant powers from France, while at home it sowed the seeds of infidelity and anarchy that culmi- nated in the terrible French Revolution a century later. Flight of the Huguenots. Notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts to prevent it there was a stampede of the Protestants to leave the Kingdom. The most unheard of and astonishing methods of disguise in order to escape were resorted to. The knowledge of secret pathways to the borders and the best methods of eluding the vigilance of the guards was communicated from one to another in a marvelous manner. Proclamations were issued by nearly all Protestant Sovereigns wel- coming the fleeing Huguenots to their realms. They comprised all classes of people. Conservative estimates places the number of refugees at half a million while other writers make the number a million. The latter estimate is also supposed to cover previous emi- grations ; among this number is included about fifteen thousand of the nobility. From twelve to thirteen hundred refugees were seen to pass Geneva in Switzerland in a week. Many thousands lost their lives by exposure or violence in their attempts to escape. The de- tails of their sufferings are so sickening that we will spare the reader a recital of the same. Thousands of the refugees entered the military service of other lands. England alone organized eleven regiments of Huguenot soldiers and one brigade under the Count de Shamburg, fought under the Prince of Orange at the battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690. French Protestant congregations were formed in very many Hosted-b rGoogle MKMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUENOTS. 19 places. London alone had twenty-two societies (i). Some colo- nies drifted to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Huguenot colony at Cape Town, South Africa, is a notable example. The Revocation, however, did not crush Protestantism in France. Louis XIV. was self-deceived. The horrible atrocities committed against the best citizens of the realm led to a revulsion of feeling among the most intelligent classes. Nearly a million of French remained at heart Protestants. Thousands had gone through a mere formulary of abjuration, which was ** official" and which the ** convert" did not consider binding upon his conscience. The fury of persecution having somewhat spent itself many pastors returned to the remnants of their flocks in a few years and services were secretly held in many places. The King was not insensible of the shadow that fell upon his name by the Revocation and became somewhat indifferent to the war of extirpation. Sometimes, however, when importuned by the highest ecclesiastical councils, his old-time hatred against the Pro- testants asserted itself in new orders and regulations which resulted in the suppression of reviving churches, the execution of prominent leaders, and the condemnation for life to the galleys of many oth- ers. This vacillating policy continued until his death in 1715. Among the elements that ameliorated the situation of the Protestants was the disastrous effect of the Revocation on the ma- terial prosperity of the country. The Bishops of Grenoble and St. Pons, in episcopal letters, discouraged forced conversions as against the principles of the holy religion.^ The leading statesmen in memorials regretted the loss of so many skilled artisans. The min- ister of marine complained that the persecutions had robbed the navy of thousands of its best sailors. The poet Racine in 1689 dared to express sentiments against religious intolerance, and Fene- lon, one of the greatest and noblest of Catholic ministers, sent a strong plea to the King for toleration. The Church of the Desert. The severities of the persecutions relaxing somewhat in the course of years, the Huguenots, bleeding and despoiled, began again to assemble themselves. True, the old church organization was destroyed, their pastors were driven away and all religious exercises declared unlawful, still the true spirit of vital Christianity survived (i). Many of the Huguenot refugees to England, and their descendants, have been an honor to the land of their adoption. Among the many we may mention Droz, who founded the first public library and literary newspaper in Dublin, Ire- land. General Thelluson^ who was ennobled for distinguished services in the Peninsular War, and Generals Ligonier^ Frevosi^ de Beaguiere and Boquet^ all of Hosted by Google 20 MEMORIAtS 01? tHK HUCiUEJNOTS. a!l calamities. The people began to gather in secret places and or- ganized themselves into small societies. Pastors they had none, but pious laymen conducted the services and sought to give religious instruction and impart encouragement and consolation. Such was the beginning of the ** Church of the Desert," which represents a distinct phase of French Protestantism. The chief instrument in this revival was Antoine Courts born of humble parentage in 1696. He at the age of seventeen began to take the lead of assemblies in the ** Desert." The movement grew stronger from day to day, and the small societies, meeting in secret, became quite numerous. On August 21, 171 5, was convened the first Synod after the Revocation at Cevennes, after which they were held for years in secret places, the participants using every precaution to prevent detection by the authorities. Gradually Protestantism arose from the ashes of her seeming ruin like the fabled Phoenix of old and attracted public attention. On May 14, 1724, was issued a new code of oppression exceedingly severe, but only to elicit declarations of disapproval from many dis- tinguished officials of both Church and State. The public con- science was fully aroused and many leading men felt that the coun- try had been sufficiently disgraced in the eyes of the world, and thus the decrees of 1724, after several displays of their brutality, suc- cumbed to popular disfavor. There were, nevertheless, many local outbursts of persecution, and in some localities the atrocities Con- tinued until the publication of the Edict of Toleration in 1787. The most serious of these persecurtons was in the Province of Langue- doc, beginning in 1754 under the instigation of Cardinal Richelieu^ and was of great severity. Among the pastors of the revived church who suffered martyr- dom were the following : At Montpelier Pierre Diirand, a coworker with Antoine Court in 1732 ; Disubas, 1746; Jacques Roger, 1745 ; Francois Benezet, 1752 ; Etienne Lafarge, 1754 ; also Louis Ranc at Die in 1745. These were all prominent and their loss was a ter- rible blow to the struggling Huguenots. No Protestant leader after the Revocation wielded a greater influence than Paul Ribaut, He was born near Montpelier in 171 8, and was one of the few who, having endured the hardships and perils as a pastor ** in the Desert,*' whom shed lustre on the British arms. Le Fever ^ speaker of the Mouse of Coni- inons, who was elevated to the peerage as Lord Eversly, Roufnilly^ the great bar- rister, was likewise honored. Saurin^ the great jurist and Attorney General of Ireland, Majendiey Bishop of Chester, Labouchere, the publicist and member of the British Cabinet, and who was also ennobled, Layard, the scholar^ diplomat and excavator of ancient Nineveh, and Punshon, the eloquent divine, are all dis- tinguished names in English history. Hosted by Google MEIMORIAtS OK THE HUGUENOTS. 21 survived to see his countrymen in the enjoyment of religious free- dom. He was educated at the Huguenot Seminary at Lausanne under the tutelage of Antoine Court, and in 1743 began his ministry at Nismes, and continued to labor incessantly in that capacity as a minister, writer and organizer for the Protestants until his death by violence in the civil disturbances of 1795. Although under sen- tence of death he managed to perform his arduous duties, living for many years in caves and huts in desolate places known only to his faithful people. It should be here remarked that nearly all the ministers of the ** Desert" bore assumed names for prudential rea- sons. During his long career Ribaut bore a number of assumed names which disguised his identity in the eyes of the law. He was on intimate terms with the Protestant leaders in foreign lands, and even with high officials of his own country who favored toleration. The Synod Re-established. In August, 1744, was convened the first National Synod of the re-established church. It met in an obscure place in Lower Lan- guedoc so as not to attract attention. Michel Viala was its presi- dent. By scrupulously avoiding all publicity, and especially open conflicts with the civil authorities, they safely rounded the rocks on which so many had grounded before them. From 1755 it was comparatively easy to ransom the Protestant galley slaves ; foreign dignitaries secured the release of many persons of rank, while for- eign money assisted in the release of the poorer classes. In 1762 Fraftcis Rochette, a Huguenot pastor, suffered mar- tyrdom in Toulouse, having been apprehended as a robber while on a journey. In the courts he easily cleared himself of the charge but was immediately remanded by his enemies for heresy. Public sentiment was much divided. The old laws were still on the stat- ute books, according to which he would fall under the severest pen- alty known to the courts. It seems that the officials purposely of- fered him opportunities of escape but for some unaccountable reason he failed to improve them and accordingly suffered. Amid the excitement three brothers named Grenier, of noble rank, hastened to the scene, armed to the teeth, in the expectation that a massacre would occur. To go armed was a fatal mistake. The laws were against them and they were accordingly condemned and executed February 19, 1762. On March 9 following Jean Calas, a father of 69 years of age, was broken on a wheel in a most horrible manner. Thus Toulouse, where blazed one of the first martyr fires in 1532, also witnessed the last legal execution in France for the sake of re- ligion. Hosted by Google MKMORIAtS OF THK HUGUENOTS. These executions aroused the country against the power of the priests and the unjust severity of the laws. Three years later the Parliament, by a unanimous vote, annulled the decrees of the court against Calas. These last executions greatly inured to the advan- tage of the Protestants by arousing a general sympathy. Although the barbarous laws against the Huguenots were still in force yet so strong had the spirit of toleration grown that they were almost a dead letter. In 1763 we see the Protestants supporting a representative in close relation to the Government. This responsible trust was re- posed in Court de Gebelin, a son of Antoine Court, who as a civil- ian became a pillar in the Protestant cause. The Edict of Toleration. We cannot follow the rapidly increasing agencies that led to the final victory of religious freedom in France. The spirit of lib- erty was, so to speak, ** in the air' as a reaction against the spirit of intolerance. Many able Catholic statesmen by pen and voice advocated toleration and the undoing of the terrible wrongs com- mitted. The Catholic clergy were equally active in their efiforts to prevent this but in vain. Perhaps the strongest individual agent in effecting the Act of Toleration was the Marquis de Lafayette (our own Lafayette of the American Revolution). In the National Assembly of Notables in 1787 he proposed a scheme for toleration and reform in the civic laws with special reference to religious delinquents. The proposi- tions were favorably considered by the King, and in November, 1787, Louis XVI, signed and promulgated the Edict of Toleration, In 1789 the Constituent Assembly broke down the few remainfng barriers by publishing a Declaration of Rights. Art. XI. declared all citizens equal before the law, which made Protestants eligible to all offices. Art. XVIIL guaranteed liberty of conscience in religion. The complete emancipation of the Huguenots may be inferred by the fact that in March, 1790, Rabaut. Saint Etienne, the son of the fugitive pastor of the Desert, was appointed President of the Con- stituent Assembly, one of the highest offices in the realm. It is sad to chronicle that this great man died on the scaflold in 1793 during the dreadful political upheavels of the French nation at that period. His aged father, of whom prominent mention has been made, died in 1796. Another son, Rabaut Dupuy, also became an eminent statesman and presided over the Constituent Assembly in 1802, and by his integrity and broad-minded statesmanship shed lustre upon his Huguenot antecedents. Hosted by Google Ml^MORlAtS OP mn HUGUENOTS. 23 Here we close our brief recital of the struggles of the Huguenots of France for religious freedom ; a struggle which lasted longer and raged with greater severity than any other in Europe, and was fraught with greater consequences to human progress and civiliza* tion than perhaps any other movement of modern times. Distinguished Clergymen and Literary Institutions of the Huguenots. As has already been shown, the first great leading spirit of the French Reformation was John Calvin, who directed the work from Geneva, Switzerland. It is questionable whether any other modern writer has left a more profound impression on theology than Calvin (B. 1509, D. 1564). Next to Calvin r^^t?^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ wielded the greatest influence. For many years he personally shared the strug- gles of his coreligionists in his native land. Born of noble parentage at Vezelai, 1519, died 1605. Then also William Farrell, a most able coadjutor of Calvin. In later times we note the following : Andre Rivet (1572-1651), a noted preacher, teacher and author who ended his days in Holland ; Edeme Aubertin (i 595-1652), author of a great work on the Eucharist, who suffered martyrdom ; Benjamine Besnage (i 580-1652), a great preacher and author and grandfather of the famous Jacques Besnage ; David Blondel (i 595- 1655), the great historian ; Samuel Bochart (i 599-1667), pastor at Caen, and a profound historian whose works are of enduring merit ; Michael Le Faucheur (D. 1657), whose published sermons are still of literary value ; Jean Mestrezat {\'igi-i6^7)y pastor of Charen- ton Temple, Paris, an able preacher, writer and disputant ; Charles Drelincourt (i 595-1689), also a pastor of Charenton Temple, whose great work, * ' Consolations Contre la Mort, " passed through fifty editions and was translated into almost every European language ; Jean Dille{i^gS-^^7^)^ colleague of Drelincourt and noted author ; Pierre Dubose (162 3-1 692), pastor at Caen, considered one of the greatest preachers of his times, who died in exile ; David Ancillon (1 61 7- 1692), a great preacher and poet at Metz who fled to Berlin at the Revocation ; Jean Claude (B. 1619, ), one of the last fam- ous pastors of Charenton Temple ; Matthieu de Larogue {i6ig 1684); Pierre Jurieu (1637-1713), a most eminent author and controversialist, whose work made a deep impression throughout Europe; Pierre Alix (1641-1717), the last pastor of Charenton Temple, who fled to London at the Revocation where he won great distinction, being honored with degrees from Oxford and Cam- bridge Universities. Jean La Placette (1639-17 18), **the Nicole of the Huguenots," fled to Copenhagen at the Revocation where he was pastor of the refugees for thirty years. David Martin (1639-173 1), the famous Hosted by Google 24 MEMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUENOTS. commentator and lexicographer; Jacques Besnage (1653-1723), who became the head of the French church at The Hague after the Revocation. His services to Protestantism in Europe were very great. Jacques Abbadie (1654-1724), one of the greatest writers and apologists of the Huguenots, died an exile in Ireland. He was the author of several very valuable w^orks. E It as Benoit {\640- 1728), was not only a great preacher but also an able historian. His ** History of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes" is the greatest authority on that subject. Jacques Saurin (1577-1730), ranks as the greatest pulpit orator of the Huguenots. He was for many years pastor of a French church in London. His published sermons are still considered masterpieces. Jacques Lenfant (1661— 1728), and Isaac Beausobre {i6$g-iyi2>)y who linked their labors and fortunes in Berlin, were both pastors of refugee churches there. Their historical and biblical works were justly celebrated. Gladly would we give at least a reference to the noble and il- lustrious Huguenots in other walks of life — the famous artisans who founded great industries in foreign cities, the men noted in litera- ture, art and science ; the soldiers and sailors who brought glory and renown to the land of their adoption — but the limits of this work forbid further notices. By the terms of the Edict of Toleration the Huguenots were permitted to maintain a limited number of institutions of learning, several of which attained a considerable celebrity. The Academy of Montauban, founded in 1599, had in the height of its glory the celebrated Daniel Chaniier, who assisted in drawing up the Edict of Nantes. In 1600 he conducted a famous discussion with the confessor of Henry IV. He was killed on the ramparts of Montauban while ministering to the troops in the siege of 1 62 1, Michael Berauet and Antoine Grissoles, of the same in- stitution, added lustre to the cause. This academy was ruined in 1 66 1 by the intrigues of the Jesuits, but was restored a century and a-half later (1808-10) by the creation of a faculty of Protestant the- ology by Napoleon. Samur was founded by the celebrated Mornay. Some of its great teachers were Jean Cameron (i 579-1625), and his famous disciples Moise Afuyrauli (1596-1664), who enriched Protestant literature by producing nearly forty works. His colleague, Louis Cappel (i 585-1658), was one of the foremost Hebraists of the age. Josue de la Place (1596-1655), and Etienne Gaussen (died 1675), were likewise noted professors in this academy. In the Academy at Sedan was Pierre Damoulin (i 568-1678), who in more than seventy years of public life, amid many perils and difficulties, gave to the world seventy-three theological and devo- Hosted by Google HON. S. LESLIE MESTREZAT. p. 132. Hosted by Google MKM0RIAt3 Olf THE HUGUENOTS. 25 tional works. Louis Leblanc de Beaulieu (i6i 5-1675), was also a teacher and writer of note connected with this school. The college at La Rochelle, founded in 1565 and endowed by Jeanne d' Albret and other members of the House of Navarre, was also justly celebrated, and its faculty were noted for their wide range of talent and excellent work. In addition to its fine college La Rochelle was also the seat of many great printing and pub- lishing establishments where enormous quantities of Protestant lit- erature were issued and scattered broadcast over Europe. The Academy of Nismes had the celebrated Samuel Petit (1594-1643). All the Protestant institutions of learning having been destroyed at the Revocation it became necessary to establish a training school for the pastors of the ** Desert." This was done by Antoine Courts the leader of the Church of the Desert. Owing to the dangers such an institution would be subject to in France it was established at Lausaune in Switzerland. 1731 Antoine Court took personal charge of the institution. Here were educated and trained nearly all the ministers of the Re-established Church, and it continued in this grand work until, as we have noticed, the auth- orization by the Emperor Napoleon of a Protestant Faculty of The- ology* CHAPTER IV- Huguenot Settlements in America* Coligny's Colonial Scheme ; Settlement at Rio de Janeiro ; Failure ; Port Royal ; La Carolina ; Disaster Follows ; Charleston ; On the Santee and Trent ; Virginia ; New Netherlands ; New England ; Rhode Island ; New France ; The Antilles* ** Amidst the storm they sang^ And the stars heard^ and the sea — And the sounding aisles of the dim. wood rang To the anthems of the free — The ocean eagle soared From his nest by the white waves'" foam ^ And the rocking pines of the forest roared — This was their welcome home,^^ ^'C HERE is, perhaps, no people in Europe less disposed to emi- grate than the French. They are naturally much attached to their country. No great masses of French are found in the United States as is the case with other European nationalities, and the greater number of those who are here have descended from •1 Hosted by Google 26 MKMORIAW OF THS HUGUENOTS. Colonial ancestors. This fact illustrates the benefit of religious toleration to France at the present day. Her people, both Protest- ant and Catholic alike, now delight to stay in their own sunny clime, while intolerance drove away, as we have seen, over a mil- lion of her best people to swell the population and build up the in- dustries of foreign and hostile countries. Even the remotest quarters of the earth were enriched by her expatriated children who fled thither in order to enjoy religious lib- erty. As is well known the Huguenots, in connection with the Dutch, founded the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope and were an important factor in building up the States and commerce of South Africa. Duke de Coligny's Scheme. The great leader of the Huguenots, the Duke de Coligny, con- ceived the idea of establishing colonies of his persecuted countrymen in America. In 1555 a settlement was made through his instru- mentahty in Brazil, near the present city of Rio de Janeiro. In the following year Pierre Richer and Guillaume Chartier were sent to minister to the colony and were the first Protestant preachers to cross the Atlantic ocean. Unfortunately in the course of a few years Villegagnon, the Governor of the Colony, renounced Protest- anism, and by connivance with the home government proceeded to destroy the Protestant character of the colony by deporting the ministers and chief men. In 1 558 he caused the death by drowning of Pierre Bourdon, Jean du Bordel and Mathieu Verneuil, who were the first martyrs to the Protestant cause in the New World. Thus through the perfidy of its leader the first Huguenot col- ony failed. Port Royal. Notwithstanding this failure the Duke de Coligny was not dis- couraged but still resolved to carry out his cherished plans. In 1 562 he sent out the second expedition under the supervision of Jean Ribaut, an experienced officer of the army and a staunch Protestant. On May i they entered the mouth of the St. John's river and took possession in the name of France. Continuing their course northward they settled Port Royal, in South Carolina. The first civil war between the Protestants and Catholics breaking out, Ribaut hastened home to join the forces of the Prince of Conde, and the small colony at Port Royal soon went to pieces. When the peace of Amboise closed the war Coligny sent another expedition in 1 564 which settled on a bluff on the St. John's river, and called the Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^ OF THE HUGUENOTS. 