FIRST GENERATION IN AMERICA
James Fontaine I, the illustrious
‘fighting chaplain’ and his brave and beautiful wife, Anne Elizabeth Boursiquot
had four sons and, one daughter to come to America in search of better opportunities.
The numbers Ia, Lb etc., will so Indicate.
Ia- John 1 Fontaine arrived in Virginia in May 1715 and
was warmly welcomed by his Majesty's lieutenant governor and Commander-in-chief of the
royal colony, Governor Spotswood. He was invited by the governor to accompany him on his
expedition to claim the western lands for the King of England. A journal kept by John is
the only known and re liable history of the journey. At the conclusion of the trip,
Governor Spotswood. presented John and each of his fellow travelers a small commemorative
golden horseshoe. This earned them the title of Knights of the Golden Horseshoe.
Having had ample opportunity to select a suitable tract of land, John purchased an acreage
in King William County We immediately sent word to the family in Ireland, who had been
waiting patiently for such news. John, though, did not remain in Virginia, he went to
England where he married Madame Sabatiere and where later he died. Issue:
i Ann 2 b. 17292
ii James b. 1733
iii John2 b. 1734
iv David2 b. 1739
v Mary 2
vi William2
vii Daniel
viii Moses 2 Twins
lb-Mary Ann 1 Fontaine married in Dublin, Ireland on 20 Oct.1716 - Matthew Maury 5, son
of Abraham & Marie (Fourquereau) Maury, devout Huguenots, who had fled their home,
Castle Neuron in Gascony after the Revocation of the Edit of 6 Nantes.
John’s letter expounding the wonders of Virginia caused Matthew and Mary to decide to
make it their home. Since Mary was expecting their first child and. Matthew was impatient
to learn more about their intended home, he went alone to Virginia. He was so delighted
with the reception he received, he purchased from John, a tract of land. on the north side
of Pamunkey in King William County. After hiring carpenters to build a. house, he hurried
home to Mary, only to find his son had arrived before him. In the fall of 1718, the three
came to Virginia to their new home, which they called "Fontainebleau".
Matthew and Mary had the following children;
1.i James2 b. 8 April 1717-1718 in Dublin, Ireland.
2.ii Mary2 b. 1728
iii Col. Abram2 b. 1731, m. Susanna Poindexter and left many descendants
Mary’s granddaughter, Miss Ann Maury visited the ancestral home in Ireland and had
copies made of the lovely paintings hanging there of Jean Fontaine b. 1500; of Jacques
Fontaine III and his wife, Marie Chaillon; of John and Moses Fontaine; of Elizabeth
Fontaine and her husband. Daniel Torrin and. of her grandmother, Mary Anne. These she made
available to the relatives in Virginia.
Ic-Reverend. James Fontaine II accompanied by his wife and children arrived in October
1717 at Yorktown.
VA They settled on some land purchased from John and became farmers. On the adjoining
farm, lived his sister, Nary Anne and her family.They were always among those who attended
the annual Thanksgiving held by the Fontaine's in commemoration of their ancestors
deliverance from the religious persecution in France. Had issue. 13
2 i Elizabeth
ii Lucretia
iii James m; Ann. Fontaine
iv Jane
v John
vi Asa m; Thomas Owen
Id—Rev. Francis Fontaine married Nary Glanisson in London in 1719. Virginia. 15
They Shortly afterward they left forsettled at Manakintowne. on the south side of the
James River in King William Parish, which was within the bounds of Henrico Parish. The
reason for a perish within a. parish, "was to release the refugees settling there
from paying parish levies and thus enable them to support their own ministers 16 It was
here that Rev. Francis served as rector from 1722 to 1724, following his brother, Rev.
Peter. His parish was 4 miles wide and 20 miles long, with two churches, 200 families and
one glebe (a plot of cultivated ground belonging to a parish church.) His salary was 150
pounds, arising from the sale of 20 thousand weight sweet-scented tobacco. Not only was he
a faithful minister, but he also instructed the children and servants.
His second marriage to Susanna Brush of Williamsburg 1 819 was an unfortunate one and he
was rather hurt by it.In 1725 he became rector of York-Hampton Parish, where he served
five years, He then accepted a Professorship of Oriental Languages at William and Mary
College at Williams-burg. His death was 1749 in York Co., VA
Issue:
i Francis2 b. 1721, a carpenter in New Berne, N. Car.
ii Mary 2 b, 1724 2
iii John 2 b.1726, a carpenter in New Berne, N. Car.
iv Thomas b. 1733
v James2 b. 1735, rector of Petsworth & Ware Parishes in Gloucester Co., VA
vi Judith2 b 1740? (F.D. & Eleanor Roosevelt were descendants of this line.)
le-Rey. Peter1 Fontaine was the estimable ancestor of the Missouri and Oregon
Fontaines-Fountain's Although born in England, Peter spent his youth in Ireland. It was
there he graduated from law school when only 20 years old,. However, the ministry in which
so many of his re-latives and ancestors had served, beckoned him and he was ordained in
London in 1715.
