The Huguenots were French Protestants. Protestantism was introduced into France during the Reformation, early in the sixteenth century. It was accepted in France by many members of the nobility, by people engaged in intellectual pursuits, and by members of the middle class, particularly those having special competence in the professions, trades, and handicrafts. The Protestant movement in France was not a proletarian upheaval or a "liberal" agitation. On the contrary, it was a solid, conservative movement of notable respectability on the part of many of the most responsible and most accomplished people in France.

The Huguenot Church grew rapidly. At its first synod in 1559, fifteen churches were represented. Over two thousand churches sent representatives to the Huguenot Church synod in 1561.

In the beginning, the new religion was respected, and the Huguenots were greatly favored by Francis I, because of their standing and abilities. Later, however, Francis I, for political reasons, turned against them. Thereafter, they experienced alternately high favor and outrageous persecution. Clashes between Roman Catholics and Huguenots occurred repeatedly, and these clashes frequently erupted into open warfare on a grand scale.

However, it is to be recognized that economic considerations also influenced Huguenot persecution. The Huguenots were workers. With hard common sense they realized that they must produce what they consumed. They would give work to a beggar but never alms. Even Richelieu, the so-called "Nemesis of the Huguenots," who forbade them to leave France, said, "They are workers; France needs them."

In a state in which one-sixth of the national income went to a non-productive church, a church jealous of its paternalistic control of the people and to a large extent resentful of the government, an economic attitude such as that of the Huguenots was bound to be less than popular. Furthermore, severe physical penalties were imposed upon industrious folk found working on any of the many ecclesiastical holy days on which all work was forbidden. The Huguenots were therefore subjected to economic as well as religious oppression.

The names of individual Huguenot leaders -- the Condes, the Colignys, Henry of Navarre, and others -- are well known to us. It is not intended here to review them. The purpose of this account is merely to emphasize the qualities of the Huguenots and the reasons which impelled them to migrate to other countries.

Some of the highlights of the struggle may, however, be set down:

After the early persecutions and following a retaliatory plot by the Huguenots, the pacification of Amboise in 1563 again allowed the Huguenots freedom of worship. However, this freedom soon began to be whittled away, and further persecutions followed.

The marriage of Catherine de Medici's daughter, Marguerite de Valois, to Henry of Navarre (who became Henry IV in 1589) on August 18, 1572, drew most of the Huguenot leaders to Paris for the ceremonies. This gave the Valois and the Guise factions an opportunity to organize a deadly act of treachery. On Saint Bartholomew's Day, August 24, as a special signal bell rang out, soldiers and organized mobs fell upon the Huguenots, and thousands of them were slaughtered. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was among the first to fall, at the hands of a servant of the Duc de Guise. Pope Gregory XIII even had a medal struck off in honor of the occasion and sent it to Catherine.

Civil wars followed, and in 1587 Henry of Navarre inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Roman Catholics. On April 13, 1598, as Henry IV, he issued the Edict of Nantes which granted to Huguenots toleration and freedom to worship in their own way.

Although the provisions of the Edict were not strictly or uniformly followed, yet for a time, at least, there was greater freedom for the Huguenots.

However, on October 18, 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, and this revocation caused France the loss of a half million persons, among whom were some of her most skilled artisans.

It was not until November 28, 1787, after the United States of America had gained its independence from England, that the Edict of Toleration was issued, guaranteeing religious liberty to all. It has been said that Lafayette, a Roman Catholic, was greatly impressed by the fact that so many of the American leaders were of Huguenot ancestry and, upon returning to France, he urged an Edict of Toleration upon Louis XVI. However, by the time of the Edict of Toleration, the Huguenot emigrants, with few exceptions, had raised families and sunk their roots so deeply in other lands as to prevent their return to France.

During the entire period between the early part of the sixteenth century and 1787, the conservative, respectable, accomplished Huguenots left France for other countries in varying numbers with each recurring wave of persecution. "France had opened her own veins and spilt her best blood when she drained herself of her Huguenots, and everywhere, in every country that would receive them, this amazing strain acted as a yeast." (Esther Forbes: Paul Revere and the World he Lived In. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942.)

Emigration to Other European Countries

The Huguenots who left France during their persecutions quite naturally emigrated to the Protestant and Eastern Orthodox countries of Europe. They went particularly to Germany, Holland, and England, although some went to Switzerland and other Protestant countries. They were warmly received, and many of them remained to enrich those countries.

Emigration to the American Colonies

Huguenot settlers immigrated into the American colonies directly from France and indirectly from the Protestant countries of Europe. This immigration began at an early date -- before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 -- and continued for over one hundred years. Although the Huguenots settled along almost the entire Eastern coast of North America, they showed a preference for what are now the states of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina.

Just as France suffered a notable loss through emigration of the intelligent, capable Huguenots, so the American colonies gained through their immigration. The colonists who had already settled North America were mostly farmers, laborers, ministers, soldiers, sailors, and people who had been engaged in government. The Huguenots supplied the colonies with excellent physicians and a large number of expert artisans and craftsmen. For example, Irenee Dupont learned how to make gunpowder from the immortal Lavoisier, and Apollos Rivoire, a goldsmith, was the father of Paul Revere.

Moreover, the Huguenots adapted themselves readily to the New World and showed an astonishing propensity for marrying people who were not Huguenots. Their descendants increased rapidly and spread quickly throughout the American colonies. Today, people of Huguenot origin are found in all parts of the United States.

Remember that our inheritance of honorable names and of the incessant blessings of civil and religious liberty carry with them the obligation to keep them in honor and maintain and defend them; that we hold them in trust, to enjoy in our lifetime and transmit them untarnished and undiminished to posterity. We cherish these traditions, not for the glorification of family names, but for the honor and advancement of humanity, as incentives to those private and public virtues that constitute the true strength of a nation.

-- The Honorable Thomas F. Bayard (1828-1898. American statesman, diplomat, and lawyer. United States Ambassador to Great Britain, 1893.