27 place La Carolina. The Governor, Laudonniere, however man- aged the colony very indifferently and it did not prosper. In 1565 Jean Ribaut appeared at the mouth of the river with seven vessels and nearly a thousand men, many of whom were of the nobility. The Spaniards, who claimed the country by right of discovery, also sent a fleet which arrived a few days later. Ribaut put to sea to engage the Spaniards but his vessels were wrecked oflf the coast. The Spaniards then sent an expedition to La Carolina and took it by surprise, putting to the sword nearly all the inhabitants. Meanwhile Ribaut gathered his shipwrecked party on the coast and marched to the relief of La Carolina only to find it in the pos- session of the Spaniards upon his arrival. Ribaut agreed to terms of surrender under promise of quarter, but no sooner had he done so when the Spanish fell upon them and nearly all were massacred. Thus the hopes of Coligny were again doomed to disappointment. Charleston, 5. C. Notwithstanding the disasters to the settlements under Ribaut and others, the project of establishing Huguenot colonies in Carolina was not abandoned. When the Carolinas were erected into an English Province over a hundred years later. Huguenot pioneers al- ready appear among the colonists. Their number was so large in 1 68 1 that when the city of Charleston was laid out at that time they established the first church (i) and are generally credited with being the founders of the city. A large number of refugees arrived after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). One of the early pastors of the Huguenot Church in Carolina was Rev. Elie Prioleau (2) who had been a minister at Pons, in Saintonge, France. His church being destroyed and congregation scattered at the revo- cation he fled to England, and later came to Charleston where he died on his estate in 1690. A considerable number of Rev. Prioleau's former parishioners eventually made their way to America and found repose under the fostering care of a Protestant government. Reader, let us here pause a moment and reflect. What a tragic story, rivalling the dreams of fiction, clusters around the Huguenot congregation of Charleston, S. C. ! Heartless dragonades, fire, sword, confiscation, ruin, bloodshed, heartrending separations, and the final gathering of a remnant of the flock in the wilds of the New World, many thousand miles distant ! This is but one of many similar scenes. (i). See * * Ravenal Record, * ' page 264. (2). Ibid., page loi. Hosted by Google 28 MEMORIAtS OF run HUGUENOl'g. The old family ties, welded together in the fire of persecution over 200 years ago, still hold firmly, hence we find the original con- gregation still in existence, and is, in fact, the only distinctively Huguenot church in America to-day. Santee« After the influx caused by the Revocation three additional con- gregations were formed, **oneon the eastern bank of the Cooper River known as Orange Quarter ; one on the western bank known as St. John's, Berkely, and one at Jamestown on the Santee" (i). The latter soon became a large and important settlement. It is a notable circumstance that many of the refugees to Car- olina were of distinguished antecedents, and not a few of the no- bility. Among the latter was Pierre de St. Julien and his brother Louis, their brother-in-law, Rene Ravenal, and Samuel Bordieu, all from the town of Vitre in Bretagney. They came to America in 1686, several leaving considerable estates behind them which were confiscated by the King (2). Their descendants in America have amply proven the excellency of their ancestral character and have given many names to the aristocracy of personal worth. Virginia, A very large number of Huguenots found asylum in Virginia, and their descendants have borne a conspicuous part in the devel- opment of that great State. The first arrivals were by way of England under the patronage of the King in 1690. The second ex- pedition arrived in 1699 under the leadership of Philip de Riche- bourg, a French nobleman of considerable note. This expedition, numbering about 600 members, was the largest colony of refugees ever landed in America. Most of them were located on the south side of the James River, near the present site of Richmond. The settlement was called ** Manikintown," which, in the course of a few decades, lost its original character. A great num- ber of the emigrants removed farther south, many settling on the river Trent, a branch of the Neuse, in North Carolina, where a col- ony was established in 1707. New Prance* For many years the enterprising merchants of La Rochelle had sent fishing vessels to the regions contiguous to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. French commerce being mostly in the hands s *' Ravenal Records," page 89. Baird, Vol. II, page 85. Hosted by Google MEMORIAr.S OF THE; HUGUENOTS. 29 of the Protestants, their efforts to estabhsh a Huguenot colony in this part of the New World was quite natural. In 1602 de Monts, a French Protestant nobleman, secured from Henry IV. a grant of all the territory between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of north latitude for the purpose of founding a French colony. This territory was called New France and its charter secured religious liberty for the colonists. A settlement was made at Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, in 1604. In 1608, in com- pany with the noted navigator, Champlain, de Monts founded Quebec. These and other settlements were, however, soon doomed to pass from Protestant to Jesuit control. In 16 10 Henry IV., the friend and patron of the colony, fell at the hands of an assassin, and in a short time thereafter de Monts was compelled to relinquish his office as Viceroy of New France. From force of circumstances, not necessary to relate here, he transferred his rights to the terri- tory to Madame de Guercheville, a devoted Catholic. Under the new regime the Protestants were more and more restricted until 1633, when they were entirely suppressed. The Jesuits, with fa- natical zeal, were ever busy making New France a Catholic coun- try. In suppressing the Huguenots as colonists France committed an irreparable blunder. By introducing her policy of repression in her American colonies she checked the emigration to them, while a great number of the best colonists removed to the neighboring New England settlements. The settlements of Acadia (Nova Scotia) had some immunity from the harsher persecution prevalent on the St. Lawrence. Claude de la Tour, of the noble house of Bouillon, and his son Charles, who were early leaders of the Port Royal colony, were the chief factors in this amelioration, which continued until the death of Charles in 1666. New Netheriands (New York). The city of Leyden, in Holland, early became the refuge of great numbers of Huguenots who introduced various industries which made the city highly prosperous. The greater number of these refugees were Walloons, who established a strong congregation in 1584. Most intimate relations existed between these Walloons and the English Separists or Puritans, who were then living there invol- untary exile. Walloons and Puritans alike directed their eyes towards Amer- ica as the best field in which to realize their hopes of founding colo- nies in which to enjoy their religious faith unmolested, and hence Leyden became a center from which emanated several movements most potent in shaping the destinies of the New World. Hosted by Google 30 MEMORIAI3 01? tHE HUGUEJNOTS. The Puritans accordingly obtained a colonial patent from the Virginia Company, and on August 5, 1620, left Delft Harbor, the seaport of Leyden, for America. Several Huguenots were in their number. The landing of these * ' Pilgrims" at Plymouth Rock and the momentous influence of the colony in the history of this country, is familiar to the reader. Meanwhile the Walloons followed the ex> ample of their Puritan brethren. In July, 1621, the English am- bassador to Holland was petitioned by them for a place of settle- ment by his government, their desire being to go to Virginia. The promoter of this movement was Jesse de Forrest, a prominent Wal- loon of Leyden. This petition and list of signers is still preserved among the British archives. The negotiations with the English did not proceed very satisfactorily. Meanwhile the Dutch West India Trading Company was chartered by the Government of Hol- land. When the designs of the Huguenots were brought to the no- tice of the company they were accorded most excellent terms of settlement. Early in March, 1623, the emigrants, comprising about thirty families, embarked in the little ship **New Netherlands," which, after a propitious voyage, arrived at the mouth of the Hudson (i), A settlement was made on Manhattan Island, now New York city. A number of families proceeded up the river and formed a settlement called Orange, while four couple, who had been married at sea, proceeded to an island in the Delaware River. The names of the passengers on the New Netherlands have unfortunately been lost, but a comparison with the original list presented to the British ambassador, already referred to, shows that many of them appear as among the first citizens of New Netherlands, hence it is probable that most of them eventually came to America. Although the New Netherlands was under the control of the Dutch, a very large por- tion of the colonists were Huguenots whose exact numbers can never be known. In 1656 a vessel laden with Waldensian refugees (Vaudois), sailed for New Netherlands, which was stranded at the entrance of New York harbor. Many of these unfortunates located on Staten Island, which eventually became the home of many fellow-Hugue- nots. New Paltz, N. Y. In 1660 Louis du Bois, who had sojourned a number of years at Manheim in the Palatinate, came to New Netherlands, and with a number of others established the colony of New Paltz, near the (i). Documentary Hist, of N. Y., Vol. Ill p. 35. Hosted by Google MEMORIAIyS OF THK HUGUENOTS. 31 present site at New Kingston, in Ulster County (i). This region was called *' Esopus," and was a favorite place of settlement for the Huguenots, and from whence many came to Pennsylvania in later years. New Rochelle, a short distance up the Hudson, was likewise a Huguenot colony and named in honor of the French city of that name» and from which many of the colonists had come. In New York the Huguenots worshipped in connection with the Dutch, but so numerous did they become that in 1652 the Consis- tory of the Reformed Dutch Church found it necessary to make special provision for them. About the time of the English occupa- tion (1664) the French and Waldensians were constituted a separate charge under the supervision of the Dutch Church. In 1683 Rev. Pierre Daille took charge of the Huguenot congregations of New York, New Paltz, etc., and remained their pastor until 1696, when he took charge of the congregations in Boston, being succeeded by Rev. De Bon Repos. New England. Among the earliest arrivals of Huguenots in New England were a number of families who settled in Salem perhaps as early as 1660. They were for the most part from the Channel Islands, whither they had fled from France. In 1662 Dr. John Touton, of La Ro- chelle, France, directed a petition to the Governor of Massachu- setts for permission for himself and a large number of others who were expelled because of their religion, to settle in that Province (2). This petition was favorably received and we accordingly find that a considerable influx of refugees took place. In 1680 agents from La Rochelle arrived in Boston to gain permission and make ar- rangements for the settlement of their persecuted people there, and during the next few years many families arrived in an utterly desti- tute condition ; collections were taken up in the churches for their benefit in 1682. When finally the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) ex- tinguished the last vestige of their civil and religious rights, a very large number, aggregating hundreds, came to Boston prior to 1690. From this point many scattered to various colonies. (i). The company were twelve in number, all of whom were Huguenot ex- iles. The fac simile of their signatures, as also that of the Indian Sachems, may be seen in Vol. Ill p. 506 Doc. Hist. N. York. The names of the patentees were Ivouis du Bois and sons Abraham and Isaac, Abraham Haesbroucq, Christian De- yoe and son.in-law, Simon I^efever, Peter Deyoe, Andreas Lefever, Anthony Ces- pel, Jean Brocq, Hugo Frere and I,ouis Bevier. Treaty signed May 26, 1677. (2). Mass. Archives, Vol. X page 208. Hosted by Google 32 MKMORIAI.S O^ THK HUGUENOTSc The Huguenots organized a congregation in Boston as early as 1685, permission being given them to worship in the pubhc school buildings. In 1705 a site for a church was procured but the edi- fice was not erected until 171 5. The ministers of the congregation were Rev. Laurent du Bois, who was succeeded in 1686 by Rev. David de Bonrepos, a refugee minister from St. Christopher in the Antilles. In 1696 de Bonrepos was succeeded by Rev. Pierre Daille, who, since his arrival in America, had ministered to the congrega- tions in New York. In 1715 this excellent and distinguished exile died in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Prior to his fiight he had been a professor in the famous Huguenot Academy of Saumur. Daille was succeeded by a talented young graduate of the Academy of Geneva, Andre Le Mercier, a native of Ca^n in Normandy. Le Mercier died in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1765. The society maintained its separate existence until about 1748, when nearly all the original refugees were dead, while the younger generation be- came affiliated in language and religion with the populace. In 1687 a company of Huguenots, led by Rev. Daniel Bondet, made a settlement in the ^^Nipmuck" country about seventy-five miles west of Boston. There were about fifteen families in the party, which number was much increased in the course of a year. They founded the town of New Oxford, built a fort, mill, etc., with every promise of a permanent establishment. Being on the fron- tier of the Province it was exposed to the ravages of the Indians, and after suffering considerably from their savagery it was deemed best to abandon the settlement, which was done in 1696 and the inhabitants scattered to other colonies. The ruins of their fort may still be seen. In 1884 a magnificent monument was erected as a memorial to the colony on its ancient site. In 1686 an extensive settlement was made by the Huguenots near the western shore of Narragansett Bay. The locality was in (now) East Greenwich. They were accompanied by an able minister, Ezechiel Carre, and a physician, Pierre Ayrault. The colonists were very unfortunate in their selection of this locality for the reason that they could obtain no satisfactory title to their land, and also that they were surrounded by an element very unfriendly to them. In 1691 they concluded to abandon the col- ony, a large number of the settlers going to New York. The Antilles. The French Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and known as the Antilles, became at an early day a landing place for the Huguenots. In St. Christopher there was a very considerable number of them, and their church there was a large and influential one. For many Hosted by Google MEMORIAIyS OF THK HUGUENOTS. 33 years they had comparative immunity from persecution. All this was changed, however, in a short space of time. During the Re- vocation period a large number of Protestants were transported thither from the home land. Upon arrival they were sold to the planters and subjected to the most rigorous servitude by their Cath- olic masters. In a short time the condition of the Protestants in the French Antilles was as miserable as that of their brethren in the home land, and soon a general flight to the English colonies of North America was begun. Hundreds effected their escape and made their way, through almost incredible hardships and sufferings, to Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other Huguenot centers, and many names have been enrolled on our National history whose an- cestral records come to us from France by way of the Antilles. CHAPTER V- The Emigration to Pennsylvania* The Province as a Place of Refuge — Penn's Object Real- ized — Quakers — Mennonites — German-Baptist Brethren — Palatines — Covenanters — Schwenkfelders — Mora- vians — French Revolutionists — Joseph Priestly, Etc. — Character of . the Huguenot Emigration — Their Emi- nent Public Services. ^^ Frofn Delaware's and SchuylkilVs gleam^ A7vay where Susquehanna twines^ And out o'er Allegheny's stream In places distant fell their lines. By river and by fountain ^ Where'er they touched this strand^ In wood ayid vale and mountain -¥ They found a fatherland." PENNSYLVANIA stands unique in the history of the Colonies of the New World as a place of refuge for the persecuted and oppressed of the Old. Its estab- lishment had, in fact, its inception in the earnest desire of its founder to [ARMSOFPKNNSYI.VANIA]. ^^^^j^^ ^^ ^^^j^^^ ^^^ ^^j^ j^^ ^^^ people of his own faith, but all other Protestants as well. Hosted by Google 34 MKMORIAIvS OF THK HUGUKNOTS. The *' Holy Experiment " of William Penn constitutes an epoch in the civil and religious advancement of the human race which will be sure of more thorough study by future historians as its import- ance and far-reaching significance is more fully realized. The lit- erature of this great movement is somewhat scanty and its elements and character obscure, and must be worked out, in a measure, from the visible results. It is a fact too generally overlooked that the founding of Philadelphia by the Quakers in 1682 and Germantown by the Mennonites under Francis Daniel Pastorius in 1683, was contemporaneous so far as the original plans of emigration was con- cerned. In June, 1694, arrived the famous band of Pietists (Rosecru- cians) under the leadership of Baron Johannis Kelpius, and formed their community on the Wissahickon, near Philadelphia, so graphi- cally described by Julius F. Sachse in his ''German Pietists of Pennsylvania," Scarcely was the success of these initial settlements as- sured when began the flocking in of thousands and tens of thou- sands of Palatines from the blood-stained fields and smouldering ruins of the Valley of the Rhine. The same period witnessed the incoming of thousands of Covenanters (Scotch-Irish) who made New Castle their chief landing place, and from whence they pushed northward and founded the settlements of Octorora, Donegal, Pax- tang, Marsh Creek, the Cumberland Valley, etc. In 17 19 about twenty families of the German Baptists (Dunkards) arrived at Ger- mantown, followed ten years later by the entire parent organization under the leadership of their founder, Alexander Mack, from Schwartzenau, Germany, to Pennsylvania, as the result of great persecution. In 1734 there arrived in Philadelphia from Silesia, after a wearisome journey on foot through Holland (where they em- barked), the scattered remnants of the Schwenkfelders to start anew the work of their beneficent faith among the hills of eastern Penn- sylvania (i). In 1741 the advance guard of the Moravians arrived as the result of disquietude in their new settlement in North Caro- lina, and founded at Bethlehem the largest colony of these excel- lent people in America. During the dark days of the French Revo- lution, in 1793, a large number of political exiles, mostly of noble rank, came to Pennsylvania and founded the town of Asylum, on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. Among its promo- ters was the Viscount, Louis de Noialles, the brother-in-law of La- fayette. Among the distinguished visitors to this place in 1795 was (i.) Adherents of the Reformer Casper Von Schwenkfeld, of Silesia (1490- 1561). Hosted by Google ^> MEMORIAI.S OF THK HUGUENOTS. 