Pierre Chastain Sr. migrated from France to Manakin, Virginia Colony.
"Pierre Chastain immigrated to the [British North American] colonies from France in 1700, and is the father of most Chastains and Chasteens in America. Pierre was born into a Huguenot (French Protestant) family in 1659 near the village of Chârost in central France. The Chastain family had fled to this rural area from the city of Bourges when French Catholics massacred Protestants on St. Bartholomew's Day (August 24, 1572). After French King Louis XIV revoked the edict of Nantes, which had offered Protestants limited toleration since 1598, Pierre, his wife, Susanne, and their five children fled France completely, emigrating to the Protestant-run British Colony of Virginia in 1700. Today, Pierre Chastain's American descendants number in the tens of thousands. For further details, see Pierre Chastain."[1] Information provided by Chastain Family Association.
Pierre Louis Chastain was baptized on April 9, 1659 at Issoudun, Province de Berry (Indre), France, [2] the son of Estienne Chastain and Jeanne Laurent. The family were residents of the city of Bourges (Cher) with a country home near Chârost, just 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Issoudun.
Origins
For centuries the Chasteigner family had lived in the province of Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques/Gers) in southwestern France. Their name indicated that they were chestnut-farmers & millers. Chestnut flour was widely used in France during the Middle Ages. During the 100 Years War (1337-1453) between France and England, which devastated the area, they became scattered around France. Some went to Province de Dauphiné in the southeast. This is where Pierre's family, whose name evolved into "Chastain," originated. His great-grandfather eventually settled in Bourges, capital of the Province de Berry in central France. He was a notaire, or legal official, in a nearly-hereditary post, there. In the early 1500s, the family converted from Roman Catholicism to the "religion chrétienne réformée" (Reformed Christian religion) as preached by Jean Calvin, a French-born theologian who lived in Protestant-run Geneva, Switzerland.
After French King Louis XIV revoked the 1598 "Edict of Nantes" that guaranteed limited religious tolerance to French Protestants in 1685, three of the Chastain family: Pierre, Estienne and Jean (Peter, Stephen & John) fled the country, seeking religious freedom, taking their families with them. They had crossed the Jura mountains into French-speaking Switzerland, where Protestants were in power, by 1696. Then they continued north to the Netherlands, a leading power run by Reformed or Presbyterian Protestants. They passed through 'The Hague in the Netherlands. From there, after September 1698, they emigrated to London, England, where Pierre helped organize a large group of French Reformed Protestants, now called "Huguenots," to found a new settlement in the British Royal Colony of Virginia. Their first ship, "Mary and Ann," set sail from Gravesend, Kent, England, bound for America, in April 1700. It arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in late July, the same year.
Among the 207 passengers listed aboard that first Huguenot ship:
Dr. Pierre (the immigrant) Chastain, his wife and 5 children.
Jean Chastain, his wife and four children.
Dr. Estienne (Stephen) Chastian and his wife.
John Chastain (maybe a cousin or a younger brother of Pierre ?).
Disputed Wife
Some 20th Century researchers have suggested that a woman named "Magdalene de la Rochefoucauld" was Pierre's first wife. This has been disproven. Descendant Tim Chastain examined the registers of Vevey at the cantonal archives in Lausanne, Switzerland. Vevey is the town Pierre stayed in Switzerland after his initial escape from France before 1696. Secondly, in 1985. Tim Chastain consulted the original French Huguenot registers of the town of Issoudun (Indre), France.
