Pierre Chastain Sr. (1659 - 1728)

Born 7 Apr 1659 in Chârost, Province de Berry, Cher, France

Ancestors

Husband of Susanne (Reynaud) Chastain — married 28 Jan 1687 (to 1701) in Issoudun, Province de Berry, France

Husband of Anne (Soblet) Chastain — married 1 Nov 1701 (to 3 Apr 1723) in Manakin-Town, Goochland, Colony of Virginia

Husband of Mary Magdeline (Verrueil) Chastaine — married after 3 Apr 1723 in Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 3 Oct 1728 at age 69 in Manakin, Goochland County, Virginia

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Pierre Chastain Sr. was a Huguenot emigrant. Join: Huguenot Migration Project Discuss: huguenot

Chastain Spurious Genealogy

Biography

Pierre Chastain Sr. migrated from France to Manakin, Virginia Colony.

"Pierre Chastain immigrated to the [British North American] colonies from France in 1700, and is the father of most Chastains and Chasteens in America. Pierre was born into a Huguenot (French Protestant) family in 1659 near the village of Chârost in central France. The Chastain family had fled to this rural area from the city of Bourges when French Catholics massacred Protestants on St. Bartholomew's Day (August 24, 1572). After French King Louis XIV revoked the edict of Nantes, which had offered Protestants limited toleration since 1598, Pierre, his wife, Susanne, and their five children fled France completely, emigrating to the Protestant-run British Colony of Virginia in 1700. Today, Pierre Chastain's American descendants number in the tens of thousands. For further details, see Pierre Chastain."^[1] Information provided by Chastain Family Association.

Pierre Louis Chastain was baptized on April 9, 1659 at Issoudun, Province de Berry (Indre), France, ^[2] the son of Estienne Chastain and Jeanne Laurent. The family were residents of the city of Bourges (Cher) with a country home near Chârost, just 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Issoudun.

Origins

For centuries the Chasteigner family had lived in the province of Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques/Gers) in southwestern France. Their name indicated that they were chestnut-farmers & millers. Chestnut flour was widely used in France during the Middle Ages. During the 100 Years War (1337-1453) between France and England, which devastated the area, they became scattered around France. Some went to Province de Dauphiné in the southeast. This is where Pierre's family, whose name evolved into "Chastain," originated. His great-grandfather eventually settled in Bourges, capital of the Province de Berry in central France. He was a notaire, or legal official, in a nearly-hereditary post, there. In the early 1500s, the family converted from Roman Catholicism to the "religion chrétienne réformée" (Reformed Christian religion) as preached by Jean Calvin, a French-born theologian who lived in Protestant-run Geneva, Switzerland.

After French King Louis XIV revoked the 1598 "Edict of Nantes" that guaranteed limited religious tolerance to French Protestants in 1685, three of the Chastain family: Pierre, Estienne and Jean (Peter, Stephen & John) fled the country, seeking religious freedom, taking their families with them. They had crossed the Jura mountains into French-speaking Switzerland, where Protestants were in power, by 1696. Then they continued north to the Netherlands, a leading power run by Reformed or Presbyterian Protestants. They passed through 'The Hague in the Netherlands. From there, after September 1698, they emigrated to London, England, where Pierre helped organize a large group of French Reformed Protestants, now called "Huguenots," to found a new settlement in the British Royal Colony of Virginia. Their first ship, "Mary and Ann," set sail from Gravesend, Kent, England, bound for America, in April 1700. It arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in late July, the same year.

Among the 207 passengers listed aboard that first Huguenot ship:

• Dr. Pierre (the immigrant) Chastain, his wife and 5 children.
• Jean Chastain, his wife and four children.
• Dr. Estienne (Stephen) Chastian and his wife.
• John Chastain (maybe a cousin or a younger brother of Pierre ?).

Disputed Wife

Some 20th Century researchers have suggested that a woman named "Magdalene de la Rochefoucauld" was Pierre's first wife. This has been disproven. Descendant Tim Chastain examined the registers of Vevey at the cantonal archives in Lausanne, Switzerland. Vevey is the town Pierre stayed in Switzerland after his initial escape from France before 1696. Secondly, in 1985. Tim Chastain consulted the original French Huguenot registers of the town of Issoudun (Indre), France.

