J PUBLIC llfl'ilNl'm^m'Ml^iTli LIBRARY Gc 929.2 3 1833 01206 3738 D36oe " "^'OLDS MISTORICAL '':' .-._-^GY COLLECTION THE DEFORESTS OF AVESNEs"" (AND OF NEW NETHERLAND) A Huguenot Thread in American Colonial History 1494 to tbc present ^ime WITH THREE HERALDIC ILLUSTRATIONS J. w. de forest EX. CAPT. AND B'V'T MAJ. U. S. VOLS. AUTHOR OF A LOVER'S REVOLT, THE ODDEST OP COURTSHIPS, IRENE THE MISSIONARY, PLAYING THE MISCHIEF, JUSTINE'S LO\'TRS, HONEST JOHN VANE, THE WETHERELL AFFAIR, OVERLAND, MISS RAVENEL'S CONVERSION, SEACLIFF, EUROPEAN ACQUAINTANCE. ORIENTAL ACQUAINTANCE, THE HISTORY OF THE INDIANS OF CONNECTICUT, ETC., ETC. NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. printers and publishers 1900 ^\e^,,NA ^^• Copyright, 1900 J. w. de forest Si riiE Old Church oi-- Avesnks. ; PREFACE. "^ It has not been my intention to produce a complete " \;' " family history of the Avenese de Forests in Europe "vj. and in America. That would be a more serious labor than I care to confront. ^ I have merely purposed to discover the origin of 1,; the family ; to trace it from that origin down to its S^ establishment in the New World ; to indicate the J"' "lineages which sprang from the ancestral emigrant and to push one lineage down to the middle of the i' nineteenth century. Obviously, whatever de Forest -"^-I can prove his relationship to that lineage will thereby ^ ally himself to the founders of the house of Avesnes,* or wherever future research may establish the ultimate birthplace of our stock and name. The following is an incomplete statement of the sources of information which I have made use of : The library of the British Museum, both for manu- scripts and printed works. The principal libraries at Paris, including the Na- tional and Mazarin, containing thousands of volumes of manuscripts bearing on family history. The Royal and Burgundian library at Brussels ; 22,000 mss. The libraries of Leyden, Cambray, Valenciennes, Douai and Louvain ; many mss. *In France, department du Nord. Pronounce, " Ah-vayn." IV THE DE FORESTS OF AVESNES. The " Ajfiluj^joL^ji^ealm " at Brussels, and the "State Araiives" Wm^WS,' i n Belgium. The National Archives, and the bureau of the " Hooge Raad Van Adel," at the Hague, Holland. The civic records at the Hague, Leyden, Harlem, Lille, St. Quentin and Cambray. The Walloon church-registers, preserved in the library of the university of Le)"den. The registers of the ancient Huguenot ehurch of Sedan. The ecclesiastical and civic records of Avesnes, including those at Avesnes, in the department-archives at Lille, and in the Documents Concerning Flanders at the National Library, Paris. Add to the above list scores of printed works, such as collections of provincial documents, cartularies of monasteries and bishoprics, local encyclopedias and historical dictionaries, magazines of history and geog- raphy, proceedings of historical societies, collections of genealogy, chronicles and memoirs, nobiliaires and armories, so many in number and so lengthy in title that I shrink from cataloguing them. It hardly need be explained that a very large proportion of them contained nothing related to my subject, or possibly some mere scrap of information. With regard to the colonizing and the cis-Atlantic periods my authorities will be mentioned in the nar- rative, or cited in foot-notes, or quoted in the Appen- dix. It has been my object, by the way, to furnish proof for every statement of importance, and to assume nothing. I have had important assistance in the production of this volume. My acknowledgments are specially Ihum'f 'i-^ due to Mr. Charles M. Dozy, archivist of Leyden, who found for me and deciphered the nearly illegible and very important records of Avesnes, besides sending me briefs of the church-registers at Sedan and much information from Holland. I am also indebted for documents to the American Legation at the Hague, to Mr. du Rieu chief of the University library at Leyden, to ^L Leopold Devillers of the State Archives of Mons, to M. Albert Gravet of Avesnes, to M. J. Lecat librarian of Valenciennes, and M.Leon Pajot professional archivist at Paris, not to mention others who have forwarded results, per- haps negative, but still useful. — THE DE FORESTS OF AVESNES. NEW YORK BAY IN MAY 1624. Skipper Cornells May, hardy sea-rover of Holland, Clutches with horny hand the galliot's squeaking tiller, Whistling a viking's prayer to indolent elves of breezes. Watching the shaking sails and the streaky foam of the cur- rents ; Whiles, in the hollowing waist, sombre of visage and vesture, Marvelling, stand the Walloons, dumb as if carven in marble. Watching the oncoming point of a hazy, forested island, Dotted with cabins of bark, where savages scream and signal Wild invitation— to what? barter? or cannibal battle? Wandering, swarthy Walloons, born of pre-Arj'an races. Chased from Numidian* plains to Europe in mythical seons ; Hunters primeval beside the Tagus and