Summing up my Billiou Theory

There are a variety of birth and death dates available on family trees for the various members of the extended early Billiou family. Thomas' birth ranges from 1560 to 1600; his death from 1617 to 1625.
Aimie's birth ranges from 1573 to 1585. Abigail, Ann and their spouses range from about 1580 to 1605, although little is available on Nathaniel Walker. As for Jeacq, very little is offered, probably due to lack of research. Marriage dates are documented for the girls and their nephew, Pierre Billiou.

The following is my best guess on who fits where and when.

1) Thomas Billiou [c1570 England - aft 1624 prob. Leiden, Zuid Holland, The Netherlands]
m1. unknown -c1588 England

2) Abigail Billiou [c1600 England - aft 1669 Plymouth Colony]
       m. 22 Oct 1622 Leiden - John Dunham, widower [c1588 Eng. - 2 Mar 1668/9 Plymouth Colony]

2)  Ann Billiou [c1602 England - unk.]
     m. 28 May 1624 Leiden - Nathaniel Walker, widower

m2. c1604 possibly Leiden -  Aime _______ [c1573 Spanish Netherlands? - Jul 1621 Leiden]

2) Jeacq Billiou [c1605 prob. Leiden or Wicres]
    m.  c 1623 prob. Wicres - unknown [d. bef. May 1649]

3) Pierre Billiou [c1625 Artois - c Dec 1701 Staten Island, NY]
    m. 2 May 1649 Leiden - Francoise du Bois

Thomas Billiou was a witness at the marriages of Abigail Ballou and Anneken Bailliuw, so died sometime after Ann's 1624 marriage. Jeacq was identified as a widower at Pierre's marriage.

The rest of the Billiou story - maybe

The website I came across included a page on the Billiou/Billiau and Barlow family. It's focus was on Pierre Billiou's brother, Jean who settled in Germany. It mentioned Pierre and gave ancestry of bothThomas and Aimie!

Thomas [b. c1570] was the son of Thomas Billiou and father of Jeacq, who was also recorded as Jean.

Aimie was a BARLOW. Her birth name was Ann Aimie.

The Billious were from Wicres, Artois, Flanders. The Barlows had their roots in Prestbury, Cheshire, England.

Ann Aimie was born in Prestbury in 1573. Her parents were Henry and Margaret. The Barlow abcestry continues with  Henry, Humphrey, Alexander, Alexander, Nicholas, John/Jenkin, and Sir John Barlow of Barlow Hall, Cheshire, England.

It is not explained how Henry and Margaret found their way to Leiden for Thomas and Aimie to marry. Perhaps I just missed the idea that Thomas was also English and just settled in Wicres.

Why did the couple give their daughters more English sounding names and their son a decidedly French name?

Unfortunately, other than giving the LDS Family History Library and website some credit, the Billiou article lacks evidence.

Aimie died in Leiden in 1621, Thomas after 1622.

I checked Ancestry and searched other online trees. The Barlow lineage frequently appeared - sans documentation. A couple of trees gave Thomas as a probable English exile. Abigail's and Ann's marriage records give their place of birth as England. Abigail is recorded as Ballou and Ann as Anneken Bailliuw. Most trees show Thomas Billiou either born in or of Wicres. Some list his wife as Ann Aimie - given name and surname.

For the time being, I'm sticking with my theory. I just don't buy Aimie as an Englishwoman.

The Billiou family - an issue confused by lack of documentation

Also on the "new info" front is material on the family of Pierre Billiou. Pierre was a patentee of Staten Island and the father of Marie Billiou, who married Arent Jansen Prall in Kingston, NY in 1670. Louis du Bois gave permission for his niece's betrothal.

Research had it that Pierre was the son of Thomas Billiou and his wife Aimie. He was the brother of Abigail and Ann Billiou, who married John Dunham and Nathaniel Walker, respectively. The Dunhams and Walkers immigrated to New England. The problem was that Pierre was born after his sisters were married. Dunham was a Pilgrim, but sailed for Plymouth over a decade after the Mayflower.

A marriage record was eventually located for Pierre and Francoise du Bois naming Jeacq du Bois as Pierre's father.

I developed a theory that the Billiou family [appearing as Ballou and Barlow in various sources] might have been from England and joined other Pilgrim families who left England for the Netherlands.

The Pilgrims pretty stayed associated with their own. Thomas Billiou's daughters had decidedly English names of Abigail and Ann. His wife's name Aimie seemed very French in spelling.

Could Thomas have had a first wife who bore the two girls and died around the time the family left England? Then, after arriving in the Netherlands, remarried to a young woman of French Huguenot extraction?

That was my theory. The mother of Abigail and Ann died and Thomas married Aimie. Jeacq was the product of this marriage.

I had no proof that this scenario was reality, but it seemed possible. Then a few days ago, I came across a website that supported my theory!

[to be continued...]

A new look at the du Bois family

In one of my "let's see if there's anything new" searches, I decided to check out Chretien du Bois. Chretien was the father of my ancestor Francoise du Bois Billiou and New Paltz, NY founder Louis du Bois.

Chretien had been awarded noble lineage by several early researchers. This ancestry became a bit suspect over the years.

The Du Bois Family Association, of which I was a member for a few years, published new research findings in their June 2011 through February 2013 newsletters. Two French genealogists had been hired by the DBFA to reexamine the Lille Archives in France. Monte Horton wrote a four part article covering the results.

Chretien was the son of Antoine du Bois [c1570 - c1617] and Ann Cousin, His siblings were Jean, Ferry, Francois, Laurent and Isabeau.. Chretien married Francoise le Poivre.

Antoine was the son of Louis du Bois and Allenore le Michele.

The family resided in Wicres until about 1627, when Chretien moved a few miles to Herlies.

Chretien and Ann were the parents of twins Louis and Antoine [1622], Philippe [1625], Toussaint [1626], Anne [c1628], Francoise [1630-32] and Jacques [1633-35].

Louis married Catherine Blanchan. Francoise married Pierre Billou and were the in-laws of Arent Jansen Prall.

Ann Cousin's brother Jacques was the grandfather of Antoine Crispell, who was among the New Paltz patentees with Louis du Bois. .

Kansas [and Vermont]

Kansas became a state in 1861. Jacob and Amy [Smith] Crousore moved to McPherson Co., Kansas in 1873, joining their only surviving son, William. Amy had died there between 1875 and 1877. Jacob died about 1878.

I should probably add an honorable mention as ancestral colonies and states wraps up. Vermont joined the US as the 14th state in 1791.

After the Stock Market crashed in 1929, Charles and Bess McHugh packed up their four kids and joined Bess' sister Pansy Tierney and her family in Vermont. The families were in the logging business near Drummerston. Although the Tierneys stayed for 3-4 years, the McHughs only stayed about aa year befor retuning to Indianapolis.

Wisconsin

The McHugh brothers moved their families to Lafayette Co., WI just about the time Wisconsin was admitted to the union in 1848, possibly a year later. John and Daniel were masons with mining experience. Lafayette Co. was lead mining country. John and his sons, including James, also farmed.

John and Catherine Wagner arrived in Lafayette Co. by 1851. Catherine was widowed by 1855.

James McHugh married Louisa Wagner. James died in 1898. Louisa and most of the kids moved to Chicago.

Florida

Florida joined the union in 1845. After several summers of vacationing in Florida, my parents decided to retire there. They made the move in 1977, four years after I started teaching in the Sunshine State. The folks remained in Florida for the rest of their lives. I moved back to Indiana in 2008, after 34 years.

Missouri

In 1821 Missouri became a state. It was a border state, home to both Northern and Southern sympathizers. John Wagner brought his wife, Catherine Laubscher, and children to Madison Co. about 1845. They were joined by Catherine's brothers Louis and George Laubscher. John was probably a lead miner like the Laubschers. By 1850, John Wagner was probably souting land in Wisconsin. Catherine and their children were living with George. The Wagners moved to Wisconsin shortly thereafter. Louis and George would remain in Missouri through the end of the Civil War. Both fought for the Union and would return home to Pennsylvania by 1870.  

Illinois

Illinois joined the union in 1818. John and Daniel McHugh moved from Pennsylvania to Jo Daviess Co. in NW Illinois between 1845 and 1848. It was a brief stopover, they families moved across the state line into Wisconsin in 1849.

Louisa Wagner McHugh lost her husband James in 1898 and moved to Chicago with several of her children. Louisa died in 1906. Her son Charles married Bess Catherine Crail in 1910.

Dr. James Crail had moved to Chicago in 1908 to assume the position of federal meat inspector. He took the same position in Indianapolis in 1911, to be near his 78 year-old mother, Catherine O'Neil Crail. The McHughs also moved to Indy at that time.

Indiana

Indiana became the 19th state in 1816. The first family to arrive was that of John Faucett in 1824. He had purchased adjoining tracts of land in Marion and Hendricks counties. John brought the entire family from Ohio. The Faucetts left the farm for Indianapolis in 1883. The family of Isaac Clark arrived in the late 1830s.

The Crousore-Smith-Reeder-Reel migration hit Rush Co. during the late 1820s. From there, Madison and Delaware counties became home, as various members of the group dropped out and settled. The Crousores finally settled in Howard Co. about 1847. James Morris Simmons brought his family to Howard Co. about the same time.

Enoch and Willis Gulley were in Shelby Co. by 1828. Willis would move to Decatur Co. a few years later, then to Hendricks Co. Willis returned to Decatur Co. His daughter Lucinda married Martin Cawby Jr. They ended up calling Indianapolis home.

William Wolary joined several in-laws in moving to Grant Co., IN by 1854, but returned to Ohio after the death of his wife between 1860 and 1863.

About the same time, Martin Cawby settled in Johnson, Decatur, Hendricks and Marion counties.

Hugh MacDonald Prall and Margaret Jane Wolary moved to Grant Co. IN 1877. His son, William Marshall, after a few years in Cincinnati, would call Indianapolis.

The Crails were in and out of Indiana for decades. James Berry Crail Sr. resided in Harrison and Washington counties from about 1820 until the late 1830s, then moved to Shelby Co. From Shelby James went on to Brown and Bartholomew Counties. James Jr. would move to Ohio from southern Indiana. He was back in Indiana by 1843 and probably spent the rest of his life there. Sons Sylvester, John, Aaron and George remained in Indiana. Aaron's son James would call Marion, Hamilton, Miami and Tipton counties home until moving to Ontario, Canada to attend veterinary college in 1894. He would set up practice in Shelbyville, IN about 1897. From there, a federal position in Chicago from 1908 until 1911.

The Crails then  returned to Indianapolis, with McHughs in tow. James' daughter, Bess Catherine, had married Charles McHugh.

After 34 years in Florida, I returned to Indiana in 2008.

Ohio

And the Lord said, "Thou shalt leave the East and South and settled in the land called Ohio." Not to make light of the Bible, but it seems that stopping off in Ohio was a requirement. Granted, if you were coming from the Eastern seaboard, you had to skirt Ohio via the Ohio River or cross it to reach lands to the west. But it seems that every one of families lived there for an extended period of time.

Ohio was granted statehood in 1803. By that time several families called the territory home. In 1795, recently widowed Seth Hurin joined several of his children, including his son Othneil, on the trip down the Ohio to Cincinnati. They were accompanied by his in-laws, John and Anna [Lockwood] St. John, whose daughter, Bethia, had married Othneil Hurin.

John and Eve Faucett left Pennsylvania in late 1797. By the time they reached Cincinnati, a son [Joseph] had been born.

The Clarks and Millers would arrive around 1807-1810.

The 1820s saw an influx of families into Ohio. By 1820, the Crousore, Smiths, Reels and Reeders were in Clinton Co. Henty Woary and Elizabeth Rogers arrived in 1821. Their children would remain in Ohio off and on until the end of the century. Members of the highly mobile Simmons family spent from 1821 until 1847 in Ohio. The equally mobile Crails were in Ohio during the late 1820s and the 1830s.

Last, but not least, most of Isaac Rittenhouse Prall's children left York Co., PA for Ohio between 1865 and 1868. His youngest, Hugh, would leave for Grant Co., IN in 1877.

Tennessee

Tennessee became a state in 1796. Once again, the Gulley family is the lone clan to call Tennessee home. Enoch Gulley settled in Davidson Co. by 1811. He joined son Willis in Kentucky in 1815.

Kentucky settlers

Kentucky began as property of Virginia, eventually becoming a county of that dominion. Kentucky was granted statehood in 1792.

The first family to call Kentucky home were the Berrys. Enoch Berry moved there from Virginia shortly after the Revolutionary War. His daughter, Elizabeth Berry Crail died in KY during the 1840s.

Samuel Clark was in Kentucky not long before she was granted statehood. His son Isaac was born there in 1792. The Clarks were Ohio-bound by 1807.

Dr. Peter Trisler migrated to Kentucky from Maryland in 1791. His daughter Susanna would end up in Indiana with her son Martin Cawby Jr. during the late 1850s.

The Crails and Stewarts arrived in Kentucky about 1795. James B. Crail Sr. would leave about 1818.

John Cawby and his sons arrived about 1808. His grandson, Martin Jr. moved to Indiana during the late 1850s.

Willis  Gulley settled in Kentucky prior to the outbreak the War of 1812. His father, Enoch, arrived in 1815. Both moved north to Indiana in 1828.