From these primary sources, Tim found considerable information on Pierre Chastain and his ancestors. Pierre's parents were Estienne Chastain (1625-aft 1694) and Jeanne Laurent (aka Laurante). Estienne's parents were Jacques Chastain (ca. 1599-bef 1675) and Jeanne Audet. Jacques' father (or grandfather) was Estienne Chastain. Cameron Allen states categorically that Pierre's first wife was Susanne Reynaud (aka Renaud), not the mythical "Marie-Madeleine de la Rochefoucauld" foisted on the Rev. James Garvin Chastain by an unscrupulous French entrepreneur and so-called "genealogist," seeking to curry favor by linking the Chastain family, who were of the bourgeoisie, to a well-known aristocratic noble family; a family that included several notable Huguenots, but who were never related to Pierre Chastain. [3]
Family
Marriage #1
Susanne Reynaud (aka Renaud) was Pierre Chastain's first wife. She was born ca. 1665 in Issoudun, Province de Berry, France. They were married at Issoudun Saint-Cyr on 28 January 1686/87[4].[5]
Susanne Chastain, Pierre Chastain association gives birth as Sep 1699 in The Netherlands.[13] d. 1701.[citation needed]
Susanne (Reynaud) Chastain and her children, some still quite young, sailed to Virginia with Pierre-Louis and the other Huguenots in 1700. On arrival, they were taken to an abandoned Indian village called Manakintown, 25 miles into the wilderness beyond the nearest English settlement, and told this was where they had to settle. Alas, it was already too late in the season to plant staple food crops, plus the group were more bourgeois city-dwellers than rural farmers. Thus, many starved or became very weak during their first winter in America. Susanne Chastain and 3 (Jeanne, René & Susanne) of her 5 children were among the victims, all dying at Manakintown before November 1701. New arrivals from France in 1701-02 helped the settlement to survive.[14]
Marriage #2
Pierre's second marriage was to immigrant Ann Soblet who died in April 1723 at Manakintown, Goochland, Virginia.
They married about November 1701 in Manakintown, Goochland County, Virginia.[15]
Pierre and Ann (Soblet) Chastain had 8 children, all born in Virginia:
Judith Chastain born abt. 1703. Married Mr. Ballew in Virginia
Pierre's third marriage was to Marie Madeleine Verrueil, the widow of Manakin immigrant, Antoine Trabue. They had no children together.
Occupation
Pierre was trained as a Physician and Surgeon in France.[16][16][17]
As the British government sponsored the French Huguenots to settle in Goochland County, Virginia, mainly to grow grapes for wine, to begin silk-worm cultivation and silk-production, and to see if the local soil was suitable for growing rice, Pierre was expected to be a farmer as well as being the settlement's doctor and a civic leader. The new settlement was also expected to be mostly self-sufficient.
Pierre was granted 111, acs. (N.L.), Henrico Co., on the South side of the James River, adj. Anthony Maloone, his own land, and the widow Gory's line, [recorded as of 23 March 1715, p. 266]. This was part of the first 5,000 acres surveyed for the French refugees. [18]
Monacan Farm - Pierre's home
The Monacan farm was once the site of an abandoned Monacan Indian village (Manakin). It was the first tract of land surveyed by the Huguenot settlers. This may be the oldest house in the county. Huguenot settler Peter Chastain received a patent here in the early 1700's. The frame part of today's main house was built in 1720 by Peter Chastain.
Death & Legacy
Dr. Pierre Louis Chastain died on October 3, 1728 in Manakintown, King William Parish, Goochland County, British Province of Virginia.[16][16][19] He was buried in the family cemetery near his home and adjacent to the Manakintown Anglican Church. His surviving 3rd wife, Marie Madeleine (Verreuil) Chastain, died in the late spring of 1731 and was buried nearby. In 1982, Lowell Chastain, then President of the Pierre Chastain Family Association, erected a grave marker for Pierre Chastain and constructed a chain-link fence around his grave.[20]
InscriptionPeter Chastain, the emigrant, born ca. 1663 France, escaped to Switzerland 1696 - in England 1699 - Arrived in Virginia w/wife & 5 children July 23, 1700, on ship, Mary & Ann - Died 1728 - Children - Judith, John & 3 unknown. 2nd wife Anne Sobet - D. Apr. 3 1723 - Children Susanna, Peter, Jr., Mary, Elizabeth, Rene, Jeanne, Mary M. 3rd wife Madeleine De La Rochefoucauld - children of Peter, Jr. & wife Mildred Archer - James, John, Rene, Abraham, Martha, Archer.[21]
Will
Will of Peter Chastain, the Emigrant, made Oct. 3, 1728, and preserved in the archives of Goochland County, Virginia.[22]
His wife and children are named in his will. A transcription of the will can be viewed here[22]
A significant number of members of the Chastain family have developed dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. There’s no explanation why, but scientists at Emory University are studying the family to try to find the defective genome in their DNA. [23]
