Tracking the Huguenot Devoes / De Veaux / Devaux
In researching my husband's maternal line, I learned that he is descended from the Huguenot De Veaux line that -- due to severe persecution and a 1572 massacre by the Charles IX -- fled France first to Mannheim, Germany, then to New York in the mid 1600s. With the help of my husband's family's copy of Genealogy of the DeVeaux Family by Thos. F. Devoe (published 1885; out of print, but available electronically on www.genealogylibrary.com ), I have incorporated the genealogical data into our Devoe family tree file and uploaded it as a GEDCOM to Rootsweb's WorldConnect Web site.
Thos. F. DeVoe's work is not well-sourced, unfortunately, so we do not know upon what documents he relied for his claims. I have heard that errors in Thos. F. DeVoe's work have been found; I have started slowly adding documented changes that other researchers have made available. Ultimately, I'd like to see this online GEDCOM version incorporate corrections and additions to the Devoe/De Veaux/Devaux (etc.) family tree, and to bring the information initially documented by Thos. F. Devoe to the present day. If you'd like to add your sourced information to this effort, please feel free to contact me or use RootsWeb's "post-em" feature. There is also a DEVOE Discussion List to which you may subscribe.
Additional Information Compiled about this Line
Much of the following was sent to me by Duane Devoe and Mary Diane:-
From early maps of New York:
- DEVOE PARK lies on former Devoe property and an earlier Valentine farm. Valentine's Brook is under the north border, now Father Zeisser Place. The 5 acre park was purchased by the City in 1907 and formally opened in 1910.
- DEVOE AVENUE . Old records show the Devoe family intermarried with another early family named Mapes . [Per Thos. F. Devoe (1885), David Mapes m. Margaret De Voo abt. 1760; Sarah Mapes m. Daniel De Voo abt. 1739.] From the 1780s onward the name was variously spelled DeVaux, DeVoo and DeVoe. James R. and Ann Eliza Devoe were listed as inhabitants of the village of West Farms in 1850 , and Smith DeVoe is mentioned in 1899 tranactions. Paralleling the Bronx River, this street once formed the extreme western edge of the Siwanoy tribal lands. In later centuries , it was the last lane in Westchester Township, the river being the boundary line.
- DEVOE TERRACE . The Devoe family included descendants of Daniel Turnier [Terneur, Tournier] who acquired the lower section of the Fordham Patent in 1676. In 1868, shortly before streets were laid out in this area, no less than four Devoe families were landowners, including the one who owned what is now Devoe Park Thia was taken from HISTORY IN ASPHALT: The origin of Bronx street and Place Names , from the Bronx County Historical Society, 1978.
- Mary Diane tells me that the New York City park system was designed by a DEVOE. Does anyone know which DEVOE? .
- Mary Diane also understands that the Thomas Paine House was originally a DEVOE home, and that it was forfeited to the state of NY during the Revolutionary War. Does anyone know which DEVOE family lived there? . Mary Diane says the owner went up to Nova Scotia. Does anyone have confirmation of this?
- Mary Diane says that you can find references to DEVOEs and related families in histories of the KNICKERBOCKERS of New York and environs.
Disconnected Devoes
The following is a list of various Devoes I learn about that I can't yet connect into the 1885 genealogy. Please contact me if you know how these folks fit in.- The obituary of David Devoe (b. 1822, Ohio) does not provide the names of his parents. However in the History of Greene Co. OH , Joseph DeVoe is illustrated. Taken from the article (paraphrased): "David Devoe was born on a farm in the vicinity of the village of Paintersville in 1822, son of Joseph DeVoe and Abby (Oglesbee) Devoe, who had settled there upon coming over here from Virginia in 1817. Joseph Devoe was born winchester, Virginia, a son of David Devoe , who was born in France and who had come to this country with his widowed mother when a lad, the family settling in Virginia." (Provided by Duane Devoe 25 Jan 2001.)
- Conrad Devoe/Deveaux (abt. 1736-1790) m. Sarah Stratton (abt. 1775-aft. 1793)
- David De Voe (De Voor / Du Four) b. abt. 1630 Mons, Hainault, France; d. 1699 Turtle Bay, NY; m1. Jeanne Frances / Frans ; m2. bef. 1655 (Belgium?) Mary Boulen , b. abt. 1630 Hainault, Belgium; d. abt. 1654 Sedan, France/Netherlands. (See Thos. F. Devoe 1885 Genealogy, pp. 18-19?) David DeVoe was in Manhattan, NY until 1657, in Harlem until 1677, then to Turtle Bay. One known son, Jean De Voor , b. 1655. [Source: Clifford Morse]
Other Huguenot Information
There are tons of resources available about the Huguenots. Just do a "google" on the word and you'll lose (?) weeks of time... I'm just going to start collecting some that I particularly enjoy. Just one for now...- LaRue & Allied Families compiled by Don Watson. I haven't seen any connection between the Deveaux and the LaRues, but they were both Huguenot families, fleeing France, living in Mannheim before emigrating to the new world around the same time. That their lines did NOT cross I find quite interesting. Be sure to read Don's compilation of the early history of the LaRue family . He includes a fair amount of narrative about life during the French Catholic persecution of the Huguenots. [Added 8 May 2003]