The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Two

This is Chapter Two of eleven. In this chapter we introduce you to our 11x Great Grandfather David Du Four, who was the progenitor of our DeVoe line in North America. He had an interesting life in New Amsterdam, which in today’s world we know as one of the world’s most famous places — Manhattan, New York City.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” — William Shakespeare

The Cobbe Portrait of WillIam Shakespeare (1564-1616), artist unknown. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).

Writer Chris Waugh comments that “William Shakespeare made these lines immortal in his legendary tale of star-crossed lovers named Romeo & Juliet. The question within the quote (What’s in a name?) is still regularly used today as a popular adage expressing the point that the name or label we put on things or persons may vary, but these can still accurately describe the subject at hand. Simply put: “It is what it is” and “You are what you are.” 

In this part of our history, we’ve carefully observed that the DeVoe family surname varies much in spelling within the records. Do not be alarmed, because the spelling of family surnames in this pre-literate era was not yet considered to be very important. Among the jumble of variations you will observe here are: de Foar, De Foo, De Four, Du Four, De Vaux, Devauxe, De Voor, DeVors, Devoor, and DeVoe.

Frontispiece for Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): its origin and early annals
by James Riker, which is cited much in this history.

James Riker wrote in The Revised History of Harlem — “From Mons, the rich capital of this province, seated to the north of Avesnes… came David du Four whose posterity, which became numerous in his coimtry [territory or country], changed the form of their name to Devoor and Devoe.”

Our research turned up a similar story of surname confusion with a French immigrant family named Vorce. Their history relates, “there is the same confusion as other family names arising from the fact of their being written by those unfamiliar with their correct spelling… [hence, converted] comfortably to the pronunciation of their Dutch neighbors.” They even quoted Riker’s speculative story about David Du Four, “…settled in Harlem, where… in 1662… he was residing when Nicholas de Vaux arrived from France. The surnames of each being so much alike, they may have been led to the conclusion they were kinsmen, which led DeFour to alter the F to V, which later became DeVors, Devoe and other forms of the name…” The Vorce family solved the confusion around their surname by deciding “they were all Dutch together.” It’s likely Du Four also decided: Let’s All Be Dutch. (1)

Was David Du Four Belgian?

Not really… Belgium didn’t exist then.

Belgium didn’t become Belgium until more than 200 years after David Du Four was born. From Wikipedia, “For most of its history, what is now Belgium was either a part of a larger territory, such as the Carolingian Empire, or divided into a number of smaller states, prominent among them being the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the County of Namur, the County of Hainaut [where he lived], and the County of Luxembourg. Due to its strategic location as a country of contact between different cultures, Belgium has been called the ‘crossroads of Europe’; for the many armies fighting on its soil, it has also been called the ‘battlefield of Europe’…”

Map of the Netherlands in the Shape of a Lion, by Leo Belgicus, circa 1650.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Historically, there were royal families ruling Europe at this time, and conquest whether for resources, or for religious reasons, was in its heyday. The locations where the Du Fours lived were border areas, and hence regions of conflict, with battles fought repeatedly. Over the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, this area was repeatedly attacked and occupied by the Dutch, Spanish, French, and English forces. (At the beginning of the David Du Four’s life, Spain was supposedly in control of the area where David lived the Southern Netherlands but, neighboring France, and also Holland, wanted control).

Observation: Like a tide that kept washing in and out, it was a long era of endless hostilities…

Here is the short history version, continuing with Wikipedia: “The Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) later led to the split between a northern Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands from which Belgium and Luxembourg developed. The area, long a Habsburg stronghold, briefly came under Bourbon control during the War of the Spanish Succession.

This map from 1705, indicates (with the red oval) the very southerly region within which our ancestors lived, before they emigrated to New Amsterdam.

The French Revolutionary wars led to Belgium becoming part of France in 1795. After the defeat of the French in 1814, the Congress of Vienna created two new states, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg… The Southern Netherlands rebelled during the 1830 Belgian Revolution, establishing the modern Belgian state…” (2)

A portion of the Walloon Region in present day Belgium. Namvrcvm Comitatvs, (county of Namur) circa 1665. (Image courtesy of Blaeu Prints).

David Du Four Identified as a Walloon

What this means essentially, is that he lived in a part of the world, where his cultural identity was not necessarily tied to the nearby borders (which were always in flux). The Wallonia region is part of the low-lying area of Flanders and the hilly region of the Ardennes. The ancestral description of being a Walloon refers to the ancient Roman populations of the Burgundian Netherlands. As we have learned, this area was occupied by other nations many times, consequently, the Walloons are a mixed cultural ancestry of French / Dutch / Germanic / Celtic. Today, being Walloon is still a unique culture-based identity, recognized within the present borders of Belgium. David likely spoke in French dialects (or perhaps some Flemish), and then later in life, in Dutch.

Wikipedia writes: “Walloons are primarily Roman Catholic, with a historical minority of Protestantism which dates back to the Reformation era.” We know through research in the historical records, that David Du Four was a Protestant, and that eventually his family were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. It also seems that they likely also had affinities with the Huguenots and their diaspora. We speculate that perhaps with all of the religious and political turmoil within Wallonia — this may have inspired him to relocate his family to New Amsterdam. (3)

Map of Mons in the 16th century by Lodovico Guicciardini

The Man From Mons

David Du Four was born about 1620 at Bergen, Graafschap Henegouwen, Habsburgse Nederlanden (now Mons), Province de Hainaut, Southern Netherlands (now Belgium). He married twice — died before May 1699 at age 79, in Harlem or Turtle Bay, Manhattan, New York City, British American Colonies. [Note: New Amsterdam officially became New York City in the British American Colonies in 1665.]

Riker continues, “David Du Four, a native of Mons, in Hainault, upon this place being threatened by the successes of the French in the Walloon districts, retired [relocated] with others of his family to Sedan, and afterward to Amsterdam, where Du Four, though fitted by education for a better position, became an “opperman,” or drayman*. Left by the death of his wife, Marie Boulen [Boulyn], with a young child, Jean [John], born during their stay at Sedan…”
*A drayman was historically the driver of a dray, a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules that were used to transport all kinds of goods. (Wikipedia) 

Contemporary map of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, (c. 1900), which shows the exact locations where the David Du Four family lived in Europe. Please note: The borders of these countries did not look at all like this in earlier centuries: see The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — One, Holland & Huguenots.

So, David’s first wife was Marie Boulyn. After they had relocated to Sedan, Ardennes, France, they had a boy whose name is John. Marie died sometime before 1657, and unfortunately, other than those facts, we really don’t know very much about her life.

Archief van de Burgerlijke, 1657, (Civil Archives of 1657).

