F is For French Ancestor

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is F. Do you have a French ancestor in your lineage? I do. In fact I have several.

Sophia De Roche was born in France 21 May 1748. Jacob Burkholder (a Mennonnite born in Switzerland) and Sophia (a French Huguenot)  fled religious persecution in Switzerland  to come to Pennsylvania in 1765 on the ship Myrtilla.

Jacob and Sophia Burkholder were the first settlers in Hamilton Ontario Canada on land called the Burkholder Settlement. A monument to them was erected in 1949. Jacob filed a petition for land where he states arrived July 1794, applied for land 7 August 1794.

A few of my other French ancestors were:

David Demarest
 David de Maire, [Demarest] from Picardy, and Wife and four children 18, 12, 6, 1 yr od were recorded on the ship Bonte Koe arriving in New Netherland (New York) in 1663

Philippe Casier
 Philippe Casier (my 10th great-grandfather) of Calais France, is first mentioned in the Huguenot settlement of Martinique in the French West Indies. In 1635 a party of old and experienced settlers had gone to Martinique from the neighbouring island of St. Christopher, which had been settled by French Huguenots in 1627. In 1645, Philippe Casier and others left the island and returned to Europe. Casier went first to Calais, then to Sluis, Flanders where his daughter Hester was born. Some time after 1652, Philippe and his family moved to Mannheim in the Lower Palatinate of Germany, along with other Huguenots and Walloon Protestants.

David Uziele
David Uzille was from Calais but his family came originally from near La Moussaye (south of St. Malo) in lower Brittany. He was a farmer, born about 1635. He married Marie Magdalina, the eldest daughter of Philippe Casier from Calais, before 1659. David Usilie, as he was recorded, emigrated from Calais on the ship the Gilded Otter in 1660

Simeon LeRoy dit Audy
Simeon LeRoy dit Audy was born in 1640 in Creance, Normandy, France.  About 1681 or 1682 Simeon and his wife took some of their family to Kingston,New York. Nine of their eleven children were recorded in Canada. Several of the sons began using the surname Larroway. My branch were Loyalists arriving in Upper Canada during the American Revolution

Jacques Hertel 
Jacques was the father of Ots-Toch, the Mohawk woman who married Cornelis Van Slyke in New Netherland (present day New York)

and more!

Finding a Huguenot or Walloon Ancestor

Waloon: people who speak a French dialect and live in southern and eastern Belgium and neighboring parts of France.

Huguenot: a French Protestant of the 16th–17th centuries

The breaking out of war between France and Spain in 1635 caused a large influx of Protestant refugees into England from Picardy, Artois, Hainault and Flanders. Amiens was the capital of the Amienois in Picardy.

The Huguenots had long been persecuted in their homelands. Many families, in terror, fled for other lands after the fall of La Rochelle and Montauban. The West Indies, inviting because of its climate and fruitfulness, was becoming the refuge of many Huguenots for whom the cold region of Canada had no attractions.

Removals to these islands had been going on under the direction of a company formed at Paris in 1626, under M. D'Enantbus, who the year before had visited the island of St. Christopher in a brigantine from Dieppe. There he planted the first colony in 1627. In 1635, Martinique was occupied by a hundred old and experienced settlers from St. Christopher, including Phillippe Casier and his wife Maria Taine.

In 1640 Jesuit missionaries arrived at Martinique where there were almost a thousand French, "without mass, without priest,". Having been reluctantly admitted by the governor and the people, the Jesuits heightened the public dissensions which broke out in the islands and which grew so violent five years later, especially in Martinique, that many of the Huguenots were glad to get back to Europe. Many of them went to the Netherlands, some of them, as the Casier family of Calais, eventually finding safe haven at Harlem, New York.

Those seeking their Huguenot or Walloon ancestors may find the following helpful:

Huguenot Ships Passenger Lists
Huguenot Family Names
Huguenot Historical Overview
Huguenots to South Africa

I have written a book about one Walloon immigrant who settled in New Amsterdam (now New York City), New Netherland.

