David Bonnefoy (abt. 1672 - bef. 1714)

Husband of Katharine (Lasty) Bonnefoy — married 1694 in New York

Descendants

Died before 25 Oct 1714 before about age 42 in Staten Island, Richmond, New York

Biography

David Bonnefoy was a Huguenot emigrant (1540-1790).

David was a Friend (Quaker)

David Bonnefoy has been something of an enigma to family researchers due to errors reported about him by early historian William Cutter, who associated David with the Benanuel Bonnefoy family group, French Huguenots that migrated to New York abt. 1690. Landing at what became known as Bonnefoy Point, New Rochelle, Westchester, New York, the Bonnefoy's removed to Delaware and the Connecticut Valley soon after. David Bonnefoy, however, is not recorded as being one among them.

Although he may have been a relative, David Bonnefoy emigrated from England four years prior to Benanuel Bonnefoy's family. He sailed from Plymouth, England to William Penn's Pennsylvania, arriving at Philadelphia 23 Jun 1686 on The Desire, listed on the ship's manifest as David Bonifoye, a servant of Richard Grove. ^[1]

Notes Grove was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, from Plymouth, England. who emigrated from there to Philadelphia to engage in business.^[2] Quakers often brought family members and those of equal social status as "servants," thus the term does not imply indentured status or indebtedness specifically.^[1] It is therefore likely that David Bonnefoy, while apparently a French Calvinist who first went to England, had Quaker sympathies or was also a Quaker, at least for a time before relocating from Pennsylvania to New York. This religious leaning is borne out in the family lineage whereby many descendants of his daughter, Catherine (Bonnefoy) Coutant, were New York Quakers.

David married widow Katharine Lasty, who arrived to Boston, MA from the West Indies in 1684 with her first husband, Bartholomew Mercier (1670-1691). The Mercier's had relocated to New Rochelle soon after their arrival. David apparently relocated to New Rochelle sometime before 1690; no records of him are found in Pennsylvania, so it seems he did not stick around long enough to take advantage of William Penn's "Servant" land grant which provided 50-acre land parcels to Friends who completed service contracts to those they immigrated with. ^[1]Additionally, as stated earlier, while his appearance in New Rochelle roughly coincided with the arrival of the Benanuel Bonnefoy family group, unfortunately, no decisive record has been identified that ties these men together.

David and Katharine were married by 1698/9, reportedly in New Rochelle, NY. They had two children, Catherine Bonnefoy b.1699 and David Bonnefoy II (b. unknown).^[3][4]

06 Feb 1695/6 Received denization letter in New York.^[5]

The only church record found for David Bonnefoy in New York: French Protestant Church: 20 Oct 1695. Baptism, Jean La Tourette, child of Jean La Tourette and Marie Merserau residents of Staten Island, Richmond, NY. David "Bonnefoye" is named as a godparent to the child, along with Elizabet(h) Merserau, Marie's sister.^[6]

23 May 1701, Pierre (Peter) Villepontoux, of New Rochelle, sold land he had previously acquired from David de Bonnefoy to another New Rochelle resident.^[7] This record indicates the Bonnefoy's had left New Rochelle well prior to this time.

The Staten Island census taken abt. 1706 shows David bonephoy age 40, Katherine bonephoy and children, David bonephoy and Catharine bonfoy.^[3]

David died prior to 25 Oct 1714, the date of his widow's will.^[4]It is believed he was buried on Staten Island, the grave no longer in evidence as many early Protestant places of worship from this era have been lost to time.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "A Partial List of the Families Who Arrived at Philadelphia between 1682 and 1687." Article. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 8. PA: Philadelphia, 01 Oct 1884. p338. archive.org. [1] re: "servants" [2]
2. ↑ Bonfoey-meaning of name? nation of origin? Discussion Thread. 2013. ancestry.com. [3]
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "Census of Staten Island in the Year 1706." Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol I. 1903, p. 150. Stillwell, John, compiler. Print. p. 150. archive.org. [4]
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Katharine Bonnefoy: will abstract [5]
5. ↑ Bolton, Robert. A History of the County of Westchester, from Its First Settlement ..., Volume 1. NY: Gould, 1848. p 390. googlebooks. [6]
6. ↑ Collections of the Huguenot Society of America, vol. 1. NY: HSoA, 1886. p43. archive.org. [7]
7. ↑ Records of the town of New Rochelle, 1699-1828. Jeanne A. Forbes, transcriber. New Rochelle, N.Y. : Paragraph Press, 1916. p 22-23. hathitrust.org. [8]

Resources

Encyclopedia of American Quaker genealogy, v.3. Hinshaw, William Wade, editor. Ann Arbor, Mich: Edwards Bros., 1936. hathitrust.org.

Staten Island and Its People : a history, 1609-1929, v.2. Leng, Charles W. and William Davis. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1930-1933. Print. hathitrust.org. [9]

Acknowledgements

Legacy GEDCOM import data:

• WikiTree profile Bonnefoy-2 created through the import of Lane.ged on Nov 1, 2011 by Wyatt Lane. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Wyatt and others.
  • Source: S199 Title: #199 Page: Ancestry Family Trees Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=9547734&pid=-688166566
  • Family History Library, Salt Lake city, UT, Film#1993524