In those days, especially if a man had a young child, he usually remarried pretty quickly. Again, from Riker: “…He found another companion in Jeanne Franzes, a lady of mature thirty-two years, from Queivrain, a little east of Mons, to whom he was married July 10th, 1657. That same year, with his new wife and his little son aforesaid [Jean], he sailed for Manhattan Island.”

Jeanne (Franzes) Du Four was born about 1625 at Quievremont, Province de Hainaut, Belgium — died after 1699 at Coale Kill, Turtle Bay, Manhattan, New Amsterdam, [New York City] after 74 years of age. Together, including the first born son John (1), they had seven children:

  • John DeVoor (1), born about 1651, Sedan, Provence du Picardie, France — died before April 1724, Bloemendaal (Bloomingdale), Manhattan, New York City, British American Colonies, 73 years of age. (We are descended from John (1), whose name is also sometimes recorded as Jan, or Jean).
  • Joris DeVoor, baptized July 7, 1658, and died before 1671
  • David DeVoor, baptized October 5, 1659, and married Elizabeth (Jansen) DeVoor
  • Pieter DeVoor, baptized October 15, 1662
  • Anthony /Teunis DeVoor, born about 1664 — died August 31, 1668.
  • Adriaen DeVoor, baptized January 28, 1665 — died before 1671
  • Glaude DeVoor, born about 1667 — died after February 1687. (4)
Map of New Netherland published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702) in 1684. (Image courtesy of world history.org).

A New Life In Harlem, New Amsterdam

We have not located the actual ship that David Du Four traveled on with his wife Jeanne and their son John. In fact, we are not sure if he arrived in 1657, or soon after, but we do know that he was there early on. We would be very lucky indeed if we found a ship manifest which names him, but at that time and in that era, it was not considered essential and was usually done only if the ship Captain thought it was necessary.

According to the Wikipedia article New Netherland, “The colony experienced dramatic growth during the 1650s, and became a major center for trade across the North Atlantic… The inhabitants of New Netherland were European colonists, Native Americans, and Africans imported as slave laborers. Not including Native Americans, the colonial population, many of whom were not of Dutch descent, was 4,301 in 1650, and 8,000 to 9,000 at the time of transfer to England in 1674.” (Colonial America to 1763)

View of New Amsterdam circa 1653, copy of a 17th Century painting for I.N. Stokes —
Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol. IV plate 9, NYC Municipal Library.

We learned that he had been there “for three years” already by the “close of 1661” when it was documented in Riker’s Harlem history on page 183: “For three years this had been steadily growing, and at the close of 1661 contained over thirty adult male residents, mostly heads of families and freeholders. The following [top chart below] are the names of these pioneers, who first succeeded in planting the seeds of civilization and religion in this vicinity.” David is in the lower left column: note that he is listed by “nationality” as one of four Walloons, amongst French, Hollanders, Danes, Swedes, and Germans.

Charts extracted from the Revised History of Harlem (City of New York) by James Riker,
from pages 183, 186 and 190.

More records continued — The middle and bottom charts show that, not surprisingly, he was a farmer who owned land. From the Riker book, (paraphrasing)… It seems that he had tired of being a drayman, so then he was helping his neighbors by shepherding their cows and oxen. Things didn’t go so well and somehow he lost some of the oxen. His understandably upset neighbors complained loudly and he had to find something else to do.

Riker wrote “Du Four, the Amsterdam drayman, better at driving a team [farming] than stupid cows, was soon disgusted with his new occupation and turned it over to Jean Gervoe, the soldier. But now the cattle were not well looked after, as was alleged; in fact, some of the oxen, when needed for the yoke, were missing.” Apparently one of the ways that Du Four had to compensate his neighbors, was by paying them “guilders” and giving them butter…

In early 1662, “the Van Keulen Hook lots were drawn” and we noticed that David was first on the list. The final chart, from slightly later in 1662, shows the amount of land he owned: 10 morgen(s). Hopefully, his neighbors were no longer upset about the oxen incident.

The blue arrow indicates David Du Four’s property. Map of Harlem, Showing the Lands as in the Original Lots and Farms. Appendix F from the Revised History of Harlem (City of New York) by James Riker.

The word morgen is from both the Dutch and German languages, and was used in their former colonies. It means morning. In practical usage it corresponds to as much land as one person can plow in a morning. As a unit of land measure it is equal to about two acres, or 0.8 hectare. (Dictionary.com) (5)

The Tragic Death of Young Teunis

On top of all the other many unfortunate things that our ancestors dealt with, one particular event has stood out in the historical record. The Du Four son Teunis (also known as Anthony), was accidentally murdered by John Copstaff, a drunken soldier who was shooting off a gun. He was only about four years old.(Riker) “In 1668, Du Four, passing in a canoe un the East River, and with him his child, Anthony, when, between Turtle Bay and Blackwell’s Island, John Copstaff, a drunken soldier in another boat, let off a gun which wounded little Anthony; this was on August 18, and he died August 31. Copstaff was convicted of manslaughter. Du Four being very ill, he and wife, Jannetie, made a will, September 14, 1671, naming…” The Will was a precaution against future unknown circumstances. Both of the Du Four parents lived for many more years. (6)

For. Every. Little. Kerfuffle. With. Your. Neighbors.

It seems that David Du Four had several showings in court because the records have survived. Here’s a little background on the times. In 1670s he was a “frequent flyer” at court, with several cases. In New Amsterdam, people from all walks of life could bring a case to court. They could defend the case themselves, or ask someone to speak for them.  It was not necessary for them to have a lawyer for every case. This is because…

The city tavern was renamed the City Hall, the Stadt Huys in 1653.
George Hayward for I.N. Stokes — Iconography of Manhattan Island.
(Image courtesy of the NYC Municipal Library).

(The following is extracted from Wikipedia)
“In the first years after Henry Hudson sailed up the river in 1609 and claimed the area for the Dutch East India Company and… there was no real New Netherlands government and judicial system. The inhabitants of the small trading community of Manhattan Island as well as the members of the crew of the ships that came to the area, were subject to the rule of their captains.”

Around 1621, “the Dutch presence in America intensified and… the New Amsterdam judicial system was initially developed privately by the Dutch East India Company, and gradually brought into closer conformity with Dutch law of the period. There were no jury trials and the use of arbitration to resolve disputes was widespread. Although the magistrates were laymen, they were generally held to have a good knowledge of Dutch (customary) law. The Dutch East India Company provided law books…”

To a degree, it seems like going to court was similar to being sent to the Principals Office. You had to go and plead your case. For example:

Case: Ariaen Vincent v. David de Four:
demand for payment of debt for a purchased horse: disputed: ordered to pay.