The Origin of the Name Huguenot

In 1560, our Huguenot ancestors, convinced that their persecution would continue as long as their nemesis, the House of Guise, held influence over the throne of France, conspired to arrest the Duke of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, and to bring them before a judicial tribunal. The plot was well-organized and guarded. But somebody talked, and "The Conspiracy of Amboise" became "The Tumult of Amboise," and a carnival of blood resulted from the charge that the plot was against the king.

Until then, our French Protestant ancestors were called "Lutherans," "Christaudins," or "those of the religion." In less than a week after this Amboise outbreak, the word "Huguenot" was on the lips of all France. Few people knew or cared whence it arose. Its origin has been a matter of controversy for four centuries.

Many theories have been advanced as to the origin of the word, and eminent scholars have championed nearly all of them. The theory most generally accepted is that the word is derived from the German eidgenossen, meaning "confederates," the name of the party of freedom in the bi-lingual city of Geneva which thwarted the efforts of the Roman Catholic Duke of Savoy to exterminate all Protestants. Many people have hesitated to accept this theory because of the difficulty in reconciling the phonetics of the two words. However, recent writings of Sir Douglas L. Savory of Belfast, North Ireland, an eminent Huguenot scholar, past president of the Huguenot Society of London and formerly professor of French at Queens University, have supplied the catalyst. Sir Douglas revealed that the popular hero of the eidgenossen was one "Hugues" and that eidgenossen became corrupted to "Hugues-genossen," which the French easily shortened to "Huguenot." This theory has been accepted by the Geneva Historical Society.

The Huguenot Society of America

On April 12, 1883, The Huguenot Society of America was organized by a group of descendants of Huguenots who had come to what is now the United States of America. The purposes of this society were primarily to promote the cause of religious freedom and to perpetuate the memory of the Huguenot settlers in the United States. Its first president was John Jay, a grandson of the first Chief Justice of the United States.

Today, the Huguenot Society of America has members in thirty-nine of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the British West Indies, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland. In addition to its social events (an annual luncheon and receptions), the Society presents two yearly lectures on topics of Huguenot interest; maintains an extensive library of books relating to Huguenot history; preserves pictures, busts, and relics relating to Huguenot history; supports important research in Huguenot history; and gives annual college scholarships to Huguenot descendants.

The Origin and Formation of the Huguenot Society of America

(Reprinted from its first publication, Abstract of Proceedings Number One 1884)

The Huguenot Society of America owes its origin to the initiative taken by the Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer, Rector of l'Eglise Francaise du Saint-Esprit, 30 West Twenty-second Street, New York City. He wished to gather the facts relating to the descendants of the Huguenots in America with a view of arranging for a commemoration of the bicentennial of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes on October 22, 1885. The first public notice of such intention was given in an article published in the Evening Telegram on February 2, 1883, in which an historical outline was given of the old French church in New York City. Mention was made of the remains of the early Huguenots reinterred in the vault owned by the French church in the graveyard of the Protestant Episcopal church of Saint Mark's in the Bowery on the corner of Stuyvesant Street and Second Avenue.

On Thursday evening, March 6, 1883, Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer read a paper before the New York Historical Society on the history of the Huguenot church of New York. At its conclusion, members asked, "Why not organize a society of Huguenot descendants in the city of New York?" Someone stated in the discussion that followed the reading that the present seemed peculiarly favorable for such an organization and that the Honorable John Jay, the grandson of Chief Justice John Jay of Revolutionary War fame and of the Huguenot family of La Guienne, and himself the late American Minister at the Court of Austria, should be asked to serve as the president of such a society. Reverend Wittmeyer, a native of the Saar-Union, France, of which his father and grandfathers were mayors, and whose education was acquired chiefly in France, graduated from the Union Theological Seminary New York City, and then became Chaplain of St. Luke's Hospital and editor of the Church Journal prior to becoming rector of l'Eglise Francaise du Saint-Esprit. He was proposed as secretary of the society.

A preliminary meeting of a few gentlemen with this object in view was held at the residence of the Honorable John Jay in the city of New York on April 12, 1883, at which Reverend Ephraim de Puy was elected chairman, and Reverend A. V. Wittmeyer, secretary. Letters from the Honorable Abram Hewitt, member of Congress from New York, Reverend Thomas E. Vermilye, D.D., of the Collegiate (Dutch) Church of New York, and others, warmly commended the object of the meeting. These objects were read after an address by the Honorable John Jay on the eminent propriety of organizing a Huguenot Society. Reverend Wittmeyer read a paper briefly setting forth the object and conditions of membership of the proposed society. A special committee consisting of Edward F. de Lancey, Esq., Reverend Dr. B. F. DeCosta, and Reverend A. V. Wittmeyer, was appointed to prepare a circular about the proposed society. The circular was sent to all persons within convenient distance of New York City who were known to be of Huguenot origin, with a subsequent invitation by postal card to attend a public meeting to be held in the hall of the New York Historical Society's building, 170 Second Avenue, on Tuesday, at noon, May 29, 1883.

In response to this invitation, many of the descendants of Huguenot families, including ladies (one of whom came a long distance by rail especially to attend the meeting), were present. At this meeting, Edward F. de Lancey, Esq., was elected chairman, and Reverend A. V. Wittmeyer, secretary.

The draft of the Constitution and By-Laws, prepared by Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer and Morey Hale Bartow, Esq., was read and after slight modifications, adopted. This is the same constitution in force today. An outcome of this meeting was the recognition of perfect equality between male and female members in the use of the ballot, and the eligibility of females for membership, the same being definitely fixed by the Constitution of the Society.

After the adoption of the Constitution and By-Laws, the following gentlemen were unanimously elected as officers of the Society to serve until the next anniversary meeting:

• President: Honorable John Jay
• Vice-President for New York City: Edward F. de Lancey, Esquire
• Secretary: Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer
• Treasurer: Morey Hale Bartow, Esquire

During its first year, the Society elected two honorary members: Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer and Morey Hale Bartow, Esquire; five life members; and sixty-two annual members.

