Beeks line: Jean Demarest 1645-1719

I've long been fascinated with and challenged by the Demarest family.  I'm fascinated because they come from a culture far different than most of the family culture (not England, but France) and were contemporaries of men I learned about in school, like Peter Stuyvesant.  I'm challenged because the name has so many variants in spelling.  I use Demarest because the biography of his father that I have uses that spelling, but it can and has been spelled Desmarets, DeMarets, des Marest, de Mare, de Mereetz, de Maree, and probably others.  Even his first name, Jean, is sometimes seen as either Jan or John.  So there are difficulties.  Fortunately, there are also good books about the family, including the one I alluded to, "A Huguenot on the Hackensack" by David C. Major and John S. Major.  Much of the information in this post comes from that book.   

Jean was born in 1645 at Middleburg, Zeeland, in what is now The Netherlands to his parents, David and Marie Sohier Demarest  The Middleburg location was the first of several stops for the family, for their family home had been in Beauchamps, Chambrai, France.  Our family was Protestant and the religious wars of the time forced the family to flee to the Netherlands.  A few years later, they traveled to Mannheim, in what is now Germany, but this doesn't seem to have been due to religious pressures. There the family was part of a French-speaking Protestant church, so perhaps they went there to join other family members, to rejoin part of their original church congregation, or simply because of economic opportunities.  They were in Mannheim by about 1650 so Jean may have had very little memory of his early childhood at Middleburg.

Jean's parents, David and Marie, determined in about 1662 to travel to the New World, to what was then New Netherlands, and they arrived on the Bonte Koe in late spring or early summer of 1663.  It is likely that the ship first docked at New Amsterdam, which was then under control of the Dutch West India Company.  They had set sail from Picardie, France, with the couple's four surviving children, of whom Jean would have been the oldest at eighteen.  He was young enough to be a real asset to the family but not yet old enough to be thinking of beginning his own family, so for several years Jean worked within the family.  

They first lived on Staten Island with a group of other French speaking Huguenots, and about two years later went to New Harlem, which was on Manhattan Island several miles north of New Amsterdam.  This was frontier land,still populated by bears and wolves, but was thinly settled by Protestants of several nationalities.  By now this was no longer part of a Dutch colony, but had been seized by the British.  So by now Jean may have had a vocabulary comprised mainly of French, but also with Dutch, German, and English words.  He may have picked up a few native American words, too, as the family negotiated for a new tract of land near what became Hackensack, N.J.  In New Harlem, he was a constable and also a member of the Committee of Safety. 

It appears that the Demarests moved from New Harlem to New Jersey in 1678.  By now, Jean had been married for about 10 years to Jacomina DeRuine, daughter of Simon and Magdalena Van Derstraaten deRuine. They had their own farm in New Harlem and would soon have their own home in New Jersey, very near Jean's parents. (The area known as the French Patent, which the Demarests had purchased from the Indians, is actually not far as the crow flies from New Harlem, but traveling by boat added many miles to the distance.) He served as a lieutenant of the militia in Bergen County, New, Jersey, where he lived.  He owned land in the French Patent and later inherited the family farm from his father.  He also had land in New York, showing that Jean was both hard working and successful.

 Jean and Jacomina had at least eleven children together, and it has been speculated that she may have died in childbirth or as a result of it, on March 4, 1692.  If the dates are correct, Jean would marry again just 19 days later, to Marretje Vanwinckell, who would have been almost 40 at the time.  She died in 1702 and by December 20 of that year Jean was married again, to Magdalena Laurens.  He must have been attractive to women, to marry so quickly after the death of each of his first two wives.  (He was prosperous, he was a hard worker, he was a church leader, so what's not to like?)

Jean lived out his days in the French Patent, having acquired much land and having served as a leader in various capacities.  He helped found the early church that French Protestants attended.  He was involved in a military revolt against the government led by another French Huguenot, Jacob Leisler, but withdrew his participation and support in time to avoid repercussions. This revolt was both political and religious, and due partly to a bad governor of the time. It's hard to say which factor was most important to Jean. (Leisler was hanged and beheaded).  

Jean died October 16, 1719, likely at his farm on the Hackensack River. I haven't seen the will but it doubtless provided for his children.  Finding the will or and/inventory would be like winning the lottery!   However, we don't need the will or inventory to know that this man lead an eventful life, and was a leader in his community.

There are two lines of descent from the interesting Jean Demarest.  

One line is

Jean Demarest-Jacomina De Ruine

Maria Demarest-Jacobus Slot

Benjamin Slot-Sarah Demarest

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague or Tague

Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

The second line is Jean and Jacomina

Peter Demarest-Maretje Meet

Leah Demarest-Samuel Demarest (Samuel was a descendant of David and Marie Demarest, Jean's               parents)

Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot