Nicholas Dupui & Catharina (Renard) DeVos

Nicholas, the first of the Depew line to come to America, was born in France, probably in Paris in December 1625, six months after his father's death. He was the son of Nicolas. Family tradition says he and his brother Francois came from a Paris family of wealth and prominence, but had to flee the city as a result of their Protestant beliefs. He went to Artois and Francois to Calais in 1651. This was the time of the Huguenot persecutions when many Protestants fled to the Netherlands. Some moved on to the colonies where there were more opportunities. [25]

Nicholas married in 1655 Caterina Renard of New Amsterdam, whose relatives changed their name to DeVos and became ancestors of the DeVeaux family. They (set sail?) arrived in New Amsterdam with their three oldest children, including Moses, in October 1662 on the 'Purmerland Church' and took up residence in the city. [30]

They had eight children:

He swore allegiance to the King when the English took the city in 1664. The next year he was appointed beer and weigh house porter, a rather important position of the time.

They joined the Reformed Dutch Church until there were enough French in New York to form a French Protestant Church.

He lived or owned property at various times on Staten Island, New Utrecht, Bergen, NJ and in New York City. There is a 1671 grant from Phillip Carterett for property in New Jersey. Nicholas lived in an area known as DeMarkedect in the rear of the present Produce Exchange.

In 1673 he joined Captain Cornelius Steenwyck's Company of Militia.

In 1674 he was named on the list of New York's most wealthy citizens. He was clearly a business success. We find him in 1676 and occasionally during the next seven years at Kingston where he was granted a large tract of land and engaged in the fish packing business. The Hudson River probably afforded him the most profitable field for a good catch.

He provided a good education for his sons. There may have been a ninth child who died young. [17]

In 1686 he was living on Beaver Street in New York. He made a will on October 13, 1685 leaving his estate to is wife's management. Nicholas died in 1691 in New Amsterdam, his will was proved on July 14, 1691. Catharina died in 1705. She died intestate. [His will is in the New York Historical Society Abstracts, Vol. 1: 1892, p. 463]

Bibliography

• Bib. 9: Wantage Recorder, November 20, 1936
• Bib. 17: Schoonmaker, p. 19
• Bib. 24: Kingston History, p. 476
• Bib. 25: NY B&G, Vol. 32, p. 53, 77-80, 234
• Bib. 30: Genealogical History of the state of New Jersey, P. 55
• A: Register of Ancestors, Huguenot Society of New Jersey, 1975, p. 42. Copy in New Paltz Library