484. Capt. James BOISSEAU
Captain James Boisseau first appeared in the records of Prince George County, witnessing a sale of land from Joshua Pritchett to Henry Willson, on September 30, 1725. By this time he had probably affiliated himself with Bristol Parish, in Petersburg. Although Tyler's Quarterly states that he became a vestryman at Bristol Parish in 1722, he was probably too young to have reached that position in the church. The Parish register states that he became avestry man in 1747, so it appears that 1722 was the year that he joined the parish,but only as a member, and not one of the church elders.
Despite his affiliation with Bristol Parish, he continued to own lands in other parishes, especially Southwarke Parish in Surry County. On January 7, 1727, he purchased 56 1/2 acres in Southwarke Parish. The court document also listed his wife, Mary Rebecca Holt. She was the daughter of Reverend Joseph Holt, and the marriage probably took place sometime between 1724 and 1726. The couple began to have children in early 1730. Their children were:1. Lucy Boisseau, born February 4, 1730
2. Elizabeth Boisseau, born September 30, 1733
3. James Boisseau, born May 22, 1736
4. Sarah Boisseau, born March 3, 1738
5. Susanna Boisseau, born October 30, 1741
6. John Boisseau, born February 12, 1747
7. Benjamin Boisseau, born February 28, 1753
8. Molley Holt Boisseau, born September 25, 1756All of the children's birth dates came from the Bristol Parish register, except for their first child, Lucy, whose birth came form her tombstone at Blandford Cemetery. Because Lucy does not appear in that register, or in the neighboring Albemarle Parish register, where the births of Susanna Boisseau and David Jones' children appear, she was most likely born in Southwarke Parish.
By 1752, Captain James Boisseau had acquired some position of prominence not only in the Parish he served, but in the larger community. On April 25, 1752, he was appointed to the Commission for Peace, which was responsible for relations with the local native Americans. In 1757, he received a landgrant of 628 acres in Dinwiddie County from the Regal Government in the Colonies.
On November 22, 1768, Captain James Boisseau resigned from the vestry of Bristol Parish. He probably died within a few years, although the exact date of his death is unknown. His wife Mary survived him, and in 1772 gave one of her grandchildren, Molly Pettway, a slave, indicating that Captain James Boisseau was dead by then. Unfortunately, it is not known when Mary Rebecca Holt Boisseau died either.
Holmes DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau, the only son of Col. DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau and Caroline (La) Roche, was born on the island of St.Christopher's on May 17, 1740, and was educated, like his father, at the University of
Geneva, in Switzerland. By 1760, towards the end of his stay at the University, he had to return to St. hristopher's to be near his grandmother, Mathilde H. S. DeSaussure Boisseau, who was dying. While he was away in Switzerland, all of his sisters had married and moved away, and he found the sugar plantation his family had built had fallen into a state of disrepair. Eventually he decided to leave St. Christopher's for South Carolina, and there he married Judith Roberdeau, the daughter of General Daniel Roberdeau. On Good Friday, 1775, Judith gave birth to twin boys, Isaac and Joseph. A few days later, both Isaac Boisseau and his mother, Judith, fell ill, and both died, leaving an infant Joseph Holmes DeSaussure Boisseau, and a disconsolate father.
Within a few years, Holmes DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau married his second wife, Elizabeth Jordan, the daughter of John Jordan. By 1778, the couple, along with young Joseph relocated to Prince George County, and at this point the two branches of the Boisseau family, separated by 80 years, finally learned of the true fate of their ancestor's brother.
Between 1778 and 1789, Holmes and Elizabeth Boisseau had two other children, Holmes John Alexander Boisseau, and Jane Boisseau. Unfortunately, the fate of these two children has been lost. Elizabeth Jordan Boisseau died in France in 1789, but her husband, Holmes DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau, continued,traveling back and forth from Virginia to France. A copy of some of his correspondence with his first child, Joseph, has survived, and most of the history of this branch of the family comes form the letters sent from the father to his first born son.
By 1824, Holmes DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau, like his grandfather, had returned to his birth place to die, and was buried on St. Christopher's Island.
Jeanne Robert Boisseau, one of five daughters of Col. DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau and Caroline (La) Roche, was an older sister to Holmes DeSaussure Ehyrr Boisseau. She was born probably between 170 and 1735. On June 8,1748, she married Jean Francois De Bois. While little is known about this couple, they did apparently have at least one child, Pierre Francois De Bois. Pierre Francois De Bois joined the American Army on October 7, 1776, and was made a Brevet Major. Between 1776 and 1779, he served in the Army, until losing an arm in the Battle of the Woods. On April 9, 1779, he resigned form the American Army, and afterwards, he returned to France, receiving a hero's welcome.Note: Some of the early information is now in doubt concerning Joseph Ehyrr Boisseau, and his descendants.
492. Hamlin EPES
Sources: "Ancestors and Descendants of Francis Epes I of Virginia" Vol I 1992.
511. Margaret Anne REMAY
Came as child with family from France during the reign of Louis XIV and
setteld on James River at the Manekin Town.