Draft Replacement for Bartholomew Dupuy

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Manikin Town, Virginia
Surnames/tags: dupuy gardier

This page seeks to draft replacement text for the family of Bartholomew Dupuy based on research published in 1999 by Cameron Allen in The American Genealogist.

Source: Cameron Allen, "The Origin of Barthélémy Dupuy of Manakin Town, Virginia, and his Wife," in The American Genealogist, Vol 74 (Jan 1999).

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Origins 1.2 Early Life 1.3 Life & Family in Virginia 1.4 Last Will & Testament 2 Sources 2.1 Source Chronology & Commentary

Biography

Origins

Bartholomew Dupuy was born about 1650-1653 in or near St. Jean de Maruéjols, Languedoc, France. On later records (especially Amsterdam and Magdebourg church records), this town is named (along with the nearby Uzes) as the town of origin for Bartholomew and his wife. Allen researched the Huguenot records for his baptism or marriage, without success. At this time, neither his specific birth date, place of birth nor the identity of his parents, is known. Allen suggests researching Roman Catholic church records and notarial records of the town of St. Jean de Maruéjols and Uzes (or adjacent towns).^[1]

Claims that Bartholomew was descended from Crusader, Hugh Dupuy, were introduced in 1906 through the questionable research of Henry Dudley Teetor on behalf of Rev. Benjamin H. Dupuy. Allen has this to say about this work:

"it is at least as important to jettison the contrived 'pedigree' 'sold by the yard' and furnished [to] a gullible Benjamin Dupuy, by one 'Mr. Henry Dudley Teetor, M.A., genealogist, of New York.' This pedigree goes back sixteen generations beyond Barthélémy Dupuy to one Raphael DuPuy, fl. 1033, 'grand Chambellan de l'Empire under the Emperor Conrad,' through his son Hugues of the Crusades. Mr. Teetor certified on 20 January 1906 that the pedigree was 'the result of several years foreign and domestic research and that I believe the same to be historically correct.'" ^[2]

Until his origins and the entire line can be independently confirmed, we have detached Bartholomew from his supposed parents, Jean de Puy and Anne St Hyer.

Early Life

What is known about Bartholomew's early life was conveyed through an 1814 letter by his grandson John Dupuy (1738-1831) which conveys the following facts as best known by the writer:

• Bartholomew was born about 1650 or 1653 in France
  • (We know from other records cited elsewhere on this profile that he was from St. Jean de Maruéjols, Languedoc, France.)
• at age 18, he enlisted in the French army as a common soldier; he rose to the status of Lieutenant
• fought 14 battles in Flanders before leaving the army; "retired" from military life after 14 years, bought a vineyard and took a wife.
• at the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Bartholomew and his then wife escaped their home and France and lived in Germany for 14 years, then a couple of years in England, before emigrating to Virginia.^[3]

He and his wife Marie appear in church records in first Amsterdam, and then Magdebourg, where Bartholomew's occupation with the weaving and clothing trade is recorded. He disappears from European records after 1695 until his presence in Virginia in 1704.^[4]

Life & Family in Virginia

The first reference to Bartholomew in Virginia was 24 April 1704 when he petitioned for naturalization.^[5]

208 acres on the south side of Lower Manakin Creek, King William Parish, Henrico County, Virginia as evidenced by the 1722 Vestry Book.^{[citation needed]}

His wife and a number of children were explicitly named in a 16 Jun 1714 patent to Henry Harrison for transporting several years earlier, among others: Bartholemy Dupuy, Mary Gardie, Peter [--], John Peter, John James, Martha & Philipe Dupuy.^[6]

Bartholomew and Marie his wife are named in additional Virginia records, including named as husband and wife in the baptism records of two of their grandchildren.^[7]

These records align with church records found in both Amsterdam and Magdeburg prior to their emigration.^[8]

Marie was deceased by 1742 when not named in her husband's will and probably as early as by 1738 when she is not named in property sales where she would have been expected to be recorded.^[9]

That Bartholomew was married to a "Comtesse Susanne Lavillon" was introduced in a largely fictional romance from 1857.^[10] Allen, in his 1999 article, reviewed the history and perpetuation of this legend and concluded that there is no evidence that Bartholomew was ever married to anyone but Marie Gardier, who was also the mother of his children, and that Countess Susanne Lavillon never existed. We retain her profile to prevent its recreation and attachment to real individuals who did exist. See that profile for further details about the legend.