35 Prince Louis Phillipe, himself an exile then, but who later ascended the throne of France, and that greatest of French diplomats, Tal- leyrand, Prince of Benevento, and also the Count de la Rochefou- cauld. Many of the exiles returned to France when quiet was re- stored, others remained and gave to us a worthy posterity, among whom may be mentioned the late Hon. John Laport, one of the fore- most men of the State. In 1774 the last refugee party arrived from England with the distinguished Dr. Joseph Priestly (i) at their head. About the close of the Provincial period a small but exception- ally brilliant coterie of French people graced the city of Philadel- phia. Many of them were of the highest nobility who had fled hither from the horrors of the French Revolution. Inasmuch as they were political refugees a further notice of them would not be germane to this work. Another class, however, must not be passed by. Among the French allies who came to assist in the achieve- ment of our Independence were many who remained in America to enjoy its freedom. Among the prominent men of this class were Dr. Felix BrunOy a foster brother to Lafayette, an account of whom is elsewhere given in this work. Major Peter S. Dupon- ceau (2) Louis Crousillat (3) Simon Vallerchamp (4) Pierre Javin (i). Dr. Joseph Priestly was born in 1733 and was one of the greatest men of his times. By his discovery of oxygen in 1774 he laid the foundation of modern chemistry. In consequence of his religious and political views a mob wrecked his house and destroyed his laboratory and valuable library in Birmingham, England. Soon after this sad event he emigrated to Northumberland, in Pennsylvania, being accompanied by a number of his friends. He continued his scientific and theo- logical labors here until his death in 1804. (2). DuponceaUy Pierre S.j was born on the Isle of Rhe, France, in 1760, his father being an officer then stationed at that place. He was given an excellent education, and when still a youth was fired with an ambition to come to America and assist the struggling Colonies. He took a position as an aide on the staff of Baron Steuben and serv^ed in that capacity from 1777 to 1779 when, becoming an American citizen, he accepted a position as a secretary in the Foreign Office of the Colonial Government. He was a great student and became celebrated as a law- yer, linguist and scientist, and was the President of the American Philosophical Society many years. He died in Philadelphia in 1844. (3). Crousillat, Louis Martial Jacques^ was born at Salon, France, 1757. Came to Philadelphia in 1780 and entered the Continental service. After the war he entered the mercantile businCvSS and amassed a fortune. He was noted for his benevolence, and died in Philadelphia in 1836. (4). Simon Vallerchamp was born in I,orraine June 29, 1751. His father, who was wealthy, died when his only son Simon was but fourteen years of age. The youth, who was left to shift for himself, finally drifted to Paris. He joined the expedition of I^afayette in aid of the American colonies and served throughout the war as an officer. He was wounded seven times, which eventually caused his death. Upon his return to France he found that his only sister had been put into a convent against her will, and he having imbibed Protestant principles found it unsafe to remain, and so returned to America. In Philadelphia he married a daughter of General Thomas Bond. She died early, and he then married Hannah Dodson and removed to Huntingdon, in Luzerne county. While preparing to re- turn to France to settle up the family estate one of his wounds, which had never healed, became suddenly worse, and he died in consequence July 12, 1825. Hosted by Google 36 MKMORIAI.S OF the; HUGUENOTS. (i) and Frederick de Sanno (2). Pennsylvania may also pride herself in the citizenship of such renowned Frenchmen as Stephen Girard (3) Pierre dit Sivietere (4) and JoJui Jauies Aiidicbon (5) who not only left the fruits of their industry but also the example of a noble life as enduring legacies to posterity. A considerable number of Huguenot names may be traced to the heroes of the Duke de Shomburg, who fought with William, Prince of Orange, at the battle of the Boyne (1690). Some of these soldiers (or their descendants) came to Pennsylvania with the Scotch-Irish. Of such immigrants came the families Brevard, de Cesna, Douthett^ Lamont, Lilou, Pickens (6) de Armaiid and Pierie. In all those incoming bodies of immigrants, expatriated from their native land by the mailed hand of religious intolerance, were a considerable number of Huguenots, as will be seen in succeeding (i). Pierre Javin was born of wealthy parentage in Paris in 1757, and was given a good education. He served with distinction with Lafayette in the Ameri- can Revohition and was severely wounded by a sword thrust. Becoming a Pro- testant he concluded to remain in America. He married in Reading, Pa., and was one of the pioneer settlers of Crawford county, where he died about 1821, leaving an honored posterity. (2). Frederick de Sanno located in Bucks county. His son, Frederick Jr., was a Lutheran minister and author of note. In 1805 he became pastor of the Lutheran Church in Carlisle, Pa. Later he removed to Philadelphia and died there. Major William de Sanno, another son of the immigrant, served with dis- tinction in the war of j8i2 and was severely wounded at the battle of Lundy's Lane. Through General Scott he was made commandant of the Carlisle Barracks in 1826, a position which he retained until his death in 1865. (3). Girard^ Stephen — 1 750-1881. Was born at Bordeaux, France, and es- tablished himself in Philadelphia as a merchant in 1777. He amassed a vast for- tune as a shipping merchant and was identified with all the leading enterprises of his adopted city. At his death he bequeathed his fortune to various charities. His greatest monument is Girard College, which he established for the education of orphans with an endowment of several millions of dollars. (4). Du Simetere, Pierre Eugene, was born of Huguenot parentage at Ge- neva, Switzerland. He was a man of rare talents and excelled in many arts. Among his accomplishments was that of a naturalist, botanist, mineralogist, an- tiquarian, annalist and artist. About 1750 he went to the West Indies where he occupied himself in various researches. He came to New York in 1764 and to Philadelphia in 1766, making the latter city his home. His paintings and draw- ings of eminent men of his times are justly celebrated. (5). Audubon, John Ja^tnes, born in America 178O, was a vSon of Admiral Au- dubon, who served in the American Revolution. In 1798 he came to poSvSess an estate near Philadelphia, purchased by his father, and where he lived many years. He died in 185 1. As a naturalist he has probably never been excelled, and his works on American ornithology and zoology were regarded as stupendous produc- tions. (6). Joh7i and Andrew Pickens were early settlers at Paxtang, in now Dau- phin county. Here was born September 19, 1739, Major General Andrew Pick- ens, of the Revolution War. He was a son of Andrew. About 1741 the brothers migrated to Augusta county, in Virginia, and in 1752 Andrew removed from thence to the Waxhaw settlement in South Carolina. Hosted by Google MKMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUKNOTS. chapters. Their emigration to Pennsylvania was somewhat differ- ent from that of their coreh'gionists in other parts of America, as most of them came with the German speaking Swiss and Palatines with whom they, or their fathers, had sojourned after their flight from France. Many had already exchanged their French names for a German equivalent and also adopted the language of their German friends. We have, however, reason to believe that by far the greater number of them still clung to the faith for which they and their fathers suffered, as a considerable number of the names given in this work occur in the Reformed Church records of the Provincial period. Galley Slaves. In this connection we record a circumstance which has doubt- less a vital connection with the emigration of many Huguenots to America. In 1896 when Henry S. Dodderer, of Philadelphia, was making researches in the archives of Dortrecht, in Holland, he dis- covered a printed list of Huguenot galley slaves who had been re- leased by order of Louis XIV. of France on condition that they leave the realm (i). It may be inferred from this that many of these unfortunates were deported to Holland. Besides the name of the victim there was also given his official number and the term of years he had suffered. This list is not only a silent witness of the many years of suffering but also of the great numbers of the Huguenot galley slaves. In addition to those released there was also a list of many who were not released. The reasons why this list, which comprises but a small fraction of the entire number was made, we may never know. The highest number appearing was Jean Guillaume (John Williams) 39,336. A number had already served a period of twen- ty-seven years. Does the reader fully comprehend what the fore- going number and years means ? No, we cannot at this late day realize its full significance ! The recent persecution of the Armeni- ans and the onslaught of the Chinese on the missionaries, which re- cently shocked the whole civilized world, are insignificant incidents compared with the persecution of the Huguenots. This list is of vital interest to us as many of the names are identified with some that appear in this work, and we are irresistibly led to infer, as al- ready said, that some at least are identical as to persons. As a striking example we herewith append a few names, all of which are represented in the emigrant list of this work : Barree, (i). See *' Historical Notes," Vol. I by Henry S. Dodderer. Hosted by Google 38 MEMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUKNOTS. BlciJic, Boyer, Bourell, Bertrand, Bouchee, Bertow, Chapelle, Cor- bier, Clevel, Dasser, Diirand, de Mars, Folquier, GacJion, Gait- tier, Giiillaume, Mallet, Martiel, de Marcellin, Melon, Mariler, Perrier, Peritier, Prujiier, Peret, Re7ieait, Reno la Roue, Sauvety de Turk, Valet, Vincet, etc. The Piedmontese. The persecution of the Protestants in Piedmont was of the most terrible character, and the most shocking and unheard of methods of torture were adopted by their enemies. A large num- ber escaped and found refuge in Protestant countries. Holland seems to have given asylum to a very large number. Public meas- ures for their relief were adopted as late as 1710. Amsterdam and other cities of the Low Countries were congested with Piedmontese and other Huguenot refugees, and from these countries doubtless came a large number of emigrants to Pennsylvania and whose an- cestors are said to have ' ' fled to Holland and from thence came to America." We herewith give the names of a few Piedmontese martyrs who perished for their Protestant faith in consequence of the Edict of 1655 : Marie de Armand was flayed alive ; David de Arniand ^2JSi compelled to lay his head on a block when a soldier crushed it with a hammer ; his brother Paul was also killed ; aged Jacob Perrine, an elder of the church at Villars, and his brother David were flayed alive ; Bartholomew, John, and Ludwig Durante Daniel Nevel and Paul Re?iaud (Reno) met a shocking death by having their mouths filled with gunpowder which was exploded ; Jacob Birone, a teacher, met a death too horrible to relate ; Lucia du Bisson, wife of Peter who was killed, fled to the Alps with two small chil- dren. In the forest alone she gave birth to another child. Owing to cold and hunger all her children perished, while she alone, of all her family, reached a place of safety. Daniel Rambaut (Rambo), an aged elder of Villaro, suffered death in a way too shocking to relate ; Baptist litre, Paul Gamier^ Magdalena Pierre, Joseph Pont, Paul Clement, Daniel Benech, all met death in a dreadful manner. The reader will find all these Piedmontese names represented in our immigrant list to Pennsyl- vania. In the city of Nismes, in another part of France, and at a much later period, Oliver Desmond, a minister eighty years of age, was killed ; also Louis Le Char (now Lesher), and a family named Chasseur, As already said, we are irresistibly led to the conclusion that there is in many instances a connection between these martyr fam- Hosted by Google MHMORIAI devastated this entire region, murdering upwards of twenty- (i). He settled in Heidelberg township, now L,ebanon county, where he died 1764, leaving children : Abraham, John Peter, Susan, Ann Maria, Salome and Elisabeth. (2). Philip William Otterbine (1726-1813), a learned young minister of the Reformed Church, was sent in 1752 by the vSynod of Holland as a missionary to Pennsylvania. He located in I^ancavSter. In 1774 he removed to Baltimore where he founded a society differing in polity from the Reformed Church, and from which sprang the United Brethren in Christ, of which Otterbein is regarded as the founder. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THE HUGUENOTS. 95 five persons. LeRoy and his entire family, with the exception of two children, met a horrible fate. They were cruelly butchered and their cabin was burned over their heads. Among those taken into captivity were Annie and Jacob LeRoy, Barbara and Rachael Lin- inger and Annie Willard, the Liningers and Miss Willard being vis- iting relatives from Lancaster. After a captivity of almost four years Anna LeRoy and Barbara Lininger made their escape from the savages, A narrative of their remarkable experiences was pub- lished, (i) Roller, — The Roller family of France is both ancient and hon- orable and early espoused the cause of the Reformation, and in consequence of persecution several branches fled to adjacent coun- tries. It is interesting to know that the family in France still ad- heres to the Huguenot faith notwithstanding the terrible ordeals through which it has passed. Many of this name have achieved honorable distinction, notably Dr, Jean Louis Theophile Roller (i 829-1 895), one of the leading ministers of the French Reformed Church. Dr. Roller first served a congregation at Balbec in Nor- mandy, after which he removed to Naples in Italy where he was pastor of the French-German Protestant Church for six years. From thence he removed to Rome, where he was pastor of the French Church ten years. During his pastorate at Rome he thor- oughly explored the catacombs and remains of the ancient Christian Church in that city. The results of his immense labors were pub- lished in two folio volumes, justly regarded as the greatest work of its kind in existence. Failing health compelled him to return to France, where he soon afterward died at Tocqueville en Caux. (2). Among the refugees to Erlangen in Bavaria in 1685 was a branch of this family and from which came Dr, Conrad Roller, a distinguished Lutheran minister in America. He was educated at the University at Erlangen and came to Pennsylvania when still young. He was a close friend of Muhlenberg, the founder of the Lutheran Church in America, and his name appears as a member of the first Synod in 1748. John Peter Roller, supposed to have been a brother to Dr. Conrad Roller, arrived in 1752 and located at Lancaster, and in 1767 removed to the Shenandoah Valley, Va. A distinguished de- scendant is Gen. John E. Roller, of Harrisonburg. The connection of this family with other immigrants of this name is not known. (i). Penna. Archives, Vol. Ill p. 633. Ibid., VIII., p. 403- (2). It is worthy of note that upon the death of Dr. RoUer his immediate fam- ily sent a mortuary notice to the representatives of the various branches through- out the world in accordance with the old Huguenot custom. That received by Gen. J. B. Roller, of Virginia, is inteilesting. Hosted by Google 96 MEMORIAI^S OF THK HUGUENOTS. The Bonne tt family belongs to the nobility of Lorraine (i) and was of high standing during the Reformation period. The name is often met with in Huguenot literature. Being mostly Protestants they were greatly scattered during the persecutions, some going to England, Switzerland and the Palatinate. Tt was from Switzerland (2) that the several branches in America came. One of the earliest of this name in Pennsylvania was Jean Jacques Bon- nett and wife Marie who arrived in 1733 with a considerable family. The Marchand family has given many distinguished names to France, a distinction well maintained in America, as among the descendants of the emigrant David Marchand, who located at Lan- caster, a number became noted, and of whom was Hon. David Marchand, Jr., who was elected to Congress in 18 17, serving two terms, Hon. Albert G. Marchand, who was elected to Congress in 1839, and also served two terms, then also Commodore John Bon- nett Marchand who so greatly distinguished himself in the battle of Mobile Bay in 1864. (3) Fra?tcois Mentjes and his wife Elisabeth Bouvier were among the early Lancaster Huguenots of whom we know little except that they were refugees and that the father probably died soon after their arrival. Two children only of the emigrant are known. They were Francis, an officer in the Revolution, (4) and Elisabeth, who be- came the wife of Casper Egle, the ancestor of the noted historian, Dr. W. H. Egle, of Harrisburg. Among the refugees to Holland at the Revocation was a de- scendant of the Huguenot author and minister Jean Dillier. A son of the refugee named Casper went to England where he mar- ried. From thence he removed to Hidleberg, in the Palatinate, where his children were born. In 1738 he emigrated to Pennsylva- nia. He located near New Holland, where he died in 1773 at the advanced age'of one hundred years. (5) In 1752 Francis Dillier, whose connection with the foregoing is not known, located in Brecknock, where he died in 1784. (i). ''Science des Armoiries."— P. 254, Arms. "D'azur a un bouf d' or, surmounte de trois etoiles du nieme rangies en chef." (2). The noted scientist, Dr. Charles Bonnett, was born at Geneva in 1720. (3). Commodore Marchand was born in Pennsylvania in 1808, entered the navy in 1828, and served with distinction in the Seminole, Mexican and Civil war. In the battle of Mobile Bay he commatided the ^'Ivackawanna ; Was made a Com- modore in 1866, and died in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1875. (4). Colonel Francis Mentjes served throughout the Revolution. He com- manded for a time the Fifth Pennsylvania Ivine; vserved with Wayne in the West ; died at Cincinnatti about 1812. (5). He had sons—Philip Adam, who died in 1781 ; John Martin and Casper Elias, besides seven daughters. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF the: HUGUENOTS. 97 DcBozv {DeBus), — This name, originally DeBeau, often met with on the lists of Huguenot refugees, was well represented among the arrivals in Pennsylvania. The first to appear were Abraham and Philip DeBos, also Anna, all in the same vessel in 1732. These were doubtless relatives. In 1734 Philip was married in Coventry, Chester county, by Rev. John Casper Stoever, and in 1750 his will was filed at Lancaster. In 1743 arrived Ludwig DeBos, aged 36, Daniel, aged 28, d^nd Jacob, aged 26 years. They came in the same vessel and were doubtless brothers. In 1745 Daniel died at Lititz, in Lancaster county. In 1750 arrived Chris- tian DeBos y aged 23 years. The family were early pioneers in the South and West. Solo- mon DeBoiv, from Bucks county, Pa., was a resident of Orange county, North Carolina, in 1755, R^v. John DeBow was sent as a missionary by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, New Jersey, to the Huguenot settlement in Duplin county. North Carolina, at an early day, and died there about 1778. DiiTay, Donty, Doiite, — Many branches of this family were exiles, and the name appears among the refugees to various Pro- testant countries, and also on the lists of galley slaves. A refugee family of this name, the head of which has not been ascertained, located in Lancaster county at an early day. Two sons are defi- nitely known, namely Nicholas and Henry Baldy Dotity, both of whom were born in France. The former removed to the mouth of Seneca lake, in New York, and the latter, who was an accom- plished scholar and schoolmaster, was one of the first residents of Milton, Pennsylvania. He suddenly disappeared in 1790, and was supposed to have been murdered. Sumois. — In 1733 arrived Pierre Sumois with a number of adult sons, all of whom took up land in Lancaster county. The name appears on the land and court house records in its German- ized form of Sumey, Peter, Jr. , one of the sons, located in Tulpe- hocken prior to 1755, where his name appears on the records of the Reformed Church in its French form of Sumois. Fortineaiix, — Several branches of the Fortineaux (Fordny) family were dispersed from France by the persecutions. The name is met with among the refugees in various lands. Jean Henri For- tineaux came to Pennsylvania about 1720, and was naturalized in 1727. He was one of the first settlers in Frederick county, Mary- land. In 1737 arrived the brothers Francis, aged 26, Michael, aged 22, diuA Melchoir, aged 19 years, all of whom located in Lan- caster and became prominent citizens. Melchoirdied in 1754, and Michael in 1 7y2>, Other arrivals of this name have not been located. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^ Olf THE HUGUENOTS. Beauchamp, — In 1731 arrived y^^;^ Beauchamp, (i) and wife Barbara, the head of the ''Bus hong'' family, now so numorous in America. He located in East Lampeter, near the Heller Church. He was born in France in 1692. His son Jacob located in Berks county and was the head of the Bushong family of Berks county, while another son, Peter, emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and founded the Southern branch. There was also a Ja- cob Bouchon in York county prior to 1755. Pons, — Several Protestant branches of the DePons family lo- located in Lancaster county at an early day. In France the family is of noble rank and has given many illustrious names to history. Jacques Pons was an eminent Huguenot divine. Another notable personage was Mareshal DePons who was the French minister to the court of Prussia in 1772. At the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes one branch of the family fled for safety to Offenbach, in the Palatinate, and from whence several members came to Pennsylva- nia. Jacque in 1727, Augustus in 1738, and Abraham in 175 1. Ranc (Ranck). — This family was prominent in the French Protestant Church, and one of this name sealed his faith with his life. This was Rev. Louis Ranc, pastor of the church at Die, who suffered death in 1745. The ancestors of the American branch were the brothers John Michael Ranc, who arrived in 1728, and John Philip Ranc who arrived a year later. They came from Alsace, and both located in Lancaster county. During the war of Independence the Ranc family was especially noted for its patriot- ism, and nearly all its members capable of bearing arms were in the war. Litiz, — In 1742 Count Zinzendorf founded the Moravian So- ciety of Litiz, in Lancaster county. Connected with this commu- nity were a number of members who were of Huguenot origin, of whom were the following : Rev, Philip Meurer, who was born in Alsace, and came to Pennsylvania in 1742. He died in Donegal in 1759. Henry Haller, born in Alsace in 1719, arrived in 1733, and was the father of the distinguished Colonel Henry Haller of the Revolution. Daniel Heckendorn from Alsace, 1736, father of an honorable posterity, and who died in 1782, and Daniel Lecrone prior to 1750. In Warwick township, in the vicinity of Brickerville, were lo- cated the following : Jacques Simonett, who arrived in 1727. He was then well advanced in years. His warrantee for land is dated 1733, in which year the name of Isaac also appears, who was doubtless a son. Nicholas Parrett, 1730, Jacques and Herman (i). Jean Beauchamp's family consisted of John, Philip, Peter, Henry, Jacob, David, Mary, Barbara and Elisabeth. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THE HUGUE)NOtS. LaTour, 1749. The latter died in 1774. Martin Oberliii in 1730, With sonSy John Michael dinA John Adam, The Oberlins are dis- tinguished in the history of France, notably the Reformer of Ban- de-la- Roche» (i) who was a relative of the Pennsylvania Oberlins. In Cocalico appears the name of Sebastian Coquelin, who ar- rived in 1739 with his family, of whom Jean and Dietrich were adults. The name has been perverted to **Cockly" and **Cocklin." John and George Achey^ Francis Dutill, Leonard, John and Jacob Mumma and the Guilliaume family, (Williams), all of whom ap- pear about the middle of the century. Among others of Huguenot antecedents who located within the bounds of Lancaster county were the following : Henry Bleim who died in 1739; Pierre Delone, Johft Detar, Casperius Viellard, Jean Jacques Lapierre, This name was early Germanized to '*Stein/' (Stone), with the result that most of the descendants are unaware of their Huguenot ancestry. Jacques Duey (Dewy), Jean and Paul LeCene, the former was born in 1686, and the latter in 1688, and died 1766 ; Jacques Lejune, changed soon after arrival to its English equivalent ** Young," several of the Marline family, John Michael Motter (originally Motteur), Jean Hotel, Francis Peter Laurans, who died in 1758, Laura7ts Pier son, Pierre Armeson came in 1753 and died in 1774, James Picquart, who died in 1749, Pierre Fleury, who came in 1732, Jean Chateau (now Shd.Ao'^), Jo hft Jacob Laschet (Lawshe). Then also the famil- ies Mercier, Roque (Rockey), Deshong, Rosher and Raquet. (i). Jean Frederick Oberlin (1740-1826), a distinguished minister of Alsace, who in 1766 became pastor of the Stein-thal or Ban-de-la-Roche, a wild mountain- ous region. The manner in which he effected the moral and industrial revolution of the valley was wonderful indeed. . • •••• • • • * 3 Hosted by V^OO^f ( 100 MEMORIAI^S OF run HUGUKNOTS. CHAPTER XIL The Pequea Colony. The Ferrees — The Family Flee to Germany — They Are Joined BY Isaac LeFever — They Resolve to Emigrate to America — They go to London — The Madame is Introduced to Queen Ann by William Penn — They Join Rev. Joshua Kocherthal's Party and go to Esopus in New York — From Thence Journey to Pennsylvania — Are Received by the Indian Chief Tawana — Madame Ferree Dies in Peace — Her Family and Distinguished Descendants. * * While here we stand with planted feet Steadfast where loyal souls have stood ^ Upon us let the te^npest beat Around us swell and surge the flood, We fall or triumph on the spot — God helpiftg us we falter not.''^ ~'^?^\URING the dark and troubled period of the Revocation * J 1 of the Edict of Nantes (1685) there hved in France (5"^^"-^ a family named Ferree. (i) The parents, Daniel and Mary Ferree, were married in 1669. The fruit of this union were six children, viz : Daniel, John, Philip, Catharine, Mary and Jane. The Ferrees descend from the nobility (i) and were people of the highest respectability and staunch and fearless in their adherence to the Reformed faith. Daniel Fer- ree was a silk manufacturer, and from what can be gathered he was a man of wealth and high position in his native place. In order to carry out the provisions of the Edict to wholly extirpate the Re- formed religion from the Realm the cruel Dragonades were sent to (i). The Ferree, Ferrie, LaFerree, family are of the nobility of France and was originally seated at Forchamps, in lyower Normandy. The founder of the family was Robert Ferree, who in A. D. 1265 was confirmed to an extensive CvS- tate. M. Ferry, a great statesman of France, was of this stock. For Ferree his- tory see ** Nobility of Normandy," Vol. II p. 357. Ferree Arms — De gueules, a trois annelets d'or Couronne ; De Compte — sup- ports, Deux lions. Hosted by Google COL. DANIEL Le FEVRE. p. 108. Hosted by GKVA Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^ OF THK HUGUEJNOTS. 101 the town in which Ferree Hved and were quartered upon the Protestant citizens of the place. We may well imagine the misery and wretchedness caused by their coming to the unfortunate Protes- tants. Amid all this confusion the Ferrees escaped in the darkness of the night and fled to Strasbourg. How long the Ferree family remained at Strasbourg is not known. From here they went to Lindau in Bavaria, which was also an Imperial city, and hence af- forded them security. Here Daniel Ferree died, and after his death his widow assumed her maiden name of Warembur as an addi- tional means of safety, and it is a remarkable fact that she thereaf- ter preferred to be known by that name. Family tradition has it that they also sojourned in Holland, but from a number of circum- stancs we deem this improbable except, perhaps, for a brief period while on their way to London. During the sojourn of the Ferrees in Germany they were joined by Isaac LeFever, whose parental home had been broken up and some of the family had perished at the hands of the Papists. This young man, of whom more will be said presently, married Catha- rine Ferree, eldest daughter of the Madame, several years prior to their emigration to America. The situation of the French Protes- tants who had fled to the Palatinate, while infinitely better than in their native land was, nevertheless, unsatisfactory. Besides being overcrowded with refugees, the Rhine Provinces were again and again ravaged by the Papal troops to such an extent that thousands of the inhabitants determined to seek peace and quietude in the wilds of the New World. It is therefore no wonder that the Huguenots should follow the example of their German brethren to seek a home where they might serve the Lord unmolested by the cruel Inquisitor and brutal Dragoon. The Ferree family also decided upon emigration. The head of the family now was Daniel, the eldest son, and who was a man of family, the rest, with the exception of Mrs. LeFever, being still single. Madame Ferree's Passport. The first step necessary in taking their departure was to secure from the civil authorities a certificate of standing and passport. This was done by Madame Ferree on behalf of the family. The original document, of which the following is a translation, is said to be still in the possession of her descendants : »* WHEREAS, Maria, Daniel Fuehre's widow, and her son, Daniel Ferie, with his wife and six single children, in view of im- proving their condition and in furtherance of their prosperity, pur- Hosted by Google 102 MEMORIAI^ OF THE HUGUENOTS. pose to emigrate from Steinweiler, in the Mayorality of Bittingheim, High Baihwick Germersheim, via Holland and England, to the Island of Pennsylvania, to reside there. They have requested an accredited certificate that they have left the town of Steinweiler with the knowledge of the proper authorities, and have deported themselves, and without cause for censure, and are indebted to no one, and not subject to vassalage, being duly solicited it has been thought proper to grant their petition, declaring that the above- named persons are not moving away clandestinely. ** That during the time their father, the widow and children resided in this place they behaved themselves piously and honestly that it would have been highly gratifying to us to see them remain among us ; that they are not subject to bodily bondage, the Mayor- ality not being subject to vassalage. They have also paid for their permission to emigrate. Mr. Fisher, the Mayor of Steinweiler, being expressly interrogated, it has been ascertained that they are not liable for any debts. In witness whereof I have, in the ab- sence of the Counsellor of the Palatinate, etc., signed these presents, gave the same to the persons who intend to emigrate. ** Dated Bittingheim, March lo, 1708. ) L. S. t '^J. P. DIETRICH, Court Clerk." The civil passport having been obtained the next step was to obtain a certificate of standing and dismissal from the French Re- formed Church at Pelican, of which they were members. That given to Daniel Ferree is given in the following translation : * * Certificate for Daniel Firre and his family. **WE, the Pastors, Elders and Deacons of the Reformed Walloon Church of Pelican, in the Lower Palatinate, having been requested by the Honorable Daniel Firre, his wife, Anne Maria Leininger, and their children, Andrew and John Firre, to grant them a testimonial of their life and religion, do certify and attest that they have always made profession of the pure Reformed religion, frequented our sacred assemblies, and have partaken of the supper of the Lord with the other members of the faith, in addition to which they have always conducted themselves uprightly without having given cause for scandal that has come to our knowledge. Being now on their departure to settle elsewhere we commend them to the protection of God and to the kindness of all our brethren in the Lord Christ. In witness whereof we have signed this present Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. 103 testimonial with our signature and usual marks. Done at Pelican, in our Consistory, the loth day of May, 1708. MICHAEL MESSAKOP, J. ROMAN, Pastor, PETER SCHARLET, JAMES BAILLEAUX, Deacon. JOHN BAPTISTE LAPLACE, Deacon." **THE undersigned children, to wit: — Andrew and John Firre — were baptized, the first in the church at Steinweiler in the year 1701, on the 28th of September. His sponsors were Andrew Leininger and his wife Margaret Leininger. The other, to wit : — John — was baptized in the Church of Rhorbac in the year 1703, on the 8th of February. The sponsors were Abraham Ptillon and Ju- dith Miller, both of Steinweiler." The Start For Loadon. With these documents in hand the party set out for England in order to make further arrangements regarding their settlement in America. Upon their arrival in London Madame Ferree visited William Penn in person, and to whom she made known her situa- tion. Penn became deeply interested in the sad story of her mis- fortunes and the next day he introduced her to Queen Ann, the Sov- ereign of England. The good Queen, whose great kindness of heart had already been shown in her open hand of charity to thousands of French and German refugees, was likewise deeply moved with pity at her misfortune and promised her substantial aid, which she in due time rendered. William Penn covenanted to give her a tract of land and which she obtained upon her settlement in Pennsylvania. Embark For America* The party remained in London about six months during which time the Colony of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal was organized, com- posed of French and Palatine refugees from Lindau in Bavaria. This party, which the Ferrees and LeFevre joined, obtained from the Queen a patent of naturalization and permission to colonize in America. The instrument, which is dated August 27, 1708, con- tains the names of fifty-four persons, most of whom came to Penn- sylvania some years later. The party arrived safely in New York, from whence they proceeded to Esopus, nearly a hundred miles up the Hudson river, and where they remained several years with their Huguenot friends, (i) H). Michael Ferree was one of the early Huguenot settlers of Esopus. At the destruction of Wiltwyck by the savages June 7, 1663, his house was burned, a child taken captive and himself wounded so severely that he later died from the ef- fects. The I^efever family was also established at Esopus quite early. Andreas Lefevre was one of the 12 Patentees, 1677. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., XIII p. 245-506). They were all, without doubt, relatives to the Pennsylvania immigrants. Hosted by Google 104 MKMORIAI^ OF THE HUGUKKOTS. The Ferree family had no intention of settling permanently in New York, since the interviews of the Madame with Penn and his liberal grant to her of a great body of land presupposes arrange- ments for a settlement on them. Circumstances at length became favorable for their departure to Pennsylvania to take possession of their estates. This land, consisting of two thousand acres, was a part of the 10,000 acres granted by William Penn to Martin Kindig and others, agents of the Mennonite Colony. The lands were se- lected by the agents in 1709. The warrant is dated October 10, 1 7 10. The land was surveyed on the 23d of the same month and subdivided April 27, 171 1, by the Surveyor General, (i) From the pen of an unknown writer we give an account of the arrival of the Ferree's in Lancaster county in 171 2. (2) ** It was on the evening of a summer day when the Huguenots reached the verge of a hill commanding a view of the Valley of the Pequea. It was a woodland scene, a forest inhabited by wild beasts, for no [in- dication of civilized life was very near. Scattered along the Pequea, among the dark green hazel, could be discovered the Indian wig- wams — the smoke issuing therefrom in its spiral form. No sound was heard but the songs of the birds. In silence they contemplated the beautiful prospect which Nature presented to their view. Sud- denly a number of Indians darted from the woods. The females shrieked, when an Indian advanced and in broken English said to Madame Ferree : * Indian no harm White ; White good to Indian ; go to our Chief ; come to Beaver.' Few were the words of the^In- dian. They went with him to Beaver's cabin, and Beaver, with the humanity that distinguished the Indian of that period, gave to the emigrants his wigwam. The next day he introduced them to (i). The following is the allotment of Madame Ferree's estate by the Propri- etors (see Penna. Archives, Vol. XIX p. 529) : *'Sept. 10, 17 12. " The late commissioners having granted ten thousand acres of land to the Palatines by their warrant dated October 10, 17 10, in pursuance thereof there was laid out to Martin Kindig (besides the two thousand acres already confirmed to him and paid for) the like quantity of two thousand acres towards the Susquehanna, of which the Surveyor General has made a return. The said Martin now appearing desires that the said land may be granted and confirmed by patent to Maria Warenbur, widow, for whom the vSame was taken up or intended, and who is to pay the consideration for it. But, upon further consideration of the matter, it is agreed among themselves that the said lands shall be confirmed to Daniel Fierre and Isaac Lefever, two of the said widow's sons, and the consideration money, viz : 140 pounds at 7 pounds per hundred, by agreement having been for some time due but is now to be paid down in one sum, tis agreed that they shall pay only 10 pounds for interest— that is 150 pounds in the whole." The Archives show many subsequent grants to various members of the family indicating a degree of prosperity in marked contrast with their former impover- ished condition. (2). SeeRupp's History of Dauphin Co., p. 37. Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF tHB HUGUENOTS. 105 Tawana, (i) who lived on the great flats of Pequea and was a Chief of a branch of the Conestoga Indians who at that time occu- pied this region. The friendship formed between the Red Men of the forest with the Huguenots upon their arrival was maintained for many years, each race giving the other assistance in time of need.*' Death of Madame Ferree. Not long after her arrival in Pequea Madame Ferree vested in the care of trustees a plot of ground as a burial place for the set- tlement. This place, now known as Carpenter's Graveyard, is sit- uated near Paradise. Here this noble woman, who had drank so deeply from the cup of misfortune, found a peaceful grave in 1716. She had accomplished her purpose to establish a new home for her posterity, many of whom are slumbering by her side. Her influ- ence still lives in the great multitude of her descendants who belong to the aristocracy of personal worth. Her descendants, including of course, the LeFevers, are thousands in number and are to be found in many States of the Union. The Family. Daniel Ferree (1677-1750), eldest son of the Madame, had, besides his sons Andrew (1701-1739), and John (1703-1773), who were born in Europe, a son named Daniel, Jr, (d. 176^), who was married in 1739 to Mary Carpenter, whose father, Henry Carpen- ter, was one of the earliest and most prominent Swiss emigrants in the Province. John Ferree, the second son of the Madame, be- came a Quaker, as also most of his descendants after him. Philip Ferree (1687-17 5 3), the third son of the Madame, was married during their sojourn at Esopus to Leah Dubois, the daugh- ter of Abraham Dubois, whose father Louis was the founder of New Platz in 1660. Soon after his marriage, which was about 171 1, he came to Pequea and settled on a part of the Ferree grant. Upon his arrival he constructed a temporary habitation of forked poles, bark roof, etc. In this queer house their first child was born. Philip and Leah Ferree had eight children as follows: Abraham (d. \TJ^), Isaac {A. \J%2), Jacob, Philip, Joel, and daughters Z^;^^, married to William Buffington, Leah, married to Peter Baker, and Elisabeth, married to Isaac Ferree, her cousin. Abraham, the eldest son of Philip Ferree, the emigrant, was married about 1736 to a Miss Eltinge, of Esopus, N. Y. Their children were Corne- lius, who settled in Virginia, Israel, and a daughter Rebecca, who married David Shreiver and removed to Frederick county, Maryland. (i). Tawana is said to have been one of the signatories to the famous Penn Treaty with the Indians at Philadelphia. Hosted by GOO^^' 106 MEMORIAI^ OF THK HUGUKNOTS. Eminent Descendants. A very large number of Madame Ferree's decendants have at- tained distinction in the various walks of life. The mere mention of them would fill pages. Among them are great scholars, jurists, ministers, statesmen, capitalists and soldiers. No other family in America can show a grander record of service for the public good. Prominent among the men of distinction was Colonel John Ferree, who commanded the Tenth Pennsylvania Rifles in the New Jersey campaig:n of the Revolution. Then also Colonel Joel Ferree, (i) Commander of the First Battalion of Lancaster Associators, and Major Michael Ferree and Lieutenant George Lefever. All these served with distinction in the Revolution, besides a host of others as non-commissioned officers and privates. Joseph Ferree, also a grandson of the Madame, was prominent in Colonial affairs. He was a member of the Assembly for Lancaster county 1 771-1773, and a member of the County Committee in 1774 to consider the general dissatisfaction against the British Government. In the War of 1812 the family was again prominent. Among others was Colonel Joel Ferree (i 771-18 13), of Allegheny county, who died at Zanesville, Ohio, while in active service. Also Colonel Daniel Lefever (1788-185 5), son of Lieutenant George Lefever, of Newville, Pa. In the Civil War a very large number of descendants were con- spicuous, but we pass them all by but one, whose high military tal- ents and glorious achievements has not only shed a lustre on his Huguenot ancestry but covered his memory with an undying glory. This was Major General John F, Reynolds, (2) Commander of the First Army Corps, and who commanded the left wing of the Union army. His great achievement at Gettysburg, where he held for many hours at bay with his single corps the entire army of the in- vaders, and the sacrifice of his gallant life in that mighty struggle, constitutes one of the most interesting episodes in our national history. Another Hne of Madame Ferree's descendants who have made a most honorable record is the Schreiver family of Maryland. As already stated, David and Rebecca Ferree Schreiver removed from Pennsylvania to Frederick, Maryland. Their family was a noted one. Among the sons was Abraham (1771-1848), for many years (i). Colonel Joel Ferree, of lyyken's Valley, was killed by the Indians in 1801 in Allegheny county while visiting relatives there. (2). Major General John F. Reynolds, who fell at Gettysburg July i, 1863, came from the Ferree-Ivefever line. He was born at lyancaster, Pa., 1820, and graduated at West Poi^t 1841, served throughout the Mexican war, and was one of the chief commanders in the Civil War at the time of his death. Hosted by Google MEMORIAIvS OF THE HUGUENOTS. 