In the meantime, Capt. Boulay, an 80 yr. old gentle-man who was a half-pay cavalry officer
and only a slight acquaintance, called upon James in Nov. 1713 to offer his 24
granddaughter, Elizabeth Fourreau (Founneau 24), age 13, in marriage to one of his sons.
She was the Captain’s only heir as her father and mother were both dead. He said he
was so impressed with James sons, having heard that they were well brought up, that they
conducted themselves with propriety on every occasion, and were free of the vices and.
follies of the age, that he thought that one of them would make a wonderful husband for
his granddaughter.
James thanked him for his praise and asked that she be Bent to them as a boarder. The
sons could then de-cide which liked her best and which she preferred. This was done and
she proved to be of a sweet disposition, amiable temper with fair natural talents but an
extremely neglected education. The sons consulted with each other about their feelings on
the subject of the proposed marriage and Peter by the advice of his brothers, decided upon
it.25 They were married 29 March 1714 with great privacy as Peter had not yet taken his
degree of Bachelor of Arts. When Capt. Boulay died in March 1715, Peter and Elizabeth
became the owners of L1,000. 26 In 1716 they sailed for Virginia, arriving at Hamp-ton
about 11 Dec. 1716. John met them on the 14th and they went with him to Williamsburg,
where they took up lodging. In a few days Peter and John went to view the parishes and the
plantations, returning to Williamsburg on the 29th.
In Feb. 1717 upon receiving a presentation to the Weynoke Parish, Peter began his ministry
in his new homeland. This followed by pastorates in Wallingford, Weynoke, Martins, Brandon
and Jarmestown. In 1720 he became minister to the three churchs in Westover parish. Here
he remained until his death in 17576 The length of this parish was 30 miles, the number of
families - 233, of communicants - 75. There were two glebes in the parish, neither of
which had houses on them and rented for 30 shillings Rev Peter lived in his own house and
on his own farm, located in Westover Parish (now Charles City Co.,) about two miles to the
northward of James River, about midway between Weynoake and. 3 wineyards. His annual
salary besides perquisites, was from 50 to 60 pounds. Besides his clerical duties, Rev.
Peter took part in civic affairs. He accompanied Col. Byrd on that most laborious and
dangerous expedition for the purpose of running the dividing line between Virginia and
North Carolina. Col. Byrd evidently held him in the highest esteem, as doubtless did all
his pariahioner
Rev. Peter was administrator of the estate of Thos. Cary, dec,d.; appearing in the Feb.
Court in 1737 in Charles City Co., vs. John Joel Deft.
Still more involvement in Court affairs - Peter Fontaine, clerk, vs; Richard and
Benjamin Cooke, Exors. of the will of James Johnson, dec’d., in April 1747. In Sept.
1748, Rev. Peter appeared in Court and acknowledged a deed to his son, Peter Fontaine and
likewise one to his grandson, Peter Winston, which were recorded.Each year this Fontaine
family met and had a Thanksgiv-ing feast in commemoration of their escape from religious
persecution in France and from the French privateers in north-ern Ireland. It was at one
of these meetings that Rev. Peter delivered the address, using for his text a verse from
Romans, "That ye may with one mind and with one mouth glorify God, even the father of
our Lord Jesus Christ." After a general consideration of the duty imposed by the
text, he applied it to their case. He told them that their parent was forced by his
enemies to hide in the woods and on the deserts for several months. Upon realizing that
they would give him no peace and that they would continue their search for him, he gave
himself up to them. Immediately they cast him into a stinking, dark dungeon among
murderers.
However, a good, kind and generous woman whom they should always remember, even down to
the youngest in the family, had him removed from the miserable prison and although, he was
confined in another, he found. the imprisonment far more bearable.
At the close of the sermon, he admonished them "to teach them to your children that
they may be qualified to perpetuate them to infinite generations."The parent he
referred to was his father, James and the woman was Mademoiselle de la Burgerie,
afterwards the wife of Colonel de Boisron, who because she was well acquainted with the
President, "represented to him in the strongest language, the infamy of his
proceedings, and gave him no peace until he signed an order for James’ removal from
the dungeon and give it to here" So James was removed from the dark, miserable and
stinking dungeon in the Tower of Pens on the same day he was placed there and moved to a
more comfortable one.