Case minutes for Ariaen Vincent v. David de Four, 1674. (Our ancestor’s case is found in the bottom section).

Our transcription will give you the gist of it:
Mr. Vincent (the plaintiff) demands payment from the defendant (Mr. de Four), the sum of 100 florins for a horse sold him last year, which defendant must pay him in beavers* at 20 florins the [a] piece. Defendant says, he did not make any agreement, how high the beavers should go [sounds like it was about the price per beaver?]. The W. Court condemns the defendant to satisfy and pay the plaintiff the sum demanded in beavers at 20 florins, unless he [the] defendant proves[s] the contrary at the next Court day. (7)

*We’re just guessing, but that must be about 5 beavers?

New Amsterdam Becomes New York

The English had their own designs for the developing colonies in the New World, and their plans did not include letting the Dutch keep control of Manhattan. However, getting the Dutch out of Manhattan is not the same as getting the Dutch out of Manhattan. Much culture remained, and it took years for things to settle out.

Wikipedia writes: “The city was captured by the English in 1664; they took complete control of the colony in 1674 and renamed it New York. [The official name change was in 1665]. However the Dutch landholdings remained, and the Hudson River Valley maintained a traditional Dutch character until the 1820s.” and “…British ships entered Gravesend Bay in modern Brooklyn, and troops marched to capture the ferry across the East River to the city, with minimal resistance: the governor at the time, Peter Stuyvesant, was unpopular with the residents of the city. Articles of Capitulation 1664 were drawn up, the Dutch West India Company’s colors were struck on September 8, 1664, and the soldiers of the garrison marched to the East River for the trip home to the Netherlands…”

By 1677, the residents of Harlem were collectively desiring to expand their land holdings under the British. This was something that involved the attentions of the new Governor Andros. James Riker writes, “No little concern was felt at the silence of Governor Andros in regard to his promise to distribute more land among them, and at reports of the large grants he was intending to make in their immediate vicinity, and even within their limits.” A resolution was reached and new farms were established along the banks of the East River. Later that year, “60 [acres were granted] to David du Four and son [likely John 1]at Turtle Bay. (Notice that the land measurement units were no longer the Dutch morgens, but are now the English acres).

Manhattan map, inset detail, illustration and deed showing the location of the Turtle Bay farm.

Side Bar Observation: My, how times change! To be honest, as descendants of David Du Four, we wish that our family still owned that land at Turtle Bay… Presently it is the site of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

“Standing on the eastern shore of Manhattan Island, on the banks of New York City’s East River, the 18-acre UN Headquarters remains both a symbol of peace and a beacon of hope.”

“During the latter half of 1946, following selection of the US as host country, a special UN site committee studied possible locations in such places as Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco. While consideration was given at first to areas north of New York City, crowded Manhattan had not been seriously investigated. A last-minute offer of $8.5 million by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. for the purchase of the present site was accepted by a large majority of the General Assembly on 14 December 1946. The site chosen by the UN was a run-down area of slaughterhouses, light industry and a railroad barge landing.”
— History of United Nations Headquarters. (8)

Some Thoughts About Their Lives

Mary Louise Booth writes in her book, the History of The City of New York that, “In the beginning of the settlement, the people had been forced to accommodate themselves to the necessities of a new country, and their houses, furniture and apparel had necessarily been of the rudest kind… the houses were one story in height with two rooms on a floor. The chimneys were of wood, and the roofs were thatched with reeds and straw. The furniture was of the rudest kind, carpets were unknown, as indeed they continued to be for many years after; the stools and tables were hewn out of rough planks by the hands of the colonists; wooden platters and pewter spoons took the place of more expensive crockery, and naught but the indispensable chest of homespun linen and a stray piece of plate or porcelain, a treasured memento of the Fatherland, was seen to remind one of civilization.”

Dutch Cottage in New York, 1679. (Image courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collections).

She continues, “As the forests became cleared away, and the colony increased, the style of living experienced a material change. The straw roofs and wooden chimneys were deemed unsafe, and were ordered to be removed ; and the settlers commenced to build their houses of brick and stone…

Household in the old Dutch Colony times. (From the History of The City of New York, by Mary Louise Booth, page 176).

The windows were small and the doors large; the latter were divided horizontally, so that, the upper half being swung open, the burgher could lean on the lower and smoke his pipe in peaceful contemplation. Not less comfortable were the social “ stoeps,” and the low, projecting eaves, beneath which the friendly neighbors congregated at twilight to smoke their long pipes and discuss the price of beaver-skins. These institutions have come down to our own times, and are still known and appreciated in the suburbs of the city.”

Upper portion of page one of David Du Four’s 1671 Will.

David Du Four died before May 1699 at age 79, in Harlem or Turtle Bay, Manhattan, New Amsterdam, [New York City]. His wife Jeanne (Frances) Du Four, died after 1699 at the same location after 74 years of age. 

Page 97 extract, Calendar of Wills on File and Recorded in the Offices of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, of the County Clerk at Albany, and of the Secretary of State, 1626-1836

On September 14, 1671, after the unexpected death of their son Teunis, they had written a Will. Historian James Riker indicates that, more than twenty five years later “His will was proved May 1, 1699. It names his children Jan [John 1], David, Pieter and Glaude.” The Will had not been updated in those years, and not all of these sons had survived as long as their father, or mother. (9)

Importantly for our family, we are descended from the oldest son, John (1). We will write about the history of his family in the next chapter.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.”

(1) — eight records

“What’s In A Name?”
by Chris Haugh
http://www.historysharkproductions.com/whats-in-a-name.html

The Cobbe Portrait of WillIam Shakespeare (1564-1616)
File:Cobbe portrait of Shakespeare.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cobbe_portrait_of_Shakespeare.jpg

Genealogy of the De Veaux Family
Introducing the Numerous Forms of Spelling the Name by Various Branches

and Generations in the Past Eleven Hundred Years
by Thomas F. De Voe
https://archive.org/details/genealogyofdevea00devo/page/n3/mode/2up

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Note: For general biographical information —
Book page: 65, Digital page: 64/907
Book page: 193, Digital page: 192/907
Book page: 408, Digital page: 408/907

VORCE
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~hubbard/genealogy/NNY_index/vorce.html
and
Genealogical and Family History of Northern New York:
A Record of The Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and The Founding of a Nation
by William Richard Cutter, 1847 edition
https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami02incutt/page/430/mode/2up
Book page: 431, Digital page: 430/860

Was David Du Four Belgian?

(2) — four records

Belgium’s Independence (1830 – present time)
“… A provisional government declared independence on October 4th, 1830.”
https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/history/belgium_from_1830#:~:text=Following%20this%20rising%20Belgium%20separated,or%20who%20had%20special%20qualifications.