107 the Judge of the Frederick county courts and whose high sense of rectitude is still a cherished memory in Western Maryland. Another distinguished member of this family is Admiral l^tn- field Scott Schley, (/) the hero of Santiago, whose naval achieve- ment in destroying the entire Spanish fleet is without a parallel in modern times. Nothstanding the questionable attempts, prompted by envy, to rob him of this crowning glory of American naval war- fare, it is perhaps sufficient to say that the great mass of intelligent readers who have no connection whatever with departmental regu- lations supposed to govern the case, will never cease to regard him as the true leader and hero of that engagement. LeFevre, — As already noted, Isaac LeFevre married Catha- rine, the daughter of Madame Ferree. The name LeFevre occurs in many honorable connections in France. Jacques LeFevre, of Meaux, was one of the first Reformers and died a martyr's death. Francois Joseph LeFevre (1755-1820), Duke of Dantzic, one of the great Napoleon's Marshals, was born in Alsace and was one of the greatest soldiers of the past century. The family (2) to which Isaac LeFevre belonged were scattered at the Revocation and several lost their lives. It is quite probable that he was connected with the LeFevers of Esopus, New York, who emigrated thither long before the Revocation. In fact there is a strong probability that Isaac LeFevre had been in America years before his marriage and immigration with the Ferree family. He was a man of great energy and ability as well as a scholar, as his numerous notes and comments in his French Bible testify. He ac- quired very rich and extensive estates in the Pequea Valley and at his death owned over fifteen hundred acres of the choicest land. The descendants of Isaac LeFevre have been an honor to their Huguenot ancestry. Philip LeFevre (1710-1761), the second son of the immigrant, was a noted manufacturer of tools and firearms. One of the sons of Philip LeFevre was George LeFevre (1739- (i). Admiral Schley derives his paternal ancestry from John Thomas Schley, b. in the Palatinate 171 2, leader of a Colony to Maryland 1735, founded Frederick 1745, died 1790. His grandvSon, John Schley (i 771-1830), m. Mary Schreiver, b. 1773, daughter of David and Rebecca (Ferree) Schreiver. John and Mary (Schrei- ver) Schley were the grandparents of the Admiral. It will thus be seen that his descent from Madame Ferree and of I^ouis DuBois, the founder of New Paltz, N. Y., is easily traced. (2). In one of his bibles is a record of his brothers and sisters, but unfortu- nately for posterity he failed to record the names of his parents. The record is as follows : Judith, b. October 20, 1660 ; Philip, b. May i, 1664 ; Jacob, b. December 20, 1666 ; Isaac, b. March 26, 1669 ; Mary, born June 15, 1671 ; Susanna, b. Sep- tember 12, 1672 ; Charles, b. October 24, 1680. The children of Isaac and Catharine Ferree I^eFevre were : Abraham, b. April 9, 1706; Philip, b. March 16, 1710; Daniel, b. March 29, ^713; Mary, b. August 24, 1715 ; Esther, b. May 3 * muel, b. May 3, 1719. # HostetHDy LjOOQ-II 108 MKM0RIAI3 Olf THK HUOUKNOTS* 1820), who married Anna B., a daughter of Lawrence and grand- daughter of the noted immigrant, Matthias Schliermacher (Slay- maker). After serving as an officer in the Revolution George Le- Fevre in 1780 removed to Newville, in Cumberland county, where he established an honored posterity. Daniel LeFevre (1788-1855), the youngest son of George Le- Fevre, early in life removed to Crawford county, but died near De- troit, in Michigan. He was a man of prominence and served as a Colonel in the War of 181 2. Among other notable descendants of the immigrant, Isaac Le- Fevre, may be mentioned in this connection Major General John F. Reynolds, of the Civil War, and Judge O. E. Lefever, of Den- ver, Colorado. CHAPTER XIIL The Non-Resistant Denominations. The Mennonites and Dunkards — Their Peaceful Character — Persecutions and Martyrdoms — Their Dispersion — Some Take Refuge in Alsace — The Palatinate Devas- tated — They Seek a Home in the New World. ** Faith of our Fathers— living faith ^ In spite of dungeon^ fire and sword y Oh ! how our hearts beat high with joy When'er we hear that glorious word. Faith of our Fathers— Holy faith^ We will be true to thee till death,' ^ kF'all the branches of the Christian Church having their origin ^ ) in the Reformation, there is none that has passed through a more fiery ordeal than the Mennonites. (i) This body of Christians was scattered over Central Europe, and through their rigid faith and austere mode of life came in sharp conflict not only (i). The Mennonites were not Huguenots in the proper sense of that term. Their settlement in Alsace, however, which was annexed to France during their sojourn there, made them French citizens, and in which relation many of them came to Pennsylvania. This, we think, entitles them a place in these Memorials* The Mennonite Church was founded by Menno Simon, a distinguished re- former, who was born at Witmarsum, Friesland, in 1505. About 1538 he began to organize his adherents into societies. After many years of truly apostolic labors in many lands he died in 1561. In many respects he was far in advance of his age. His views on war and non-resistance, religious toleration, education, and many kindred subjects, are being absorbed hy advanced reformers of all Christian per- suasions as never before and mark the lines of highest civil and religious effort at the present day. Hosted by Google Hosted by Google I m J) m m m < m CD -4 01 01 CO z Q c Hosted by Google MKMORIAI^ OF THE HUGUENOTS. 109 with Papists but in many instances with the Protestants. Their opposition to war, physical resistance, civil courts and oath-taking marked a wide divergence from the civil and political laws and usages of the day, while their advocacy of complete religious tolera- tion and education brought them in conflict with the narrow bigotry of nearly all the established Churches. Their ministers and teach- ers took no stated salary but, like the Apostles of old, traveled about to preach and indoctrinate the people in the faith. There never was a more devoted class of ministers in any other Protestant de- nomination, and we have never read or heard of any of them ab- juring their faith under the most dreadful torture ever inflicted on man. We will give, in this connection, a brief account of the suffer- ings of a number whose descendants and kindred found a refuge in Pennsylvania. Many hundred, perhaps thousands bearing the names of the martyrs given are found in America still adhering to the faith of their fathers. The persecution of the Mennonites was especially severe in Switzerland, the storm center being the city of Zurich. Here in the cloister tower of the Othenbach great numbers were confined, many of whom were starved to death or died of neglect, besides those who suffered at the stake, block or gibbet. In i^2Z John Sechler, and in 1529 Conrad Richer, of Staffsburg, suffered death. ^^ i^l^ Peter Kuster, (i) and in i^n Peter Stucke and Ulrich Huber, of the north of Holland, were beheaded. At Amsterdam in 1529 George Bowman, of Wurtemberg, suffered. In 1538 Offrus Grissiiiger, an eminent minister, was burned in the Tyrol. In 1536 Peter Ly decker and Peter Gerhart, teachers of Zurich, were be- headed. In 1 538 Michael Widenian was burned. In 1 539 Lorentz Eberly and Lorentz Rudolph Eisley, of- Gronau, were cast into prison and subsequently suffered death. In 1543 Christian Oberlin suffered. In i^^J Martin DeWall, of Antwerp, was beheaded. In 1576 Matthew Binder, an eminent minister of Wurtemburg, was arrested and taken to Stuttgart M/here he defended himself before the civil and ecclesiastical courts with great vigor and ability. He was thrown into the ** Hohen wilting- schloss" with many other coreligionists. During their imprison- ment the schloss (Castle) took fire. Binder and his fellow-prisoners labored hard to extinguish the flames and did not take advantage of the opportunity to escape, which was purposely afforded them. The prisoners then petitioned the civil authorities for their release inas- (i). The supposed ancestor of Major General George A. Custer (1840-1876), a gallant officer of the Civil War, and who, with his entire command, was killed bj^ the Sioux Indians in Montana, Hosted by Google 110 MKMORIAIurkholder, John, Sr., John, Jr. and Abraham; Christopher, Carl; Dondore, Michael ; Erisman, Melchoir ; Eby, Theodorus, Peter and John ; Eshelman, Daniel ; Faber, John ; Frederick, John ; Ferree, {2) John, Daniel and Philip ; Funk, John Jacob, and Henry ; Francis- (i). Originally *' Barree^^ Huguenots. (2). Sons of Madame Ferree, which see. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THK HUGURNOTS. 117 cus, (/) Christopher ; Graff y Hans (2) and Martin ; Guth (Good), John and Jacob ; Harnish, Martin ; Herskey, Christian ; Herr, Hans and Abraham ; Hess, John ; Hermau, Christian ; Hoover y Ulrich ; Hostetter, Jacob ; Houser, Christiipin and Ulrich ; Hufford, Melchoir ; Hubert, Hubertson (1709); Kaigy, Hans; Kauffman, John, Andrew and Jacob ; Kcenig (King), Simon ; Krider, John Jacob ; Kindig, Martin, George ; Kreitser, Jacob ; Larue, Jonas, (j) ; Lefever, (J) Isaac ; Leamon, ( 5) Peter ; Landis, FeHx ; Le- Bo, John ; Lander t, Sigismund ; Line, John ; Lochman, Casper ; Lighte (Light), John and John Jacob ; Meylin, Martin and John ; Mire (Mier, Moyer), Michael, Jacob, Rudy, Abraham and John ; Miller, Jacob, Sr. , Jacob, Jr. and Martin; Musselman, Henry; Neff, ({5) Francis, Sr., Francis, Jr., John Henry, Sr., John Henry, Jr., and Henry ; Nissley, Jacob ; Newcomer, Peter ; Oberholtzer, Martin and Ulrick ; Peelman, Christian ; Ream, Eberhart ; Royer, Sebastian ; Rudy, Ulrich ; Shank, John and Michael ; Sower (7) Christopher ; Steinman, Christian and Joseph ; Shultz, Andrew ; Schliermacher (8) (Slaymaker), Mathias ; Steiner, Christian ; (i). A noted Swiss patriot who had taken refuge in Alsace. He came to Pe- quea in 1710. (2). Born of distinguished parentage in Switzerland 1661. Fled as a Menno- nite to Alsace where he bore the title of Baron Von Weldon. About i695-'96, ac- companied by his brother, he came to Germantown. He was one of the first set- tlers of I^ancaster county, locating at '* Graff's Thai" (Rupp's I^anc. County, p. 133). He was a wealthy and important personage, Karl township being named in his honor (Col. Rec, Vol. Ill pp. 420, 673). He founded a great posterity. He was the grandfather of Sebastian and Andrew Groff , noted Revolutionary patriots. Sebastian Groff (3d), born in Earl township, I^ancaster county, about 1750; delegate to the Provincial Convention 1775 ; delegate to the Federal Constitution Ratification Convention 1787; State Constitutional Convention 1787: State Sena- tor 1790 ; died 1792. His brother Andrew was also a man of prominence and mem- ber of the Provincial Assembly 1776 and treasurer of I^ancaster count}^ many years. (3). A Huguenot and associate of the Ferrees. (4). Son-in-law to Madame Ferree. (5). Originally ^* Lemottt^^ (Rupp's Lane. County, p. 516). (6). Francis and Dr. John Henry Neff belonged to an eminent Swiss Menno- nite family, some of whom perished for their faith. They fled to Alsace where they resided before coming to America. Dr. Neff was the first regular physician in lyancaster county (Rupp, p. 125). (7). The famous German printer who located in Germantown and where in 1743 he printed the first Bible in America in a European language. (8). Emanated from a notable family and for some time seated at vStrasbourg, in Alsace, owing to persecution. He came to PenUvSylvania in 17 16. Henry Slay- maker, son of Mathias, was born in Strasburg, I^ancaster county, 1730 ; a Captain in active service 1776 ; member of Constitutional Convention 1776 ; a Justice ; succeeded Judge Hubley as Judge of the Courts 1784 ; died 1785. His son Amos, b. 1755, was a Captain in the Revolution, member of Congress 1811-1814, and later a member of Penna. vSenate. He held many important offices and died in 1840. Hosted by Google 118 M15M0RIAI.S OF THE HUGUKNOTS. Schnebly, John Jacob, Sr. and John Jacob, Jr. ; Stoyy Frederick ; Swope, John ; Stoinpker, John ; Weaver (Webber), Jacob, Henry, John and George ; Wenerick, Benedictus ; Witmer^ Benedictus ; VVoolslegel, John ; Zimmerman (/) (Carpenter), Henry, Emanuel and Gabriel. CHAPTER XIV. The Tulpchocken — Swatara Lebanon. The Overland Journey From Schoharie — Settlement of the TULPEHOCKEN VaLLEY — LEBANON — DaUPHIN — DISTINGUISHED Families of Huguenot Descent. •1 ** They were men of present valor, Stalwart old iconoclasts ^ Unconvinced by axe or gibbet That all virtue was the past. But we make their truth our falsehood Thinking that has made usfreCy Hoarding it in mouldy parchments y While our tender spirits flee^ The rude grasp of that impulse Which drew them across the sea, ' ' — Lowell. O't HE beautiful and fertile Valley of the Tulpehocken is ten or more miles north of Reading, in Berks county, Pennsylvania. It is watered by the Swatara and Tulpehocken Creek, and anciently embraced far more than the present township of that name. Its first settlers were Palatines, who came overland from Schoharie, in New York, in 1723 and 1727, and among whom was the celebrated Conrad Weiser. These Palatines had emigrated to England at the invitation of Queen Ann owing to the devastation of the Palatinate by the French. Many thousands of them arrived in London prior to 1709 in a deplorable condition. In 1709 about three thousand of them were sent to New York at the expense of the Government. They wintered at Livingston Manor in 17 10 (2) and eventually a large number of them came to Pennsylvania (Chap. V). Among these refugees were many Huguenots whose names reappear in this work. (i). Henry Zimmerman, a Swiss, first came in 1698. Returned to Burope and brought over his family in 1706 (Rupp, p. 126). Many of his descendants be- came prominent men. (2). For list see ** Rupp's 30,000 names of Emigrants*'— Appendix. Hosted by Google o. o. ^ 3 C^ c O w c ^ O 6d X. •^ O S Q. CQ ^^ CO • % ^ u < CL Hosted by Hosted by Google MEMORlAtS Olf THE HUGUlCNOTS* 119 Sellaire, — Among the Huguenot exiles were several branches of the ancient Sellaire or Cellier family of France. The name is met with among the refugees to England and America prior to the Revocation, and even in far away Cape Colony where a descend- ant, General Cellier, became famous as a Boer leader in the Trans- vaal war. One branch retired to the Palatinate about the period of the Revocation. Of this family v^^s Jean Henri Sellaire who, with his family, followed the great exodus of Palatines to London in 1708. In 1709 he came to New York with the Palatines, where his name and that of his son John as '^ Zeller'' appears among the settlers of Livingston Manor in 1710. About 1727 he came over- land through the trackless wilderness to Tulpehocken, locating near the present town of Sheridan, where he established a considerable estate and where he died at a very advanced age in 1756. (i) His house, a massive stone edifice, erected with a view to protect the family and neighbors in case of attack by the Indians, is still standing. Pontius. — In i^^^ John Pontius arrived and located in Tulpe- hocken. He was born in Alsace in 171 8. In 1743 he married Anna Catharine, a daughter of John tellers, already referred to. He had a considerable family and his sons were great pioneers. (2) Several were among the first settlers in Buffalo Valley in (now) Union county, and many of the next generation were of the first in Ohio and Illinois. Aurand, — Among the Huguenot refugees to the Palatinate was a branch of the Aurand family, and of which was Henry Aurand and his wife Anna Catharine. After a sojourn of some years in Holland they settled near Heidelberg where most of their children were born. In 1753 John Aurand (1725-1807), a son of the fore- going, came to America and located in Berks county where he mar- ried Mary, a daughter of John Pontius. In 1772 he removed to (now) Union county. His son Dietrich (1760-1841) was a soldier of the Revolution and for many years a noted minister of the Re- formed Church. (3) Bashore (Le Baiseur), — This family, so numerous and so widely scattered throughout America, is of eminent Huguenot ori- gin. The name, according to Prof. I. D. Rupp (himself a descend- ant), is a corruption of Le Baiseur, Several of this name are found (i). He was survived by his wife, Anna Maria, and children John George, his chiei heir, John Henry, John David, Martin, John, Anna Mary Saltzgiver, Barba- ralis Lerew, Catharine Pontius and Ann Elisabeth Battorf. (2). The sons were John Henry, b. 1744; John Peter, b. 1747 ; John, b. 1751 ; Andrew Michael, George and Frederick. (3). See ** Fathers of the Reformed Church." The children of the emigrant were Henry, Peter, Jacob, Daniel, Dietrich, George, KHsabeth Zeller and Mary Reem, all of whom became heads of families. Hosted by Google 120 MKMORIAI.S Olf TH^ HUGUENOTS. among the refugees to foreign lands. Jacques Le Baiseur fled to England in 1614. Another of this name was a member of the Huguenot Church of New York prior to 1700. John Le Baiseur was married in Philadelphia in 1789 (Pa. Arch. Vol. IX). Several heads of families of this name located in Pennsylvania. They were in all probability brothers. In 1735 we find Jacob Bashore with a family in Earl, Lancaster county. He died in 1779. Baltzer Bashore, who died in 1791, was a resident in the same lo- cality in 1739. George Bashore located in Bethel township, in Berks county, prior to 1738. From the latter immigrant sprang many men of eminence, among them the late Prof. I. D. Rupp (i) and Hon. Charles S. Wolf, of Lewisburg, an able statesman and a leader in the Pennsylvania Legislature. Bennechy (Bennage). — In northern Berks county also located the Bennech family, a name noted in Huguenot history. Many of this name were scattered by the persecutions to Switzerland, the Palati- nate and England. Of the immigrants to America Simon Bennech located in Heidelberg township in Berks county, where he died in 1757, leaving posterity. The family arrived in 1732, at which time Simon was thirteen years of age. Inasmuch as the father's name does not appear on the list with the family upon arrival it is proba- ble that he died on the voyage to America. Achey, — The Achey (Augey) family of America emanate from the nobility of Normandy and the name occurs in many honorable connections in French history. (2) A Knight of this name accom- panied William the Conqueror in his expedition to England (A. D. 1066), while the noted Admiral, the Count DeAchey (1717-1775), shed lustre on the family name in more recent years. The name has suffered many variations, and it is worthy of note that the great naturalist. Prof. Louis Agassiz (i 807-1 873), in a letter to Prof. S. Aughey (of the Pennsylvania branch,) in 1872, claimed kinship with the family under consideration. Several branches emigrated to other countries in the early stages of the Huguenot persecutions. Prof. I. Daniel Rupp. (i). This distinguished scholar was born in Cumberland county, Pa., July 10, 1803, and died in Philadelphia May 31, 1878. Mr. Rupp had but very few scholas- tic advantages, but by close and constant application he gained an immense fund of knowledge, as is shown in the wide range of his productions. His published works are over thirty in number, mostly of a historical character, and constitute a vast mine of historical lore respecting the settlement of Pennsylvania and from which later hivStorians have freely drawn. His chief works are his various county histo- ries, seven volumes, 1844-47 : ''The Bloody Theatre, or Martyr's Mirror," 1048 pages, translated from the German; "He Pasa Eklesia," 1844; "A History of Religious Denominations in America," and "A Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch and French Immigrants." (2). For the several conferments of nobility on the Achey family see DeMaigney's French Heraldry, pages 24 and 344, Hosted by Google MEMORIAtS O^ run HUOUBNOTS. 