Dr. Jean Mousnier de la Montagne - Biographical Sketch

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: New Amsterdam, New Netherland
Surnames/tags: Montagne Bruen Earle

Introduction

This page includes biographical Information on Thomas Montagne (1691-1761) which was published in the book: History and Genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus, with an account of other English and American Branches by Isaac Newton Earle. History and Genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus, with an account of other English and American Branches, Marquette, Michigan: Guelff Printing Co., 1925. This is a "secondary" source and is provided for background information only.

CHAPTER SEVEN. THE MONTAGNE FAMILY.
Begins with this introduction on pg 361.

On Feb. 8, 1755, Morris Earle (abt.1734-1780) married Anna (delaMontanye) Earle (1737-1815), a lady of Huguenot extraction, of noble descent, and a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families in the early history of New York. The record of this marriage is on the register of the Old Dutch Church, New York, as follows: “Morris Earle and Johanna Moun- tany, Feb. 8th, 1755.”

As all the Earles of Marmaduke Earle Sr (1696-bef.1765) (Father of Morris) line known to us today, one of the most numerous branches of the Secaucus family, are descended from Anna de la Montanye, it will be of interest to a large number of our readers to know something of her ancestry.

We shall therefore pause to trace the rise of this stream, which had its fountainhead in hranee and which, in the person of our revered ancestress, is now about to unite with the English stream whose course we have been following.

The information on the Montanye Family is quite large so it has been divided up by person.

1. Dr. Jean Mousnier de la Montagne - Biographical Sketch Settled in New Amsterdam in 1637 (pg. 362). Wikitree: Jean (Mousnier) de la Montagne Sr (bef.1595-abt.1670)
   
   
2. Jesse De Forest - Biographical Sketch - Came to America with the colony of Walloons, and Dr. Montagne accompanied them (pg. 364). WikiTree: Jesse (Desforetz) De Forest (1576-1624)
   
   
3. Jean de la Montagne Jr - Biographical Sketch The third son of Dr. Montagne and Rachel de Forest (pg. 378). Wikitree: Jean (Mousnier) de la Montagne Jr (1633-1672)
   
   
4. Vincent de la Montagne - Biographical Sketch, the second son of Jean de la Montagne, Jr., and Peternella Pikes (pg. 380). Wikitree: Vincent de la Montagne Sr (bef.1657-1735)
   
   
5. Thomas Montagne - Biographical Sketch A Son of Vincent de la Montagne born Feb. 15, 1691, Anglicized Surame: Montanye (pg. 381). Wikitree: Thomas Montagne (1691-1761)
   
   
6. Rebecca Bruen - Biographical Sketch The wife of Thomas de la Montagne (pg. 382). Wikitree: Rebecca (Bruen) Montagne (1691-1775)
   
   
7. Nelly Montanye - Biographical Sketch A daughter of Thomas Montagne, married Isaac Vredenburgh (pg. 388).
   
   
8. Rev. Benjamin Montanye - Biographical Sketch Another child of Thomas Montanye (pg. 388). Wikitree: Benjamin Montayne (1745-1825)
   
   
9. Rev. Thomas Benjamin Montanye - Biographical Sketch Son of Rev. Benjamin Montanye (pg. 391). No Wilitree Profile

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Dr. Jean Mousnier de la Montagne - Biographical Sketch

The earliest ancestor of Anne de la Montanye known to us is Dr. Jean Mousnier de la Montagne, who settled in New Amsterdam in 1637. He seems to have been of noble origin and in some documents the titles “Count” and “Sir” are applied to him. He was born in 1595, in the city of Saintes, France, in what was then the Province of Santonge, now the Department of Charente Inferieure. The place of his birth was not far from La Rochelle, which was the last stronghold of the Huguenots or French Protestants, that noble class of people who endured such fiery persecution because of their attachment to the Protestant faith. Montagne was a Huguenot and was closely identified with the fortunes of those persecuted people.

After the surrender of La Rochelle to Cardinal Richelieu in 1628, many of the Huguenots fled from France and sought in other countries the freedom of worship which they were denied at home. Some went to Holland and from there to America.

Montagne, however, had gone to the city of Leyden, in Holland, a few years before the Huguenot emigration, to attend the University at that place, which he entered in 1619.

We quote from “Baird’s History of the Huguenot Emigration”:

“Early in the 17th century, not a few families, French and Walloon, were living in these hospitable towns in Holland. Among the leading names that may be mentioned, were those of De Forest and De la Montagne.”