History of Belgium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belgium

Map of the Netherlands in the Shape of a Lion, by Leo Belgicus, circa 1650
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joannes_van_Deutecum_-_Leo_Belgicus_1650_-_published_by_Claes_Jansz_Visscher_Amsterdam.jpg
Note: For the map image.

Sanderus Antique Maps & Books
Northern Netherlands (VII Provinces), by Pieter Mortier. c. 1705
https://sanderusmaps.com/our-catalogue/antique-maps/europe/low-countries-netherlands/northern-netherlands-vii-provinces-by-pieter-mortier
“United Provinces of the Netherlands with their Acquisitions in Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, and Lyege and the Places which they possessed on the Rhine, in the Duchy of Cleves, and in the Archbishopric and Electorate of Cologne.”
Note: For the map image.

David Du Four Identified as a Walloon

(3) — three records

Namvrcvm Comitatvs, circa 1665 (map)
Prints Blaeu website
https://shop.blaeuprints.com/buy/maps/belgium/namur-malonne-jambes/?v=35357b9c8fe4 
Note: ‘Namvrcvm Comitatvs’ translates to ‘County of Namur’ in English.

The Flag of Wallonia

Walloons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walloons
and
Flag of Wallonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Wallonia

The Man From Mons

(4) — sixteen records

Map of Mons in the 16th Century, circa 1550
by Lodovico Guicciardini
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons,_Belgium#/media/File:Stadsplan_Mons_uit_de_zestiende_eeuw.jpg
Note: For the map image.

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Book pages: 99-100, Digital pages: 98-100/907
Note: For general biographical information.

Drayman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drayman

Davidt de Four (abt. 1625 – bef. 1699)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/De_Four-2
Notes: Various points of information were pulled from this file:
– David Du Four’s exact birthplace
– The marriage certificate of David du Four and Jeanne Franzen —
https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/persons?ss=%7B%22q%22:%22Jeanne%20Fransen%22%7D
File number: OTR00052000157, Digital page: 15C/242, Left page, entry 1.

WikiTree
Marie (Boulen) Bouvie (1635 – bef. 1657)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Boulen-1

Britannica.com
Map of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, (c. 1900), 
from the article Low Countries in the 10th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/place/Low-Countries
Note: For the map image.

WikiTree
Jeanne Frans (abt. 1625 – aft. 1699)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Frans-85
Note: For Jeanne (Franzen) Du Four’s death location

David Du Four
in the Netherlands, Select Marriages, 1565-1892

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/611949:60076?tid=&pid=&queryId=4ea6d503-225d-4d73-bf58-9ed334277e1c&_phsrc=LhJ2&_phstart=successSource

Early New Netherlands Settlers
David <?> Du Four, (Rn=25344)
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rclarke/genealogy/page1/dufour.htm

Jean Du Voor
in the U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1620944:7486?ssrc=pt&tid=108788208&pid=162384998722
Notes: Sourced from the book The Early Germans of New Jersey, Their History, Churches and Genealogies, Dover, NJ: Theodore Frelinghuysen Chambers, 1895, located at: https://archive.org/details/earlygermansofne00cham/page/344/mode/2up?view=theater&q=%22Du+Voor%22
Book pages: 344-345, Digital pages: 334-345/667

Baptisms from 1639 to 1730 in the Reformed Dutch Church, New York
by Thomas Grier Evans
https://archive.org/details/baptismsfrom163921evan/page/n11/mode/2up
Notes: These are transcribed records. The following children of David du Four and Jeanne (Frans) Du Four are confirmed in this book, as follows:
Joris, Book page: 49, Digital page: 104/680
David, Book page: 54, Digital page: 114/680
Pieter, Book page: 67, Digital page: 126/680
Adriaen, Book page: 78, Digital page: 162/680

A New Life In Harlem, New Amsterdam

(5) — six records

New Netherland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Netherland
and
Colonial America to 1763
by Thomas L. Purvis.
https://archive.org/details/colonialamericat00purv_0/page/128/mode/2up
Book page: 128, Digital page: 128/386

New York City Department of Records & Information Services
View of New Amsterdam circa 1653,
copy of a 17th Century painting for I.N. Stokes —
Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol. IV plate 9, NYC Municipal Library.
From:
A Charter for New Amsterdam: February 2, 1653
https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2023/1/31/a-charter-for-new-amsterdam-february-2-1653

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Note: For general biographical information, three charts,
and the oxen incident
Book pages: 182-183, Digital page: 182/907
Book page: 186, Digital page: 186/907
Book page: 190, Digital page: 190/907
Book pages: 193-194, Digital pages: 192-194/907

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryof01rike/page/n861/mode/2up?view=theater&q=1
Book page: Appendix F, pull-out map, Digital page: 862/952
Note: This is a different edition from the above reference, and is for the pull-out map Appendix F only featured at the back of this edition.

Dictionary.com
Morgen
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/morgen#

The Tragic Death of Young Teunis

(6) — one record

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): its origin and early annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Book page: 408, Digital page: 408/907
Note: General biographical information.

For. Every. Little. Kerfuffle. With. Your. Neighbors.

(7) — six records

Stadt Huys (City Hall) in 1679
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Stadt_Huys_(City_Hall)_of_New_York_in_1679_at_Pearl_Street.jpg

New Amsterdam Judicial System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam_judicial_system

New York Municipal Archives
Guide to the records of New Amsterdam, 1647-1862
Collection No. MSS 0040
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/records/pdf/Dutch-NewAmsterdam_MSS0040_MASTER.pdf

The records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 anno Domini
Vol. VII. Court minutes of New Amsterdam
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/12896/images/dvm_PrimSrc000280-01255-0?treeid=&personid=&queryId=efac883e-ba59-4547-b7e9-bfda4edf6885&usePUB=true&_phsrc=LhJ1&_phstart=successSource&pId=2487&rcstate=dvm_PrimSrc000280-01255-0:1086,1979,1290,2028
Digital page: 2489/2765

New Amsterdam History Center
Mapping New York | Encyclopedia
Document: Minutes | Case | Philip Waldman v. Jan Smedes: default
https://encyclopedia.nahc-mapping.org/document/minutescasephilip-waldman-v-jan-smedes-default

Vintage BEAVER print
https://www.etsy.com/listing/156335324/vintage-beaver-print?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share&epik=dj0yJnU9MnJJVzhqQTcwWTdJckhfeE1UakNfd2FhVGtEd2Q3LXcmcD0wJm49cGpfWGlUSXA2ZkJneGlUWXRrVGpNQSZ0PUFBQUFBR1o5Z1N3

New Amsterdam Becomes New York

(8) — seven records

Colonial History of the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States

Conquest of New Netherland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_New_Netherland

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Book page: 338-340, Digital page: 338-340/907
Note: General biographical information.