121 In 1558 Jacques DeAuchy, a merchant of Leuwaarden in Holland who had embraced the doctrines of the Mennonites, was apprehended by the authorities. His able defense of his life and doctrine shows him to have been an extraordinary man. After a year's imprison- ment he suffered a martyr's death in 1559. The immediate antecedents of the American branch is en- shrouded in the gloom that followed the Revocation period, during which time a Huguenot father suffered death for conscience sake* The widow with her children and a brother effected their escape to Switzerland, and from whence the sons removed to the Palatinate. Upon the mother's death the sons came to Pennsylvania in 1752. They were Jokn Ludwig, John Jacobs and Herman, Soon after their arrival we find the brothers in the Tulpehocken region. John Ludwig Achey acquired a considerable estate near Lingelstown, where he died in 1792. His son Henry, b. 1759, was married to Elisabeth Shuey, also of Huguenot ancestry. They were the an- cestors of Prof. S. Aughey, the noted scientist of the State Univer- sity of Nebraska. The emigrant was proud of his noble ancestry and had his coaches and furniture decorated with the Achey coat of arms. LeBeau^ (Lebo. — This family, now so numerous throughout the Union, was scattered at the Revocation, several branches re- tiring to the Palatinate and Switzerland, from whence the younger members emigrated to America. All the following herewith given were heads of families : John Lebo was naturalized in Lancaster county in 171 8. Another yanity sweeps onward Where to-day the martyr stands. For in front the cross stands ready And the crackling faggots burn ; While the hooting mob ^/yesterday In silent awe returns. To glean up the scattered ashes Into History^ s golden urn,^' "j N the present limits of York county a considerable number of * I people with Huguenot antecedents located, and it is a noie- ^ worthy fact that the first mayor of York, the late Hon. D. K. Noel, was a descendant of a Huguenot who fled from France to Deux Fonts (Zweibrucken). His i^XheVy Jacob Noel, emigrated from (i). He died in 1785 leaving children : Samuel, Abraham, Mary, Magdalene, Margaret, Catharine, Susanna and Salome. (2). James De Armand left a widow, Mary, and children John, Richard, Mar- garet aud Sarah. Hosted by Google 126 MKMORIAtS OI' THK HUGUKNOfS. Deux Fonts to Baltimore in 1795, and later located in York county, Pennsylvania. He served in the war of 181 2, and was wounded in the battle of North Point, from the effects of which he died. Berrot. — At the Revocation a family named Bei'ott, (also Per- rot), fled from France to Alsheim, in the Palatinate. Among their children was Frantz Ludwig, born at Alsheim, in 1699, who came to America in 1738. He was a prominent citizen and one of the founders of the Moravian church in York. He died in 1778, leaving several sons, who removed to North Carolina. His connection with Hellbarth Berrot, who located in Berks, and Jacques Berrot, of Lancaster county, has not been established. About 17^0 John Daniel Dinkle (died 1755) and wife Ursula arrived from the city of Strasburg, in Alsace, both of whom are said to have been of patrician origin. Their descendants are numerous and of the highest respectability. John Haj/y of Alsace, and father of Colonel John Hay, of the Revolution, (i) was also one of the first citizens of York. DutilL — The Dutill i^voAy (also written Doutel), was greatly scattered by the persecutions, as the name is met with in various Huguenot colonies. Some younger members, perhaps brothers, came to Pennsylvania in 1738. John Duttll v^di^ married by Rev. George Michael Weis, in Montgomery county, prior to 1755. Francis Dutill was long a resident in Lancaster county, but the records of his estate is at Reading, dated 1766. In 1737 Michael Doutel had a child baptized at Christ Church, Philadelphia. In 1751, Michael Doutell, of Robinson, now in Berks county, died, leaving a family. Jacob Dutill was one of the first residents of York, and a man of prominence. He died in 1777. He was the father of Daniel Doutel, (1727-1828), and of Captain i[//tr>^^^/ /7^^/^/, (1732-1805), an officer of the Revolution who had the honor of leading the first company of Pennsylvania soldiers into the War of Independence. (2) They left York for Washington's camp near Boston, July 1st, 1775. Captain Doutel's grave may be seen in the rear of Christ Lutheran church, in York. In 1739 arrived y^^;^ Voturin, (now Woodring), who was born at Helleringen, Loraine, in 171 1. He was one of the first Mora- vians of York. At his death he was survived by six daughters and (i). John Hay, Jr., b. in Alsace, France, 1733, d^^d in York, Pa., 1810, was one of the leading men of the State. He was a justice for many years. A member of the Provincial Assembly 1775, a member of the constitutional Conven- vention 1776, was a colonel of a York county batallion in active service in the Revolution and a member of Assembly 1 779-1 784. (2). Rupp's History of Lancaster and York counties, p. 608-612. Hosted by Google MKMORIAI,S OF THK HUGUENOTS. 127 a son, John Voturin, Jr,y who removed to Graceham, Md., where he died in 1779. Joh7t Moreau, (now Morrow), and Peter Gasha, who died in 1778, were also early residents of York. Elsewhere in the county of York, besides the Huguenot colony from New Jersey, to be noticed presently, there were the following: Christian Sangree, (originally St. Gris), located on Springetts- bury Manor prior to 1738. In 1749 arrived y^/^;^ Ludwig Sengris (Sangree), whose relation to the former is not known. In 1739 ar- rived Abraham Chedron from Lorraine, and located near York. He was the ancestor of the extensive Shetrone family. Andres Bailley dinA John Barone both appear before 1747. Jean De Grange prior to 1751. Abraham De Fleury, John Henry Lor ah, Abraham LareWy Nicholas Darone, Croft Billet, Peter Delo, Barthel La Gneau, Leonard Leer one, Daniel Renolle, Adam De Gomois (De Goma), Michael Le Boob, all appear at an early date. Dietrich Werley, who was born in Steinthal, in Alsace, in 1695, came to America in 1736, and located west of York. His posterity is very numerous. Antoine Bevenour, Thomas Petit, Jean La Mot he, (La Mott), David Fournier and John Noel, came prior to 1750. Nicholas Pierie arrived in 1727 and located on the Codorus in 1736. Albert La Bott came in 1737. John Joho, Adam Beidinger, the Bernitz and Boyer families arrived in York county in 1738. The Rutisilia (now Rudisill) family, now so numerous and widely scattered throughout the land, is said to be of Hugue- not origin. Several heads of families came to Pennsylvania, as will be seen in the general list. Philip Rutisilia was married at Con- estoga in 1734. (i) Weirich Rutisilia, born in 1697, arrived in 1737, in the same vessel with John Adam Beidinger. He located on the Codorus, east of Hanover, and was the ancestor of the York county branch. La Mo the, (La Mott). — The Lords De La Mot he ranked among the highest of the French nobility. (2) Several branches of the house embraced the Protestant faith and suffered great per- secutions in consequence. One member. General De La Mothe Fouquet, a distinguished officer of the French army, took refuge in Prussia at the Revocation. Madame De La Mothe-Guion was a noted devotional writer of the Reformation period, whose works were translated into many languages. In IT ^/\ Jean Henry De La Mothe (1705-1794), who was born in Provence, France, arrived, and located near Hanover. Later he removed to York, where he died. In early life he forsook his (i). Stoever's Records p. 54, Ibid p. 17. (2). See the Nobility of Normandy, Vol. I. Hosted by Google 128 MEMORIAI.S OF THK HUGUENOTS. native land because of the persecutions, and traveled extensively before coming to Pennsylvania. He was of a reserved disposition and said but little concerning his distinguished ancestry. During the first visit of the Count De LaFayette to the Conti- nental Congress, then sitting in York, in 1777, a nobleman of his staff, Captain Nicholas De La Mothe, visited him and claimed kin- ship. Barnitz. — The history of this family, both in France and America, has been an honorable one. One branch is of noble rank and has given many distinguished names to French history, (i) The date of the arrival of the Bernitz family in Pennsylvania is un- certain, as there is no record of them in the Archives. The earliest appearance of the name is in the record of Rev. John Casper Stoe- ver, of baptisms on the Conewago. In May, 1738, John Leonard Bernitz, whom we take to have been the head of the family, stood as baptismal sponsor, and several times thereafter. In 1749, John George Carl, (2) and in 1741 Elias Daniel Barnitz appear as sponsors in the same locality. The Barnitz family came from Alsace, and in our opinion arrived in 1737, in company with other Alsatians with whom we find their names associated. Of the foregoing, y6>//;^ George Barnitz was born in 1722, and died in 1796. His monument may be seen in the rear of Christ Lutheran Church, in York. His sons all became men of promi- nence, and several took a conspicuous part in the Revolution. Jacob was an officer in the war, and was severely wounded and taken prisoner by the British at Fort Washington in 1776. He became a man of great prominence and died in 1828. His son Jacob was an eminent lawyer and a member of the Twenty-third Congress. Bei dinger, (Bittenger). — In 1736 arrived from Alsace John Adam Beidinger, (3) aged 39, and Peter Beidinger, aged 34 years. They were probably brothers. The former located near Abbots- town, where he died in 1768. His son Nicholas (i 743-1 804) was a man of prominence in Colonial days. In the Revolution he served on the Committee of Safety, and also as a captain in Colonel Swope's regiment of the famous * 'Flying Camp," that rendered such valuable service in New York and New Jersey in lyye-jy. (i). '•Science des Armoiries," p 346. (2). The children of John George Carl Barnitz were Jacob, Daniel, John, George associate Judge of York county, Michael, Susan Eichelberger and Barbara Lauman. (3). The children of the immigrant were Nicholas, Henry Michael, Peter, Marillos, George, Adam, Christian, Frederick and Eve. The Hon. J. W. Bittenger, Judge of the York county courts is a great grandson of Captain Nicholas Bittenger. Hosted by Google M]eMORIAI,S OS THK HUGUENOTS. 129 Be Cessna. — Among the heroes of the Duke De Schomburg at the battle of the Boyne, (1690) was a young Huguenot soldier, ]ean De Cessna, who remained in Ireland after the forces of William, Prince of Orange, were withdrawn. In 1718 he came to Pennsyl- vania and located in Lancaster county, (i) Later he removed to York county where he died in 1751. (2) Several of his sons located in Shippensburg as early as 1751, and the later removed to Bed- ford county, where the family became prominent. John De Cessna, (17 1 8-1 800) of Bedford county, was one of the leading men of the Province. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly and Con- stitutional Convention of 1775, and a Colonel in the Revolution war. His brother, Charles De Cessna, was likewise a Colonel in in the war of Independence. The late Hon. John De Cessna, State Senator and member of Congress, was a great grandson of Col. John De Cessna. Another son of the immigrant was Stephen De Cessna, who prior to 1750 was a resident of Cumberland county. Piatt, Pyatt, — This family seated in Dauphiny, fled to Holland at the Revocation period, and later came to New Jersey. The name of the father is not known. Of the sons, Jchn Piatt was a prominent citizen of Somerset county, New Jersey, of which he was sheriff in 1732. He died in 1760, while on a visit to the Island of St. Thomas, where he owned a sugar plantation. All his sons, five in number, were soldiers in the Revolution, under the following grades: John, b. 1739, a private ; Abraha^n, b. 1741, a quarter- master ; William, b. 1745, a captain ; Daniel, b. 1745, a major, ?lx\A Jacob, b. 1747, a captain. The Piatt family were great pion- eers. John, at the close of the Revolution removed to (now) Ly- coming county, in Pennsylvania, where a township is named in his honor. Abraham removed to (now) Centre county, and was Judge of the Courts of Northumberland county in 1786. (3) He died in 1 79 1, and his family all removed to Ohio. Jacob Piatt, youngest son of John the immigrant son, removed to Kentucky. Jacob Piatt, evidently a second son of the immigrant, appears in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, as an Indian trader at an early day. Jacob Piatt, Jr, was a pioneer on the frontiers, and was dis- possessed of his lands in Path Valley as an intruder in 1750. Lischefs lists, — In 1742 arrived Rev. Jacob Lischey, a Morav- ian minister, and who soon afterwards was married to a daughter of John Stephen Benezette, of Philadelphia. Soon after his arrival he became disaffected and assumed charge of several Reformed con- gregations in York county. His baptismal record, lately recovered, (i). See Pa. Mag. of Hist. Vol. III. (2). Will at York, Pa. (3). Pa. Arch. 2ndser. Ill, p. 760. Hosted by Google 130 MKMORIAI,S OK THE HUGUENOTS. beautifully written, and most valuable in character, discloses a num- ber of Huguenot names. In some instances the entries of French people are made in the French language. The following are names of parents with earliest entry of baptisms of children : (i) Pierre Gerot 2.nAv^, Catharine, 1755, {sponsor, Jacques Ver- dieux). The foregoing was probably Pierre Gerra, who is recorded in the Archives as having arrived in 1746. Daniel Renolle, 1755 ; John and Jacob Rudesilly, 1755 ; Jacob Bouchon, 1756 ; John Chamblin, 1756; David Fourniery 1756. (•'Dulommum et sa femme," sponsors). The Conewago Colony. On the head waters of the Conewago creek, in the eastern limits of Adams county, a considerable number of Huguenots lo- cated at an early day. Among these v^ere James Pettit, who had a large plantation here soon after 1740, and died at a very advanced age in 1770, leaving sons Thomas and James. Abraham Larue , who died in 1757, leaving a family. Adam De Gomis, (previously noted), and who died here in 1772. John Noel prior to 1750, and who died in 1766, very aged, and leaving a large posterity. Also Daniel Renolle prior to 1751. None of the foregoing appear on the lists as foreign emigrants, and it is therefore a fair presumption that they came hither from an older colony. That this inference is correct is born out by the fact that the Pettit and other families named are found among the Huguenots who came to New York and New Jersey. Soon after 1760 a large number of French and a few Dutch families removed hither from Shrallenburg, in Bergen county. New Jersey. Their settlement was confined to a locality now in the townships of Straban and Berwick in Adams county. They were rigid adherents of the Dutch Reformed faith, and built a church on the Conewago about two miles east of the present village of Hunterstown. About 1781 many of them concluded to attempt another colonial experiment by securing a large body of land in Shelby county, Kentucky. To this new centre over a hundred, of all ages removed, before the close of the century. In 1793 another colony of nine families left the Conewago settlement and located at Owasco lake, in Cayuga county, in New York. To such an extent was the Conewago colony reduced by removals and defections that the maintenance of a distinctive congregation of their faith, (the Dutch Reformed), became impractical and in 18 17 they petitioned the Legislature for permission to sell their church, which was granted. (i). For the recovery of these names the author is indebted to Luther R. Kelker, Esq., of Harrisburg, Pa. Hosted by Google < o a: Hi < UJ > UJ z z LU CD LU Q LU O a: o LU o of Q LL O LU CO D O X CO -J < CO LU > z D li. O LU 1^ O CD < I H OC m lU I Q Z < Q LU H O LU a: LU Hosted by Google Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF the; HUGUENOTS. 131 In the absence of any records concerning this colony we must rely on the land and mortuary records at York and elsewhere. Among the colonists of French extraction not already noted were the following: John Bodine, will probated in 1786. George Bro- caw, who died in 1794, at an advanced age leaving sons, Peter y George d^wA John. Peter Cosine, who died aged in 1779, leaving sons Corneliits, Markivius and Peter-Cornelius Cosine who died in 1786 leaving a number of married children. Andri Ridett, who died in 1776, and in his will mentions his brother, John Ridett. Michcel Le Boob, who died in 1781. Peter Montfort, who died in 1769, quite aged, leaving sons Peter, Anay ^.ViA John, John Mont- fort, who died in 1777, leaving sons Francis, Peter, John and Laurence. Francis C assart, (i) George Laschelles^ Gerrett Demar- est^ Samuel Durye and Abraham Lovine. The Dutch colonists were Joris Brinkerhoff, (171 7-1 8 10), father of a large family, and whose son George (i 761-18 13) was for a time pastor of the church. Henry Banta, who had an unu- sually large family, nearly all of whom removed to Kentucky. Martin Nevius, who died in 1790, John Vanarsdalen, died 1772, William Vanderbilt, died 1772, David Vandine, died 1795, losta Shamp, and probably others who have not been identified. Western Pennsylvania. In the Western part of Pennsylvania a considerable number of the early settlers were of Huguenot origin, many of whom, such as the Bonnetts, Marchands, Leisures, De Cessnas and others, were the descendants of emmigrants already noticed in previous chapters. Among those not hitherto noticed, and who were identified with the region under consideration were the following : (i). Cassart, Cassatt. — Francis Cassart was born about 1713 in Bergen county, New Jersey. His grandfather Jacques Cassart arrived in America as a refugee about 1657 with his family, (Baird's Hug. Km. to America, Vol. I, p. 183). Among others, he had a son David, bap. June 18, 1671, d. 1740, m. 1696, Styntie Van Horn. Of this union Francis was the seventh child. in 1760 he located at the Indian Springs, six m. east of (now) Gettysburg, in Adams county. Pa., where he died near 1795, and was buried in the graveyard of the '^Jersey'* colony. He was a man of great prominence ; and took a notable part in the stirring events of the Revolution period. In 1775 he was a member of the Committee of Corres- pondence for York county. A member of the Provincial Assembly in 1776, and a member of the convention that framed the first state constitution 1776. He had three sons, Peter, who before the Revolution removed to Kentucky where he was killed by the Indians. His descendants are numerous in the west. David b. 1743, and d. 1824. Jacob b. 1751, d. 1813. The two latter are buried in the ''Jersey" colonists graveyard where their tombstones may be seen. Many of the descedants became prominent in various walks of life. David (1768-1824) son of David, was an eminent lawyer of York, while Jacob, 1778-1838), also a son of the latter died while a member of the legislature. Another son of David Cassart was Dennis, the grandfather of Hon. A. J. Cassatt, of Philadelphia, the noted financier and president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Hosted by Google 132 MEMORIAIvS OF THE HUGUENOT9. In 1749 arrived Frederick Pershing, (i 724-1 792), of Alsace, and located in Westmoreland county. He was the ancestor of the distinguished jurist, Hon. Cyrus L. Pershing, of Pottsville, Pa. (i) On the Monongahala river, in Fayette county, is situated the town of New Geneva, founded by Albert Gallatin, and named by him in honor of his native city, Geneva in Switzerland, Induced by Albert Gallatin, several Genevan families, of Hu- guenot antecedents, took up their residence in this region. Among these was Charles Andre Mestrezat, who descended from the Huguenot divine, Jean Mestrezat, (2) of Paris, and was a relative of Albert Gallatin. The emigrant was a son of Rev, Jacob Mestrezat, who was also a minister of note. He was born in 1766, and came to Pennsylva- nia in 1795, and was accidentally drowned in the Monongahela river in 181 5. He was the grandfather of the noted jurist, Hon. S. L. Mestrezat, of Uniontown, Pa. Br2inot, Bruno, — Ever since the days of Saint Bruno, (3) the founder of the Carthusian order of monks, at Grenoble, in A. D. 1086, the name Bruno and Brunot has been an honorable one. Several branches belong to the nobility, and the name is met with in many high and important relations. The name was early introduced into Pennsylvania. Felix Brunot d.xviweA in 1732 and located in Eas- tern Pennsylvania. John Brunot was a resident of Philadelphia prior to 1738. The name became most honorably associated with Pittsburg through a younger branch in the person of Dr, Felix Brunot, who eminated from the nobility. Dr. Brunot was born at Morey, in France, 1752. He is said to have been a foster brother to the Count De Lafayette, and accompanied him to America as a mem- ber of his medical stafl. (i). Hon. C. Iv. Pershing was born in Westmoreland county. Entered the legal profession and rose to eminent distinction. In 1772 he was elected a judge of Schuylkill county, in which capacity he served with marked ability until 1898 when he was compelled to retire because of ill health. In 1875 he was the Demo- cratic candidate for the governorship of Pennsylvania. (2). This eminent divine was born in Geneva, 1591, and was educated at the Huguenot College of St. Samur. He became the pastor of the famous Chare n ton Temple at Paris, where he died in 1657. He was famous as a writer and as an eloquent orator. Rev. Jacob Mestrezat wash, at Marseilles, France, in 1713. He was ordained to the ministry in 1740, was chaplain of the Dutch pmbassy at Paris, 1748-1750. Pastor at Amsterdam 1751-1752, and several othe/*places until 1777, when he retired because of failing health. He had one daughter and three sons of whom the youngest, Charles Alexander came to Pennsylvania. The latter had ten children, of whom Jean Louis Guillaume Mestrezat, was the father of Judge S. Leslie Mestrezat of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. (3). St. Bruno was born at Cologne, A. D. 105 1, and died at Calabria, A. D., iioi. In 1089 Pope Urban who had been one of his pupils summoned him to Rome. He was canonized in A. D. , 1628. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^ OF THE HUGUENOTS. 