Jean DUBOIS

                   [MY FAMILY HISTORY.FTW]
[chawkins.FTW]
- date of marriage and surname of wife unknown - birth may have been ca. 1590 - date of death was
probably sometime before 10-10-1655 which was the date of son Louis' marriage in Mannheim, Germany
- Apparently of a family of nobility but after becoming a Huguenot this nobility was deprived him and
official records was systemmatically destroyed as were the records of other Huguenot families in
France at the time. - Settled on lands at Wicres, France about 10 miles southeast of Lille. - Described
as a "gentleman of the family of DuBois". - There may have been two (2) older sons, Antoine and Isaac
who were older than the children listed above
LINE OF LOUIS DU BOIS
Much has been written about Louis du Bois, and there is yet much to be revealed by investigation concerning the ancestry of this influential forbear of the American Van Metres. From various sources of authority the following lineage has been compiled.
Monsieur Le Turque, of the Genealogical Institute of Paris, has developed a line of ancestors running back to the days of the Scyrri which includes descent from Charlemagne, Emperor of the West; Alfred the Great; Hugh Capet, King of France, and Henry I., Emperor of Germany. The most important of these lines have been compared and verified; and where the line is broken the cause is attributed to the summary action of Louis XIV.'s minister, Cardinal Mazarin, and Marshall Turenne, who decreed that the names of many of the noble families of France, who espoused and held to the faith of Protestantism, should be erased from the rolls of the nobility and their property confiscated. By the Edict of Nantes, promulgated in 1598, civil and religious liberty was restored and confirmed to the Huguenots, but when Louis XIV. revoked the Edict, thousands of French families fled to England, Germany, Switzerland and Holland. It was during the latter part of this reign of terror that the father of Louis du Bois found shelter in the Palatinate of the Rhine.
According to this tracing of the family the line begins with Guelph, Prince of the Scyrri, A.D. 476. Azo, Marquis of Liguria, A.D. 1030, a descendant of the Prince in the fourteenth generation, married Marie, a descendant of the powerful house of Este, in Italy. The Estes were of the Actii of Rome who settled in Lombardy about 500 B.C. Guelph, grandson of Azo and Marie, Count of Bavaria and Saxe, A.D. 1107, married Judith, a descendant of Charlemagne. A great grandson of Guelph and Judith, Henry V., Duke of Bavaria and Saxe, A.D. 1195, married Mathilde, a descendant of William the Conqueror, through Henry I. and Henry II. of England. Henry VI., son of the Duke of Bavaria and Saxe and Mathilde, married, A.D. 1200, Agnes, Countess of Palatine, a descendant of Alfred the Great. A descendant of Henry VI. and Agnes, Madame Claude de Lannoy, married Charles du Bois, Seigneur des Querder, who was a descendant of MacQuaire du Bois, Count de Roussey, A.D. 1110.
Seperate source:
Some have said that Chretien's ancestry extends back to Charlemagne, the Frankish emperor, but the
evidence is circumstancial, based on land records, and not given a great deal of credance by the DuBois
Family Association. Suffice it to say that he was the progenator of an extensive line of people
descended from his two sons, Louis and Jacques. In those lines are such people as General George S.
Patton, Franklin Roosevelt, and W.E.B. DuBois.
DuBois Family
There are some uncertainties regarding early lineage in this family as indicated in the follow "Report of
European Research of Reverend W. Twyman Williams, Minister of College Church, Hampden-Sydney,
Virginia, dated 13 December 1935:
Mr. Williams pointed out errors in Mackenzie's Colonial Families of the United States of America, IV,
duBois, because of lack of conciliation in generation dates, such as placing Louis DuBois, born 21
October 1626, as the son of Chretien Maxmillan des Finnes. In the Dictionarie de la Noblesse by La
Chesnay, Desbois and Baider, a standard work on the French nobility, Chretien Maxmilien du Bois de
Finnes was listed in Vol. VIII and recorded as 'Captain in the Regiment of his father, died 1747 ages 21
without issue'. His father was Charles Maxmilien (1701-1750); his grandfather, Maximilien Francois
(1669-1714); his great-grandfather, Maximilien, who married 1662 Catherine Cecile de Guernonval; and
his great-great-grandfather, Marc, who married 1624 Madeleine d-Ognies. Obviously, if Louis duBois'
father, Chretien, were of this line, he could not belong to a later generation than of Marc du Bois de
Fiennes, who was son of Guislain, son of Eustace, son of Charles du Bois and Claude de Lannoy. A record of the children of the last three named seems conclusive that Chretien du Bois was not of this line at all.
This incorrect pedigree had been secured by Mrs. Anna Louise Thompson of Geneva, Illinois, since
deceased, from a French genealogist, who perpetrated upon her an outrageous fraud, namely copying
these generations from the Dictionarie and omitting all dates to conceal his ridiculous identification of
Chretien du Bois, father of Louis, the emigrant, with Chretien Maximilien du Bois de Fiennes (1726-1747).