“That Jesse de Forest came to America with the band of emigrants he had organized can scarcely be doubted. The Walloon leader brought with him his wife, Marie du Cloux, and her five children. The children of Jesse de Forest and Marie du Cloux were (1) Jean; (2) Henri, b. 1606; (3) Rachel; (4) Jesse, b. in Leyden, March 1, 1615; (5) Isaac, b. in Leyden, July 7, 1616; (6) Israel, b. in Leyden and bap¬ tized Sept. 13, 1620. Two of these doubtless died young.”

“A young Huguenot student of medicine accompanied the De Forest family. He was, perhaps, already betrothed to the only daughter of the family. Jean Mousnier de la Montagne was a native of the town of Saintes, in the Province of Santonge, in France.”

“Within three years from the time when these colonists reached New Netherland their leader died. The widow of Jesse de Forest soon returned with her family to Holland, accompanied by the young medical student, Jean de la Montagne, whose marriage to Rachel de Forest took place in Leyden on the 12th day of December, 1626. Ten years later, 1636, Doctor de ia Montagne, now known as a ‘learned Huguenot physician’, went back to New Netherland, with his wife and children, and at once took a leading place in the colony.”

As Jesse de Forest was an ancestor of Anna de la Montanye and the large section of the Earle family descended from her, we will give some further account of him and of the claim that is made for him by the best historians, to being the founder of New Amsterdam, later New York.

DOCTOR MONTAGNE.

To return to Dr. Montagne, we have seen that he registered as a student of medicine in the University of Leyden, Nov. 19, 1619, at the age of twenty-four. Riker, in his “History of Harlem,” says regarding his name:

“In the Latin style it was Johannes Monerius Montanus. or, as in French, Jean Mousnier de la Montagne. His surname might betoken social rank, or, as already suggested, point to a family origin in La Montagne, or both; yet without doubt connects him with the talented family of that name which became so distinguished in the fields of theology, medicine and literature during the sixteenth century.”

He continues:

“Montagne’s age warrants the belief that he had finished a course of study elsewhere before coming to Leyden, and now attached himself to the University, as was a common practice, for professional improvement, as well as to secure other benefits and immunities which such connection conferred. All thus entering were termed students; and so Montagne was always enrolled ‘student of medicine' though his membership was three times severed and as often renewed in a space of seventeen years.”

It is interesting to note that our ancestor was a cotemporary in Leyden of the Pilgrim Fathers, Carver and Brewster, Brewer and Bradford, Winslow and Standish, and many others, who met for worship at the dwelling of their pastor, John Robinson, within sight of the University. John Robinson was a constant visitor at the University and a reader at the library. Montagne probably knew the Pilgrims personally, and must have been very much in sympathy with them.

Riker, speaking of the departure of the pilgrims in 1620, says:

“So remarkable an exodus, it's preparation, object and destination, being generally known throughout the city, had it's influence upon others, who, like the former ‘pilgrims' wearied and alarmed by the prevailing disorders, were casting about for a better home. It especially affected the French and Belgian refugees, to whom another cause of apprehension presented itself. This was a threatened war with Spain. Hence the subject of a removal to America began to be agitated also among the Walloons of Leyden, whose numbers were now daily and largely increasing by the arrival of other refugees; and many needed only the necessary means or guarantees of protection, etc., to induce them to emigrate. Of the numbers pledged to do so, were Jesse de Forest and his family, with two named Mousnier, or La Montagne, kinsmen, one of whom was our Jean, ‘student of medicine' and the other an ‘apothecary and surgeon' like the former single, and probably his brother.”

An account of the Walloon expedition of 1623 follows the above quotation, and Jesse de Forest’s supposed departure for Brazil. We have seen that careful historians reject the theory of his voyage to Brazil, and are led to believe that he led the Walloon expedition to New Netherland, and that Dr. Montagne accompanied him.