Incorporators of The Huguenot Society of America

Organized April 12, 1883

Incorporated June 12, 1885

Morey Hale Bartow

Charles A. Briggs

Benjamin F. De Costa

Edward F. de Lancey

Chauncey M. Depew

Abram DuBois

Peter W. Gallaudet

Josiah H. Gautier

John Jay

Charles W. Maury

Louis Mesier

Ashbel G. Vermilye

Alfred V. Wittmeyer

Some Highlights of the First 115 Years 1883-1998

In 1934, The Huguenot Society of America published A Half Century's Record by William Jay Schieffelin, Ph.D., F.C.S., president of the Society. This report recounted some of the activities and achievements of the Society:

• Publications by the Society of its Proceedings and Collections, which listed contributions of inestimable value to the history of the Huguenots and their descendants;
• Financial Aid to the American Mission to Lepers, and the equipping of La Chartreuse de Valbonne, formerly an ancient monastery, as a home for lepers;
• Contributions to Canterbury Cathedral for divine services in French held in the crypt for many years by Huguenot descendants;
• Its full quota of the donations by patriotic societies toward the cost of the Patriotic Chapel in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York;
• Participated in the Huguenot Walloon Tercentenary, and helped to secure the minting of memorial half dollars authorized by Congress in commemoration of the event;
• Subscribed to funds for the French Huguenot Society in France for the restoration and preservation of their invaluable books, manuscripts, and records, and for repairs to their library building.

Since the publishing of Mr. Schieffelin's book:

The Society commemorated the tercentenary of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes with a "Huguenot Weekend" in 1985. The Annual Meeting was held on a Friday at the Museum of the City of New York where an exhibit was mounted recognizing silver objects in the collection fashioned by the descendants of Huguenots, and members heard a fascinating lecture given by the then Curator of Decorative Arts, Margaret D. Stearns. On Saturday, a group visited the Staten Island Historical Society; on Sunday, members attended a church service at St. Mark's in the Bowery (where remains of early Huguenots had been reinterred in a vault owned by the French Church), followed by a box luncheon in a room graciously provided by the church; after St. Mark's, members boarded a bus for a visit to Trinity Church where small French flags were placed on identified Huguenot graves.

In the summer of 1985 members and guests of the Society participated in a commemoration of the tercentenary which took place in Europe. They were entertained by the Huguenot Society of London, visited a comprehensive Huguenot exhibit at the Museum of London, and attended a church service at St. Paul's. In France, they visited towns and monuments of Huguenot interest before returning to Paris where they were greeted by President Mitterand.

In 1986 the Society published a book, Huguenot Refugees in the Settling of Colonial America, with chapters written by members of the Society and edited by Dr. Peter Gannon. This book has been very well received.

Tablets and Memorials

The Huguenot Society of America has erected four tablets and memorials in memory of the various events or places which are of interest to all descendants.

On May 10, 1902, a bronze tablet was placed on the west side of the courtyard of the New York Produce Exchange (2 Broadway today), New York City to mark the site of the first Huguenot church (1688-1704) in the city. This tablet was stolen in 1987.

Later in the same year a second tablet was erected in the Huguenot Church on West 22nd Street. This tablet is now on the wall of l'Eglise Francaise du Saint-Esprit, 111 East 60th Street, New York City.

On December 19, 1915, at the First Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue and Twelfth Street, New York City, the Society participated officially at the service of dedication of the Huguenot Window given by one of its members, Dr. Benjamin G. Demarest, in memory of his mother. The window, in the south wall of the church, is one of a series of five depicting the outstanding leaders of Protestantism. One of its six sections, the lower center panel, portrays a full-length figure of the great Huguenot Gaspard de Coligny.

On January 25, 1924, the Society donated an elaborate communion table to the Reformed Church (Huguenot) of Huguenot Park in Staten Island, New York.

When John Paul Jones died in France, the only place where his remains could be interred was the Protestant Burial Ground in Paris. His remains rested there until they were removed to the Chapel of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1906. On July 4, 1935, a tablet commemorating the spot where his body had been buried in Paris was erected by the Society. A photograph of this tablet hangs on the wall of the Society library in New York City.

In 1991, the Council sponsored a replacement of the stolen tablet that had been on the wall of the New York Produce Exchange (2 Broadway today) to mark the site of the first Huguenot church in New York City. The new plaque, made of stainless steel, is less valuable but still handsome. It is located on the south wall of the courtyard at the rear entrance to the building.

The council and members of the Society have placed shields with the coats of arms of many Huguenot families around the upper walls of the sanctuary and nave in l'Eglise Francaise du Saint-Esprit.

Members of the Society donated toward the beautiful stained glass window placed behind the altar of l'Eglise Francaise du Saint-Esprit on East 60th Street.

A Brief History of the Huguenots and their Assimilation in Colonial America

To fully understand Huguenot emigration it is necessary to bear in mind the conditions under which they lived in France.

During the Middle Ages European man looked forward, not to the future on this earth, for that appeared to be without hope, but to a life in another world where all would be serene. With the formation of the Guilds the living standard of the people improved, but their basic outlook did not immediately change. Since the aspirations of the people could not be satisfied on this earth, it followed that many of the temporal rulers believed that the state could not be governed without control of the church and that church and state were inseparable.

Because Margaret of Angoleme was a Protestant, Francois I, her brother, was inclined to be lenient with the Reformed. He later, however, began to regard the Reformation as an attack upon his authority. "If the Pope is questioned, the Prince will be too," he is reported to have said. But the newly printed Bibles had been translated into French and were being avidly read by the population. Calvin was preaching along the coast and Marot had put the psalms of David to music. Everyone was singing hymns, even at court.

The Reformed declared the Bible was "The Word of God" and it contained many references to direct personal relationships between man and God (dictates rendering unto Caesar only what was Caesar's and condemns the worship of graven images). Those of the Reformed faith had to make the choice of submission or flight to states which did not regard their presence and the practice of their religious beliefs as destructive of the state itself. The flight of the Huguenots from France coincided with the colonization of North America. It was also the time of the greatest flowering of French civilization.

Admiral Coligny, a cousin of King Henry II, was involved with the Reformed Church in France. Catherine d'Medici was regent for her son Charles IX. In 1555 Coligny sponsored an expedition to Brazil in an attempt to colonize. The Portuguese, guarding their New World possessions, attacked and annihilated the ill-equipped colony. An attempt was made to establish a colony on the St. John's River in Florida which they named River of May. They called their fort La Caroline. The fort was destroyed by the Spanish in 1565 and the Frenchmen were either butchered or placed in slavery. Fifty years later an explorer related his amazement when he heard Indians singing French hymns in the wilderness. When Louis Philippe, later King of France, visited America during the French Revolution, he was delighted to discover the Cherokee word for cake was "gateau."

