“From These Roots We Came”

Huguenot and Walloon Ancestors

Since each ancestral line of descent has not been fully completed, there is no way of knowing how many Huguenot and Walloon ancestors we may have. However, at this point in our family research, we know of at least four that have been certified by The National Huguenot Society as “Qualified Huguenot Ancestors” for purposes of joining their society. Two of these, Guillaume Vigne and Andreas Souplis are ancestors on the Ross side of the family and two others, Henri Marchand and Phillipe du Trieux are ancestors on the Long side of the family.

Guillaume Vigne (Ahnentafel 2266-Generation 12)

Probably, the earliest to arrive was Guillaume Vigne, sometime before 1614 since his son, Jean was born in New Amsterdam in 1614. He was born in Valenciennes, France between 1586 and 1594. It is believed he married his wife, Adrienne Cuvellier between 1610 and 1613 either in France or Belgium. It is likely that his flight to America was triggered by the relentless persecution of the Huguenots by Cardinal Richelieu which started after the murder of Henry IV in 1610. With his new wife, Guillaume made his way to New Amsterdam where he became a fur trader, facilitating trade between the Indians and the developing European market for furs and other New World products. After his premature death, his wife remarried and she and her husband became wealthy and prominent in New Amsterdam, owning much of the land in what is now Wall Street in New York City.

Ancestry through Guillaume Vigne

Guillaume Vigne
m. Adrienne Cuvellier
Rachel Vigne
m.Cornelis Van Tienhoven
Lucas Van Tienhoven
m. Tryntje Bording
Cornelia Van Tienhoven
m. John Haldron
Mary Haldron
m. Solomon Bunnell
Benjamin Bunnell
m. Catherine Barry
Esther Bunnell
m. Moses W. Kennedy
Esther Kennedy
m. James Ross
Robert Jennings Ross
m. Sarah Turner
James McClellan Ross
m. Esther Lou Owens
Elmer Melvin Ross
m. Mary Ruth Long

Phillipe du Trieux (Ahnentafel 3916-Generation 12)

Phillipe du Trieux, born in 1586 in Roubaix, Nord, France, likewise probably left France for Holland sometime after 1610. By 1614 he was serving as a dyer in Amsterdam where in 1615 he married his first wife Jacquemine Noiret. She died in 1620 leaving Phillipe with three small children. He married his second wife, Susanna du Chesne on the 20th of August of 1621. They had a son, Genome, who died in the fall of 1623. He, along with a group of other Walloons entered into a contract with the West India Company to relocate to America. He and Susanna sailed on the ship the “New Netherlands” leaving the 29th of March, 1624 from Holland to New Amsterdam. A more complete account is found in the vignette dealing with him and his neighbor Cornelius Van TienHoven, Guillaume Vigne’s son-in-law. Click Here to read that story.

Ancestry through Phillipe Du Trieux

Phillipe du Trieux
m. Susanna du Chene
Abraham du Trieux
m.Hester/Roselle?
Elizabeth Truax
m. James Stout
Penelope Stout
m. William. Merrill, Jr.
Benjamin Merrill
m. Jemima Smith
John Merrill
m. Mary Wiseman
Elizabeth Merrill
m. James Smith Liner, Sr.
James Smith Liner, Jr.
m. Lucinda Vail Ahl
Frances E. Liner
m. Zollicoffer Lewis
Nannie Grace Lewis
m. John Bertie Long
Mary Ruth Long
m. Elmer Melvin Ross

Andreas Souplis (Ahnentafel 1264 - Generation 11)

Andreas Souplis was born in 1634 in Alsace Lorraine, France. He left France in 1683 under the reign of Louis XIV and his large scale persecution of the Huguenots, going to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. This was just prior to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes which occurred in 1685. His children were born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in the 1680’s. He was naturalized in July of 1691 and became Sheriff of Germantown that same year. He was a weaver by trade.

Ancestry through Andreas Souplis

Andreas Souplis
m. Anneckie
Andrew Supplee
m. Anne Stockhouse
Hance Supplee
m. Magdalina De Haven
Magdalina Supplee
m. Thomas Smith Taylor
Ruth Ellen Taylor
m. George Chadwell
Martha Angelina Chadwell
m. William Turner
Sarah Angeline Turner
m. Robert Jennings Ross
James McClellan Ross
m. Esther Lou Owens
Elmer M. Ross
m. Mary Ruth Long

Henri Marchand (Ahnentafel 1964 - Generation 11)

The last of the Huguenots presently known in our ancestor was Henri Marchand, who died in France in 1685, the same year as the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Being less than 40 years of age at his death (born in Normandy, France on the 10th of October, 1672) it may be that he was one of those Huguenots killed in the aftermath of Louis XIV’s renewed persecution. It was his son, Henri Mershon, Jr. (notice spelling change), that was the immigrant. According to some accounts, Henri Marchand came to America with his son Henri, Jr. early in 1685, left him with Huguenot relatives in the New York area and returned to France to get the rest of his family which he had left behind. The 1685 destruction of the Huguenot Church and subsequent Huguenot persecution in Caen supports the hypothesis that he and his family were probably among the victims as he would have been there at that time.

Henri Marchand
m. Unknown
Henry Mershon, Jr.
m. Ann Houghton
Anna Mershon
m. Andrew Smith IV
Jemima Smith
m. Benjamin Merrill
John Merrill
m. Mary Catherine Wiseman
Elizabeth Merrill
m. James Smith Liner
James Smith Liner, Jr.
m. Lucinda Vail Ahl
Frances E. Liner
m. Zollicoffer Lewis
Nannie Grace Lewis
m. John Bertie Long
Mary Ruth Long
m. Elmer M. Ross

Mary Ruth Long Descends from two different Huguenot Ancestors through Benjamin Merrill

Descent through Henri Marchand

Henri Marchand
m. Unknown
Henry Mershon, Jr.
m. Ann Houghton
Anna Mershon
m. Andrew Smith IV
Jemima Smith
m. Benjamin Merrill (The Common Ancestor)
John Merrill
m. Mary Catherine Wiseman
Elizabeth Merrill
m. James Smith Liner
James Smith Liner, Jr.
m. Lucinda Vail Ahl
Frances E. Liner
m. Zollicoffer Lewis
Nannie Grace Lewis
m. John Bertie Long
Mary Ruth Long
m. Elmer M. Ross

Descent Through Phillipe Du Trieux

Phillipe Du Trieux
m. Susanna De Chesne
Abraham Du Trieux
m. Hester/Roselle
Elizabeth Truax
m. James Stout
Penelope Stout
m. William Merrill
Benjamin Merrill (Common Ancestor in Both Lines)
m. Jemima Smith
m. Mary Catherine Wiseman
Elizabeth Merrill
m. James Smith Liner
James Smith Liner, Jr.
m. Lucinda Vail Ahl
Frances E. Liner
m. Zollicoffer Lewis
Nannie Grace Lewis
m. John Bertie Long
Mary Ruth Long
m. Elmer M. Ross

© 2008 by E. Lamar Ross and Infopreneur Publishers, LLC.