#12: Georgia

Georgia was founded in 1732. Enoch Gulley left Virginia for Georgia in 1802. He settled in Elbert Co., which bordered Pendleton Co., SC, where his brother Thomas had settled. It was, maybe, an eight year stay. Enoch had relocated to Tennessee by 1811.

There we have it. My ancestors managed to settle in 11 of the 13 original colonies. South Carolina and New Hampshire were the only two missed. At least one family lived in part of Massachusetts that eventually became part of New Hampshire. Thomas Land's brother-in-law, Thomas Sumter, became a noted figure in South Carolina as a partisan leader and general in the Continental Army.

If I had to rank number of families in each colony [or state], I would guess Massachusetts/Plymouth would head the list  New York/New Amsterdam, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey would probably rank in the top five. Pennsylvania and Virginia would rank 6 and 7, followed by Maryland. North Carolina, Delaware and Georgia would bring up the rear.

Next up, eight states/territories where my direct-line ancestors made their homes.

#11: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania was founded in 1682. Named for William Penn the Elder, it was settled by the younger William Penn. The colony was a haven for Quakers and others seeking religious freedom.

A Mennonite paper maker named Wilhelm Rittenhouse arrived in Philadelphia in 1688 and settled at Germantown, where he established the first paper mill in British America.

The Evans and Pugh families immigrated from Wales in 1698 to join the Gwynedd Quaker settlement in the colony, as did the Rogers family.

The Simmons family would call Pennsylvania home on several occasions. They took refuge there briefly during the Revolution and again in the early 1790s. John Jr. would reside near Canonsburg during the late 1810s and from about 1821 until 1833.

The Schultz and Rinker families arrived from Switzerland during the 1740s and called the Philadelphia area home until leaving for Virginia.

Nicholas Crousore arrived from Germany about 1732 and made his was to western Pennsylvania. Some of his children would leave for Ohio by 1820.

The Crails, Stewarts and Berrys migrated to Pennsylvania briefly before settling in Kentucky during the 1790s.

The Prall family lived in York Co. from 1830 until the late 1860s.

John and Daniel McHugh arrived in Pennsylvania during the mid-1830s and worked in the coal mine before moving on to Illinois and Wisconsin.

John Wagner married Catherine Laubscher in Philadelphia in 1841. Both were natives of Baden. John and Catherine would join two of Catherine's brothers in going to Missouri. Catherine would die in Wisconsin, but her brothers returned home to Pennsyvania during the 1870s.

John Faucett, of Virginia, called Fayette Co. home from at least the 1770s until 1797, when he headed down the Ohio River to settle in the Ohio Territory.

Other families, like the Clarksm Millers, Hostetlers, Howells, Lakins and Thomases would call Pennsylvania home before moving west.

#10: New Jersey

New Jersey was founded in 1664, then split into East and West Jersey in 1676 until 1702. The colony was an early haven for Quaker families like the Hardings [1677] and Ballingers [1678]. Later on families migrated from New York. Timothy Baker arrived by 1703. William Rittenhouse arrived in 1719. Peter, Aaron and Cornelius Prall arrived about 1724 to settle on land purchased by their father a few years earlier. The Mahurins came in 1731. The Hazens in 1740 and James Whittaker joined his son-in-law Aaron Prall in 1745.

The Quakers would move on to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley in a few years. The Pralls remained in West Jersey until 1820, then moved on to Maryland and Pennsylvania before heading to Ohio. The Mahurin family would move on to Ohio in 1794/5.

#9: North Carolina

North Carolina was founded in 1663. It was not until 1789 that the family made an appearance in the newly christened state of North Carolina. Johannes Gaba settled in Lincoln Co., part of the Catawba River Valley. His name would appear in dozens of variations in the records, Cabi, Caba, Gabi, for example. Finally, Johannes Cabi was anglicized to John Cawby. Seven children accompanied John from Maryland. The Cawbys remained in Lincoln Co. until 1808, when John and two of his sons packed up and headed for Kentucky.

My mother's cousin, James Tierney moved to Winston-Salem, NC  during the late 1940s or early 1950s. James retired and had moved to Pinellas Co., FL by 1970. After James died in 1976, his widow, mother and daughter returned to Winston-Salem.

#8: Delaware

Delaware became an English colony in 1638. Levin Hubbard moved to Delaware from neighboring Maryland about 1818. His stay was brief. As early as 1823 and as late as 1825, Hubbard had moved on to Ohio. The time in Delaware was long enough for great-great-grandmother to have been born there in 1819. The Hubbards were the only family to claim Delaware as home.