By 1555 there were more than 2,000 Reformed Churches, or Temples, in France. The Scottish Presbyterian Church was founded in Paris. Elizabeth I of England ascended the throne in 1558 and reaffirmed her Protestant faith. Three quarters of England was Roman Catholic. The connotation of Protestant is not negative as the "Pro" means "For" and "Testares" is the Latin word for "Testament." Grateful Walloon silk weavers gave Elizabeth her first pair of silk stockings, and two weavers, the Blanquette brothers, gave her a woollen cover for her bed: hence the word "Blanket." Up to that point England was a pastoral country. Wool from English sheep was sent to the Continent for weaving and re-imported as cloth.

The third week in August, 1572, was the wedding week of Protestant Henri of Navarre and Catholic Marguerite de Valois. Shortly before dawn on the 24th, the bell of St. Germain began to toll, signalling the start of mass murders, which are known to us as the "Massacre of St. Bartholomew." The plot had been hatched by the Catholic house of deGuise, and Catherine, fearing the growing influence of Coligny upon her son, slyly gave her approval. Admiral Coligny, along with up to one hundred thousand Protestants, was slain during a three-day massacre.

Down the long avenue of history, seldom has greater infamy stained the councils of the great. Horrified Protestant countries such as Germany, England, Holland, and Switzerland threw open their doors to fleeing French citizens. With this emigration the many secrets and skills of the Guilds escaped to other countries. Skillful artisans taught the Dutch Bernard Palissy's discovery of the Italian art of hard glaze for making pottery and tiles. Professor Jurien fled the Sorbonne and gave credence to the newly established University of Leyden. Jean Claud, France's most eloquent Protestant preacher, fled to Delft and continued his ministry to his displaced flock. Jean Six, an early patron of Rembrandt and known as "The Man with the Gloves," moved his entire family and household furnishings to Amsterdam. He became one of the City Fathers.

The Golden Age of the Netherlands in the 17th century came as a result of the mass exodus of Protestant and Jewish French citizens. Switzerland also flourished in watchmaking and embroidering skills as a direct result of French emigration. The French church at Hanau, Germany, opened its doors for services in 1609. Hanau is known for its silversmiths. Berlin was rebuilt by Huguenots after the Thirty Years' War. La Mott Fouge, Germany's finest composer of military marches, was a descendant of a Huguenot.

At the beginning of Elizabeth's rule, England was a poor country. At the end of her rule it was one of the richest in Europe. The workers from Rouen escaped with the secret of "bending the felt." For the next forty years the Cardinals in Rome were forced to buy their hats from the Huguenots in London. Marquetry was introduced as was the coining press. The seeds for flax were sown in Ireland and Monsieur LaTouche became known as "the Father of the Irish Linen Trade." The flax seeds had originated in Damascus and been imported to France. Mr. LaTouche is credited with introducing those seeds to Ireland where its product became well-known as Damask.

The Huguenots brought hops to English malt beer. A barroom ditty from Elizabethan times accurately describes the events of the time: "Hops, Reformation, bays and beer came into England all in one year."

French names on English silver such as Paul deLamerie confirm the exodus of the smiths, and the fame of English silver can be traced to that period. A later flight would show the French working and living in far-off Russia and the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

It was twenty years after the St. Bartholomew's Massacre that Henri IV of France was able to grant a large measure of religious liberty to his Protestant subjects. By the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598, he was able to cement his warring nation and give the Reformed freedom of conscience, the right to assemble, the right to hold public worship, and reasonably full civil rights. Huguenots were permitted to trade freely, to inherit property, to enter schools and universities, and were eligible for official appointments. Tempering by hardship gave them the driving force they needed to make superlative achievements in the arts, trades, and professions. Their privileges continued for a few years until Louis XIII came to the throne and the great Cardinal Richelieu came to power. With his wily Machiavellian gifts he pesuaded Louis to destroy the political power of the Huguenots by seizing their chief cities.

La Rochelle was the most independent and the third largest port in France. The citizens of that city had for many years enjoyed freedom. They had never before been defeated. Their salt marshes provided France with that commodity; their ships provided all the imports from the Far East. For fourteen months the Rochellese held out against the siege by superior forces. The population was starving; guides today point to a house that was exchanged for a rat to be eaten. Finally, too weak to struggle longer, La Rochelle succumbed.

To Richelieu's credit, he did not pursue or push the Huguenots to extremes to renounce their religion, and even convinced Louis XIII to sign "The Peace of Pardon" after the fighting was ended. A statue of Henri IV was presented to the population of La Rochelle and installed on a balcony of City Hall. Many times the citizens of La Rochelle shattered the porcelain statue to show their displeasure with laws enacted by the King. When their grievances were settled the statue would be replaced.

Even when he was a small boy learning to write, Louis XIV's ingrained absolutism and egotism were evident, for the copy set for him to practice was "Les Rois font tout ce qui'ils veulent" (Kings do anything they want). This Louis wasn't concerned about commerce. When his minister, Colbert, warned him about his French subjects who were living abroad and making his enemies wealthy by improving their manufacturing, his Napoleonic response was in a letter to Charles II of England, saying "If the English are satisfied to be the merchants of the world, and leave me to conquer it, the matter can be easily arranged." The uncontrolled Louis IV, boasting "Je l'Etat," revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, thus depriving his Reformed of the "rights" they had enjoyed for a brief period. Now began in earnest the flight from France which had started more than a century before.

In the second decade of the 17th century, the Dutch established trading posts on the Island of Manhattan and in what is now Albany, New York. The first child of European ancestry was born in 1614 in Manhattan. His parents were Huguenots and his name was Jean Vigne. A group of Huguenots came with the Dutch to found New Amsterdam in 1623 and others soon followed. Many names had been changed to spare their hosts vocal and visual exertion; thus LeBlanc became DeWitt and Des Champes became De Velde. Religions were compatible and intermarriage acceptable. Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Director General, married Judith Bayard, a Huguenot girl. Many streets in Lower Manhattan still bear French names -- Jay, Bayard, Debrosses, Delancey, Lespenard, and Pierrepont, to name a few. The Huguenots built the second church in New York, on Marketfield Street, near Bowling Green.

