THE DUPUY FAMILY
Louis Moreri, a French historian of the 17th Century, said: "DuPuy is an old
house, prolific of illustrious men." Rev. Dupuy gives the direct line of the ances-
tors of Bartholemew Dupuy from Raphael Dupuy, Commander of the Roman Cavalry, and
Grand Chamberlin of the Roman Republic in 1033. His son, Hugo, joined the crusaders
in 1096 with three of his sons. Rev. Dupuy proceeds through seventeen generations
to Bartholemew.
I. COUNT BARTHOLEMEW DUPUY b. about 1652 in France. The province in which he
was born, Languedoc, was a stronghold of Protestantism. He enlisted in the
French Army as a common soldier when only eighteen and served for fourteen
years, during which time he was in fourteen pitched battles besides skir-
mishes and duels. He became a lieutenant in the King's Household Guards.
Dupuy received a written pass, bearing the King's signature and seal, as he
often had to go through the country on recruiting services. He bought a
fine old chateau at Velours. In 1685 he married Susannah Lavillon, a young
countess of the Huguenot faith. Although Dupuy was a priest and of the King.
He was urged to give up his faith by the King before the Edict of Nantes, but
refused. After this edict, when the Huguenots were fleeing from their homes
and were fighting for their lives, he used the King's pass to protect himself
and his wife while helping others to escape. The pass was due to expire
Dec. 1, 1685. He ordered a village tailor to make the clothing of a gentle-
man's page. His wife wore this costume as a disguise, while he wore his
uniorm and carried his famous sword and several pistols. They began their
escape on the night of Nov. 30. Suzanne had her jewels, her Bible and Psalm
book, and some bread and wine. They fled on horseback but were soon over-
taken by dragoons. Suzanne was shot full in the chest and Dupuy saw her fall
forward on the horse's mane. Enraged, he shot the leaders of the dragoons,
and, drawing his sword, lashed about him until the soldiers fled or were
killed. As he seized the bridle of his wife's horse, Suzanne rose erect.
The ball had struck the Psalm book which she carried in her bosom and she was
unhurt. They continued their flight for eighteen days and finally reached
German soil. The couple fell to their knees and quoted the fortieth Psalm
together. They remained in Germany for fourteen years and we know nothing
about their stay there. In 1700 they came to America with one of the fleets
of Huguenots, landed first at Jamestown, and proceeded to Manakintown. We
know that Bartholemew had 133 acres on the south side of the James River in
1717 and 208 acres in 1722. He was elected a Vestryman of the Church at
Manakintown in 1718 and a church warden in 1725. His name, and the names of
his children and grandchildren, appear many times in the Vestrybook. The
will of Bartholemew is in Rev. Dupuy's book. He left five pounds to his
oldest son, Peter, ten pounds to John James, and two to his grandson, John
Bartholemew. The will was made Mar. 1742 and proved May 17, 1742.
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II. PETER DUPUY b. in Germany. He is listed in the first "List of Tithable
Persons" in the Parish, 1710, when he was certainly aged sixteen years or
more. About 1722 he married Judith Lefevre. He died between Sept. 18,
1736, and May 17, 1743.
III. JOHN BARTHOLEMEW DUPUY b. Jan. 1723, in King William Parish, Va. He married
Esther Guerrant. I do not have the date of his marriage or death.
IV. JOHN DUPUY Captain of Infantry in the same regiment with his two younger
brothers during the Revolution. He served under Captain Nathaniel Cunningham
whose Company joined joined General Nathaniel Greene at Irwin's Ferry and took
part in the Battle at Guilford's Courthouse. They later fought at the siege of
Yorktown. John Dupuy lived near the old Welsh Track Meeting House, and was
active in Prince Edward affairs. He married Mary (Polly) Watkins. They were
buried near the site of their residence in the family burying ground. His will
was probated Oct. 15, 1832.
V. HENRY GUERRANT DUPUY b. Apr. 12, 1788, in Prince Edward Co., m. Sarah Taylor
Dec. 7, 1809. They lived near Walker's Church, Prince Edward Co., Va. He
died Mar. 23, 1815, at the age of 27. They had two daughters, Mary Eliza-
beth, and Frances Eliza who married Clayton Gilliam and moved to Cadiz, Ken-
tucky.
VI. MARY ELIZABETH DUPUY b. Dec. 17, 1810. I would know only the dates about my
great-grandmother except that my sister, Frances Fesler, has a worn old note-
book, 1827, written by M. E. Dupuy. This seventeen-year-old girl gave the
sermons of various ministers almost verbatim. The first is the sermon of
James W. Douglas at Welsh Tract, Aug. 1, 1828. At the bottom of the page
she says "A child cried, and he said "I wish the old people would cry instead
of the children." Some person got very angry, and threatened to whip Mr.
Douglas (the minister) for asking his wife to take her child out, but talk
was all he did! Some people talk a great deal, and do so little. So it was
with him." After a series of sermons she copied models and rules for proper
letter writing. Sample: "Mrs. P. presents her compliments to Mrs. F. and
the young ladies. She hopes they reached home in safety, and are now recovered
from the fatigues of the party, which was indebted for its brilliance chiefly
to their charms, their grace, and their talents." The "Rules for Epistolary
Composition" were equally fascinating. She copied poems and songs and ended
with "How and Where I spent my time in 1830". She seems to have spent her
time going from one church to another and quoted the texts of the sermons.
On her birthday in 1831, when she was twenty-one, she wrote: "How can I
laugh, when all things are serious? God is serious, who exerciseth patience
toward me. How then can I be gay?" She asks that God will "govern her
affections, and not let them be placed on any earthly creature unless it be
for His glory." On New Year's day she asks that God will "keep her from
being so blunt" and from "talking so much nonsense." Again she asks that
she may not "look about in church so much." Mary Elizabeth evidently did
not find the perfect man until she was twenty-eight years old as she married
Spencer Gilliam Aug. 21, 1839. She died Oct. 29, 1879.
Issue:
1. Virginia Frances b. July 10, 1840, d. Apr. 12, 1871, m. Feb. 14, 1860,
Francis H. Thornton. (Their son, Lacy, b. Dec. 13, 1866, was adopted
by our grandparents after his mother's death. He married Flora E.
Meadows.)
2. Evelyn Dupuy b. Sept. 15, 1842, d. Feb. 3, 1870 m. June 13, 1866,
Fernando C. Ford.
3. Henry Evander b. Apr. 16, 1845, d. Dec. 21, 1900 m. Alice Sears. (Cousin
Harry E. Gilliam of Lynchburg is their son. According to Rev. Dupuy he
was born Aug. 3, 1871.)
4. Columbia Ann b. Oct. 6, 1847, m. Feb. 19, 1871, Samuel D. Sears.
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