Map of New York City and of Manhattan Island with the American Defences in 1776.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1878_Bien_and_Johnson_Map_of_New_York_City_(Manhattan_Island)_During_the_Revolutionary_War_-_Geographicus_-_NewYorkCity-johnsonbien-1878.jpg
Note: Used for two small inset maps to indicate where David Du Four owned property in Turtle Bay, Manhattan.

Turtle Bay, East River, N.Y. 1853
by George Hayward
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turtle_Bay,_Manhattan_1853.jpg
Note: For the Turtle Bay image.

The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909
by Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes,1867-1944; Victor Hugo Paltsits,1867-1952; Frederik Caspar Wieder, 1874-1943
https://archive.org/details/iconographyofman06stok/page/n239/mode/2up
Book page: 138, Digital page: 240/820.
Note: Left page, right column, under the heading: The Edmund Seaman Farm, Block Check List. 1345-1364-1325-1362, Introduction: The Grant to David du Four

History of United Nations Headquarters
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/headquarters.pdf
Note: For the building image.

Some Thoughts About Their Lives

(9) — six records

History of The City of New York, from its Earliest Settlement to The Present Time
by Booth, Mary Louise, 1831-1889
https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofn00boot_0/page/194/mode/2up

Dutch Cottage in New York, 1679
The New York Public Library Digital Collections
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-2ba1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

1648: A Glimpse into Dutch Household: Daily Life in New (Nieuw) Amsterdam
https://www.history101.nyc/dutch-household-new-amsterdam-1600s?v=2

David Du Four
in the New York County, New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1658-1880 (NYSA)
J0038-82: Probated Wills, 1671-1815 > Wills, Box 04-06, Crispell, Cornelius-Erwin, Samuel, 1767-1778
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/52776:60387?tid=&pid=&queryId=f8d0f93f-3723-4704-8f8a-6f507ee548b1&_phsrc=LiJ42&_phstart=successSource
Digital pages: 197-201/964
and
David Du Foor
in the New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1747140:8800?tid=&pid=&queryId=14cf0f49-97b0-412e-82e5-d6dab8e8581c&_phsrc=LhJ4&_phstart=successSource
Digital pages: 501-504/688

The Dutch language Will of David Du Four, from the New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999. (See footnotes).

Calendar of Wills on File and Recorded in the Offices of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, of the County Clerk at Albany, and of the Secretary of State, 1626-1836
by Fernow, Berthold, 1837-1908, Comptroller of the New York (State) Court of Appeals; Albany County (N.Y.); New York (State) Secretary’s Office
https://archive.org/details/calendarwillson00appegoog/page/97/mode/2up?view=theater
Book page: 97, Digital page: 97/657, Left page, entry 3

The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — One, Holland & Huguenots

This is Chapter One of eleven. With this chapter we begin a long and complicated history of the DeVoe branch of our family. There will be eleven chapters total in this family line.

Nearly all of our family lines were in North America very early on, including the DeVoes. Like the tap root of a tree, the key foundational event for America is the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, and their founding of the first sustained immigrant community. It is also because of the DeVoe line, that we connect to two Mayflower passengers: Pilgrim George Soule, and Pilgrim Edward Doty. In future posts, we will be writing their family narratives.

The Best Place to Find a Needle is a Haystack

On the one hand, we have found that doing genealogy research can bring a happiness which results from discovering something cool about an ancestor you only vaguely knew. (Or better yet, finding ancestors you never knew existed!) On the other hand, frustration comes when you know the beginning and ending to a story, but the needed documents which connect those ends, are like trying to find a needle in the proverbial haystack.

Haystacks, End of Summer, by Claude Monet, 1890-1891

From writer Mark Baker, “Conventional wisdom tells us that the best place for a needle is in a needle case, and the best place for hay is in a haystack. If you want to find something, or want other people to find it, you should put it in the right place. As we were all taught: a place for everything, and everything in its place.That was true when we lived in the physical world. But we don’t live in the physical world anymore. We live on the Internet, and the Internet is topsy turvey world in which the best place to find a needle is actually a haystack. [As we know…]

Internet research has become the defacto tool of this era, and sometimes it is like a haystack. With this family, we found all the needles we were looking for, and some we weren’t, and learned a thing or two along the way. We have a great story to tell. So please, enjoy!

Preface: This particular history has two important paths, Politics and Religions. The first path is Politics. It is about the land — who lived where, and who was in charge of that land, etc. The second path is Religions — concerning what was happening with religious conflicts throughout these areas, during these centuries.

A note before we begin: For this blog chapter we are streamlining the complex history of this region, and only focusing on the time periods that affected our ancestors. Please think of this chapter as a synthesized history from many sources, (see footnotes). (1)

The First Path: Politics and Land — Understanding the Low Countries

The Low Countries, historically also known as the Netherlands, is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe… consisting today of the three modern “Benelux” countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Up until the very recent past this was not the case, because the region was almost continually overrun by ambitious imperial powers from adjoining regions. Over the centuries, geographically and historically, the area has also included parts of France and Germany.

Map showing the northern border of the Roman Empire (the Lines), which ran through what is now the Netherlands. (Image courtesy of Quora.com).

Comment: It’s natural for people today to think that their ancestors are defined by today’s borders, because for the most part, we live in an era where borders hardly move at all. Today, we identify through Borders. But this isn’t the way it should be thought about regarding ancestors who precede us. The world was different then. These ancestors lived in a place that doesn’t exist anymore. To use the “Benelux” example from above: then, Belgium didn’t exist; then, the Netherlands was an unrecognizable mash-up; then, Luxembourg was an obscure, distant Netherlands province.

Medieval Market Scene, (Public domain).

From the Romans to the Mid-1400s
During the Roman Empire, the region of the Low Countries contained a militarized frontier and was the contact point between Rome and the Germanic tribes. After the long decline of the Roman Empire, this area was the scene of the early independent trading centers that marked the reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. As such, during the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were divided into numerous semi-independent principalities, where guilds and councils governed most of the cities along with a figurehead ruler. Interaction with these various rulers was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect. All of the regions mainly depended on trade, manufacturing, and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen.

What was very, very slowly emerging as the Netherlands, rivaled northern Italy as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe. Dutch and French dialects were the main languages used in secular city life.

Otto I, known as Otto the Great, (912 – 973), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, The House of Valois-Burgundy, Mary of Burgundy (1457 – 1482), Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500 – 1558) Archduke of Austria, King of Spain, and Lord of the Netherlands [as the titular Duke of Burgundy].