Peter Minuit, who purchased the island of Manhattan from the Indians, was the son of a Huguenot pastor who had fled to the Rhineland. He also purchased land for the settlement of New Sweden in Pennsylvania. It was established before William Penn arrived.

In 1664, the Duke of York captured New Amsterdam on behalf of Great Britain, and new immigrants poured from English shores to seek happiness in a tolerant new land. Emigration was encouraged by the Crown because of anticipated revenues from such colonization. Settlements were made in Staten Island (where the first school house in America was built, called Voorlezer Co-Education), Harlem, Breukelen, Wallabout (meaning bay of foreigners) and New Rochelle. Descendants with names such as Disosway, Coertelyou, Guion, Seaton, and La Tourette still own homes on what had been their ancestors' farms. New Rochelle is situated on Long Island Sound. In September, 1689, a body of exiled Huguenots purchased six thousand acres of land; the purchasers and their heirs and assigns were to pay "one fat calf on every four-and-twentieth day of June, yearly and for every year forever, if demanded." It is a well-known fact that every Huguenot, on the festival of Saint John the Baptist, as long as the claim endured, paid his portion of the fat calf. Until these settlers were able to secure their own French-speaking pastor, they would walk the 23 miles to Manhattan to attend the French service at St. Esprit.

In 1675 the Huguenots made a settlement in that part of New York known as Ulster County. Abraham Hasbrouck, one of the first patentees, was a native of Calais, France. He arrived with a party of Huguenots who had resided awhile on the banks of the Rhine, in the Palatinate. As an expression of their appreciation they called this new home "Le Nouvelle Paltz," now called New Paltz. The first twelve patentees, or the "Duzine," as long as they lived, managed the affairs of the infant settlement, and for a long period after their deaths, all important papers and land titles were kept in one chest. The pastor or oldest man was entrusted with the key and reference was made to this depository for the settlement of all difficulties about boundaries.

Today their descendants still own their ancestors' homes. Family Associations govern the historic houses. Now they open their homes for visitors to see how the early settlers lived. 1978 commemorated 300 years since their heroic ancestors carved a home in the wilderness. In the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one room depicting the influence of the Huguenots and the Dutch in the Hudson River Valley was donated by the de Forest family.

One year after the voyage of the Mayflower, the ship named Fortune arrived at Plymouth. On this ship was a 19-year-old youth. He had been born in Holland of Huguenot parents and sailed with the Pilgrims. His name was Philip De La Noye, and his descendants shortened the name to Delano.

In 1620, when ships arrived with supplies in Jamestown, came a 30-year-old Frenchman to Virginia, called Nicholas Martiau. He became the original patentee of Yorktown, and his stand against Colonial governing is called "the first opposition to British Colonial Policy." He only reiterated the old Huguenot demand for independence and self-government. Nicholas Martiau's greatest gift to the U.S., however, was his great-great-great grandson, "The Father of his Country," George Washington.

(George Bancroft, writing of early New York -- 1656 -- says, "Its settlers were relics of the first fruits of the Reformation.")

In 1662, John Touton, a doctor of Rochelle, along with several merchants and ship owners including Pierre Boudoin (whose son became the Governor of Massachusetts and for whom Bowdoin College is named) applied to the Court of Massachusetts, asking that they and other French Protestants who had been expelled from their homes on account of their faith might settle in New England. They were generously received, excused for several years from taxes, and became useful, honorable citizens. Andrew Faneuil, a prosperous merchant, donated an open market place to the city of Boston. Faneuil Hall, built in the market place, included a second floor intended for meetings and became known as "the Cradle of the Revolution." Apollos Rivoire, a silversmith, was the grandfather of a silversmith and Revolutionary night-rider, Paul Revere.

Gabriel Bernon attempted a Huguenot settlement at what was called New Oxford. Hostile Indians attacked the fort and dispersed the inhabitants, but the Anjou pear and Quince trees are mute reminders of the Huguenot farmers who introduced those fruits to North America.

Other descendants of Huguenots that may surprise you were: Will Durant, founder of Wellesley College; Matthew Vassar, founder of Vassar; Henry David Thoreau; Julia Ward Howe; Philip Freneau, the poet laureate of the Revolution; Paul de Marest, for whom Demarest, New Jersey was named; and John Pintard. Countless other silversmiths, weavers, cabinet makers, teachers, doctors, and merchants, too numerous to list, contributed their skills to the various colonies.

Huguenot emigration overseas (until it was closed to Protestants in 1633) had continued steadily during the first half of the 17th century. When the first measures of Louis XIV convinced many that it was wiser to prepare for worse days than to hope for better ones, the exodus became a river; and after 1685 with the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, it rose to a torrent. There is no colony on the East Coast of North America that did not get its fair share of French. As the persecutions continued, these people arrived in a state of exhaustion and destitution that the subscription lists traveled from house to house and from farm to farm.

Several hundred arrived at one time in Pennsylvania led by a brave woman, Madame Ferree. Maryland naturalized all French Protestants, and Virginia followed suit. Some settled near Jamestown, others in Norfolk County; still others joined the Huguenot colonists around Manakin. Descendants from this area include the Fontain family, Jim Bowie, and Davey Crockett.

South Carolina

When Charles II became King of England in 1660, he also favored using the refugees, who were streaming to English shores, as colonists in the New World. On the ship the Richmond, which sailed to Oyster Point in the Carolinas, there were 45 Huguenot passengers. They had been promised free land to cultivate silk worms, olive trees, and vineyards. The captain of the ship also took with him a royal decree that Oyster Point should thereafter be called "Charles Town." Unfortunately, the silk worms on board hatched prematurely and died in transit, but the captain gave these Huguenots a quarter bushel of rice from Madagascar for experimental planting. The English Governor gave them the promised land that he hoped would act as a shield for the town against Indian attack. This land was the swampy section that surrounds Charleston. The success of Carolina Rice is well known.