New Netherland Settlers: A Walloon in New Amsterdam:: Adriaen Vincent and his Wife Magdaleen Eloy - 2nd edition! available on Amazon

Adriaen Vincent, a Walloon from Belgium, made the perilous journey to New Netherland with his wife Magdaleen and their young family in the early 1640s. A former West Indies Company soldier, Adriaen was embarking on a new life. The family settled in the village of New Amsterdam, which would one day become the city of New York. Life could not have been easy for the couple, faced with a different culture and language. But settlers were pouring in and New Amsterdam was flourishing. Within a few years Adriaen and Magdaleen opened a tavern which catered to sailors and new arrivals. Their fortunes soon took a turn for the better and the family settled into their new life. This book contains new information on the family in the Netherlands and New Netherland, as well as details on descendants of Adriaen and Magdaleen 

Meme: Immigrant Ancestor The Walloon Philip Casier

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My 10th great-grandfather Philippe Casier was born circa 1616 in Flanders France. We can summarize his life in these few words:  

Philippe, a Walloon,  fled religious persecution, escaping France for the West Indies in 1635. Forced out of West Indies he took his family to Holland, then fled to New Netherland on the Gilded Otter in 1660. He died in 1663 in Harlem New York. 

But wow! Think about what those words mean. What a life he led - full of adventure, turmoil, no doubt tragedy, and a great deal of hard work in forging a new life - several new lives in each country to which he fled for safety and freedom of religion. 

The Casier family is first mentioned in the Huguenot settlement of Martinique in the French West Indies. In 1635 a party of old and experienced settlers had gone to Martinique from the neighbouring island of St. Christopher, which had been settled by French Huguenots in 1627. Philippe and Marie (Taine) Casier's first two children, Jean and Marie, were born on Martinique. In 1645, Philippe Casier and others left the island and returned to Europe. Casier went first to Calais, then to Sluis, Flanders where his daughter Hester was born. Many French and Walloon exiles from England and from the Dutch seaboard were fleeing to Mannheim, drawn there by assurances of freedom and protection under the government of the Protestant Elector, Charles Lewis who held out strong inducements to the refugees to settle there. Some time after 1652, Philippe and his family moved to Mannheim in the Lower Palatinate of Germany, along with other Huguenots and Walloon Protestants.

On 16 November, Philippe was made a magistrate, but near the close of the ensuing winter, he died.  The widow bought a house in the Markvelt-steegie in New York and lived there for some years with her sons Jean and Jacques who were bakers. In 1671, she married Jean Le Roy of Harlem. 

Immigrant Ancestors Meme: The Huguenot Philippe Casier

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

1572 Massacre of Huguenots in France

Philippe Casier (ca 1616 Calais, Flanders, France - ca 1662 Harlem New York) was a French Huguenot who fled religious persecution, escaping France for West Indies in 1635. Forced out of the West Indies he took his family to Holland, then fled to New Netherland on the Gilded Otter (der Vergulde Otter) in 1660. He is recorded on the manifest as "Philip Cassier, farmer from Calais, wife and 4 children, 23, 16, 12 and 3 yrs"

Philippe Casier (my 10th great-grandfather) of Calais France, is first mentioned in the Huguenot settlement of Martinique in the French West Indies. In 1635 a party of old and experienced settlers had gone to Martinique from the neighbouring island of St. Christopher, which had been settled by French Huguenots in 1627. Philippe and Marie (Taine) Casier's first two children, Jean and Marie, were born on Martinique. 

In 1645, Philippe Casier and others left the island and returned to Europe. Casier went first to Calais, then to Sluis, Flanders where his daughter Hester was born. Many French and Walloon exiles from England and from the Dutch seaboard were fleeing to Mannheim, drawn there by assurances of freedom and protection under the government of the Protestant Elector, Charles Lewis who held out strong inducements to the refugees to settle there. Some time after 1652, Philippe and his family moved to Mannheim in the Lower Palatinate of Germany, along with other Huguenots and Walloon Protestants. 

 Philippe Casier is listed as a Schepen [magistrate] of Harlem as of 16 November 1662. New magistrates were appointed by the Director and Council and the new board was Jan La Montagne, Philippe Casier and Derick Claessen. One of their first acts was to provide for the more careful placing of houses and fences.

Philippe Casier and wife Marie Taine, united with the church October 1662. On 16 November, he was made a magistrate, but near the close of the ensuing winter, he died.