THE LINES OF THE DUPUY MARRIAGES IN
GRANDMOTHER'S FAMILY
I. LAVILLON (Susanne Lavillon married Bartholomew Dupuy)
Susanne was a young countess of noble standing and of the Huguenot faith.
We know little more about her, except that she was attributed many virtues
and great beauty by the author of the The Huguenot's Sword which described
the flight of Susanne and her husband. It was originally published in
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, April 1857, and written by John Esten Cooke.
Rev. Dupuy thought that her name was originally Levillian, as one of the
first settlers at Manakintown bore that name, but the first spelling has
been preserved in the Dupuy family. She died at Manakintown some time after
October 1731. The material that I have gathered came from the Dupuy book,
The Magazine of the Society of the Huguenots of Manakin, and Harper's Colo-
nial Men and Times. There is sometimes a difference in the records, but I
have tried to be as accurate as possible.
II. LEFEVRE (Peter Dupuy m. Judith LeFevere)
1. ISAAC LEFEVRE was born in France in 1667. His brothers were Jacques,
Hypolite, and Jean, who was among the first settlers on the Delaware
River. Isaac came to Manakin in the summer of 1699 in the PETER AND
ANTHONY with his wife, Magdalene ---. Isaac LeFevre became an Instruc-
tor in Philosophy and Mathematics at William and Mary College in 1712.
I do not know when he died but the will of his wife April 19, 1720,
refers to her as a widow. The Dupuy book says that she died on a Sunday
in 1724.
Issue: 1) Abraham, who m. Catherine --, 2) Elizabeth m. James Brian,
3) Magdalene, 4) Judith.
2. JUDITH LEFEVRE, b. at Manakin, m. Peter Dupuy about 1722.
III. GUERRANT (Esther Guerrant m. John Bartholomew Dupuy)
1. DANIEL GUERRANT, b. in St. Nazaire in Saintogne, France Jan. 5, 1663. He and
his wife Marie settled at Manakin in 1699. Their son, Peter, was with
them, but I am not sure whether the other children were born in France
or Virginia.
Issue: Peter, Jan, Daniel, Jane.
2. PETER GUERRANT, b. in France, came to America with his parents, and
married Magdalene Trabue in 1732. Peter Guerrant was a major in the
Colonial Wars. His will was proved in Cumberland Co., Va., June 25,
1750.
3. ESTHER GUERRANT, b. Dec. 2, 1735, in Manakin. (One source gave Oct. 2,
1735.) She married John Bartholomew Dupuy.
Issue: 1. Magdalene, m. Thomas Watkins
2. John, m. Mary Watkins
3. James m. Mary Purnell
4. Peter, m. Margaret Martin
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TRABUE
According to a charming book, Harper's Colonial Men and Times, the
name Trabue was originally spelled Straboo. William Byrd III, who
was of great assistance to the Huguenots in Virginia, spelled
the name Trabue in his records and it has remained that ever since.
The line is traced to Straboo, a Greek geographer before Christ.
A. Anthony Trabue (Sieur Antoine Straboo) was born in Montauban on the
Tarn in old Guyenne, France, in 1667. His Huguenot parents were
anxious to get him out of France, rather than have him deny his
religion. He left the family estate when only nineteen. He and
another young man loaded a cart with wine and proceeded to sell
it to the guards, advancing still farther in their disguise as wine
merchants, and were finally able to get to Lausanne, Switzerland.
Anthony was there for awhile and later went to Holland. He carried
with him a sheepskin parchment which was signed by five French
pastors. It read "Antoine Trabue, a native of Montauban, aged about
19, of good size, fine carriage, dark complexion, having a scar
under his left eye, has always professed the reformed Religion, in
which his parents raised him, and has never committed any offense
that has come to our knowledge, other than what the violence of the
late horrible persecutions justified, which persecutions God has had
the kindness to stop, and for which he has given us reparation. We
commend him to the care of the Divine Providence, and to a cordial
reception from our Brethren. Lausanne, 15th. Sept. A.D. 1687." I
understand that this parchment, marked with bloodstains and holes,
is in the possession of his descendants. Anthony came to Virginia
on the PETER AND ANTHONY in 1700. He married Magdalene Flournoy.
They had 522 acres on the great fork of Swift Creek March 1717 and
173 acres on the South Side James River in 1715. He was a Church
Warden of King William Parish for many years. "January, 1723/24
died the Sieur Anthony Trabue, aged about 56 or 57. Buried the 30th
of the same."
Issue: Anthony, Jacob, John James, Judith, and Magdalene.
B. MAGDALENE TRABUE m. Peter Guerrant in 1732.
FLOURNOY (Magdalene Flournoy m. Anthony Trabue)
The Flournoy family were of the French nobility. The ancestry in
France is given in several books. Jean Jacques and Jacob Flournoy,
who were the sons of Jacques Flournoy, b. 1608, and Judith Pucary,
came to Manakin together. Jean Jacques married Elizabeth ---.
Three of his sons and a daughter settled in Prince Edward County.
a. JACOB FLOURNOY was born Jan. 5, 1663, in France but escaped
with his family to Switzerland. He married three times:
1) Gabrielle Mellin of Lyons, 2) --- of Virginia, 3) Madeline
Verrieul widow of Moise Verrieul of Rouen.
b. MAGDALENE FLOURNOY, daughter of Jacob Flournoy and his third
wife, married Anthony Trabue. She died in November 1731.
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IV. WATKINS (Mary (Polly) Watkins m. Capt. John Dupuy)
Story follows:
IV. TAYLOR
This name, which is the last major one to appear on my chart, was the last
to be found. We knew that Sarah married Henry Dec. 7, 1809, and that her
father, John, was deceased when she was born. This marriage is on record
at the Prince Edward County Court House. Her birth date was found in the
Gilliam Bible which is owned by Lucius Dillon, Jr., but there were too
many John Taylors in Virginia for me to come to any conclusions about her
father, until Mrs. Morton in Farmville showed me copies of the wills of
James and John Taylor in Cumberland. (Part of this county became Prince
Edward.)
1. JOHN TAYLOR
A copy of the will of John Taylor In Cumberland County records
10/8/1758, provided 10/23/1758, mentions his wife, Avis, and refers
to son James Taylor, and grandson John Taylor.
2. JAMES TAYLOR
The will of James Taylor is also found in the Will Book, page 107,
dated in 1772. It refers to his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John
Hughes of Amelia County. It refers to his grandson, John, who was
not yet 21 in 1772.
3. JOHN TAYLOR, died before 1809.
4. SARAH TAYLOR, m. Dec. 7, 1809, in Prince Edward County to Henry
Guerran Dupuy. She died Nov. 18, 1848. Sarah was born June 18,
1787.
VI. GILLIAM (Spencer Gilliam m. Mary Elizabeth Dupuy) The Gilliams and their
connections are discussed in a separate article.
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