From these primary sources, Tim found considerable information on Pierre Chastain and his ancestors. Pierre's parents were Estienne Chastain (1625-aft 1694) and Jeanne Laurent (aka Laurante). Estienne's parents were Jacques Chastain (ca. 1599-bef 1675) and Jeanne Audet. Jacques' father (or grandfather) was Estienne Chastain. Cameron Allen states categorically that Pierre's first wife was Susanne Reynaud (aka Renaud), not the mythical "Marie-Madeleine de la Rochefoucauld" foisted on the Rev. James Garvin Chastain by an unscrupulous French entrepreneur and so-called "genealogist," seeking to curry favor by linking the Chastain family, who were of the bourgeoisie, to a well-known aristocratic noble family; a family that included several notable Huguenots, but who were never related to Pierre Chastain. ^[3]

Family

Marriage #1

Susanne Reynaud (aka Renaud) was Pierre Chastain's first wife. She was born ca. 1665 in Issoudun, Province de Berry, France. They were married at Issoudun Saint-Cyr on 28 January 1686/87^[4].^[5]

Children

1. Jean Adam Chastain Baptism 8 May 1690 in Vevey, Switzerland.^[6] d. 1761.
2. Marie Susannah Baptism 8 Oct 1691 in Berne, Switzerland ^[7] died 1701.
3. René Chastain, born 1692 (in Vevey, Switzerland); d. 1701
4. Pauline Elizabeth Baptism 24 Apr 1693 in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland ^[8] died 1698.
5. Pierre Louis Chastain, Baptism 24 Aug 1694 Vevey, Switzerland^[9] died 1696 between and 1698.
6. Arthuze 4 Mar 1696 in Vevey, Switzerland^[10] died before 1700.
7. Jeanne Francois 26 Feb 1697 in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland^[11]
8. Pierre Samuel Chastain baptised 5 May 1698 Vevey, Switzerland^[12]
9. Susanne Chastain, Pierre Chastain association gives birth as Sep 1699 in The Netherlands.^[13] d. 1701.^{[citation needed]}

Susanne (Reynaud) Chastain and her children, some still quite young, sailed to Virginia with Pierre-Louis and the other Huguenots in 1700. On arrival, they were taken to an abandoned Indian village called Manakintown, 25 miles into the wilderness beyond the nearest English settlement, and told this was where they had to settle. Alas, it was already too late in the season to plant staple food crops, plus the group were more bourgeois city-dwellers than rural farmers. Thus, many starved or became very weak during their first winter in America. Susanne Chastain and 3 (Jeanne, René & Susanne) of her 5 children were among the victims, all dying at Manakintown before November 1701. New arrivals from France in 1701-02 helped the settlement to survive.^[14]

Marriage #2

Pierre's second marriage was to immigrant Ann Soblet who died in April 1723 at Manakintown, Goochland, Virginia.

They married about November 1701 in Manakintown, Goochland County, Virginia.^[15]

Pierre and Ann (Soblet) Chastain had 8 children, all born in Virginia:

1. Judith Chastain born abt. 1703. Married Mr. Ballew in Virginia
2. Susanna Chastain born abt. 1705
3. Pierre Chastain born 1707. Married Mildred Archer.
4. Mary Chastain born 1709.
5. Elizabeth Chastain born 1711. Married David Lesueur‎.
6. Rene Chastain Born about 1713. Married ‎Judith Martin‎
7. Janne Chastain born 1716
8. Marie-Mary Magdalene Chastain born 1720.Married ‎Guillaume Salle‎.

Marriage #3

Pierre's third marriage was to Marie Madeleine Verrueil, the widow of Manakin immigrant, Antoine Trabue. They had no children together.

Occupation

Pierre was trained as a Physician and Surgeon in France.^[16][16][17]

As the British government sponsored the French Huguenots to settle in Goochland County, Virginia, mainly to grow grapes for wine, to begin silk-worm cultivation and silk-production, and to see if the local soil was suitable for growing rice, Pierre was expected to be a farmer as well as being the settlement's doctor and a civic leader. The new settlement was also expected to be mostly self-sufficient.

Pierre was granted 111, acs. (N.L.), Henrico Co., on the South side of the James River, adj. Anthony Maloone, his own land, and the widow Gory's line, [recorded as of 23 March 1715, p. 266]. This was part of the first 5,000 acres surveyed for the French refugees. ^[18]

Monacan Farm - Pierre's home

The Monacan farm was once the site of an abandoned Monacan Indian village (Manakin). It was the first tract of land surveyed by the Huguenot settlers. This may be the oldest house in the county. Huguenot settler Peter Chastain received a patent here in the early 1700's. The frame part of today's main house was built in 1720 by Peter Chastain.