Children:

1. Jeanne, bpt Amsterdam 21 Jul 1689; assumed to have died young
2. Antoine, bpt Magdebourg 30 Aug 1691; bur there 16 May 1694
3. Catherine, bp Magdebourg 18 Apr 1693; bur there 28 May 1694
4. Pierre, bp Magdebourg 25 Mar 1695; m abt 1722 Judith LeFevre; d. btw 1773 and 1777 in Amelia Co., Virginia
5. Jean-Pierre, b say 1697; appears in Virginia records through 1719
6. Marthe, b abt 1699; m abt 1726/7 Estienne Chastain; d by May 1740 when her will was probated
7. Jean-Jacques, b abt 1701; m about 1728 Suzanne LeVillain
8. Philippa, b abt 1703; m abt 1730 Jean-Pierre LeVillain (brother of Suzanne, above)

Last Will & Testament

WILL OF BARTHOLOMEW DUPUY Goochland Co., VA Dated: 7 Mar 1742/43; Proved: 17 May 1743.^{[citation needed]}

In the name of God Amen. I, Bartholomew Dupuy of Goochland County and in King William Parrish Virginia being Sick in body but of good and perfect memory thanks be to the Almighty God, and calling to remembrance the uncertain estate of this transitory life, and that all flesh must yield unto death, when it shall please the Almighty God to call, do make Constitute ordain and declare this to be my last Will and Testament and none other and in manner and form following, Revokin and Annuling by these presents all and every Testament or Testaments Will or Wills heretofore by me made or declared, either by word or writing and this only to be taken only for my last Will and Testament and none other.

And first being penitent and sorry from the bottom of my heart for my Sins past most humbly desiring forgiveness for the same. I give and Commit my Soul unto the Almighty God my Savior and Redeemer, In Whom and by whose merits I trust and believe assuredly to be saved and to have full remission and forgiveness for all my Sins past, and that my Soul with my body at the General day of Resurrection shall rise again with joy, and through the merits of Christs death and passion possess and Inherit the Kingdom of Heaven prepared for his Elect and Chosen.

And me body to be decenlty buried in such place as it shall please my Executors hereafter named. and for the better settling my Temporal Estate Such Goods Chattles and implements as it has pleased the Almighty God to bestow on me above my deserts, I order and dispose the same in manner and form following, That is to say I will that those debts and Duties as I owe in Right and Conscience to any manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and truly Contented and paid or ordained to be paid within Convenient time after my decease by my Executor, hereafter named.

Item. I give and bequeath to my Eldest Peter Dupuy five pounds Virginia Currency, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John James Dupuy Ten pounds Virginia Currency, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my Grandson John Bartholomew Dupuy Son to Peter Dupuy two pounds Virginia Currency, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to the poor of King William Parrish five pounds Current money.

Item. My will and desire is that my son in Law John Levilain Junior, shall be Executor of this my last Will and Testament. And further I give and bequeath all my whole and sole Estate that I shall have and possess at my death unto my aforesaid Son in Law John Levilain, to him and his heirs forever, and I do acknowledge this to be my last Will and Testament and none other, and I renounce to all Laws and Customs that are Contrary to this my last Will and Testament. As Witness my hand and seal this 7th day of March 1742-3.

Bartholomew Dupuy. (Seal)

Signed Sealed and Delivered in the presence of us, John Gordon, Stephen Mallet, Stephen Watkins.

At a Court held for Goochland County May 17, 1743. This Will was proved by the Oaths of Stephen Mallet & Stephen Watkins Witnesses thereto to be the act and Deed of Bartholomew Dupuy Deced and was thereupon ordered to be recorded. A Copy Teste: Moses T. Monteiro, Clerk

Sources

1. ↑ Cameron Allen, "The Origin of Barthélémy Dupuy of Manakin Town, Virginia, and his Wife," in The American Genealogist, Vol 74 (Jan 1999).
2. ↑ Allen, citing Dupuy, Bartholomew Dupuy, 174-177
3. ↑ Rev. Benjamin Dupuy, The Huguenot Bartholomew Dupuy and his Descendants, (Louisville, Ky 1908),p 163-67.
4. ↑ For more about the Huguenot presence in Magdeburg, see Wikipedia
5. ↑ Allen, citing H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, (Richmond 1918-19), vol. 1, p 390
6. ↑ Allen, citing Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers..., (Richmond, 1934-79), 3:89-90, 153.
7. ↑ Allen, citing "Parish Records of King Williams Parish," in Brock, Huguenot Documents, 5(1886):79, 86
8. ↑ Allen, citing Amsterdam, Waalseh Gemeente, v 132, baptisms, 1667-1694, FHL Films #113, 398, #199,819; Magdebourg église réformée français records, as indexed in the Card-index, Bibliotéque wallone, Leiden, FHL Film #199.819
9. ↑ Allen, citing Goochland Co., Va., Deeds, Wills, etc. 4:173; 3:78, 3:82, 4:87
10. ↑ John Esten Cooke (1830-1886), "The Story of the Huguenot's Sword" in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine:" April 1857. Allen has highlighted a number of errors in this work; see below.