While Riker does not present that view, he at least suggests it:

“Near the time that de Forest went abroad, our Jean La Montagne, latterly a boarder, with other ‘students,’ in the family of Thomas Cornelisz, on the Breedestraat, in Meat Market Row, is found to have quit the University. The coincidence, and at a juncture when physicians were needed for the fleet, almost forces the conviction that he too had joined the expedition. But perhaps he had merely retired from Leyden to avoid the plague, which made fearful ravages in that city in the two ensuing years. Leaving this to conjecture, as we must, it at least appears that after having been gone for some time, Montagne returned to Leyden, and in order that he might continue his favorite studies, which had been interrupted by his absence, and also enjoy the various privileges of the University, which he seems to have valued very highly, was enrolled anew at that institution as a ‘student of medicine,' July 7th,1626. He had taken convenient lodgings with the widow deForest,—now living on the Voldersgraft, the second street east of St. Peter’s Church,—whose only daughter, the fair Rachel, had already stolen his heart, and to whom, with the approval of the family, as signified by her uncle Gerard, who was present, Montagne was united in wedlock by the pastor of the Walloon Church. Dec. 12, 1626. Living so near to St. Peter’s, one of the principal churches in the city, it was here, during the following year, that they had the joy to present for baptism their little son, Jolant. their precious first-born, but, alas! destined soon to be taken from them.’’

Dr. Montagne seems to have spent the next ten years of his life in Leyden. In the fall of 1636, his brothers-in-law, Henry and Isaac de Forest, sailed for New Netherland, where they established themselves on the “Flats of Manhattan,’’ the bouwery of Henry being the first attempt at settlement in that wild and solitary region. They were the pioneer settlers at Harlem. The Montagne family had expected to be members of the party, but, for some reason, postponed their departuretill a little later.

“The Doctor, under assurances of some preferment there, decided to give up his practice, and his associations and membership at the University, which but lately—that is, on March 3rd. 1636,—he had renewed, as also his old home on the Kloksteeg. where he had for some years lived, at the sign of the Oueen of Bohemia.”

“The winter of 1636-1637 had scarcely closed when their hearts were cheered by the arrival of Dr. La Montagne and his family. The voyage, as was not uncommon, had been long and tedious, occasioned by their taking a circuitous course by way of the Canary Islands, in order to reach the trade winds. They introduced a little stranger, Marie Montagne, born at sea off the Island of Madeira, Jan. 26, 1637, and called after the grandmother De Forest. Montagne was a welcome and valuable addition to the colonists. Reputed skilful in his profession, he so soon rose in public favor that Governor Kieft, on his arrival, called him to seat in his council, and which appointment, if not by positive instructions from the Directors, met with their approval.”

We introduce here several quotations from well-known authorities, showing the prominence taken by Dr. Montagne in the civil and political life of the New Netherlands.

The first is from Fosdick’s “French Flood in America”:

“Among the other Huguenots who were prominent in the first days of New Amsterdam was Johannes (Jean) la Montagne, the first doctor to settle on Manhattan. He came from Leyden in 1637, from whence the family of his first wife, Rachel de Forest, had already emigrated to New Amsterdam. Previous to his coming the Zieckentroosters (comforters of the sick) were the only props which the unfortunate sick of the colony had to lean upon. Dr. La Montagne was a man of varied gifts, who subsequently occupied several stations of trust under the government. His name appears as a member of the Council, and as official schoolmaster, and after a few years of practice he seems to have given up the medical profession and devoted himself entirely to the civil and military service. He must have prospered in his new work, for he became the owner of a ‘bouwery' located on what is now the northern end of Central Park. His farm comprised two hundred acres, situated on 8th Avenue between 93rd Street and the Harlem River. Its value today is high in the millions.”

In the “Memorial History of the City of New York,” Vol. 4, p. 3S9, we read:

“To John de la Montagne (1595-1670), a Huguenot refugee, Leyden graduate, and scion of the ‘Ancienne Noblesse’ of France, belongs the honor of having been the first permanently established physician on the island who attained to any degree of prominence. He arrived here in 1636, settling in Harlem with his wife’s people. He became the principal counselor of Governor Kieft in 1638, and is recorded as the only doctor in Manhattan in whom the settlers had any confidence. He seems to have been ac¬ tive in the political affairs of the province, and certainly could not have devoted much time to the practice of the healing art. Two of his daughters became the wives of Drs. Hans Kierstede and Gysbert Van Imbroeck, the latter of whom settled in Fort Orange (Albany).”

The next quotation is from ‘'Valentine’s Manual,” for 1862, p. 682:

“In the annals of the Dutch Government of the New Nether¬ lands the Huguenots’ names numerously figure as those of able and trustworthy men. In the times of Governors Kieft and Stuy- vesant,thatofDoctorLaMontagnestandsforthinhighanduse¬ ful public position. He was one of the Governor’s Council. He rendered essential service in official affairs, and was regarded as a man of great talents and accomplishments. He was termed ‘The learned Huguenot.’ ”

In the same work, p. 750, is the following:

“Johannes de la Montagne, a Huguenot refugee, arrived in New Amsterdam in the year 1637, being then about forty-five years of age. This gentleman was honored bv Governor Kieft with an appointment as a member of the Council, an office at that time second in authority in the Government.”