Mr. S. Gordon Smythe called attention to a statement in E. de Valcourt-Vermont's America Heraldica
that Chretien du Bois of Wicres, a village near Lille, belonged to the family of DuBois who were
Seigneurs of La Bourse and Beaufermez, two old family estates in the vicinity of Lille.
Mr. Williams found an Antoine du Bois, of the DuBois de Fiennes family, but in a cadet branch founded
the latter part of the fourteenth century, who was Seigneur de la Bourse, as his ancestors had been for
five or six generations, and who became Seigneur de Beaufermez by his marriage to Philipotte de Landas, Dame de Beaufermez.
Wallerand du Bois, son of Antoine and Philipotte du Bois, first of his line to be by inheritance Seigneur
both of La Bourse and of Beaufermez, married 1583, Madelein de Croix. Wallerand and Madeleine du
Bois thus lived at the right place and the right time to have been the parents of Chretien du Bois, father
of Louis, the emigrant to New York. For since the Parish Register of La Bassee (in which Wicres is
situated) shows that Chretien du Bois had at least two sons older than Louis, who was born in 1626,
Chretien could not have been born much later than 1600 at latest, not too late for the birth of a son to
parents married in 1583.
A later report of the Reverend Mr. W. Twyman Williams dated 24 July 1937 states:
"A communication from Monsieur J. S. Willems-Le Clercq of Brussels, an accredited genealogist of the
Institute, gives only negative values of proving that the wanted records were NOT to be found in the
church registers of Leyden. The genealogist wrote that he had examined the Cambrai Historical
Society's publications, in which are genealogies of families resident at or near Wicres and known to have inter-married with the du Bois of that locality, and also the state archives at Gand, where in the 17th century were kept records of the court within the jurisdiction of which Wicres then belonged.
"In the data thus far received there were several items of positive value, corroborating, so far as they
go, Mr. Williams' conclusion that our ancestor, Chretien du Bois of Wicres, was a son of Wallerand du
Bois who married 1583 Madeleine de Croix.
"First: the estate of Beaufermez, of which Wallerand du Bois was Seigneur, is proved to have been
situated at Wicres. The value of this item is apparent in connection with the hitherto unsupported
statement of America Heraldica that Beaufermez was one of the estates possessed by the ancestors of
Chretien du Bois.
"Second: the family to which Madeleine de Croix belonged also had estates in the commune of Wicres.
"Third: estates at Wicres owned by several du Bois and by 'the Seigneur of Beaufermez (Bauffremez)'
adjoined estates of the family Billau (Bilyou), one of whom is known to have married a daughter of
Chretien du Bois. We have a record of this marriage in Leyden, and in New York a record mentioning
Louis DuBois as uncle of a daughter of this marriage."
The following was written by George Washington DuBois, D.D. (1822-1910) who was of Keeseville, Essex County, New York at the time of his death:
"Chretien du Bois of Wicres in Artois, Pas de Calais, France, was born in 1597 and died prior to 10
October 1655. Owing to the systematic mutilation of the records of Huguenot families of the nobility,
neither his parentage nor issue can be definitely proved. It is believed that he belonged to one of the
five quite well known families stemming from Geoffroi de Bois and his wife Sidonie Tesson of the
Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy who were alive in the middle of the 11th century. From records in the
Netherlands, where many Huguenots gained sanctuary, it is certain that Louis and Jacque s, both
Walloons, were sons of Chretien du Bois.
"Helps to the identification of the American Branch of the 'famille du Bois': In a book in my library
entitled Souvenirs d'une ancienne famille Maison de Mailly en Artois, published at Limoges, France
1889, pp. 111-115, it is recorded that the 9th child of Robert de Mailly-Couronel and Jeanne de
Beaumont, his wife, was Madeline, who about 1550 was married to Jacques du Bois, Baron de Finnes (one of the 12 Baronnes of the Conte de Guise), Artois, his oldest son was Pierre, Seigneur de Rantigny,
advocate at the Council of Artois, married at Cambray, Jacqueline de Mouen. The second child was Jean.
The third child of Robert de Mailly-Couronel was Charles, Seigneur du Rien. Note the perpetuation of
Christian and surnames - Jacques, Pierre, Pierrone, Jacqueline, Jean, du Rien. Our ancestor Jacques was from Artois province (Lille). Marie du Rien was sponsor at baptism of Marie 1664, the first child of our Jacques as of record in Leyden. As this record contained in the book above referred to connects our
branch with Jacques du Bois, Baron de Fienne (presumably), so does it also connect us in ascending line with the Baron de Fienne, the lineal descendant of Geoffroi de Bois, according to the genealogy
preserved in the Bibliotheque du Rois Paris"
Heidgerd continues, "In 1675, Jacques and his family joined his elder brother, Louis, who had emigrated
15 years earlier to the Esopus. Seven of their children had been baptised in Leyden. The eighth was born while the family were en route or shortly after their arrival. Jacques died soon after the birth of his
last child, Christian, certainly before the marriage of his widow in 1677 to John L. Pietersy. Quick
re-marriages were almost a necessity in early colonial times.