Death & Legacy

Dr. Pierre Louis Chastain died on October 3, 1728 in Manakintown, King William Parish, Goochland County, British Province of Virginia.^[16][16][19] He was buried in the family cemetery near his home and adjacent to the Manakintown Anglican Church. His surviving 3rd wife, Marie Madeleine (Verreuil) Chastain, died in the late spring of 1731 and was buried nearby. In 1982, Lowell Chastain, then President of the Pierre Chastain Family Association, erected a grave marker for Pierre Chastain and constructed a chain-link fence around his grave.^[20]

Inscription Peter Chastain, the emigrant, born ca. 1663 France, escaped to Switzerland 1696 - in England 1699 - Arrived in Virginia w/wife & 5 children July 23, 1700, on ship, Mary & Ann - Died 1728 - Children - Judith, John & 3 unknown. 2nd wife Anne Sobet - D. Apr. 3 1723 - Children Susanna, Peter, Jr., Mary, Elizabeth, Rene, Jeanne, Mary M. 3rd wife Madeleine De La Rochefoucauld - children of Peter, Jr. & wife Mildred Archer - James, John, Rene, Abraham, Martha, Archer.^[21]

Will

Will of Peter Chastain, the Emigrant, made Oct. 3, 1728, and preserved in the archives of Goochland County, Virginia.^[22]

His wife and children are named in his will. A transcription of the will can be viewed here^[22]

Sons

1. John Chastain^[22]
2. Peter Chastain^[22]
3. René Chastain^[22]

Daughters

1. Judith^[22]
2. Susanna^[22]
3. Mary^[22]
4. Elizabeth^[22]
5. Magdalin^[22]

Wife

1. Magdalin^[22] Commonly confused with "Magdalene de la Rochefoucauld" (see Disputed Wife above )

Medical Anomaly

A significant number of members of the Chastain family have developed dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. There’s no explanation why, but scientists at Emory University are studying the family to try to find the defective genome in their DNA. ^[23]

Timeline

• 1659 Pierre was baptised 7 April in Issoudun (Indre), Province de Berry, France^{[24][25][16][26] [27][21]}
• 1687 Marriage to first wife Susanne Reynaud.
• 1696 By 1696 Pierre had fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland.^[27]
• Sep 1696 The family departed Vevey and was found at The Hague in The Netherlands.
• 1698-1700 Arrived in Gravesend, England after Sep 1698 and before Apr 19, 1700
• 8 May 1690 Birth of son Jean Adam Chastain in Vevey, Switzerland.
• '8 Oct 1691 Birth of daughter Marie Susannah Chastain in Berne, Switzerland.
• 1700 April 19, 1700 embarked from Gravesend, England to Jamestown Settlement.
• 1700 July 31, 1700 arrived at the mouth of the James River near the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony after a voyage of almost three months on the London ship Mary and Ann. (see Arrival below) They then traveled by small boats to land recently vacated by the Monacan Indians which they named Manakintown.^[28]
• 1701 Death of first wife Susanne (Renaud) Chastain and 3 of their 5 children after Feb 1701 and before Nov 1701
• 1701 ca. Nov - Married second wife Ann Soblet
• 3 May 1704 Manakin Town Grant for French Refugees^[29][30]
• 1707 Birth of son Pierre Louis (Peter) Chastain.
• 1723 Pierre's second wife Anne (Soblet) died April 3, 1723.^[31]
• 1723 Married third wife Marie Madeleine (Verrueil) Trabue 1723 (no children). She was the daughter of Moise and Madelene Verrueil and the widow of Antonie Trabue.
• 1728 Pierre died 3 Oct 1728 Manakintowne, King William Parish, Henrico County, Colony of Virginia (age 69)^[21] He is buried at Manakin Farms, Goochland County, Virginia.^[32][33] Note - (See Inscription above). Gerard-337^[34]
• 1731 Death of third wife Marie Madeleine in the Spring of 1731. (Not the #Disputed_Wife Madeleine De La Rochefoucauld)