Lamb’s “History of the City of New York,” page 82, in speaking of Governor William Kieft, says:

“He seized the reins of authority with the air of a master, the will of a tyrant, and a determination of spirit which would not brook interference. He consulted no one. He showed no deference to the opinions of the intelligent few who were already experienced in the matter of treating with the Indians. He placed himself on a pedestal, and looked loftily over the heads of his subjects. The West India Company had accorded him the privilege of fixing the number of his council. He warily chose one man. The favored individual was Dr. Johannes La Montagne, a learned and highly bred French Huguenot, who had escaped from the rage of religious persecution the year before, and found his Canaan in the Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island. His par¬ ents belonged to the ANCIENNE NOBLESSE of France,—a fact which he took pains neither to promulgate nor conceal, but which might have revealed itself in a thousand ways, even if his unusual accomplishments and elegant manners had not won admiration. He was a widower with four interesting children, upon whom he bestowed great care and attention. He gave them lessons daily, and perfected their education in such a masterly manner that his three daughters grew up to be the most attractive women of their day in the province, and his son became a man of fortune and position. Two of Dr. La Montague's daughters married physicians.—Dr. Hans Kiersted and Dr. Guysbert Van Imbroch. His youngest daughter, Marie, became the wife of Jacob Kip. Dr. La Montagne practiced medicine for many years, and was the only doctor on Manhattan in whom the settlers had any confidence. Kieft was quick to recognize the prospective value of such a man’s advice in state affairs, but as governor he was resolved to hold the supreme command himself in every particular. He therefore curiously arranged that his one councillor should be entitled to one vote, while he reserved to himself two votes.”

Mrs. Lamb accords to Dr. Montague the honor of being one of the first schoolmasters of New Amsterdam:

“In April, 1652, Dr. La Montagne offered to teach the public school that had been opened in one of the small rooms of the great stone tavern, until a suitable master could be obtained from Holland.”

Mrs. Alice Morse Earle, in her “Colonial Days in Old New York,” says that he was the first public school teacher in New York.

In another work, “The Stadt Huys (City Hall) of New Amsterdam/'’ p. 21, she describes the opening of the first public school:

“In 1652 we learn, from a letter of the West India Company to Stuyvesant, of another significant day for the Stadt Huys and all it represented,—the day when the first public school was held therein. Jan de la Montagne was the teacher, and the walls resounded to the sound of childish catechisms and ciphering in good Holland Dutch, and childish wails also over the stern Dutch discipline.”

The letter alluded to above is as follows:

“We give our consent that a public school may be established, for which one school-master will be sufficient, and he may be en¬ gaged at 250 florins ($10C) annually. We recommend you Jan de la Montagne, whom we have provisionally favored with the appointment. You may appropriate the city tavern for that purpose if practicable.”

The city tavern herein noted was no other than the old inn which later gained greater renown as the Stadt Huys.

It may be too much to claim that this was the first public school of New Amsterdam, but the letter reads like the authorization by the Directors of the West India Company of the first public school. We read that a schoolhouse was built in 1633, but it is definitely stated in the “History of New York” that the first public Grammar School was openedin1705. We have seen a list of the early schoolmasters of New Amsterdam as follows:

• Adam Roelantsen,
• William Verstius,
• Jan Stevenson,
• Johannes Morice de la Montagne.
• Jan Cornelissen,

An explanation of the apparent discrepancy is, that the earlier schoolmasters may have taught private schools, and that the letter of the Directors authorized the establishment of a public school, of which the first teacher was Dr. Montagne. He was a university graduate, for seventeen years in close relation to the University of Leyden, and it may be that his services were sought, at least temporarily, in this first effort in the direction of public education.

It is but just to state that Riker, who furnishes us with most of our information in regard to the Montagne family, attributes this honor to the son, Jean Montagne, Jr. It hardly seems possible that Dr. Montagne, with his professional and political engagements, could have found time to teach school. We shall not try to determine this point, for father and son are both our ancestors, and we are content that the honor of being the first public school teacher of New York should rest on either.