The most considerable immigration took place in 1687, when through royal bounty, six hundred French Protestants were sent to America, most of them locating in Carolina. Charleston itself was largely built by Huguenots. The French influence is seen in the ornamental iron work so similar to that on houses in New Orleans. Elias Prieleau, a descendant of Antoine Prioli, the Doge of Venice in 1618, became the first pastor.

The Huguenot refugees soon established two other colonies in South Carolina: Orange Quarter, on the Cooper River, and Santee on the Santee River. They attended church in Charleston coming by canoes and boats. The services were timed according to the tide, ebb and flood.

Soon the names began to be Anglicized: Leblance became White or Dwight and Le Gare became Legree. Solomon Le Gare, a prominent silversmith in Charleston, was immortalized as Simon Legree, the cruel overseer in Uncle Tom's Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (of Huguenot descent). She was inspired by Angelica and Sarah Grimke, South Carolina abolitionists, also of Huguenot descent. As Paul deLamerie prospered as a silversmith in England, so did Nicholas DeLonguemare, Solomon LeGare, John Paul Grimke, and others give South Carolina its reputation for master silversmiths. (Later in New York, Louis Tiffany joined their ranks.)

Despite their Protestant faith, many Huguenots tried to retain their French identity. At one point 400 families approached Bienville, the Governor of Louisiana, to send their petition to the court at Versailles, to enable them to settle in Louisiana on the simple condition that they should enjoy liberty of conscience. The Count de Pontchartrain informed the petitioners that his Royal Master, the King, had not driven them from his kingdom to form a Protestant republic in his American possessions.

Eliza Lucas' brother sent her a carefully guarded splice of an indigo plant from the West Indies; she was successful in planting it and South Carolina became recognized as a chief source of that valuable product. Cotton soon followed.

One of the wealthiest families of Charleston was the Manigault family. Judith Manigault has left this record of the flight of her family from France: "We quitted our home in the night, leaving the soldiers in their beds, and abandoning to them our house and all that it contained. Well knowing that we should be sought for in every direction, we remained ten days concealed at Romans, in Dauphiny, at the house of a good woman who had no thought of betraying us." After a long circuit through Holland and Germany and suffering many misfortunes, the family embarked for America at London. Then she continues: "The red fever broke out on board ship; many of us died of it, among them our aged mother. We touched at the island of Bermuda, where the vessel which carried us was seized. We spent all our money there, and it was with great difficulty that we procured a passage on board another ship. New misfortunes awaited us in Carolina. At the end of eighteen months we lost our eldest brother, who succumbed to such unusual fatigues, so that after our departure from France we endured all that it was possible to suffer. I was six months without tasting bread, working besides like a slave; and during three or four years I never had the wherewithal completely to satisfy the hunger which devoured me. Yet," adds this admirable woman, "God accomplished great things in our favor by giving us the strength necessary to support these trials."

In 1764, 212 exiled families from France added new strength to the settlements in Carolina. This group established the town of New Bordeaux.

Contributions of the Huguenots to the Development of the American Colonies

"What is this new man -- this American?" asked Andre Crevecour.

The Huguenots, many of whom were early settlers in New Amsterdam and the East Coast Colonies, continued to emigrate to the American colonies throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, encouraged by grants of some or all of the rights of citizenship and certain tax incentives. Once there, they lost their separate identity through adoption of the predominant language of the place where they settled and through frequent intermarriage with other settlers. Although the Huguenots may have lost their separate identity after immigration, so also, to a large extent, did their fellow colonists. The melding of these people of various national origins produced a new people, the Americans, with their own distinct identity and culture.

For the most part, Huguenots in France were artisans, merchants, seafarers, and what we today call professional people, and they brought with them the knowledge and skills acquired in their homeland. The skills of their cabinet makers, weavers, silversmiths, and artisans of a host of other trades, as well as their proficiency in agriculture, greatly contributed to the economic development of the American colonies. People who at that time would forsake their homeland because of their religious beliefs had to be people of strong conviction and determination, for the undertaking of the rigors of life in frontier settlements required great steadfastness of purpose.

Although deeply religious and proud of their heritage, the Huguenots were not intolerant of the beliefs of others. Their traits of character, their skills, and their beliefs they passed onto their descendants. Henry Laurens of South Carolina, John Jay of New York, and Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, all of Huguenot descent, were three of the seven Presidents of the Continental Congress. Among other prominent persons of Huguenot descent during the Revolution were Gabriel Manigault of South Carolina, who lent the Continental Army over $200,000 to help carry on the war, and Frances Marion, known as the "Swamp Fox."

The Huguenots "carried with them the fixed principle of the supremacy of constitutional law. Liberty of thought; liberty of faith; liberty of worship -- these were the aspirations of the Huguenots. They fostered here the germ of independence, regulated by law, which brought to pass what... we call American democracy."

No less than eleven Presidents of the United States were descendants of Huguenot immigrants; George Washington (in whose home, Mount Vernon, hangs the Key to the Bastille), John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, James Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

It has not been the purpose here to detail the history of Huguenot immigration to the New World, for that has been most adequately done by others, but rather to promote a better understanding of who Huguenots were and the part they and their descendants played in the development of the United States.

Inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty are these words: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." What better place for this gift of France to stand than on Bedloe's Island (now called Liberty Island), named for a Huguenot who found refuge on these shores?

A Brief History of the Huguenots and Their Assimilation in Colonial America was prepared by Patricia P. Frech as a lecture and slide show for a Bicentennial contribution. Enough interest was expressed so that this was first printed as a booklet in 1980 and has since been up-dated. Mrs. Frech has been Vice-President, Scholarship Chairman, and President of the Society.

A Brief History of the French Church du Saint-Esprit

Address given at the Annual Luncheon Meeting of the Society on December 10, 1977, by the Rev. Thomas W. Wile, Vicar of the French Church of Saint-Esprit.

The French Church of Saint-Esprit is the second oldest religious body in New York. It is pre-dated only by the Dutch Reformed Church which also marks its founding in the same year.