Research Notes

Arrival – The Virginia Magazine gives arrival date of 23 Jul 1700 and cast anchor at Hampton, Virginia. ^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ Pierre Chastain Website
2. ↑ Issoudun Municipal Archives, Villatte Temple (Protestants) records 1598-1685, page 217.
3. ↑ Submitted by Tim Chastain [www.pierrechastain.com/PCFA_2021/1-0_home.html Pierre Chastain Website Note- link no longer works since website upgrade ] ~~~~
4. ↑ Société Généalogique du Bas-Berry Relevés des registres paroissiaux et d'état civil effectués par la Société Généalogique du Bas-Berry. Accessed Oct 14, 2017 via Geneanet
5. ↑ France, Indre, Parish and Civil Registrations, Issoudun Collection, Municipal Archives, St. Cyr Parish Records, 088/AC GG 031
6. ↑ Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, Vevy Parish Registers, p. 221
7. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg. 238
8. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg. 258
9. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg. 273
10. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg. 294
11. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg. 18
12. ↑ Vevy Parish Registers, Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, pg.43
13. ↑ Pierre Chastain Family Association
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} The Virginia Magazine, Vol. 61, Oct 1953, No. 4.
15. ↑ World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Title: World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Author: Brøderbund Software, Inc. Publication: Release date: November 29, 1995 Note: ABBR World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Customer pedigree. Family Archive CD
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4} Pierre Chastain And His Descendants Volume I Title: Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, Volume I, First Five Generations in America Author: Robert W. Leishman
17. ↑ An Interesting story about Pierre's sword
18. ↑ Early Virginia Families Along the James River: Their Deep Roots and Tangled Branches. Vol. I Abstracts of Land Patents - Henrico County pg 48
19. ↑ Pierre's Will
20. ↑ Pierre Chastain on Pierrechastain.com. Website of the Family Association.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1 21.2} Find a Grave Memorial# 20353590
22. ↑ ^{22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10} Chastain, James Garvin, A Brief History of the Huguenots : and Three Family Trees: Chastain-Lochridge-Stockton (Pages 262-67) Shaw, MS : The author, 1933, HathiTrust.org
23. ↑ Article about the Anomaly
24. ↑ Family Bible - Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe’s Genealogical Papers - Research Papers; owned by Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe in Kensington, Maryland, USA.
25. ↑ Source: #S5 Page: Tree #4407 Quality or Certainty of Data: 3
26. ↑ this record was located in the "Registre d'Issoudun," now located in the "Archives departementales de l'Indre" at Chateauroux, France. [This record was located in the "Register of Issoudun," now located in the Departmental Archives de l'Indre at Chateauroux, France]
27. ↑ ^{27.0 27.1} 1693 Swiss Census of Refugees for Baillage de Vevey.
28. ↑ The Huguenot Society the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia, Manakintown Huguenot Ship Lists
29. ↑ The original is in the Edwin Markham Archives, Horrmann Library, Wagner College, Staten Island NY.
30. ↑ Manakin Map
31. ↑ Brock, R. A. Documents, chiefly unpublished, relating to the Huguenot emigration to Virginia and to the settlement at Manakin-Town, with an appendix of genealogies, presenting data of the Fontaine, Maury, Dupuy, Trabue, Marye, Chastain, Cocke, and other families. "Fragment of a Register of Deaths" p 110. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1962.
32. ↑ Monacan Farm Cemetery
33. ↑ Web: Virginia, Find A Grave Index, 1607-2012. Note that the memorial stone includes what appears to be information about Madaline of la Rochefaucald - I can't quite make it out - but she was not his wife (see #Disputed_Wife, above). (see Inscription above)
34. ↑ Pierre Chastain

See Also:

• Goochland County, Virginia, Deeds, Wills 1:43
• Henricho County, Virginia, Deeds and wills 1725-2737 pg 180
• Huguenot Families 1699 Virginia Some Records Relating to Huguenot Families - The Chastain Family.
• The French Huguenot Frontier Settlement of Manakin Town. Published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 61:4, October 1953, pp. 359-392. Put online by the Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in Colonial Virginia.
• Early Virginia Families Along the James River: Their Deep Roots and Tangled Branches. Vol. I
• Abstracts of Land Patents - Henrico County pg 48
• A brief history of the Huguenots : and three family trees, Chastain-Lochridge-Stockton
• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Name:Pierra Chastain, Birth Place:In, France,Death Date:1728,Death Place:Manikintown, Virginia. SAR Membership 92163.
• JONES, WILLIAM MAC FARLANE, transcriber and editor. "Liste Generalle de Tous les Francois Protestants Refugies Etablys dans la Paroisse du Roy Guillaume d'Henrico en Virginia, y compres les Femmes, Enfans, Veuves, et Orphelins." In The Douglas Register...Kept by the Rev. William Douglas, from 1750 to 1797. Richmond [VA]: J.W. Fergusson & Sons, 1928, pp. 372-374. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1966. Page 372
• Family Bible - Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe’s Genealogical Papers - Research Papers; owned by Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe in Kensington, Maryland, USA.
• Barck and Lefler, Colonial America, 2nd
• Chastain, Lowell, Virginia Chastains Genealogy
• Pierre Chastain Family Association Website
• Reid, et al, Dictionary of Christianity in America
• Wallbank, et al, Civilization Past & Present, 4th
• Reid, et al, Dictionary of Christianity in America
• huguenot-refugees

Links

• Pierre Chastain Family Association
• https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=2&place=395019&rmsId=TH-909-56826-78595-62&imageIndex=6&singleView=true Where The Record Is Found: Virginia Historical Society, Miscellaneous Papers. Describe The Record: This correspondence, dated 12 August 1700, from Virginia Governor Francis Nicholson, lists French Protestant Refugees who recently got off a ship called Mary and Ann, commanded by George Haws, and were settled in Manakin Town, about 20 miles above the falls of the James River, in the Virginia colony. Included are Pierre Chastain, his wife and five children. Estienne Chastain is on the same list.

Acknowledgements

• Michelle Hartley
• Todd Call
• Doug Sadtler
• Ryan Davis
• Molly Rice.
• Chet Bonine Snow