In addition to filling eminent civil offices, Dr. Montagne also rendered military service. In the “Year Book of the Society of Colonial Wars” he is recorded as follows:

“Gen. Johannes de la Montagne was Commander at Manhattan Island; 1640-1645, sent to defence of Fort Good Hope (Hartford, Conn.), 1641; Supreme Councillor under Gov. Kieft, 1638-1646; member of Stuyvesant's Council, 1647-1650; Member of Convention, 1653; Commissioner of Fortifications, 1654; Vice Director at Fort Orange, 1656-1664.”

Reference has been made by one of the authors quoted to a “bouwery,” or farm, owned by Dr. Mortagne, whose value today is “high in the millions.” An incorrect tradition has come down in the family, told to the writer when a child, and even finding its way into print, of a large tract of land on Manhattan Island, granted to Dr. Montagne on his arrival, now of fabulous value, but which passed out of his possession through being squatted upon by immigrants from the Old World. As some of the descendants of Dr. Montagne have entertained dreams of recovering this property, and we understand a flourishing club of Harlem claimants has existed for many years, it may be well to state the facts in the case.

It is true that Dr. Montagne possessed such a farm. It is shown on the map of Harlem given by Riker in his History of Harlem, to which work we refer the reader for full details. This property was the tract originally granted to Henry de Forest in 1636. The latter died the following year, and La Montagne took charge of the plantation on behalf of the widow, his sister-in-law, and saw the ripening crops properly harvested. He also finished the house and barn begun by De Forest. The next year the widow married Andries Hudde, who obtained a patent for the “bouwery” in 1638, and sailed with his new bride for a visit to Holland.

Since Montagne took charge of the plantation he had expended over a thousand guilders, in paying claims against it, in completing the improvements, and for current expenses. Wishing a settlement, he petitioned the Council that the administrator be required to refund him the amount which he had advanced. As the latter was not prepared to do this, the Council decreed that the plantation should be put up at public vendue, which was done, and was struck off to Montagne for the sum of 1700 guilders.

Montagne received a deed for this property from Hudde in 1640, after the latter’s return from Holland. That there might be no dispute as to his title, he also secured from Director Kieft a patent for it in 1647. This patent covered a considerable tract of land not included in the grant to Henry de Forest, the neck or point of land extending out to the East River, afterwards known as Montanye’s Point.

“Montagne had chosen for his bouwery—its air of sweet repose so in contrast with the turbulent scenes of his early life—the name of Vredendal, or Quiet Dale. Alas, he was to realize but little of the happiness which he anticipated in its possession and use.”

For, in addition to difficulties with those who engaged to work for him, and the great sorrow in the loss of his wife, Rachel de Forest, there began to be trouble with the Indians, which lasted for a number of years, and rendered it unsafe to live on isolated farms. A number of the planters were murdered and others were driven from their bouweries. So far from becoming rich from the possession of his beautiful Vredendal, we know that Montagne became financially embarrassed.

“Heavily indebted to the company and burdened with a large family, he was dependent upon the director or government for a meagre support, and had no means to expend on his deserted plantation.”

This was in 1652. Four years later Dr. Montagne, with exhausted means and no prospect of any returns from his wasted bouwery, gladly accepted the honorable position of vice-director of Fort Orange (Albany).

In 1661, the farm Vredendal, “still owned by Dr. Montagne, had lain for some years unused, except as cattle and goats browsed in its deserted clearings and woodlands.”

The Montagne family now proposed to occupy it, and two sons and a son-in-law of Dr. Montagne petitioned the Director and Council to be allowed to concentrate there six to ten families. This request was denied on the ground that it would be “to the great prejudice and retarding of the village of Harlem,” which was only one mile away.

“However thwarted were the Montagues in their plans respecting Vredendal, they yielded gracefully to the alternative which secured to John La Montagne, the doctor’s eldest son, that part of the property called the Point of which his father was the original grantee, but surrendered the Flat to the government, to be parcelled out to such of the people of Harlem as still wanted more land, and upon terms which, though not stated, without doubt looked to the liquidation of the large debt due from Dr. Montagne to the company.

While John La Montagne was to remain the possessor of the Point, which was rated at sixteen morgen, it was open to his brother William, to draw his proportionate share of the Flat, enough to give him likewise sixteen morgen. It was clearly a compromise regarding Vredendal, arranged, as it could only be, with the sanction and by order of the Director and Council; and the correspondence which at this time these were having with Dr. Montagne respecting his long-standing indebtedness to the company, and for which they strongly censured him, shows that their action was a stern necessity.”

There is some conflict of authorities as to the family of Dr. Montagne and Rachel de Forest.