In 1628 the first ordained Dutch minister, Jonas Michaelius, arrived in New Amsterdam and conducted services in a horse mill. On August 11, 1628, Pastor Michaelius wrote to a colleague in Amsterdam, Holland, that he had administered the Lord's Supper in the French language and according to the French manner and that he had preached in French from a prepared text.

From 1628 to 1685, the Huguenot community in New Amsterdam (later New York) depended on Dutch ministers for their spiritual guidance. In 1682 the Huguenots received their first permanent minister, Pierre Daille.

Not only did he minister to the Huguenots of New York but he went to Huguenot communities in upstate new York, Staten Island, and New Jersey as well. In 1685 an event happened in France which was to increase greatly the number of Huguenots in New York and elsewhere in America. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes which, since the time of his grandfather Henry IV, had granted protection and certain liberties to his Protestant subjects. A royal persecution began and many Huguenots were killed, many more suffered, and a great number fled to other countries. A steady stream of Huguenot immigrants arrived in New York so that by 1697 fifteen percent of New York's 4,000 inhabitants were Huguenot.

Due to this immigration, by 1687 the congregation was large enough to build its own church building on Petticoat Lane, later to be called Marketfield Street. The church was not yet known as Saint-Esprit but simply as "Eglise Francaise a la Nouvell York."

By 1704 the congregation had become so large that it needed a new building. The new church was built at the corner of Pine and Nassau Streets and, for the first time, it was called Saint-Esprit.

The Huguenot community grew until about 1730 and then declined. Persecution had largely stopped in France and there was little immigration. The children of the original Huguenots became English-speaking and intermarried with the English, which lessened their attachment to their French culture. Louis Rou, who served as Saint-Esprit's pastor from 1710 until his death in 1750, tried in his later years to hold the congregation together, but with little success. After him, a succession of lay readers attempted to lead the congregation as best they could, but the parish declined even further. When the English troops occupied New York during the Revolutionary War, the church was used as a store house for arms and ammunition.

Services ceased for around twenty years until 1795 when a visiting pastor, J. Louis Duby, arrived in New York and began to revive the parish. He was offered the post of pastor but, planning to return to France, he refused it. In 1797 Pierre A. S. Albert arrived and began his ministry. He found an almost impossible situation. Most of the older members of the parish had died and their children had dispersed. Many had joined the Episcopal Church and were now pew-holders in that body. Albert realized that the parish of Saint-Esprit was too small to stand alone and that it needed the support of a larger church body. The Episcopal Church seemed like a logical choice. Also, there was another persuasive reason for joining the Episcopal Church. In 1773, Elias Desbrosses, a Huguenot who had joined the Episcopal Church, made a will in which he left a thousand pounds, to be administered by Trinity Church, for the maintenance of a French clergyman who "shall perform Divine Service in the French language according to the liturgy of the Church of England." Here were the funds to pay Pastor Albert's salary. The Episcopal Bishop of New York, Benjamin Moore, was also the rector of Trinity Church, and he encouraged Saint-Esprit to come into the Episcopal fold. In October, 1802, the congregation unanimously agreed to do so and ordered the printing of the Book of Common Prayer in French. In 1803 Saint-Esprit was consecrated as an Episcopal Church and Pierre Albert was ordained to the Diaconate. Three weeks later, he was ordained to the Priesthood. The decision to become part of the Episcopal Church proved a wise one. Saint-Esprit began to thrive and, in fact, became quite fashionable for a while.

Pierre Albert served as a rector for only three years. He died quite suddenly in 1806. For the next nine years the church was without a rector until the arrival of Henri Penevre in 1815. He served for ten years until he resigned to return to France in 1825. He was succeeded by Antoine Verren who became rector in 1828 at age 24 and served for 46 years until his death in 1874.

By 1833 the area around the little church building had become entirely commercial and the need was felt for a new building. The old church was sold and a new one was built on the corner of Franklin and Church Streets. Although the second church building had served the congregation for almost 130 years, the third was to function for a much shorter time. The residential section of New York was moving north so rapidly that by 1860 the parish decided to move again and a church in the Neo-Gothic style was constructed at 30 West 22nd Street. After Dr. Verren's death in 1874, Leon Pons served as rector for five years until he resigned in 1879. He then became a professor of French in New York for many years. The fifth rector, Alfred Victor Wittmeyer, was, like Antoine Verren, to serve for 46 years, from 1879 until his retirement in 1925. Wittmeyer is best known as the founder of the Huguenot Society of America which was started in 1883.

In 1900 a large sum was offered to the parish for the church and property on West 22nd Street. The offer was accepted and the parish was able to purchase a new location at 45 East 27th Street and to build a new church building for less than it received for the old one. The fifth church building was Neo-Gothic like the fourth one.

Starting around the beginning of the 20th century the parish declined in number. Many of the French moved out of New York City to its suburbs. Trades which had employed many of them, such as watchmaking, moved away. Prohibition dealt a severe blow to French restaurants. Finally, immigration was greatly restricted in the period before World War I.

John A. F. Maynard, who succeeded Wittmeyer in 1926, served as rector for 26 years until his retirement in 1956. Soon after his arrival, he found that the church building on 27th Street was too expensive for the small congregation to maintain. It was leased and the congregation moved to the auditorium of the French Institute on East 60th Street for what was supposed to be a short time until a new church could be built. However, the Depression dashed those hopes and it was not until 1934 that the parish was able to leave the Institute and rent an unused church at 229 East 61st Street. This building also proved to be too costly and inefficient to maintain. In 1941 a brownstone located at 109 East 60th Street was purchased and a chapel was made out of the ground floor. It still serves as the house of worship for the parish of Saint-Esprit. The upper floors of the building became a French school. Three years later the adjoining brownstone at 111 East 60th Street was purchased and a Huguenot Museum was established which lasted until 1976 when its contents were transferred to the restored Huguenot Village of New Paltz, New York, which was better equipped to maintain and display them.

In 1956 Dr. Maynard retired and was succeeded by Rene Vaillant who was rector for 20 years until his retirement in 1976. During the last years of Dr. Vaillant's rectorate his wife Pauline became seriously ill and she was moved to North Carolina. During the rector's absence, services were conducted by the Rev. Alphonse Chaurize. On January 1, 1977, Thomas Wile succeeded Dr. Vaillant.