133 After the Revolution he became a Protestant and located in Philadelphia, and in 1797 removed to Pittsburg, where he died in 1838. He had two sons, Hilary, born in 1795, and Felix, Jr,, born in 1815. Both father and sons were intimately connected with the public interests of the city. The latter especially will ever be held in grateful remembrance for his philanthropic deeds. Doctor Brunot was married in 1789 to Elisabeth Kreider, whose mother, Susanna Pons Breton, was a daughter of Jacques Pons, a Huguenot refugee to Offenbach, in the Palatinate, and from whence the family emigrated to Pennsylvania. There lived with the Brunot family in Pittsburg for many years, Jea7i Marie, (b. in France, 1727, and still living in 1808), who came as a young man to Pennsylvania because of persecution. Dravo, — In 1789 there came to Western Pennsylvania with the Marquis De Lusiere, a young man of distinguished family, named Antoine Dreyvault, a name now changed to Dravo. He was born in Paris, August i6th, 1767, and died in Pittsburg, Pa., October 16, 1851. Anthony Dravo was a Protestant, and promi- nent as a Methodist. He erected a brick house, which was one of the first and finest in Pittsburg, and where he dispensed a generous hospitality. He entertained the Marquis De Lafayette during his visit to America in 1725, and also Louis Phillippi, then an exile, but later the King of France. Anthony Dravo was the founder of a highly honorable posterity, (i) Maryland. Following the Palatines in their migration to Western Mary- land and the Shenandoah Valley, of Virginia, we find a consider- able number of early settlers of Huguenot ancestry among them. The descendants of these people are among the most progressive and intelligent citizens in the South, and take a just pride in their ancestry. The initial settlements in Frederick county were made on the Monocacy, east of Frederick City. Among the first settlers v^diS Jean Henri Fortineaux, who ar- rived in Philadelphia in 1727. His posterity now generally write the name '' Fortny.'' The Dilaplain brothers, John, Joseph and Joshua, came from Colebrookdale, in Berks county. Pa. The first named prior to 1771. The family history is elsewhere given. Joseph May hew Z'd.m^'^tiox \,o \Tl^, The Mayhew name appears among the refugees to several Protestant countries. (2) Peter Cushan came near 1750. (i). Anthony Dravo had children— Pierre, Michael, William, John, Antoine, Francois, Harriet and Margaret. (2). Proc. I^ondon Hug. Soc. Vol. I. Hosted by Google 134 MKMORIAtS OF THK HUGUENOTS. Jacob Buckey, who arrived at Philadelphia in 1743, and located at Buckeystown, is an instance of how a name may be disguised under a phonetic form. The original was Bouquet, and represents a family despoiled by the persecutions and scattered to England, where they appear among the refugees, and to Switzerland, from whence came General Henry Bouquet, who, as a British officer, rendered such valuable service to our colonies on the frontiers, (i) In 1754 arrived Nicholas and Daftiel Haiter, brothers, who were born at Dildendorf, in Lorraine, and were of the Huguenot faith. They were both among the first residents of Frederick. Daniel was born in 1733, and was the grandfather of the venerable Daniel Hauer, D. D., (1803-1901), the oldest Lutheran minister in America. On the Monocacy also located at an early day David Shreiver, whose wife was a Ferree, a descendant of Madame Ferree, and whose history is elsewhere given. They were the parents of Judge Abraham Shreiver, (i 771- 1848), and. also the ancestor of the distinguished Admiral Schley. (Chap. XH). Other Huguenot names in Frederick county prior to 1780 were Boyer, Brevett, Cavy, Cocke, Delatter, De La Course, Doupe, De Laskmut, De Losier, De Bos, Duckett, De La Vincendie^^e, Dem- oresty De Bow, Tillard, La Mar, Le Nashu, De Marcellain, Pearre, North of the South Mountain in the present limits of Washing- ton county, the first settlements were made by Pennsylvania Ger- mans prior to 173S, in the vicinity of Clear Spring. Among the settlers with Huguenot antecedents was Dewalt Ancony, who arrived at Philadelphia from Europe in 1746, and died at Clear Spring in 1781, at a very advanced age. He was the foun- der of a great posterity. George Reidenour, who was born in Rosenthal, Alsace, in 171 8, and came with his parents to Pennsyl- vania in 1739, also located at Clear Spring prior to 1754. Jacob (i). Henri Bouquet was b. 1719 of Huguenot parentage in Switzerland. He was given an excellent education and at an early age entered the military service of Holland where he soon rose to distinction. In 1756 he entered the British army with the rank of Colonel, and was sent to Pennsylvania and participated in the hostilities against the French and Indians. He was second in command in the ex- pedition of General Forbes against Fort Duquesne at Pittsburg. In 1763 he led the expedition for the relief of Fort Pitt in which he was successful after first de- feating the Indians at Bushy Run. The following year he utterly vanquished the confederated tribes in Ohio, and compelled them to deliver to him the hundreds of white captives, mostly women and children, whom they had taken. Those he brought back to Carlisle, Pa., from whence they were restored to their homes. In 1765 he was naturalized by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, doubtless as a step to promotion to the rank of general which immediately followed : With his promotion he was placed in charge of the department of the South with head- quarters at Pensacola, Florida. Immediately upon his arrival he was smitten with fever and died 1765. Hosted by Google MKMORIAtS OF THK HUGUENOTS. 135 Bushong. who died in 1785, was a son of the immigrant y^^;^ Beau- champ. Jacob Cushwa, the founder of a notable family, was the son of Isaac Ctishwa, of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania. He was a teamster in Braddock's army in its march through this region to the crushing defeat at Fort Duquesne in 1755. After quiet was restored on the frontiers he located at Clear Spring. The notable Bregunier family came from a refugee who ap- pears on the arrival list at Philadelphia, in 1740, ^s John Nicholas Peckonier, and who located at Clear Spring. His grandson, Rev, Daniel Bregunier., (i 807-1 867). was a distinguished minister of the Reformed church, and the original of '*01d Mr. Huguenot" in **The Young Parson," by Dr. Peter Davis. In ly^g/john MicJicel Mottier, (now Motter), whose parents were driven from France, landed at Philadelphia, and later located in this locality, where the name is honorably established. In \T^(^ John Perrine located on a tract of land near the South Mountain. This name stands for a great Huguenot family else- where noted, many members of which fled from France and found a refuge in foreign lands. In the western part of the county located in 1740 Lanceolot Jacques, whose parents fled to England after the Revocation. Lancelot Jacques first came to Annapolis as agent for a company of planters. In 1765, in company with others, he acquired a tract of 15,900 acres of land near Clear Spring, where they erected the first furnace in Western Maryland. Abraham Voturin (Woodring) came with his parents from Lorraine and located in Eastern Penn- sylvania. From thence he removed to Hagerstown, in the Provin- cial period, and was one of the founders of the Reformed church at that place. Michcel Horry, (i 729-1 788), who was born in the Palatinate, of Huguenot parents, was also an early resident here. The Mumma, Dupre, Bouvard and Millott (i) families all located in this region in Provincial times. The Shenandoah Valley. Most of the early settlers of the Shenandoah Valley, in Vir- ginia, were Pennsylvania Germans, with a few Scotch Irish, and Quakers, from the same Province. With these, was a sprinkling of Huguenots, who although the most insignificant in point of num- bers, have nevertheless left many conspicuous marks of their pres- ence. With the exception of a few scattered pioneers, the first dis- tinctive settlements in the Valley was the result of an agreement made between the Governor of Virginia and John Jost Heydty of (i). From the latter came Col. Daniel Millott (1771-1854). Hosted by Google 136 MKMORIAIvS OF THE HUGUKNOTS. Pennsylvania, and Jacob Van Meeter, whereby the Governor ceded to the aforenamed two, over twenty-five thousand acres of land on the condition that they locate thereon at least two hundred families. This was in 1732, and immediately afterwards Jost Heydt located on the Opequon within five miles of the present city of Winchester. This was the beginning: of the great migration of the Pennsylvania Germans to the Valley of Virginia, and which continued southward until great numbers had penetrated the wilderness to the forks of the Yadkin, in North Carolina, where they had a flourishing settle- ment on Dutchman's creek, prior to 1750. ^ Jost Heydt was a native of Strasburg, in Alsace. He was a member of an ancient Protestant family, despoiled and ruined by the Papists under Louis XIV, y when he treacherously seized the city, as elsewhere narrated in this work. (1) Jost Heydt first lo- cated in Montgomery county, in Pennsylvania, in 1717, and was a man of prominence and great business capacity. He was well ad- vanced in years when he and his wife Anna Maria, and seven chil- dren, four sons and three daughters, removed to the South. His family consisted at this time of sons, John, Jacob, Isaac and Thomas, and sons-in-law, Jacob Christma7i, Ceorge Bowman and Paul Froman, Several sons were also at this time heads of families. The descendents of Jost Heydt are now very numerous, and consti- tute a very honorable posterity. Among the notable descendants ^n^lS James, who died in 1779, a son of Joseph Heydt. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly for a period of sixteen years. The Larue family of the South mostly came from two branches of this name, who maHe their escape from France at the Revoca- tion, and came to New Jersey, where they located in Hunterdon county. One of these, had among others, three sons, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Of these, Abraham and Jacob were pioneers in Kentuckey, where Larue county commemorates their name. Isaac, who was born in New Jersey in 171 2, removed in 1743 to the Val- ley, and established the Virginia branch of the family. In Shenandoah county located the Servier, Roller and Boneau- vent families, all of Huguenot ancestry. Valentine Servier, (father of John Servier, the famous Commonwealth builder), came from a family that had fled to England at the Revocation. About 1769 he accompanied his son and other Virginians to Tennessee, where they built Fort Watauga, and founded a new Commonwealth. John Peter Roller (2) and Jean Bonneauvant had both resided some years in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, before their settlement here. (i). See chapter VIII. (2). Vide Chapt. XI. 1^ - • '■ Hosted by Google GEN. JOHN E. ROLLER. p. 95. ^'^V Hosted by G^©gl( Hosted by Google MEMORIALS OF THK HUGUENOTS. 137 The latter located on Mill creek, where he built the first mill in this region. From these families comes General John E. Roller, (i) The Disponnet family soon after arrival in Pennsylvania (1739) removed to the Opequon, near Winchester. Here the father, Jacob, and several of his family, were cruelly massacred by the Indians during their bloody incursion into the Valley in 1756. The De Moss (Dumas) family was likewise located on the Opequon at an early day. The father, Lewis Dumas, died in 1743, leaving a large posterity. CHAPTER XVI. Monuments of the Huguenots in America. Their Great Achievements as Statesmen — Diplomats — Schol- ars — Scientists and Philanthropists in the United States. ^^And while the races of tnankind endure Let their great examples standi Collossalj seen of every land; To keep the soldier firm— the statesman pure Till in all lands, and through all hum^an story The path of duty be the way to glory. *' 3T was a remark of the Historian Bancroft, that America is full of monuments of the Huguenot emigration. This statement becomes apparent upon the most casual observation. The French Protestant exiles were among the most intelligent and en- terprising of all the people who bore a part in laying the founda- tions of this great Nation. The **monuments'* they have reared in the various fields of American enterprise and activity are indeed lofty and glorious, and form part of the distinctive elements of our National character. As it would be impractical to describe in detail all the monuments that stud the decisive field of Gettysburg, or the trophies of art at the Louvre at Paris, or the memorials of vanished empires in the British Museum, so is this brief recital ; we can call attention to only a few typical characters that stand out somewhat prominently, and pass by multitudes of almost equal greatness. The intellectual force and personal worth of the Huguenot character is surprisingly illustrated in many important connections in the formative period of our Nation. Although but a handful as (i). Gen. John E. Roller, (b, 1844), of Harrisonburg, Va., a distinguished Confederate officer, jurist, and historian, descends both from John Peter Roller and Jean Bonneauvant. Hosted by Google 138 MKMORIAIvS OF THE HUGUENOTS. it were, during our Colonial period, yet scarcely any event of im- portance was consummated in our early history without receiving in some form the Huguenot impress. In a preliminary way we may cite in this connection the fol- lowing remarkable facts. The jfirs^ session of the Continental Con- gress was opened at Philadelphia with prayer by Rev. Jacob Duche, the grandson of an eminent Huguenot refugee. Thi^ee of the pre- sidents of the Continental Congress were Huguenots, namely John Jay, Henry Laurens, and Elias Boudinot. The first two were sig- natories to the Treaty of Peace with England, November 30th, 1 782 . This treaty was ratified by Congress, in April, 1783, but it did not become effective until signed by the Huguenot President of Con- gress, who was Elias Boudinot. John Jay, as the American Plenopotentiary, signed the final Treaty of Paris, September 3rd, 1783. Thirty-one years later a Huguenot descendant again negotiated a Treaty of Peace with the Mother Country, namely James Bayard. This treaty remains un- broken to the present day, while Thomas F. Bayard, a descendant of the same famil}^ as a cabinet officer and Embassador to England under President Cleveland's administration, has been a prominent factor in establishing the principles of International Arbitration, which bids fair to lay the foundations of a permanent Anglo-Saxon Union, which may change the course of the World's history during the coming century. T\\e first U^eastirer of our Nation was Michael Hillegas, who was the son of an Alsatian refugee. The sterling worth of this dis- tinguished Philadelphian is shown in the many years of his incum- bency in this responsible office, especially during the dark and try- ing period of the Revolution, (i 776-1 783). Jay. — In the field of American statesmanship no name is more illustrious than that of John Jay. (i) His life work gave a dis- tinct trend to our National history. As a member of the Continen- tal Congress, and President of that body in 1778; as Minister to Spain in 1779; as one of the Plenopotentiaries for the Treaty of Peace at the close of the Revolutionary struggle ; as the first Chief Justice of the new born Nation ; and as one of the first anti-slavery advocates ; he not only illustrated the true nobility of his Hugue- (i). John Jay was a descendant of Pierre Jay, a wealthy merchant of I^a Rochelle, France. At the Revocation he suffered the loss of almost his entire fortune, but succeeded in escaping with his family to Plymouth, England. His eldest son Auguste came to New York in 1686, where his grandson, John, was born in 1745. So highly did Washington 'esteem him that when he became Presi- dent, he tendered him any office within his gift. Jaj^ choose that of Chief Justice of the United States, being the first incumbent of that office. He died at Bedford, N. Y., 1829. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THE HUGUENOTS. 139 not ancestry, but bestowed also illustrious services to humanity. A character so useful to posterity well merited the enconium of Daniel Webster, when he said : ''When the spotless ermine of the judi- cial robe fell on John Jay^ it touched nothing less spotless than himself y Boudinot, — Hardly less distinguished thap Jay, stands Elias Boudinot, who descended from a prominent Huguenot family of De La Tremblade, France. He was born in Philadelphia, Apri 21, 1740. He was a member of the first convention, (June nth, 1774), which called for a general congress. He was a member of the Colonial Congress, 1777-79-81-82. Was elected President of Congress November 4th, 1782, and in that capacity he signed the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, April iSth, 1783. In 1795 he was appointed Director of the Mint at Philadelphia by Washington, of whom he was a close personal friend. He was a ripe scholar and gave to the world a number of valuable histories. He was a patron and trustee of Princeton College, and a great promoter of literature. He was no less distinguished as a sincere Christian. In 1 8 12 he became a commissioner for the American Board of Foreign Missions ; and in 18 16 was one of the organizers of the American Bible Society, and was its first president. In the great struggle by which American independence was achieved, the sons of the Huguenot exiles were in the van. South Carolina alone furnished an entire batallion composed of their de- scendants, some of whom rose to great distinction, and shed undying lustre on the page of their country's history, (i) Laureus. — The name of Henry Laurens (1724-1792) shines as a star of the first magnitude amid the galaxy of the great. His parents were among the early Huguenot refugees to Charleston, S. C, where Henry was born. His services to his country were very great. He was president of the first Provincial Congress of South Carolina in 1775, and prepared the declaration against England. In 1777 he succeeded John Hancock as President of the Continen- tal Congress. In 1780 he was sent as Plenopotentiary to Holland to negotiate a treaty and secure a loan. On this voyage he was captured by the British and held as a prisoner fourteen months. After his release he, with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, nego- tiated the pieliminary Treaty of Peace with Great Britain in November, 1782. His son. Colonel John Laurens, (1755-1782), was a distin- guished soldier and a member of Washington's staff. In 1781 he (i). The Huguenot Batallion was organized 1779, and serv^ed to the close of the war. They were commanded by Marquis de Britagne, a distinguished officer who returned to France at the close of the war. Hosted by Google 140 MEMORIALS Olf THE HUGUENOTS. was sent to France to negotiate a loan for the Government, in which he was successful. Upon his return he again took the field in the South, where he unfortunately lost his life in action. Marion. — During the Revolutionary struggle the great tower of strength in the South was Major General Francis Marion, (i) who with his undisciplined and poorly clad Provincials rendered such valuable services as to win a resolution of thanks from the Continental Congress and the universal gratitude of the Nation. Almost every state in the Union has a city or county named in his honor. Hiiger, — Marion's worthy companions at arms were the Huger (2) brothers, five in number, and also from South Carolina. The chief of this quintett of heroes was Major General Isaac Huger, who served throughout the war, and was several times wounded in action. Next was his brother. Colonel Benjamin Huger, who fell in the battle of Charleston, S. C. , in 1779. Then also Colonel Francis Huger, Deputy Quartermaster General, while the two younger brothers were of lesser rank. Pickens. — To the list of South Carolina worthies we must also add the name of Andrew Pickens, (i) who rose from the rank of captain to that of Brigadier General during the Revolution. Always foremost in action, whether with British or Indian, is it safe to say that no American leader ever displayed greater gallantry, or ever achieved greater results with such limited resources. The Conti- nental Congress presented him with a sword for his distinguished services. Manigault. — The name of Gabriel Manigault (1704-1781) shines with a fadeless lustre on the escutcheon of South Carolina. His father, also Gabriel, was one of the Rochelles Refugees to Charleston, where Gabriel was born. He became one of the wealthy men of the South, and during the war of the Revolution loaned vast sums of money to his native state for the prosecution of the war. At the age of seventy-five years, with a grandson by his side, he took part in resisting the British attack upon Charleston in 1779. Servier. — (3) (1745-18 15). Perhaps no individual in the South left a more lasting impression on the civic institutions of that (i). Gen. Francis Marion was born near Georgetown, S. C.,*i732, and died in 1795. His grandfather Benjamine Marion was a refugee from JLa Chaume, France, from whence he fled to South Carolina after the Revocation. (2). Grandsons of Daniel Huger, who fled from the Isle of Rhe to England in 1682, and from thence to Charleston, vS. C, in 1696. (3). Andrew Pickens was born of Huguenot parentage at Paxtang, Penna., 1739. His parents removed to S. C. in 1752. After a highly distinguished career he died in 1817. His son Andrew was also eminent, and was Governor of S. C. 1816-1818. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THE; HUGUENOTS. 141 region than John Servier, *'The Commonwealth Builder." His father, Valentine, was born in London, of Huguenot parentage, and emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, where his distin- guished son was born. In 1769, he with other Virginians, including his aged father and brother, made a settlement on the Holsten river, in East Tennessee, where they built Fort Watuga. John Ser- vier was an ardent patriot during the Revolution, placing himself at the head of his fellow frontiersmen he became a terror to the British. His most brilliant achievement was at the battle of King's Mountain, October 7th, 1780. At this time the cause of the Col- onists seemed lost in the South, when Gen. Servier, with fierce im- petuosity, threw his little army against the seemingly impregnable position of the British, and in one hour annihilated the left wing of the army of Cornwallis, made hissurrender at Yorktown imperative, and the glories of American Independence sure. Servier was prac- tically the founder of Tennessee. Its first, and for three successive terms its Governor. Le Conte, — The Le Conte family (2) affords a striking exam- ple of the intellectual virility of the Huguenot character, as they have furnished a very large number of distinguished names, especi- ally in the field of Science. Among the most eminent may be men- tioned Dr, Lewis Le Conte, born in New Jersey in 1782, and who settled in Georgia. He became famous for his work in mathemat- ics, botany and zoology. He died in 1838. His son John, born in 18 1 8, who as President of the University of California, has made for himself a name second to none in the special sphere of his labors. Another son of Lewis is Prof. Joseph Le Conte, born 1823, professor of geology and natural history in the University of California, and who has a world wide reputation as a Naturalist. His numerous works are considered standard authorities on the subjects on which they treat. Major John Eaton Le Conte, brother of Lewis first mentioned, was born in New Jersey in 1784, and died in Philadel- phia in i860. He was an eminent engineer, and for a long time in the service of the United States. Notwithstanding his arduous duties in the civil service, he made extensive researches in natural history. John Lawrence Le Conte, son of Major Le Conte, (b. 1825, d. 1883), was one of the greatest scientists of the century. He was for years the President of the American Entomological Society, and in 1873 was elected as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (i). See '* John Servier as a Commonwealth Builder." (2). Descendants of William Le Conte (b. 1659, d. 1728), who fled from Rouen, France, to New York, after the Revocation. On his mother's side he was de- scended from the NobiHt3^ Hosted by Google 142 MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. Revere, — All the world has heard of Paul Revere and his fa- mous ride. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, of Huguenot parentage in 1735. He has the distinction of having been the foun- der of copper-plate engraving in America. He also rendered valu- able services to his country as a Colonel in the War of the Revolu- tion, His famous *'ride," celebrated in song and story, was the carrying of the order of General Warren, at midnight, April i8th, 1775, through Charlestown to Concord and Lexington, warning the people of the approach of the British under General Gage, and dis- played the signal lanterns in the steeple of Christ Church, in Boston. Ravenel. — The history of the Ravenel family of South Carolina, is an honor both to the Huguenot character and the state of their adoption. The founder of the family was Rene Ravenel, of Vitre, France. The Ravenels are of noble rank, and figure honorably in the history of France. Rene Ravenel being a Protestant, was com- pelled to leave all his estates in 1686, and came with others to Charleston, S. C. His descendants were prominent already in col- onial times. Only the briefest mention can be given a number of the present century. D7\ St. Julien i^<^ 7;^/^^/ (18 19-1882) was one of the greatest agricultural chemists of the age, and his researches and discoveries have been of great value to mankind. Henry W. Ravenel, LL. D,, (i 814-1887) was a botanist of world wide celebrity, and his great work on the Fungi of the South, (5 Vols., 1853-1860), was the first of its kind in America. Of him it was well said *'The name of Ravenel will ever be perpetuated in the genus Ravenelea of the Uredinal, a genus so peculiar in its character that it is not probable that it will ever be reduced to a synonym." (i). The late Dr. Edmund Ravenel was an accomplished chemist and conchologist. Dr. Mazyc Porcher Ravenel, of the University of Pennsylvania, is a noted specialist. Hon. H. E. Ravenel, of Spartansburg, S. C, is an author of works on Jurisprudence, and has also written a val- uable history of the Ravenel family. (2) Dana. — The descendants of Richard Dana, who came as a re- fugee to Boston, Mass., prior to the Revocation, afTords another notable example as that just illustrated. He has given us Dr. Francis Dana, (b. 1743, d. 181 1), who was a delegate to the first Provincial Assembly, and our first Minister to Russia in 1781 ; dele- gate to the Convention that framed the Federal Constitution ; one of the founders of the American Academy of Fine Arts, besides many other notable connections. (i). Botanical Gazette 1887. (2). Ravenel Records. Hosted by Google MEMORIAI^S OF THK HUGUENOTS. 143 Richard Henry Da7ia, (b. 1787), the distinguished poet and novelist, and his scarcely less distinguished son, Richard Henry Jr,^ (b. 18 1 5), James Dwight Dana, (b. 181 3), of Yale College, the celebrated geologist, whose works are standard authorities ; Colonel Napoleon J. T. Dana, (b. 1822), who served with distinction in the Mexican and Civil War; Dr, Samuel Luther Dana, LL. D», (1795- 1868), the eminent chemist ; and lastly, Charles Anderson Dana, (18 1 8-1 897), who as a writer and editor, and Assistant Secretary of War under President Lincoln, and his confidential agent, proved himself to be one of the most resourceful of men. Tour gee. — In literature we find but few more forceable writers than Judge A. W. Tourgee, while the musical world has no greater ornament than Prof. Eben Tourgee, (i) the leader of the New Eng- land Conservatory of Music in Boston, Mass. Pumpelly. — Mention only can be made of Professor Raphcel Pumpelly, (2) of Harvard University, whose extensive researches, and valuable works, have done so much for the advancement of science. Reference has already been made to the many eminent de- scendants of the Huguenot refugees to the South, the list of which would be incomplete without a reference to several more whose lives and services have contributed so largely to our country's greatness. Poinsett. — To this number must be ^^A^di Joel Robert Poinsett, (3) (^779-1851). This eminent American supplemented a thor- ough education by extensive travels in Europe and Asia before en- tering the public service. Among the numerous responsible posi- tions he filled was that of Minister to Mexico and Secretary of War in President Van Buren's Cabinet. He was the founder of the Academy of Fine Arts in Charleston, S. C. , and practically also of the National Museum at Washington. Maury. — Undoubtedly one of the most eminent men of this age was Matthew Fontai?i Maury, (1806-1873), whoeminated from the Huguenot colony on the James. Although Lieutenant Maury was in the service of the American Navy nearly all his life, yet his scientific researches, especially in astronomy and hydrography were world renowned, and epoch-making. In literature he is known as the '^Philosopher of the Sea," and he is generally regarded as the Founder of Hydrographic Science. He was a member of many societies of learning both in America and Europe. (i). Descendants of Pierre Tourgee, who came to Rhode Island in 1700. (2). Descendant of Pierre Pumpelly, who came to Massachusetts in 1679. (3). A descendant of Pierre Poinsett, a refugee to S. C. about 1686. Hosted by Google 144 MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. Perrine, — The Perrine i2.vc{Ay (i) has added a great list of distinguished names to the honor roll, and for almost two centuries has had its representatives in many important fields of action, where as ministers, jurists, scientists, and many other profes- sions, they have added lustre to their ancestral name. The achieve- ments in astronomy of Prof. E. D. Perrine, of the Lick Observa- tory, are especially noteworthy. Soule, — It is well known that several Huguenot families came to New England with the Pilgrim Fathers in the ''Mayflower." Of this number was George Soule, whose descendants have been espe- cially distinguished as soldiers, ministers, and literary men. Pintard, — One of the most progressive and public spirited men the Empire State has ever produced was John Pintard, whose an- cestor, Antoine Pintard, came as a refugee to New York in 1690. John Pintard was distinguished in many spheres of activity, but his memory will be perpetuated chiefly for his noble philanthropy, and also as the Founder of the New York Historical Society. Provoost, — Another distinguished descendant of the refugees to New York was the Right Reverend Samuel Provoost, (1742- 181 5), the first Protestant Episcopal bishop of New York. Among the notable services of this Divine was that of Chaplain to the Con- tinental Congress in 1785, and Chaplain to the United States Sen- ate in 1789. In the further pursuit of this subject we find ourselves in the dilemma of Paul, in recounting his Bible Worthies as yet unmen- tioned, when he writes : **And what more shall I say, for the time would fail me to write." — Heb. XI: J2. We must content ourselves with the mere mention of some who have achieved a fame more lasting and honorable than the monarchs, whose blind bigotry drove their fathers across the seas. Vincent Rougnio7i. — The ancestor of the Runyon family, of New Jersey, who came, prior to 1668, from Poitiers, has given to posterity many men of eminence, notably Hon. Theodore Runyon, (i 822-1 896), late United States Embassador to Ger- many. The ancestor of the distinguished jurist, Gabriel Duval, (1752-1944), from 1811 to 1826 a Supreme Justice of the United States, was Mars Marien Duval, who fled from France in 1643, and came to Maryland. (i). This family was mostly Protestant, was greatly scattered by persecution, some fled to England from whence John Perrine came to Braintree, Mass., in 1635- 1640. Daniel Perrine from whom most of the name descended, came to New York in 1665 ; married in 1666. and settled on Staten Island. (See N. Y. Genea- logical and Biographical Record, Vol. XIX and XX). Hosted by Google MEMORIALS Olf THE HUGUENOTS. 145 The ancestor of L. Q. C. Lamar, a member of President Cleveland's Cabinet, and later a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, likewise came to Maryland, from whence de- scendants went to Georgia, where the latter statesman was born in 1826. The Hon. Columbus Delano, (1811-1896), Secretary of the Interior in President Grant's Cabinet, 1879-1875, descended from a refugee to New England. The Hon. Richard Olney, late Secretary of State, descends from Andre Sigourney, also a refugee to New England. Noted Institutions and Enterprises of Huguenot Origin* In the more peaceful fields of learning the Huguenots of America have likewise erected lofty and most enduring **monu- ments." They have ever stood in the front ranks of art, science and literature, and in view of the smallness of their numbers com- pared with the other elements of our population, their achieve- ments, to say the least, have been remarkable. Some of the great- est institutions of the New World have been founded by their munificence and philanthropy. Although Stephen Girard (1750- 1831) can hardly fall under the designation of -^Huguenot," he was nevertheless an honor to the French race, and when he bequeathed his mighty fortune to Philadelphia, the city of his adoption, he en- riched humanity as few men have ever done. Girard College, the offspring of his truly noble heart, is unriveled by any of its class in the world. Faneuil Hall. — Next to Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, the cause of freedom has no more sacred shrine than Faneuil Hall, in Boston, and which has been aptly termed the * 'Cradle of Lib- erty." This historic edifice owes its existence to the munificence and public spirited character of a Huguenot merchant of that city, Peter Faneuil. (i) When he erected the structure as a market house and city hall, and presented it to the city, he '*builded better than he knew." It would seem as though the Genius of Liberty, in vindication of the wrongs of the Huguenots, had singled out this building as the chief Forum for the discussion of principles and measures by which the torch of civil and religious freedom was lit, and which proved to be the harbinger of a new era in the history of the human race. (i). Benjamine and Andrew Faneuil, merchants of La Rochelle, France, fled to New York at the Revocation, the former vSettled in New York City and the latter in Boston. Andrew died childless, and left his wealth to his brothers son Peter, who in 1741-42, erected the famous Faneuil Hall and presented it to the city of Boston. Hosted by Google 146 MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS. Gallaiidet College. — This institution, for the higher education of the deaf and dumb, and the first of its kind in the world, was founded at Washington, D. C, by the Gallaudets, whose services to this class of unfortunates have never been surpassed. The father. Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, (i) of Philadelphia, (1787-1851), devoted his life to the improvement of the condition of the deaf and dumb, and originated many of the methods by means of which this unfortunate class of humanity are enabled to communicate with their fellow men. His sons are no less distin- guished. Edward Miner Gallaudet, LL. D., (b. 1837), became an eminent authority on the instruction of the deaf and dumb, and was the Founder, and became the first President of the National Deaf- Mute College at Washington. His brother. Rev. Thomas Gallau- det, D. D. , (b. 1822), has also become a successful author and worker in this humane field. In 1850 he became pastor of an Episcopal church in the city of New York, in which he established services in the Sign Language. Bozvdoi7i College. — Among the notable institutions in America founded by the Huguenots, is Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, in the state of Maine. It was named in honor of Governor James Bowdoin, (2) who was its patron, and who richly endowed it. Governor Bowdoin, was one of the foremost men of his times, not only in public affairs, but also in the field of learning. He was an intimate friend and correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, and the first President of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. His only son, James, was also a man of eminence and profound learning. In 1 805 he was United States Minister to Spain. Dying childless in 181 1, he also left a princely legacy to Bowdoin College. It is no less a distinguished honor than a remarkable coinci- dence, that in 1895 three departments of our National Govern- ment were simultaneously under the presidency of Bowdoin grad- uates, namely, Thomas Reed, Speaker of the House of Represen- tatives, Senator Frye, Chairman pro tern of the Senate, and Chief Justice Fuller, the head of the Judiciary Department. Robert College, — This institution, situated at Constantinople, Turkey, is another notable Huguenot memorial. It was founded by the late C. R. Roberts, (3) of New York, whose princely muni- (i). A descendant of Dr. Pierre EHsee Gallaudet, who came as a refugee to New Rochelle, N. Y., after the Revocation. (2). Governor Bowdoin was born in Boston in 1726, and died in 1790. He was the grandson of Pierre Bowdoin, who came as a refugee to Boston soon after the Revocation. He died in 1706. (8). The philanthrophist, Christopher R. Robert, was a descendent of Daniel Robert, of La Rochelle, who fled at the Revocation to Martinique, and from thence to New York. Hosted by Google MONUMENT OF MAJ. GEN. JOHN F. REYNOLDS. FELL AT GETTYSBURG JULY I, 1863. A FERREE — Le FEVRE DESCENDANT. P. 106. Hosted by Hosted by Google MKMORIAI,S OF THE HUCUENOTS. 147 ficence and tender sympathy for the unfortunate, not only led him to give with an unsparing hand to his countrymen, but also prompt- ed him to provide the means for the elevation of his fellow-men in the benighted Orient. Grinnell Polar Expedition. — In this connection it is worthy of record that the first promoters of Arctic Explorations in America were the Grinnell brothers, whose Huguenot ancestor came to New England at a very early day. These men were Hon. Henry Grinnell, (i 799-1 874), who was the first President of the American Geo- graphical Society, and Moses Grinnell, (1807-1877). Their first ven- ture was in 1850, when they sent an expedition in search of the lost Franklin party. The second under the leadership of the noted Dr. Elisha Kent Kane in 1853. By these expeditions our knowledge of the Polar Regions was vastly advanced. GENERAL LIST OF HUGUENOT IMMIGRANTS TO PENNSYLVANIA. The following list comprises the names of such immigrants to Pennsylvania during the Provincial period as are believed to have been of Huguenot origin. The list also includes the names of some Alsatians and Lorraines, and also a few whose ancestors had located in neighboring colonies. With the exception of the latter class, nearly all the immigrants in the subjoined list came to Pennsylva- nia as ''foreigners" or non British subjects, and were compelled to be naturalized, and after 1727 all male foreigners above sixteen years of age were obliged to subscribe to an oath of allegiance. Fortunately for posterity, these lists are still extant and have been published by the State, (i). Several volumes also contain lists of naturalizations of persons who arrived prior to 1727. Should the reader fail to find the name of a supposed Hugue- not immigrant to Pennsylvania in this Hst, he should not therefore conclude that such a supposed person did not arrive. Many things must be taken into consideration. Among others, the imperfec- tions of the official records, arising from the fact that many names of immigrants were written phonetically. It should be remembered that French names abound in silent letters, and are not pronounced as the written name appears to the eye, and hence many names on (i). Pa. Archives Vol. XVII. , second vseries. See also Prof. Rupp's 30,000 names. Hosted by Google 148 MKMORIAI.S OF THE HUGUKNOTS. the official lists do not appear in their French form. We may cite a few examples. Beatichamp appears as Bushong; Michelot as Mickley ; Wesco (Vasqueau) Wesger ; Voturin as Wotring, and so on. Again, in many instances where the original French name was preceded by the definite article la, le and de (the), and du (of, or from the), these prefixes have either been discarded or joined to the name. The following few examples will illustrate these changes. Many descendants of the Du Fresne, De Cessna, De Saussier^ and many other immigrant families have dropped the prefix and write the name Frehne, Cessna, Sausser, etc. Of names where the arti- cle is now joined to the name we have Dumont, Duhamel, Dtibret, Lorange (L'Orange), Lebo (Le Beau), Lesher (Le Char), Devo (De Veau), Dilcamp (De la Camp), Dilabar (De la Barre), etc. Of names that have lost their French form entirely by phonetic transition we give the following examples : Billozv {Billeaux), Casho (Cacheau), Shadow (Chateau), Perrigo (Perrigeau), Boatman (Baudemon), Jacks (Jacques), and so scores of others. Then again, we find many honored French names now writ- ten in their English or German equivalent. A few examples must suffice. Tonnelier is Kieffer in German, and Cooper in English. Pierre is Stein in German and Stone in English, and so on. On this principle n}any French names have entirely disappeared. This list is the result of many years of careful research, during which time the Archives of the State have been thoroughly explored, church records of the Colonial period, and the records of many families have been searched with most gratifying results in many instances. There are many families of French origin in Pennsylvania whose names do not appear in this list. In such cases we have failed to find traces of arrival or of Huguenot origin. No doubt many of these families come from the unfortunate Acadians, who were^cruelly deported from Nova Scotia in i75S-'56 by the British government. The number who came to Pennsylvania was so large, and their distress so great, that the Provincial Assembly was neces- sitated to pass measures for their relief, (i) It will be remem- bered that Longfellow's touching poem, Evangeline, is based on an incident connected with these exiles. (i). Vide Rupp's Hist. I,anc. Co., P. 301. Hosted by Google MKMORIAI^S OF THE HUGUENOtS. 149 GENERAL LIST. Note.— The dates following names Indicate the time of arrival as derived from official records The names of counties where immigrants located are abbreviated. Immigrants from Alsace and Lorraine are mostly indicated by brackets. Ache, John I/udwig — John George and Herman, 1752, I83 Baldy fam. hist bg Bashore fam. hist 119 Barnitz fam. hist 128 Barree, Jacob 90 Bancroft, historian, quoted 137 Benezette fam. hist 49 Berrott fam. hist 126 Bezillion Peter 89 Bessonett fam. hist 78 Beau Jacques, F. C 124 Benoit, Elias, historian 24 Besnage [Benage] 23-24, fam hist 120 Bertolet fam. hist 41,63 Beaver fam. hist 76, Gen. James A 41 Beeber 76, Hon. Dimmer 41 Bittenger fam. hist. 128, Hon. J. W 41 Bigony fam 59 Blenheim battle of 72 Bleim, Christian 58 Bouquet, Gen. Henry 134 Bonnett fam. hist 96 Bordieu de, fam 28 Bochart, Dr. Samuel 23 Bonneauvant, Jean 136 Bonrepos de. Rev. David 32 Boston, Huguenot church of 32 Bondet, Rev. Daniel 32 Boudinot Elias 40, 48, 138-139 Bowdoin fam. and college 146 Beyer fam hist 43,54,89 Bohemia, 'Manor, 45 Bouchell fam. hist 46 Brashier, Judith....^ 87 Bushong fam. hist.;.. 58,98, 134 Bucher, Hon. JOvSeph C 70 Brunot fam. hist 132 Bruno, St 132 Bregunier fam. hist 135 Calvin, John, Reformer 2 Corree, Rev. Ezechiel 32 CavSlio fam. hist 43 Cassatt fam. hist 131 Charleston, S. C, founded 27 Charleston, S. C, colony of 123 Chartier, Martin 88 ChevalHer fam 48 Chamier, Dr. Daniel 24 Charles IX dies 8 Clewell fam. hist 86 Coligney, Dukede, a Huguenot leader 2, 5. murdered 7 Conde, Prince of, a Huguenot leader 3-9 Court, Antoine 20 Cochet fam hist 120 Conewago colony 130 Conyngham, Redmond, quoted.. 89 Conestoga, Valley of the 88 Crcvsson fam. hist 52 Creyfels, a ref uge 112 Crousillat, L/Ouis 35 Daille, Rev. Pierre 32 Dasser, Paul 5O Dana fam. hivSt i42 Desert, church of the 19 Decatur, Stephen VII Dewy, Admiral Geo VII Dedier, Jean 51 Desha fam 82 De Monts founds New France... 29 De Medici, Queen Catherine 306 De Beza, Rev. Theodore 4,23 De Sanno, Frederick 36 De Albert, Jeanne 6, death of 7 De, Hass Gen. Philip 40, fam. hist 124 De Cessna fam. hist 41, 129 De Graffenreid, Ch 112 De Forrest, Jesse, colonizer 41 De Frehn fam. hist 56 De Turk fam. hivSt 62 De Harcourt fam 64 De Benneville, Dr. George 66 De Long fam. hist 74 De Normandy fam. hist 79 (i) For names that do not appear in this index the reader is referre