"The above account was furnished by Koert DuBois Burnham of Keeseville, New York to the DuBois
Family Association in 1967."
The reference next reports the following "from the papers of John Coert Du Bois, M.D. (1831-1913),
late of the city of Hudson, Columbia County, New York:
"The following is a compilation from research of Dr. DuBois during the time he was a medical student in
Paris from 1858 to 1860, and during a later visit there in 1883. His references were the d'Hozier
Manuscripts, 1696-1716, the records of the Reformation Church at Lille, the records of the Reformation
Church at Leyden. These were all examined by him personally.
"The DuBois family is one of the oldest of the noble houses of Conentin in the duchy of Normandy. The
heraldic records in the Bibliotheque Nationale, rue de Richelieu, Paris, commence the genealogy with
Geoffroi du Bois, 'a knight banneret' who was companion of William of Normandy, called the Conqueror
after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. To date the line from Geoffroi has not been confirmed to Chretien
du Bois, the father of Louis and Jacques who emigrated to Ulster County, New York, during the
seventeenth century.
"In the Maison Royale de France, the 'famille du Bois' is mentioned as 'Grand Masters of the Forests of
France.'
"I have traced while living in Paris during the years 1858 through 1860, and since that time, with the
following generations listed:
1. Jean, Seigneur de Fontaines, maitre d'hotel of Charles VIII, died 1507.

2. Jean, king's councillor and controller-general of finances, married 7 October 1493 to the niece of
the Chancellor of France.
3. Astremoine, a Huguenot who afterwards renounced his faith, was restored to his nobility, and was
declared to be descended from 'la maison du Bois en Artois.'
4. Antoine, Seigneur de Fontaines, king's councillor and ambassador to the Pays-Bas. He was married
in 1571.
5. Pierre, Seigneur de Fontaines-Moran, married Francoise Olivier de Leuville. He served in the army
during 1597.
Chretien, a younger son, became a Huguenot, and was deprived of his nobility in consequence. His elder brother, Louis, who remained a Catholic, was designated as Seigneur de Fontaines, lieutenant-general of the Armies of the King. Louis was in 1653 made Marquis de Giuvi."
After reading the foregoing pages, it is clearly understood that Heidgerd states "it is necessary that
further European research be commissioned. It is hoped that a later installment of this DuBois Family
History will provide a completely authenticated lineage for Chretien du Bois of Wicres"
Chre'tien DU BOIS was born about 1590 to 1600, probably at Wicres, France.
He became a Huguenot and was deprived of his nobility in consequence. He settled on lands at Wicres
about 10 miles southwest of Lille where his farm is still pointed out. He is described as 'a gentleman of
the family of du Bois, Seigneurs de Beaufermez and de Bourse.' (d'Hozier MSS)
His children, apparently all baptized at Lille, parish church of Wicres, were:
Francoise, born 17 June 1622, married Pierre Billiou;
Anne, baptized 30 November 1625 at Lille, parish church of Wicres;
Louis, baptized on 13 November 1626 at Lille, parish church of Wicres, married Catherine
Blanchan at Mannheim, in the Pfalz, German Palatinate on 10 October 1655; and
Jacques, baptized on 27 October 1628 at Reformation Church of Lille, parish church of Wicres,
married Pierrone Bentyn at the Walloon Church at Leyden on 25 April 1663, and had eight
children.
"The Rev. W. Twyman Williams, Minister of the College Church, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia, suggested as a result of his research that Chretien possibly had at least two additional sons, possibly Antoine and
Isaac, who were older than the children of whom we have definite record."
Chretien had died by 10 October 1655 when his son Louis was married at Mannheim.
Louis DU BOIS was baptized on 21 October 1626 at Lille, parish church of Wicres, France, the son of
Chretien du Bois (and possibly a Cornelia [Unknown]).
Either with his parents or on his own he went to Mannheim, Germany in the Pfalz, German Palatinate.
Abstracts of Mannheim Palatine Records translated by Louis DuBois of Yardley, Pennsylvania in 1928
state: "In the year 1606, the Elector Frederick IV of the Palatinate, being an Evangelical Prince and
foreseeing a religious war, built the fortified city of Mannheim at the confluence of the Neckar and
Rhine Rivers. Soon after, in 1618, there broke out the devastating 'Thirty Years War' and then the
youthful fortress of Mannheim was taken and destroyed by the Bavarian General Tilly.
The persecuted French Protestants were brotherly received in the German Evangelical country,
particularly in the Rhineland. The Walloons were likewise welcomed in Mannheim and allowed to
establish their own French Evangelical community with their own clergymen. For a time they were united
with the German Evangelical Reformed church, which union was made with the understanding that
services and Holy Communion should be held in the French language in the Spring and Autumn.
"The civil and church records of Mannheim do not go back beyond the year 1621, the date of the city's
destruction. It is only at a later date that the records of the French Protestants are to be found
inscribed by French clergymen in the German church book of records.
"The name du Bois is found for the first time in 1653.... Louis du Bois, son of the late Chretien DuBois,
resident of Wicres in the vicinity of