The Holy Roman Empire and The Habsburg Netherlands 
The Saxony kings and emperors ruled the Netherlands in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Holy Roman Empire was founded by Otto I, known as Otto the Great. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the Duchy of Saxony kingdom’s most important duchies [the future Germany]. This strategy reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, to royal subjects under his authority. In the latter part of his life, he conquered the Kingdom of Italy, thus being crowned in 962, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, by Pope John XII in Rome. Hence, Germany was called the Holy Roman Empire after the coronation of King Otto the Great, as Emperor.

About 500 years later, the Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period collection of feudal land estates in the Low Countries, held together by the Holy Roman Empire’s House of Habsburg. The Hapsburg rule began in 1482, when Mary of Burgundy died. She was the last Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, and the wife of Maximilian I of Austria. Their grandson, Emperor Charles V, was born in the Habsburg Netherlands and made Brussels one of his capitals. The Seventeen Provinces (the de facto fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire) formed the core of the Habsburg Netherlands, which passed to the Spanish Habsburgs, upon the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556.

 A Brief History of the Netherlands map, circa 1555, by Brian A. Smith, D.C. The red circles indicate areas where our ancestors would live in the Walloon Provinces, during a time of shifting borders. Note: These Walloon Provinces are important to our family history.

The Spanish Netherlands
Becoming known as the Seventeen Provinces in 1549, they were held by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556, and known as the Spanish Netherlands from that time on. They named the area Flandes, which evolved into the name Flanders, and the Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory under Spanish service. 

These Seventeen Provinces were already changing… In 1581, in the midst of the Dutch Revolt (see next section), the northern portion came together as the Seven United Provinces, and seceded from the rest of this territory to form the Dutch Republic. They still stayed under Spanish rule until the War of the Spanish Succession, (circa 1700). The remaining 10 provinces, in the area to the south where our ancestors lived, were also under Spanish control, but the area was referred to as the Southern Netherlands.

As the power of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs waned in the latter decades of the 17th century, the territory of the Netherlands under Habsburg rule, was repeatedly invaded by the French and an increasing portion of the territory came under French control in many successive wars. (2)

The Battle of Gibraltar, 1607, by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, circa 1621. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

The Dutch Revolt and the 80 Years War

The Eighty Years’ War, or Dutch Revolt, was an armed conflict in the [Spanish] Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels, and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralization, taxation, and the rights and privileges of the nobility and cities. After the initial stages, Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Netherlands, deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebel-held territories. However, widespread mutinies in the Spanish army caused a general uprising.

The view from history is that “The Reformation led to many Netherlanders leaving the Catholic church and joining Protestant churches. The rise of Protestantism became closely linked to the movement for independence from Spain.” (Family Search) This desire to be free from Spain makes sense for our ancestors because they lived in a conflicted border area…. Some sections of the Low Countries were Catholic, and some sections were turning to the Reformation-led Protestantism…. This led to more strife. The Seven Provinces which had formed the Dutch Republic in 1581, were considered to be Protestant dominant by 1588.

The Oudewater Massacre, committed by Spanish soldiers against Dutch civilians in 1575, during the 80 Years War. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.com).

Observation: This revolt began in 1568 and ended in 1648, hence it’s aptly named as the Eighty Years’ War. When our ancestor was born into this milieu, [surroundings, setting, scene, environment] in 1620, the War had been going on for over half a century at that point.

In the ten years thereafter, the Dutch Republic made remarkable conquests in the north and east against a struggling Spanish Empire, and received diplomatic recognition from both France and England in 1596. The Dutch colonial empire emerged, which began with Dutch attacks on Portugal’s overseas territories.

The two sides agreed to a Twelve Years’ Truce in 1609; when it expired in 1621, fighting resumed as part of the broader Thirty Years’ War. An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster (a treaty part of the Peace of Westphalia), when Spain recognized the Dutch Republic as an independent country. (3)

The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild, by Rembrandt, 1662. (Image courtesy of Google Art Project).

The Dutch Golden Age and The United East India Company

This was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 until 1672 , in which Dutch trade, science, art, and the Dutch military were among the most acclaimed in Europe. The Golden Age continued in peacetime during the Dutch Republic until the end of the century, when expensive conflicts fueled economic decline. The transition by the Netherlands to becoming the foremost maritime and economic power in the world has been called the “Dutch Miracle” by some historians.

…both foreigners and Dutchmen were apt to believe that the
Dutch Republic was unique in permitting an unprecedented degree of freedom in the fields of religion, trade, and politics…
In the eyes of contemporaries it was this combination of freedom and economic predominance that constituted the true miracle
of the Dutch Republic.

Koenraad Wolter Swart
Professor of Dutch History and Institutions in the University of London
An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at University College London
on November 6, 1967

The United East India Company* was a chartered company established on the March 20, 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands uniting existing companies into the first joint-stock company in the world, granting it a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be bought by any resident of the United Provinces and then subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). It is sometimes considered to have been the first multinational corporation.

Various artifacts of the Dutch East India Company, left to right: An Arita Dish, Eco Period, Japan / The Arms of the Dutch East India Company and of the Town of Batavia / Logo of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company / copper coins / Batavia Ship Replica (See footnotes).

It was a powerful company, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including: the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies.

*In Dutch, the name of the company was the Vereenigde Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie (abbreviated as the VOC), literally the “United Dutch Chartered East India Company”. Today, we generally refer to this company as The Dutch East India Company. (4)

The Second Path: Religious Persecution

James Riker wrote in The Revised History of Harlem — “From Mons, the rich capital of this province, seated to the north of Avesnes… came David du Four, of the same name, — and not improbably the same blood, as the martyr of Le Cateau [*], but whose posterity, which became numerous in his coimtry [territory or country], changed the form of their name to Devoor and Devoe.”

*This is what happened to the “The martyr of Le Cateau“— He was a man named David Du Four of whom Riker wrote: “Huguenots being held prisoners in the neighboring village of Troisville by the castellan and echevins [Roman Catholics] of Le Cateau, David Du Four and others went with arms and liberated them…” This happened in the late summer and autumn of 1566. The aftermath didn’t go so well: “Many executions followed during the ensuing month. One was that of David Du Four, before named. He was a tailor at Le Cateau, and only twenty-two years of age. But on his examination he with firmness declared that ‘he paid more regard to his salvation and to God, than to men.’ He and four others were hung, on April 9th [1567].

The Persecution of Huguenots in France
Before the Edict of Nantes, 1598
. Woodcut, 19th century.