Riker names six children: Jolant, who died in Holland; Jesse born in Holland in 1629 and died in New Amsterdam in 1647; Jean, Jr., our direct ancestor, of whom we shall give some account; Rachel, born in Holland in 1634, married Dr. Gvsbert VanImbroch; Marie, born at sea in1637,married Jacob Kip in 1654; and William, born in the New World,1641. About the last mentioned year Rachel de Forest died.

In the fall of 1647 Dr. Montagne married a second time. The record on the register of the Old Dutch Church, New York, reads:

“Johannes de la Montagne, widower of Rachel Defour (De Forest), and Agneetie Jilles, October 18, 1647.”

Agneetie was the widow of Arent Corssen Stam, who, two years before, sailing for Holland on the public service, had perished at sea. This proved an obstacle to their union, which was overcome by an appeal to the Council, as the following entry on the minutes shows:

“Mr. Johannes La Montagne appeared before the Council, and requested leave to marry Angenietie Gillis Ten W’aert, widow of Arent Corssen. Being fully persuaded that he perished, as the Lords Directors have written, that they had left nothing untried to learn about him, but were entirely ignorant of his fate; therefore, if Mr. La Montagne, and she, Angenietie, have no scruples regarding it, they are at liberty to marry.”

Two children were born of this marriage, Gillis, 1650, and Jesse, 1653, both of whom died young.

We have seen that Dr. Montague, in 1656, accepted the position of vice-director of Fort Orange. From that date he disappears from the history of Manhattan. Some obscurity rests upon the close of his life, and the exact date and circumstances of his death are not known.

We quote a brief paragraph from Riker:

"Montanye was commended for his discreet rule as vice-director at Fort Orange, which lasted till 1664; much of his official correspondence with Stuyvesant is preserved. He prudently swore allegiance to the new government, but from this date is lost sight of, and probablv accompanied his old friend Stuyvesant on his errand to Holland in 1665, to defend his course in surrendering the country to the English. There is reason to conclude that Dr. Montanye died abroad in1670.”

Thus ends the career of one of the most conspicuous figures in the early history of New York, both city and state. When it is remembered that the first permanent settlement on Manhattan Island was made in 1623, and that Dr. Montagne was a member of that first colony; that after returning to Holland he came again to New Amsterdam with his family in 1631 ; that besides the various civil, military and professional positions held by him, he was a member of the Convention of 1653, Commissioner of Fortifications, 1654, it will be seen that Dr. Montagne and his family have been identified with New York City trom its very beginning.

His numerous descendants reside there to this day, and have been variously associated with the city’s development and life for nearly three hundred years.

It may be proper to say a word here about the orthography of the family name. It is variously spelled Montagne, Montaigne, Montange, Montanie, Mountany, Montangie, Montanye.

If the founder of the family in America is any authority for the spelling of his own name, the correct form is Montagne. His usual signature was La Montagne, as may be seen in official papers, many of which will be found in the Dutch Records of New Amsterdam, in eleven volumns.

The name is undoubtedly identical with the French Montaigne, meaning mountain.

Just how or when the spelling “Montanye” was adopted by the family, we do not know, but we find it in general use from the tourth generation down. Thomas, the great-grandson of Dr. Montagne, spells the name in two ways in his will. He signs himself Montanie, but spells his wife’s and sons’ name Montanye. Both his son Benjamin and his daughter Anna, with their descendants, use this form of the name. So far as our observation has extended, it is the form used by the last five generations, both in the Montanye and Earle families.

In referring to the Doctor himself or his immediate descendants, we shall use the form Montagne, but from the fifth generation down Montanye will be the spelling.

The following, taken from a Dutch magazine, “De Navorscher,” in the rooms of the Holland Society, New York, may be of interest. It purports to be the Coat of Arms of the Montagne family, now Van den Bergh. Van den Bergh is Dutch for “Of the Mountain,” the equivalent of the French De la Montagne.

“The old and respectable family, formerly called De La Montagne, now Van den Berch or Van den Bergh, is originally from Burgundy.

ARMS: Quartered: One and four in red, a gold mountain which stands detached on the escutcheon; two and three in blue, a slanting sil¬ ver steel of the Golden Fleece.

CREST: A Black Crow.

COVERINGS: To the right red and gold, to the left blue and silver.

(Page 38, Volume 28, of “De Navorischer,” published by J. C. Loman, Jr., Amsterdam. Furnished by James De La Montanye, 172 West 105th St., New York.)