Guadalquiver, Treading the the forests of Gaul and Arden bald Pyrenees, ; Shattering Teuton and Kimber, yielding to Caesar and Clovis, Torn by unwearying war, shared among chaffering princes ; Yet still existent, nor quite forgetful of name and glory ; Whither betide you at last ? sons of the Belgae—my fathers Tracking the Occident wave under the lion of Holland. "Tumults and terrors we leave, flying from Spain the destroyer Drunken with of the saints, thirsting for blood forever blood ; Battle-trod Europe we leave, seeking the shores of Atlantis, Daring the grave-digging sea, the deadly breath of morasses. Daring the puma and bear, the wolf and furtive Mohican ; Hoping, at least, to obtain peace from the warrings of nations. Peace from the scafTold stake yea, of word and and ; freedom worship." So answer the dark Walloons, pilgrims of numerous ages, Hunted from land unto land by stress of following peoples. * So say Collignon and others, while Ripley and others say Armenoid. GENERAL CONTENTS. Preface, lxtroduction, Origin of the name de Forest. The de not necessarily a proof of nobility. Antiquity of the name. Briefs of records in proof thereof. Patronymic, or estate-name? Not the same with de la Forest or du Forest. Numerous families called de Forest and du Forest. Sham coats of arms attributed to the American de Forests. No relationship with the " de Forests in Cambresis." The " de Forests of Quartdeville " probably our relatives. History of the " de Forests of Quartdeville." Their coat of arms. Their marriages and relationships. Descendants of Marguerite (de Forest) Ofarel (note). CHAPTER I. Avesnes and Its Early de Forests. The Walloons and their history. Protestantism among them. Their country not militarily defensible. Hainaut, province of. Avesnes and its lords. records. Its destruction in 1477 ; loss of Subsequent history and misfortunes. nil THE DE FORESTS OF AVESNES. Surviving archives of Avesnes. Some of its mortuary inscriptions. Gilles de Forest, 1494 to 1509. Did he belong to the landed gentry? The burghers then an honorable class. The " bourgeois-gentilhomme." Melchioris de Forest and Marguerite de Forest, of 1530. CHAPTER II. Melchior de Forest 2nd. Melchior de Forest 2nd ; his marriage in 1533. Descent of his wife ; arms of her ancestors. The Protestant movement near Melchior de Forest. Risings of Valenciennes and Le Cateau, 1566. Cruelties of Mansfield and Noircarmes. Religious war in and around Hainaut ; 1568 and 1570. Melchior de Forest down to 1571-72 ; his death. His wife's history to 1579 ; her death. Children of the above ; canons Jaspard and Gilles. The chapter of St. Nicolas. Digression concerning canonries. Gilles becomes provost ; masses for Jaspard. Antoine de Forest, fiefholderand alderman. Baltazar de Forest, alderman ; his marriage. His property affairs ; a wool merchant. Honorable nature of the woolen trade. History of the title damoiselle. Descendants of Baltazar down to 1685. Melchior de Forest 3d ; deceased 1582. Ancestors of the Quartdeville de Forests ? Simon, deceased 1598. Philippe and Giles ; their wives demoiselles. Query as to the du Trieu family. Nicolas, deceased 1625. GENERAL CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Jean de Forest. Jean de Forest, first Protestant of the family. Probably youngest son of Melchior 2nd. Marries Anne Maillard ; her family. Not the same with Jean de Forest of Le Cateau, 1566. Queries concerning his early life. The religious war during his period. Devastation of the Walloon provinces. Emigration of Jean de Forest to Sedan, about 155S. Dispersion of his family. Residence in Sedan ; marriage of Jesse de Forest. for Holland prosperity of that country. Jean's departure ; He visits Bergen op Zoom, Leyden, and Amsterdam. Bethrothal of his daughter Anne, 1606. Query as to the word caffatier. Marriage of Anne de Forest, 1607. Query as to the death of Jean de Forest. Burial of his widow. CHAPTER IV. Jesse de Forest. Jesse de Forest ; when born? His marriage at Sedan, 1601. Baptismal records of six children at Sedan. Several eventually reached America. Various spellings of the family name. Jesse a merchant ; then a dyer. His elder brother, Melchior, in Holland. His younger brother, Gerard, in Holland. Brief of Gerard's history. Jesse reaches Holland, 1615. Baptisms of his children at Le3'den. Jesse apparently pressed for money. Various impoverished leaders of men. Jesse interested in emigration to America. Condition of Dutch interests there. : THE DE FORESTS OF AVESNES. The Pilgrim Fathers. Causes of the Walloon emigration to America. Swarms of Walloons in Holland. Beginnings of the Dutch West India Company. Holland in need of colonists. Jesse de Forest's visit to Sir Dudley Carleton. " " The demands of the Walloons ; their devout spirit. Privileges demanded ; oligarchical features. The round-robin of the colonists. Unsatisfactory reply of the Virginia Company. CHAPTER V. 63 The Walloon Emigration of 162^-24.