Timeline
1659 Pierre was baptised 7 April in Issoudun (Indre), Province de Berry, France[24][25][16][26][27][21]
1687 Marriage to first wife Susanne Reynaud.
1696 By 1696 Pierre had fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland.[27]
1700 April 19, 1700 embarked from Gravesend, England to Jamestown Settlement.
1700 July 31, 1700 arrived at the mouth of the James River near the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony after a voyage of almost three months on the London ship Mary and Ann. (see Arrival below) They then traveled by small boats to land recently vacated by the Monacan Indians which they named Manakintown.[28]
1701 Death of first wife Susanne (Renaud) Chastain and 3 of their 5 children after Feb 1701 and before Nov 1701
1701 ca. Nov - Married second wife Ann Soblet
3 May 1704 Manakin Town Grant for French Refugees[29][30]
1723 Pierre's second wife Anne (Soblet) died April 3, 1723.[31]
1723 Married third wife Marie Madeleine (Verrueil) Trabue 1723 (no children). She was the daughter of Moise and Madelene Verrueil and the widow of Antonie Trabue.
1728 Pierre died 3 Oct 1728 Manakintowne, King William Parish, Henrico County, Colony of Virginia (age 69)[21] He is buried at Manakin Farms, Goochland County, Virginia.[32][33] Note - (See Inscription above). Gerard-337[34]
1731 Death of third wife Marie Madeleine in the Spring of 1731. (Not the #Disputed_Wife Madeleine De La Rochefoucauld)
Research Notes
Arrival – The Virginia Magazine gives arrival date of 23 Jul 1700 and cast anchor at Hampton, Virginia. [14]
↑ Issoudun Municipal Archives, Villatte Temple (Protestants) records 1598-1685, page 217.
↑ Submitted by Tim Chastain [www.pierrechastain.com/PCFA_2021/1-0_home.html Pierre Chastain Website Note- link no longer works since website upgrade ] ~~~~
↑ Société Généalogique du Bas-Berry Relevés des registres paroissiaux et d'état civil effectués par la Société Généalogique du Bas-Berry. Accessed Oct 14, 2017 via Geneanet
↑ France, Indre, Parish and Civil Registrations, Issoudun Collection, Municipal Archives, St. Cyr Parish Records, 088/AC GG 031
↑ Vaud, Switzerland, Archives, Vevy Parish Registers, p. 221
↑ 14.014.1 The Virginia Magazine, Vol. 61, Oct 1953, No. 4.
↑ World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Title: World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Author: Brøderbund Software, Inc. Publication: Release date: November 29, 1995 Note: ABBR World Family Tree Vol. 2, Ed. 1 Customer pedigree. Family Archive CD
↑ 16.016.116.216.316.4 Pierre Chastain And His Descendants Volume I Title: Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, Volume I, First Five Generations in America Author: Robert W. Leishman
↑ Family Bible - Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe’s Genealogical Papers - Research Papers; owned by Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe in Kensington, Maryland, USA.
↑ Source: #S5 Page: Tree #4407 Quality or Certainty of Data: 3
↑ this record was located in the "Registre d'Issoudun," now located in the "Archives departementales de l'Indre" at Chateauroux, France. [This record was located in the "Register of Issoudun," now located in the Departmental Archives de l'Indre at Chateauroux, France]
↑ 27.027.1 1693 Swiss Census of Refugees for Baillage de Vevey.
↑ Brock, R. A. Documents, chiefly unpublished, relating to the Huguenot emigration to Virginia and to the settlement at Manakin-Town, with an appendix of genealogies, presenting data of the Fontaine, Maury, Dupuy, Trabue, Marye, Chastain, Cocke, and other families. "Fragment of a Register of Deaths" p 110. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1962.
↑ Web: Virginia, Find A Grave Index, 1607-2012. Note that the memorial stone includes what appears to be information about Madaline of la Rochefaucald - I can't quite make it out - but she was not his wife (see #Disputed_Wife, above). (see Inscription above)
Henricho County, Virginia, Deeds and wills 1725-2737 pg 180
Huguenot Families 1699 Virginia Some Records Relating to Huguenot Families - The Chastain Family.
