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A record of the desMARETS family in France, the Hold Land in the Crusades, again in France, Holland, the Palatinate (Germany), again in Holland, and the migration to America, in 1663. And of the descendants of David desMARETS and Marie Sohier, found today in all States of the Union and almost all of the Provinces of Canada, also in many foreign countries, spelling the name variously; DE MARA, DEMARAY, DEMORAY, DEMERAY, DE MARY, DEMAREE, DIMORIER, DEMAREST, DEMEREST, DEMOREST. Complied under the auspices of the DEMAREST FAMILY ASSOCIATION, Hackensack, New Jersey, Voorhis D. Demarest, President. |
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Our common ancestor was David desMarets, born in 1620 at Beauchamps, near Ameins, in the district of Cambray, France. He was the son of Jean and Margrieta deHerville desMarets. David with his parents was forced to flee from France because of their Protestant religion. They moved, in 1642, to Middleburg, on the island of Walcheren off the west coast of Holland, where they joined a colony of Belgian and French refugees. A Protestant Church had been firmly established here, and the names of Jean desMarets and family appeared as members in 1643. In this Church David married Marie Sohier, whose family had taken refuge during the first Walloon migration. The term "Walloon" was used to refer to Belgian Protestants, ary line between France and Belgium, an exact date must be known in order to determine nationalities, but most of the families here were French. Marie Sohier was the daughter of Francois and Margrieta, and is believed to have been the grand-daughter of David Sohier, a native of Mons in Hainault, who married Feb. 12, 1558 at Amsterdam, Anne Crommelin from Donay. The Sohier family also originated from the land of Cambray and bore "ingules a fine pointed star, argent." In the 16th and 17th centurties a branch of this family had memberships in the French Reformed Church in London, England. The marriage of David desMarets and Marie Sohier is thus recorded: "1643, 4 Juillet, Assiste de Jean Marests et Francois Sohier, Marguerite deHerville et Marguerite Sohier; David desMarets, fils de Jean, natif de Beauchamps et Marie Sohier, fille de Francois, natif de Nieppe, et le 19 Juillet." These dates show first banns Jully 4, second banns July 19, marriage July 29, 1643. Two of their children were baptised in the Walloon Church at Middleburg: Jean, the eldest, Apr. 14, 1645, and David June 22, 1646. The latter died in infancy and a son born two years later was given the same name. The family moved next to Germany and in 1651 were living within the German Palatinate at Mannheim on the Rhine. French and Belgain Protestants from Holland and England were fleeing to this refuge, fearing a war between those two countries. They were drawn especially by assurances of protection and hope of religious freedom. David desMarets and his associates had, by 1652, reorganized the French Church at Mannheim which had been inactive since 1623 due to prolonged period of European wars. A church building was provided by the Elector Charles Lewis, son of Fredrick V. Following the reorganization, David became an Elder and four of his children were baptized there: David, Dec. 24, 1651; Samuel, Aug. 10, 1656; Marie, Apr. 10, 1659; Marie , May 19, 1662. It has been established definitley by official documents that both of the daughters died in infancy; one in Holland, the other in America. Many of the refugees then living in Mannheim later joined the New French Settlement in America, established at Harlem, north of New Amsterdam. Among these appear DeVeaux, LeConte, and VanOblinus, neighbors and friends of the desMarets family in both locations. Soon the Palatine was threatened with hostile invation by neighboring Catholic princes, and the desMarets, VanOblinus, and a number of other French families left Mannheim, sailed down the Rhine, and after a short stay in Amsterdam embarked for the New Netherlands on the ship Bontekoe (The Spotted Cow), skipper Jan Bergen. The date Apr. 16, 1663 may have been that of departure from Holland, or arrival in America. In the group were about 90 persons, men, women, and children, the French comprising a third of the number. On the pasenger list were the names "David deMarie from Picardie, his wife and four children., the ages of teh children being eighteen, eleven, six and one years respectively. Each adult was charged 39 florins for passage and board, children of ten years and under (except infants) half price. The bill for the desMarets family was 175 florins, 10, stivers, an exhorbitant amount for that period. The desMarets family made the voyage safely and upon arrival settled first in a Huguenot village on Staten Island where they remained for two years before moving to Harlem where the VanOblinus family had gone immediately upon reaching New Amsterdam. David D' Amerex, as he was known on Staten Island, soon was appointed Senior Commisary of the local court opened on Staten Island by order of the Director General and Council of New Netherland erecting a Court of Justice on Staten Island, Passed 28 January 1664. Staten Island at that time was sparsely settled and open to constant danger from Indian attacks, as well as threats of English invasion. Due to these conditions, a meeting of delegates was held first at Flushing, Long Island, and on April 10, 1664 at New Amsterdam, where Staten Island was represented by David desMarets and Pierre Billiou, a French refugee of unusual ability, who took an important part of the affairs of the Colony. It is known that one of the first efforts of David desMarets while living on Staten Island was to organize a French Protestant Chruch, and the present Huguenot Church, at Huguenot Park, contains a tablet to his memory with the inscription: "In memory of David Demarest, Staten Island 1663, Harlem 1665, The Hackensack 1667, Delegate from Staten Island to the Provincial Assembly of New Netherland 1664, Founder of the Huguenot Colony on the Hackensack". Immediately after the arrival of the family in Harlem, arrangements were completed for the purchase of a village property, as well as farm lands, "including the crops thereon." The village had been in existence only a short time. At this time Harlem was laid out in lots of narrow adjoining strips, the houses all being at the sam end, with the fields in the rear, planted with different types of grain or produce in adjacent plots, so that the men might be near together while working, to guard against suprise attacks by the Indians. David desMarets bought his land from John Montagne, and on October 9, 1666 Montagne brought suit against him, claiming payments had not been made according to the contract terms. The defense claimed an "arrest of money in another connection" of which Montagne professed ignorance, and David was ordered by the local court to give up the land with costs. He was dissatisfied with this decision and appealed within three days to the highter court at New Amsterdam. The highter court reviewed the case, reversed the decision of the lower court as unjust, .............. |
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