The French Church of Saint-Esprit, 360 years old, continues as the oldest Huguenot church in America still using the French language. It is a living memorial to the faith of its Huguenot forefathers and the dedication and fellowship of its present congregation. Proud of its heritage, the parish faces the future with confidence.

1998-2001

President’s Report
The Huguenot Society of America
Annual Meeting, April 17, 2001

Courtney A. Haff, Ph.D.

For the past three years, I have been honored to serve as President of this distinguished group, and I am pleased to report that our Council and Staff have kept our Society on the course charted by our founders and most recently by former Presidents such as Patricia Frech, Henry Darlington, Jr., Clifford Brokaw, III, J. Sinclair Armstrong, and William Reese. Conditions today in some ways are not too dissimilar to those that stimulated our great-grandparents to form our Huguenot Society in 1883. As William Jay Schieffelin, a former President, noted in 1934:

After the welter of the Civil War came a period of depression and then of uneven prosperity. The older families found their incomes eclipsed by the new rich who heaped up fortunes which offended against God’s holy laws, both in the corrupt ingathering and the ostentatious display by which they bought their way into society.

A true instinct demanded a return to the eternal verities—even as it does today. Subconsciously there was a yearning for the simple life and the righteous standards of the Huguenots. As we read the able papers published by our Society we recognize a radiance like the golden light illumining Fra Angelico’s pictures—a repeated tribute to Christian character, a testimony of real worth.

It was with great sadness that we lost J. Sinclair Armstrong at the age of 85 this year, yet we can celebrate and remember his principles. He adhered to the social justice and human rights concepts of freedom, tolerance, and equality espoused by our Huguenot ancestors and which this Society aims to remember and to celebrate. “Sinc” as he was known to all of us, was a banker, lawyer, and high government official, whose 60-year career spanned jobs such as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and assistant secretary and comptroller of the Navy. I believe that Sinc, as a person, represented those characteristics of entrepreneurial skill, perseverance, self-discipline, and enduring religious faith that are synonymous with the term Huguenot. One of his most public roles came during a fight to stop Saint Bartholomew’s Church from building a skyscraper on its Manhattan property during the 1980s. He ultimately won the argument that the church should be subject to city landmark preservation laws, and the edifice was never built. It was with equal vigor that he fought to support the objectives of the Constitution of our Huguenot Society of America, which are: first, to promote the cause of religious freedom and to perpetuate the memory of the Huguenot émigrés in what is now the United States of America; second, to commemorate the principal events in the history of the Huguenots; third, to support, when practicable, Huguenot causes, enterprises, and institutions in other countries; and fourth, to promote and encourage social intercourse between its members and between it and other Huguenot societies.

We honor J. Sinclair Armstrong and his family today because of who he was. In the same way, our Society is not based on ancestor worship but on ancestor recognition and respect. It is based on the relationship between the past and the present, to help us better understand who we are because of who our ancestors were.

By belonging to this Society, a family whose ancestors were French-speaking Protestants, we show our respect and pay homage to our forefathers and foremothers, and we take pride in the courage with which they faced perils for their beliefs, and in the sacrifices they made to maintain them.

Over the past three years we have continued to pursue our societal goals. Since the celebration of the Four-hundredth Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Edict of Nantes, organized by Patricia Frech during the tenure of William Reese, we have moved to publish Quatercentenary Celebration of the Promulgation of the Edict of Nantes, which will contain papers presented at the celebration as well as more recent presentations made at our annual Loving Cups Luncheon, and other records. We have increased the number of Huguenot-related books in our library—one of the largest and most comprehensive Huguenot genealogy libraries in the world—and have provided a dedicated computer with immediate Internet access to researchers using our library. Our Web address, www.huguenotsocietyofamerica.org, has been registered on behalf of our Society, and we are building a presence at that site.

We have developed an expanded research agenda through our grant-making programs, for works relating to Huguenot heritage. Thus, we have supported the continued work of Dr. David Voorhees’s Jacob Leisler Project at New York University and provided contributions to the Staten Island Historical Society for restoration of the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House, constructed in the 1600s by Pierre Billiou, a Huguenot émigré. We have also provided grants to the Huguenot Historical Society of New Paltz, the Huguenot Church in Charleston, l’Eglise Française du St. Esprit in New York City, the Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in Virginia (for various capital projects), and the Huguenot Fellowship in Aix-en-Provence, France, as well as several dissertation and research projects. We have helped sponsor researchers’ expenses to international conferences reflecting our Huguenot heritage and are cosponsoring a conference organized by the New Netherland Project to be held in New York City this Fall, entitled “New Netherland at the Millennium,” which will cover new information about Huguenots and Walloons during the New Netherland period of 1624 to 1664.

Our scholarship program has increased the level of our current scholarships to $3,000 per year, or $12,000 for an undergraduate’s four-year education, through our Marie L. Rose Scholarship Fund.

Our Society is a distinguished one—and by no accident. It is the result of commitment, sincere effort, and dedication on the part of our Officers, Council and Staff to adhere to the purposes for which our ancestors founded this Society. I would like to express my appreciation to the Council for so willingly and enthusiastically giving of their time and talents. We need to increase our membership rolls, and I ask you to sponsor a family member or a friend as a member. Our continued success depends upon the growth of our membership and of our funding. Without your support, this Society cannot remain vigorous and viable for future generations. The human past leaves stories embedded in the landscape of history and their traces suggest new and unseen dimensions of Huguenot heritage that can be seen as a gift to our children. Remember, this Society honors its ancestors. We are because of who they were. Because you have Huguenot blood in your veins, you must continue to keep it flowing and to tell the story. I want to thank you for your support and your contributions.

It is important to recall what The Hon. Thomas F. Bayard said to our Society over a century ago:

Remember that our inheritance of honorable names and of the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty carry with them the obligation to keep them in honor and maintain and defend them; that we hold them in trust, to enjoy in our lifetime and transmit them untarnished and undiminished to posterity. We cherish these traditions, not for the glorification of family names, but for the honor and advancement of humanity, as incentives to those private and public virtues that constitute the true strength of a nation.