THE EARLY GENERATIONS OF THE DU PONT AND ALLIED FAMILIES THE EARLY GENERATIONS OF THE DU PONT AND ALLIED FAMILIES BY H. A. DU PONT AUTHOR OF "THE BTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS" IN Two VOLUMIS VOLUME ll NEW YORK NATIONAL AMERICANA SOCIETY COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY COL. HENRY A. DU PONT A II rights restrved Press of ]. J. Little & Ives Company New York, U. S. A. CONTENTS VOLUME II CHAPTER XV PAGZ THE MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-ELDEST OR LA GARDE-MARZAC BRANCH-SECOND BRANCH-CHAMPVOUX AND LES JAL- LUERES SUB-BRANCHES 41 I CHAPTER XVI THE MONTCHANIN FAMILY, CONCLUDED-SUB-BRANCH OF LA NocLE-THrRD OR YouNGEST BRANCH-MoNTCHA­ NINS OF ST. PRIEST-LA ROCHE-SUB-BRANCHES OF PER­ REUX, CHAMPRAND, CHAVRON AND LES PARAS-ST. MAURICE LES CHATEAUNEUF MoNTCHANINS 447 CHAPTER XVII THE LE PLASTRIER FAMILY-PIERRE LE PLASTRIER AND Hrs DESCENDANTS-DENYS LE PLASTRIER, SECOND, AND Hrs POSTERITY • 475 CHAPTER XVIII THE LE PLASTRIER FAMILY, CoNCLUDED-JEHAN LE PLAS­ TRIER, SrxTH, AND Hrs OFFSPRING-DENYS LE PLAS- TRIER, FOURTH, AND Hrs DESCENDANTS 501 CHAPTER XIX THE CossART FAMILY-CossARTS OF THE "NoBLESSE"­ AMERICAN CosSARTS-COSSARTS OF THE "BOURGEOISIE," ExcLUDING THOSE OF RouEN-CosSARTS OF RouEN 527 CHAPTER XX THE CossARTS OF RouEN, CoNTINUED--THOMAs CossART, SECOND, OF FRANQUEVILLE, AND Hrs PosTERITY 551 V vi CONTENTS CHAPTER XXI PAGE THE CossARTS OF RouEN, CoNTINuEo--JEHAN CossART, oF BoscBESTRE, AND Hrs DESCENDANTS 583 CHAPTER XXII THE CossARTS OF RouEN, CoNTINUED--ELDER OR PROTESTANT BRANCH OF DESCENDANTS oF JEHAN CossART oF Bosc- BESTRE 615 CHAPTER XXIII THE CossARTS OF RouEN, CoNCLUDED--ELDER OR PROTESTANT BRANCH, CoNCLUDED--FANEUIL FAMILY-]uNroR OR CATHOLIC BRANCH OF DESCENDANTS OF JEHAN CossART OF BosCBESTRE 635 CHAPTER XXIV THE TousTAIN, PucHoT, FERE, LE PELLETIER DE MARTAIN­ VILLE AND BIGOT FAMILIES-ELDER BRANCH OF THE PucHoT FAMILY 673 CHAPTER XXV THE BouLAINVILLIERS AND DUMONT DE BosTAQUET FAMILIES -YOUNGER BRANCH oF THE PucHoT FAMILY-A Dis­ cussroN OF THE N OBILIARY CLAIMS OF THE PucHOT FAMILY • 713 BIBLIOGRAPHY 743 INDEX 753 GENEALOGICAL CHARTS FACING PAGE 11. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-SECOND BRANCH . 421 12. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-SENIOR LINE OF SECOND BRANCH 424 13. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-SENIOR LINE OF SECOND BRANCH, ~~Num ~ 14. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-JUNIOR LINE OF SECOND BRANCH 433 rs. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-JUNIOR LINE OF SECOND BRANCH (LES JALLUERES SUB-BRANCH) 440 16. MoNTCHANIN FAMILY-JUNIOR LINE OF SECOND BRANCH, CoNTINUED (LA NocLE SuB-BRANCH) 453 17. LE PLASTRIER FAMILY 479 18. LE PLASTRIER FAMILY, CONTINUED 501 19. LE PLASTRIER FAMILY, CONTINUED (ELDER BRANCH, Now EXTINCT IN MALE LINE) 515 20. CosSART FAMILY 558 2r. CossART FAMILY, CoNTINUED 588 22. CossART FAMILY, CoNTINUED 620 23. CossART FAMILY, CoNTINUED 636 24. CossART FAMILY, CoNTINUED 651 25. TousTAIN FAMILY . 674 26. PucHOT FAMILY (ELDER BRANCH) 68g 27. FERE FAMILY 691 28. LE PELLETIER DE MARTAINVILLE FAMILY 695 29. PucHOT FAMILY, CoNTINUED (YouNGER BRANCH) 722 CHAPTER XV THE MONTCHANIN FAMILY THE LA GARDE-MARZAC OR ELDEST BRANCH THE SECOND BRANCH THE CHAMPVOUX SUB-BRANCH THE LES JALLUERES SUB-BRANCH CHAPTER XV THE MONTCHANIN FAMILY LTHOUGH under the "ancien regime" an over­ whelming majority of those belonging to the A "noblesse" were known in everyday life by the names of their estates ( "noms de terre"), to the exclusion of their family surnames, these last continued to be a part and parcel of their legal designations and as such were necessarilv inserted in all official documents. From the thousands of illustrations that could be given, we may cite the Breteuils, La Fayettes and La Roche-Jacquelins, whose respective patronymics were Le Tonnelier, Motier and Du Verger. There were, however, a certain number of noble fami­ lies of the utmost antiquity, such as the Noailles, Jaucourts and Montholons, who had no surnames and whose sole and only appellations were those of the original feudal fiefs or manors made over to their forebears by some chieftain of the conquering hosts which had taken possession of the Gallic provinces of the Roman empire. The first begin­ nings of these families dated from an exceedingly remote past, poetically styled by some genealogists "the night of time," and their tenure of every right and privilege of noble birth had never been questioned or disputed, as is conclusively proved by all the ancient charts and documents. That our Montchanin ancestors were included in the last named class is not only fully established by the fact that they had never used or possessed any other appella­ tion than that of their ancient feudal manor, but by a legal 4II 412 THE EARLY GENERATIONS OF document of the thirteenth century which set forth that their forefathers had lived and died "from time imme­ morial" near Issy l'Eveque, a small town in the Charollais district of Burgundy, now department of Sa6ne-et-Loire. We are wholly ignorant of everything connected with the first representatives of the race and of their acquisition of the domain from which the family took its name, this being sufficiently explained by the many centuries of turbulence and dense illiteracy which followed the destruc­ tion of Roman civilization. In view, however, of the chevron emblazoned on the family shield, it may be justly assumed that their antecedents were of a military character. Although the Montchanins had unquestionably dwelt from a very remote era near Issy l'Eveque, the first of the name to whom reference is made in the few remaining records was a certain Girin ( Girinus), living about the middle of the thirteenth century, who was the seigneur ( dominus) of the feudal manor of Montchanin, situated about two miles southwest of the above town. Nearly two hundred years later, in 1449, this manor was described as lying on the road from Corcelles to Baugy, east of certain lands of the sieur de Champcery and north of those of "maistre Estienne de Baugy, damoiseau," at which date it was styled the "finage" of Montchanin-that is to say, the jurisdiction included within certain defined limits or borders, from the Latin "finis," frontier or border, a term which harkens back to the judicial p~erogatives of its an­ cient "seigneurs." The benefactions of this Girin de Montchanin ( prob­ ably born towards 1190) to the Catholic church of Issy l'Eveque and notably to the chapel within its walls dedi­ cated to St. Jean, have saved his name from oblivion. About the year 1260 he executed a deed of gift ("fonda- THE DU PONT AND ALLIED FAMILIES 413 tion") to the said church which stipulated that special masses were to be said and prayers recited for the repose of his soul and that a lighted taper was to be maintained forever on the altar of the chapel which, as stated above, had been from time immemorial the burial place of his forefathers, a fact which betokened the extreme antiquity of the race. About 1300, the Montchanin family separated into three principal branches which descended from the broth­ ers :-Marc de Montchanin, --- de Montchanin, and Girin de Montchanin, second, who were most likely great­ grandsons of the ancestor named above. Such at least was the undisputed family tradition, fully confirmed by documentary evidence so far as the first, or eldest, and the third, or youngest, branches are concerned. While it is true that there is no written attestation of the descent of the second branch from the remaining brother, this is amply demonstrated not only by its armorial bearings to which we shall refer presently, but by the terms of the "declaration" made in 1449 by a member of that branch, Jehan de Montchanin, canon of the Cathedral church of Autun, defining and explaining the terms of another deed of gift to the Issy l'Eveque church, which his father, Pierre de Montchanin, had executed ten years previously. This "declaration" recites that Marc ( the founder of the eldest or La Garde-Marzac branch) had been a notary at Issy l'Eveque as well as the owner of landed property situ­ ated apparently at a certain distance from that town and adjacent to the "lands, forests, ponds and other temporal possessions" of the bishop of Autun. It further states that Marc's younger brother, Girin, second, was in his lifetime a resident of St. Priest-La Roche; and, as it is established by other existing documents that this Girin, second, was a notary at that place during the first part of 414 THE EARLY GENERATIONS OF the fourteenth century ( r 32 5), it is obvious that Marc's exercise of similar functions at Issy l'Eveque must have been practically contemporaneous. The deed of gift also proves that the representatives of the second branch were in possession of the ancient family domain before 1439, and incidentally shows that the descendants of Marc must have abandoned Issy l'Eveque long before that date and had established themselves in all likelihood upon the prop­ erty mentioned above as belonging to their forefather. Later they became great landowners in Burgundy and people of much importance and distinction among the no­ bility of that province, were seigneurs of La Garde as well as of many other places, and finally comtes of Marzac. The head of the second branch in I 399 was Pierre de Montchanin, a resident of Issy l'Eveque and apparently a nephew or great-nephew of Marc and Girin, second. For more than five centuries, the great majority of his descendants in the male line have made their abode at or near that town, where the last of the name is still living ( 1922). Although the members of the different branches freely recognized their common origin, none of the representa­ tives of the various lines were able to produce, in later times at least, the documentary proof of their mutual kin­ ship or of the prior descent of the race.