Our immigrant ancestor to New Amsterdam will also be named David Du Four, but he won’t be born for another half century yet [1620], but that’s in the next chapter. Back to our telling of this tale…

This was the first intriguing reference we had found as to where our possible ancestor with the DeVoe family name had originated, and it was linked in the context with the word martyrdom. Riker’s book was about the New Amsterdam Colony in North America, but this was about some place in Europe…

After much research, and coming to an understanding about what Holland was like in this period, we learned that our ancestors in Holland identified as Walloons. (See The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Two). This was compelling, because we had been coming across some histories [like Genealogy of The De Veaux Family], indicating that our DeVoe ancestors could have been Huguenots. (Observation: Some contemporary writers have picked up on this Huguenot idea and run with it.) However, we have come to believe that the Holland DeVoe(s) were likely surrounded by Huguenots due to where they lived, not because of who they were. Due to religious persecution, many Huguenots were fleeing the areas in France where they lived, and resettling in England. This June 2012 article from The International Institute of Genealogical Studies, explains the situation very well.

History and Beliefs
The French-speaking Protestants who fled from religious persecution and civil war on the continent are all loosely referred to as Huguenots, however this term properly refers to only those from France, and not to the Walloons from the Low Countries. However, it is often impossible to distinguish the two groups because of the shared language and churches as well as much intermarriage in the early communities in England. Their beliefs were Calvinistic [Protestant] and closest to the English Presbyterian style of church government.

Landing of the Walloons at Albany, circa 1620s.
(Image courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collections).

Walloons
The first wave of many thousands of French-speaking Protestants were Walloon refugees who arrived in England from the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium and the Netherlands) in 1567, having been forced to flee the suppression of Protestantism by King Philip of Spain’s forces lead by the Duke of Alva. This group had been in England for over a century before the true Huguenots came and the two groups settled in London and the same south-eastern towns.

And in the Province of New York in New Amsterdam
From Genealogy Magazine.com: It was French-speaking Walloons from Hainaut who were among the first to settle the Hudson River Valley and Manhattan Island between 1620 and 1626. Eight Belgian [Southern Netherlands Walloon] Protestant families, fleeing from Catholic Spanish religious persecution, joined the Dutch settlers in 1624 to settle what became New Amsterdam. [Apparently, some writers as late as 2006, fail to understand that Belgium didn’t exist for 200 more than years, that is, until 1830.]

“An example of a round robin, which was a document written in circular fashion to disguise the order in which it was done. This document is a promise by certain Walloons and French to go and inhabit Virginia, a land under obedience of the Kings of Great Britain’. 1621.” (Image courtesy of The National Archives, Great Britain).

Huguenots
The Huguenots, (Protestants from France), first came in 1572 [to England] after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris,which saw 70,000 Huguenots across France brutally murdered. Elizabeth I’s court enter a period of mourning in honor of the Protestant lives lost to the Catholic terror. Although there was support for their religious freedom during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, during that of Charles I… [there were restrictions imposed which forced the Huguenots to consider resettling somewhere else again]. In response, some moved to Holland, and the majority to the USA* [many to the new Amsterdam Colony in New York Province] taking their craft skills with them. 

*OK, it should be obvious, but there was no USA yet. At the time, North America had Native Peoples, and was colonized by the British, Dutch, French, Spanish, and anybody else who could row a boat there. (5)

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, by François Dubois. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Queen Catherine de’ Medici, the mother of King Charles IX.

The massacre started a few days after the marriage on August 18, 1572 of the king’s sister Margaret to the Protestant King Henry III of Navarre. Many of the wealthiest and most prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris to attend the wedding.

Catherine de Medici Gazing at Protestants in the Aftermath of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew
by Édouard Debat-Ponsan, 1880. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

The massacre began in the night of August 23-24, 1572, the eve of the feast of Bartholomew the Apostle, two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. King Charles IX ordered the killing of a group of Huguenot leaders, including Coligny, and the slaughter spread throughout Paris. Lasting several weeks in all, the massacre expanded outward to the countryside and other urban centres. Modern estimates for the number of [the initially] dead across France vary widely, from 5,000 to 30,000. [Eventually] between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly caused by the conflict, and it severely damaged the power of the French monarchy. 

The massacre marked a turning point in the French Wars of Religion. The Huguenot political movement was crippled by the loss of many of its prominent aristocratic leaders. The fighting ended with a compromise in 1598, when Henry of Navarre, who had converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed King Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to disapprove of Protestants and of Henry, and his assassination in 1610 triggered a fresh round of Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s. (Wikipedia) (6)

The popular name for this image is “All The Ways to Leave France,” from 1696, by Élie Benoist. In many ways, it aptly portrays the scattering of the Dutch Huguenots. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

The Global Diaspora of The Huguenots and Their Protestant Allies

We’ve described the persecutions of the Huguenots, and their resulting diaspora. The term diaspora comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “to scatter about.” And that’s exactly what the people of a diaspora do — they scatter from their homeland to places across the globe, spreading their culture as they go. Our ancestors were Protestants, and eventually members of the Dutch Reformed Church.

In total, around 200,000 Huguenots were believed to have left France with around 50,000 settling in England. Many others immigrated to the American Colonies directly from France and indirectly from the Protestant countries of Europe, including the Netherlands, England, Germany, and Switzerland. Although the Huguenots settled along almost the entire eastern coast of North America, they showed a preference for what are now the states of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. The colonists became farmers, laborers, ministers, soldiers, sailors, and people who engaged in government. (7)

Our ancestors have followed many roads. In the next chapter, we will meet David Du Four, our Walloon ancestor from the Southern Netherlands who immigrated to New Amsterdam, which eventually became New York City.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

The Best Place to Find a Needle is a Haystack

(1) — two records

Every Page is Page One
The Best Place to Find a Needle is a Haystack
by Mark Baker
https://everypageispageone.com/2011/10/12/the-best-place-to-find-a-needle-is-a-haystack/

Haystacks, End of Summer
by Claude Monet, 1890-1891
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet._Haystack._End_of_the_Summer._Morning._1891._Oil_on_canvas._Louvre,_Paris,_France.jpg
Note: For the haystack image.

The First Path: Politics and Land — Understanding the Low Countries

(2) — thirteen records

Low Countries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Countries

Was the Netherlands part of the Roman Empire?
https://www.quora.com/Was-the-Netherlands-part-of-the-Roman-Empire
Note: For the map.

Representation of a guild in the Middle Ages. (Public domain)

Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas
The Economics of Medieval and Early Modern Guilds
By Dr. Sheilagh Ogilvie
Professor of Economic History, University of Cambridge
https://brewminate.com/the-economics-of-medieval-and-early-modern-guilds/

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, invading Italy (cropped image)
By Tancredi Scarpelli
https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/Tancredi-Scarpelli/36868/Otto-I,-Holy-Roman-Emperor,-invading-Italy.html
(Image courtesy of Meisterdrucke).