#7: Connecticut

Connecticut was founded in 1636, like Rhode Island, many of her earliest families had previously settled in Plymouth or Massachusetts Bay.

The Olmsteads and Wakemans would be among the first and become founders of Hartford. The Benedicts, St. Johns, Lockwoods and Scofields would arrive during the early to mid-1640s. The Webbs arrived in 1651. The Keeneys and Turner joined the fray during the 1670s. The Hazens and Nortons were in Connecticut by about 1710.

The call of open lands in the Ohio Valley would draw the last of the families west during the 1790s.

#6: Rhode Island

Providence Plantation was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams after he was forced to flee Massachusetts Bay over religious philosophy. Other communities would follow and eventually form the colony of Rhode Island. Arnold, Greene, Gorton, Holden, Remington, Wall, Pearce, Goddard, Waterman, Allen, Colllins, Rhodes and others would follow Williams and other religious dissenters to the colony.

With the death of Zachariah Rhodes' parents and his move to Baltimore about 1809, roughly 170 years of Rhode Island heritage came to an end.

#5:New Netherland / New York - darn, out of sequence again!

The Dutch colonized New Netherland in 1626. The colony was taken over by the English in 1664, briefly fell into Dutch hands again in the early 1670s, before permanently becoming New York.

Ancestral families called Staten Island, New York City and towns Hudson River Valley home. They were primarily Dutch, but some came from Denmark, Flanders, Germany and England.

 Blom, Garrison [1630s], Cregier, Bording, Lies, Dally, Obee, Titsoort, Swart [1640s], Prall, Christoffels [1650s] Billiou, DuBois, Wakeman, Whittaker [1660s] were all established families throughout the 17th century.

John Simmons arrived from England in the mid-1750s.

Other families arrived throughout the 1700s from other colonies/states. St. Johns and Lockwoods [1740s]. Mahurin [1780s].

The Jennisons of Massachusetts settled in what would become Onandago Co. by 1812. The Simmons family had settled there in 1794, but left by 1814, bound for Pennsylvania.

The Mahurins and St. Johns left for the Ohio Territory in the mid-1790s. Many of the earliest families had intermarried  with one another and by the 1720s called New Jersey home.

#4: Maryland

Maryland was founded in 1633. It was a haven for Catholics, who were unwelcome in New England and Virginia.

It was not until the 1700s that my ancestors began calling Maryland home. The Cunninghams and Treadways arrived about that time, perhaps a generation earlier.

Maryland was a stopover for Quaker families like the Ballingers and Wrights during the 1720s.

Levin Hubbard was born in Maryland in 1769 and stayed there until relocating to Delaware between 1810-1817.

Zachariah and Perry Rhodes called the port city of Baltimore home from about 1810-1815.

My Pralls called Harford Co., MD home. Edward Prall had lived iin Harford from the early 1760s until his death in 1803. Brother Cornelius Jr. moved to Cecil Co., MD then to Harford Co. for the decade of the 1820s. Cornelius married his 2nd wife Bathia Cunningham Parter there in 1827 and son Isaac married Bathia's niece Ann Bethia Rhodes there in 1828. The families were in York Co., PA by 1830.

John Cawby called Maryland home during the 1760s, 1770s and 1780s before settling in North Carolina.

#3: Virginia -oops!

OK, chronology is out the window. Virginia was settled 13 years before Plymouth. Back in sequence tomorrow.

Virginia was settled with the Jamestown Colony in 1607. By 1619, indentured servants were being brought over from the British Isles and Africa.

Thomas Keeling arrived in 1628, as an indentured servant of Adam Thorowgood. He returned to England after his indenture, married Thorowgood's niece and returned to Virginia in 1634. It became common practice to serve an indenture, and then acquire 50 acres of land for each person that you had transported to Virginia.

Francis Land arrived in 1630. He married a Keeling. The Bonneys and Moore would arrive during the 1630s as well. Other families would come later - the Barlows  during the early 1700s and the Sumter and Gulley families about 1750.

Families like the Faucetts would serve as buffers between the Tidewater families of Virginia and the Indians of the Ohio Valley, before calling western Pennsylvania and the northern neck of Virginia home in the 1770s.

A Quaker migration during the late 1730s brought families named Rogers, Evans, Pugh, Ballinger and Wright to the Shenandoah Valley. They were joined by Swiss Lutherans like the Rinkers. German families, like the Ullery/Wolary clan would arrive by 1790.

The earlier families [Land, Gulley] would leave for Kentucky after the Revolutionary War and the Wolarys would head for Ohio during the early 1800s.