Reverend Peter's sister, Mary Ann who married Matthew Maury in Ireland and came to
America to live, described Rev. Peter’s wives in one of her letters to a relative in
England. She said that Peter's first wife, Lizzie, was one of the most beautiful women she
ever saw and that she possessed all the attributes of a "good Christian wife and
mother." Also that she never allowed her children to do the least thing that even
appeared to be evil.
As for his last wife, Mary Ann said that she was also a lovely and mild-tempered woman;
that she, Mary and Peter, Jr., were very fond of each other and that she seemed to care
for them as though they were her very own. Also that she and Peter had two children of
their own - a boy named Thomas and a girl. She did hope that God would spare her
brother’s lire in order that he could raise them as he had the other two who were
such well-disciplined and intelligent children and a blessing to their parents and
relatives. (Certainly the boy named was Moses; could be that his other name was Thomas.)
The following are some items from two letters written by Rev. Peter to his brothers in
England and give an insight to the ideas prevailing in Virginia and to the character of
the writer, himself:-Reverend Peter believed that intermarriage with the Indians would be
a way of civilizing them. However, "the wise politicians" put a stop to such a
consideration for when they heard that Rolfe had married Pocahontas, they deliberated long
in Council, trying to decide whether or not he had committed an act of high treason by
marrying an Indian princess.Some troubles put a stop to the inquiry or Rolfe might have
been hung for doing what Rev. Peter thought was tithe most just, the most natural, the
most generous and polite action ever done by any man in the colonies in the new country.
How-ever, there were no more intermarriages with the Indians. The second letter dealt with
the subject of preserving one's health. Besides advocating plenty of exorcise by walking
and riding, energetically, and being particularly careful of one's health, thus
out-witting the doctors, Rev. Peter stated that he drank no strong liquors or beers just a
glass of "good old Nadeira wine" when he was overly tired from serv-ing his
parishioners or church or when working in the other branches of duty, as it revived him
and prevented him from becoming too fatigued
So, although Rev. Peter was living amongst opulent and voluptuous gentlemen on James
River," he did not drink excessively either wine or other spiritual liquors, not even
beer, before or during a meal while dining at their homes. Reverend Peter and Elizabeth
Fourreau had the following children:
3 i Mary Anne2 b. 1718
4 ii Peter, Jr.2 b. 1720
Upon the death of Elizabeth, Rev. Peter married 2nd -Elizabeth Wade and had issue:
5 iii Moses 2 b. 1742
iv Sarah2 b. 1744, remained single 2
v Elizabeth b. 1747, m. William Mills had issue?
i William Fontaine3
3 ii Aaron
iii Francis 3
iv Sarah 3 m,Oakley
6 vi Joseph2 b. 1748
7 vii Aaron 2 b; 30 Nov. 1753
viii Abraham2 b. 9 April 1756, m, Sarah Ballard Rev. Peter died in Charles
City Co., VA in July 1757
and was buried in the cemetery at Westover Church 38
Extracts which are available from his will are
"In the name of God, Amen. I, Peter Fontaine of the County of Charles City, Parish
of Westover, being infirm in body but of sound mind and memory, knowing it is ordained for
all men once to die, so make and ordain this my last will andtestament.First, I commend my
immortal soul into the hands of my Creator, to be disposed of according to the
determination of his unerring wisdom, humbly hoping through the merits of my only
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, that it will obtain favor in his sight, and the pardon of
all my known transgressions. As to my body, I commit it to the earth, whence it was taken;
there to be purged of all rags of corruption through the blood of my merciful Reedemer,
firm-ly believe it will be raised again to eternal life, summoned by the awful trump of
doom, and be joined to my soul and live with it forever.
My will and desire is that I may have no public funer-al but that my corpse may be
accompanied to the ground. by a few of my nearest neighbors, that no liquors be given to
make any of the company drunk; many instances of which I have seen to the great scandal of
the Christian religion, and abuse of so solemn an ordinance.I desire none of my fanily to
go in mourning for me."Sarah and Peter Fontaine were the executors. Proved by John
Sherman Gregory, Richard Riddlehurst, and Wm. Riddlehurst Codicil thereto annexed proved
also by John Sherman Gregory and Richard Riddlehurst. Securities John Sherman and. John
Wayles. Bond L400. April 1757 After Rev. Peter’s death and burial, Elizabeth and her
youngest son, Abraham made their home with her daughter, Elizabeth who had married William
Mills Aaron went to live with his half-sister, Mary Ann and her husband, Isaac Winston.
Sarah who remained single and Joseph lived with Peter, Jr., until 1763. Then Peter,
Jr., bound Josephover to a cabinet maker in Henrico county.this differs with the Tenrico
Co., records in that they stated that Jo-seph bound himself over to the Cabinet maker The
first statement is the nore likely of the two, as Joseph was only 15 years old then.
"A mark is a bundle of his Ancestors" Ralph Waldo Emerson