Otto the Great
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_the_Great
Note: For his portrait.

Mary of Burgundy (1458–1482)
Attributed to Michael Pacher
File:Mary of Burgundy (1458–1482), by Netherlandish or South German School of the late 15th Century.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Burgundy#/media/File:Mary_of_Burgundy_(1458–1482),_by_Netherlandish_or_South_German_School_of_the_late_15th_Century.jpg
Note: For her portrait.

Mary of Burgundy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Burgundy

Ficheiro:Barend van Orley – Portrait of Charles V – Google Art Project.jpg
by Bernaert van Orley, circa 1515
https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Barend_van_Orley_-_Portrait_of_Charles_V_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Note: For his portrait.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

The Most Remarkable Lives of Jan Jansen and his son Anthony
A Brief History of the Netherlands (map)
By Brian A. Smith, D.C.
https://ia801604.us.archive.org/32/items/2013JanAndAnthonyJansenPublic/2013 Jan and Anthony Jansen public.pdf
Book page: 3/145
Note: For the map.

History Maps
Part of the Holy Roman Empire
https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-the-Netherlands
History of the Netherlands, 5000 BCE – 2024

Habsburg Netherlands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg_Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Netherlands

The Dutch Revolt and the 80 Years War

(3) — five records

The Battle of Gibraltar, 1607
by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, circa 1621
File:Slag bij Gibraltar in 1607 Het ontploffen van het Spaanse admiraalsschip tijdens de zeeslag bij Gibraltar, 25 april 1607, SK-A-2163.jpg

History Maps
The Dutch Revolt
https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-the-Netherlands
History of the Netherlands, 5000 BCE – 2024

Netherlands Church History
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Netherlands_Church_History

The killing of Oudewater (Netherlands) Spanish troops murder al civilisans after a siege during the eighty years war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Oudewater_(1575)#/media/File:Oudewater_moord.jpg
Note: For the The Oudewater massacre… image.

Siege of Oudewater (1575)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Oudewater_(1575)#:~:text=II of Spain.-,Siege and massacre,leading to a major conflagration.

The Dutch Golden Age and The United East India Company

(4) — eight records

The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild
by Rembrandt, 1662
File:Rembrandt – De Staalmeesters- het college van staalmeesters (waardijns) van het Amsterdamse lakenbereidersgilde – Google Art Project.jpg

The flag of the Dutch East India Company.

Dutch East India Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company#:~:text=In%20Dutch%2C%20the%20name%20of,the%20United%20East%20India%20Company).

Diana Muir Appelbaum
(We are posting this essay by Koenraad Wolter Swart (1916—1992) both because it is still useful and in order to spare would-be readers the eye strain that results from reading it on microfiche).
Miracle of the Dutch Republic
By K. W. Swart
Professor of Dutch History and Institutions in the University of London
An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at University College London on
November 6, 1967
http://www.dianamuirappelbaum.com/?p=583

Footnotes for the Dutch East India Company artifacts images:
Christie’s
An Arita Dish Commissioned by the Dutch East India Company
Edo Period, Late 17th Century
https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/japanese-art-english-court/arita-dish-commissioned-dutch-east-india-company-39/13671

The Arms of the Dutch East India Company and of the Town of Batavia,
Jeronimus Becx (II), 1651
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-4643

Logo of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VOC-Amsterdam.svg

Dutch East India Company, Gelderland (1726-1793), Duit(C) coins
https://www.educationalcoin.com/product/dutch-east-india-company-gelderland-1726-1793-duitc/

Batavia Dutch East India Company Ship Replica
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Modern-Handicrafts-Batavia-Collectible/dp/B00OP971EA

The Second Path: Religious Persecution

(5) — seven records

Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals
by James Riker
https://archive.org/details/revisedhistoryh00unkngoog/page/n12/mode/2up
Book pages: 35-36, Digital pages: 34-36/907
Note: For general biographical information.

The Persecution of Huguenots in France Before the Edict of Nantes, 1598.
Wood engraving, late 19th century
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Huguenot-Persecution-Nthe-Persecution-Of-Huguenots-In-France-Before-The-Edict-Of-Nantes-1598-Wood-Engraving-Late-19Th-Century-Poster/508758362
Note: For The Persecution of Huguenots image.

Genealogy of The De Veaux Family : Introducing the Numerous Forms of Spelling the Name by Various Branches and Generations in the Past Eleven Hundred Years
by Thomas Farrington De Voe, 1811-1892
https://archive.org/details/genealogyofdevea00thom/page/n7/mode/2up

The International Institute of Genealogical Studies
England History of Huguenots, Walloons, Flemish Religions
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_History_of_Huguenots,_Walloons,_Flemish_Religions_-_International_Institute

Genealogy Magazine.com
Belgian Migrations: Walloons Arrived Early in America
https://www.genealogymagazine.com/belgian-migrations-walloons-arrived-early-in-america/
and
Landing of the Walloons at Albany
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-f393-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Note: For the Landing of the Walloons at Albany image.

The National Archives
A ‘round robin’ from Walloon emigrants
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/huguenots-in-england/huguenot-migrants-in-england-source-3a/

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris

(6) — three records

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
by François Dubois, a Huguenot painter who fled France after the massacre.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_masacre_de_San_Bartolomé,_por_François_Dubois.jpg
Note: For the St. Bartholomew’s Day image.

French Wars of Religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion

Is it just us, or does Catherine de Medici remind you of this famous Disney villain?

Catherine de Medici Gazing at Protestants in the Aftermath of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew
by Édouard Debat-Ponsan, 1880
https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Debat-Ponsan-matin-Louvre.jpg
Note: For the Catherine de Medici image.

The Global Diaspora of The Huguenots and Their Protestant Allies

(7) — four records

Vocabulary.com
Diaspora definition
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/diaspora#:~:text=The%20term%20diaspora%20comes%20from,their%20culture%20as%20they%20go.

Historic UK
The Huguenots – England’s First Refugees
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Huguenots/

The Huguenot Society of America
The Huguenots in America
https://www.huguenotsocietyofamerica.org/history/huguenot-history/

Historie Der Gereformeerde Kerken Van Vrankryk
(History of the Reformed Churches of Vrankryk)
by Élie Benoist, 1696
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houghton_Typ_632.96.202_-_Historie_Der_Gereformeerde_Kerken_Van_Vrankryk.jpg
Note: For the “All The Ways to Leave France” image.