Source Chronology & Commentary

• 1814: John Dupuy (1738-1831), 30 Jan 1814 letter from Kentucky to his cousin Dr. William Jones Dupuy; published in full on pages 163-167 in Dupuy (1908), below.
• 1853: William Jones Dupuy (1792-1853), "An Old Sword," in The Virginia Historical Register and Literary Companion, 6(1853):168-70.
• 1857: John Esten Cooke (1830-1886), "The Story of the Huguenot's Sword" in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine:" April 1857. Per Allen (1999), Cooke augmented the data from Dupuy (1853) with much fiction or at least unconfirmed "facts"; this is the source of the creation of "Comtesse Susanna Lavillon". He also created nonexistent relationships between the Dupuys and another Huguenot family, the Fontaines; this work is also the source of the inaccurate claim that Bartholomew came from La Rochelle and Saintonge.
• 1870: William Henry Foote, The Huguenots; or, Reformed French Church..., (Richmond, VA, 1870), 549-55. Repeated the comptesse story; hinted at the descent from crusader Hugo Dupuy.
• 1885: Charles W. Baird, History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, (new York, 1885), 2:109-11. Repeated the mythology created by Cooke.
• 1886: R.A. Brock, "A Partial List of the Descendants of Bartholomew Dupuy," in Documents, Chiefly Unpublished, Relating to Huguenot Emigration to Virginia, Virginia Historical Collection, new series, vol. 5 (1886), pp 151-82.
• 1908: The Rev. Benjamin Hunter Dupuy, The Huguenot Bartholomew Dupuy and His Descendants, (Louisville, KY, 1908). Correctly identified Bartholomew's birth place as probably in Languedoc, but reiterated the unsupported noble heritage. Introduced the story that Bartholomew died with a weeping widow by his side. We know from his will that she predeceased him; inaccurately ordered his children. Also introduces the wholly unsupported 16-generation heritage back to crusader Hugo Dupuy and beyond, as researched by supposed genealogist Mr. Henry Dudley Teetor, M.A., genealogist of New York.
• 1916: Lillie DuPuy VanCulin Harper, Colonial Men and Times..., Philadelphia 1916, p 185-202, 246; 369-408; rehashed the 1908 work; added the claim that he came from Sedan in the province of Champagne; repeated the 16-generation pedigree, but citing Guy Allard, Histoire genealogique des famille de dePuy-Montbrun, Grenoble, 1682.
• 1930-1942: Frederick A. Virkus, The Compendium of American Genealogy, multiple volumes. Allen calls this work highly suspect; "features the regular appearance of Comtesse Susanna LaVillian."
• 1961: William C. Kozee, Early Families of Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky and their Descendants, Strasburg, Va, 1961, pp 189-91.
• 1963: G. Elmore Reaman, The Trail of Huguenots in Europe, the United States, South Africa and Canada. (Toronto, 1963), p 134. Includes the Countess story; confused as ancestors of Chauncey Depew.
• 1963: Cameron Allen, "The Chastain Families of Manakin Town in Virginia and Their Origin Abroad," in The American Genealogist, 39 (1963):149-56; 40 (1964):1-12, 135-47. First known published article to question the accuracy of the nobility and comtesse story, pointing out the confusion with the name of the wife of Bartholomew's son (Suzanne LaVillian).
• 1976: Mary Louise Marshall Hutton, comp., Seventeenth Century Colonial Ancestors of Members of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, 1915-1975, (Ann Arbor, MI: 1976), 79. Repeats the comtesse story; changing the spelling of her last name
• 1988: Priscilla Harriss Cabell, Turff & Twigg, Volume One, The French Lands, (Richmond, VA, 1988), 106-7; uncritically accepted the countess claim.