The French Huguenot Frontier Settlement of Manakin Town. Published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 61:4, October 1953, pp. 359-392. Put online by the Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in Colonial Virginia.
Early Virginia Families Along the James River: Their Deep Roots and Tangled Branches. Vol. I
Abstracts of Land Patents - Henrico County pg 48
A brief history of the Huguenots : and three family trees, Chastain-Lochridge-Stockton
U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Name:Pierra Chastain, Birth Place:In, France,Death Date:1728,Death Place:Manikintown, Virginia. SAR Membership 92163.
JONES, WILLIAM MAC FARLANE, transcriber and editor. "Liste Generalle de Tous les Francois Protestants Refugies Etablys dans la Paroisse du Roy Guillaume d'Henrico en Virginia, y compres les Femmes, Enfans, Veuves, et Orphelins." In The Douglas Register...Kept by the Rev. William Douglas, from 1750 to 1797. Richmond [VA]: J.W. Fergusson & Sons, 1928, pp. 372-374. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1966. Page 372
Family Bible - Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe’s Genealogical Papers - Research Papers; owned by Mary Pauline Johnson-Monroe in Kensington, Maryland, USA.
Barck and Lefler, Colonial America, 2nd
Chastain, Lowell, Virginia Chastains Genealogy
Pierre Chastain Family Association Website
Reid, et al, Dictionary of Christianity in America
Wallbank, et al, Civilization Past & Present, 4th
Reid, et al, Dictionary of Christianity in America
https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=2&place=395019&rmsId=TH-909-56826-78595-62&imageIndex=6&singleView=true Where The Record Is Found: Virginia Historical Society, Miscellaneous Papers. Describe The Record: This correspondence, dated 12 August 1700, from Virginia Governor Francis Nicholson, lists French Protestant Refugees who recently got off a ship called Mary and Ann, commanded by George Haws, and were settled in Manakin Town, about 20 miles above the falls of the James River, in the Virginia colony. Included are Pierre Chastain, his wife and five children. Estienne Chastain is on the same list.
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships.
It is likely that these
autosomal DNA
test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Pierre:
Chastain-2422 and Chastain-69 appear to represent the same person because: I think there is more than reasonable evidence that your Chastain (much more robust) is the same as mine. I'd appreciate it if you would consider a merger. Thnkx!
Goochland Court 20th November 1728. "The last will & testament of Peter Chastain is presented in Court by John and Peter Chastain his Executors...William Sallee & Thos. Jevodan their Securities" Goochland Co., VA Order Book No. 1, p. 44. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-4Y4S?i=39
I notice that the lists of children in the narrative include "duplicates". I.e., there are some children associated with both the first and second wife. How do we know which mother is accurate? Thanks.
I don't believe these are duplicate children. (Jean, René & Susanne died before 1701) Pierre married his second wife between Feb 1701 and Nov 1701. I'll double check to make sure the children are attached to the correct mother.
I fixed Judith. You might double check me on the children (just in case my eyes were deceiving me). I listed all the baptism dates for the children of the first mother Susannah. I created profiles for children who were missing. Let me know if you see any errors. I need to look into the Rene listed above in the first marriage.
Chastain Central is no longer a valid website....neither is Chastain History at www.deaver-chastain.org. Also interesting about the Alzheimer's anomaly because I am a direct descendant and my grandmother passed away from it in 2007 and am not sure my father was not in the early stages when he passed away the year prior.
I removed a picture of a monument from the images attached to this profile, as the picture was taken from Find A Grave without any indication that proper permission to use it had been got. Further, the image is suspicious as a disproven wife of Peter Chastain is mentioned on the "monument".
Seems there would be some discussion with profile managers before removing the image? The image is suspicious as a disproven wife is mentioned? This wasn't disproven until after the moment was made. Doesn't make the monument wrong. Did you discuss this with the Chastain association? Maybe you are aware of something we aren't?
Can you please add the link to the photo on Wikitree? Did you remove the photo from Wikitree? I can't tell what the details of the photo were since it doesn't show in the changes feed. There are thousands of photos on wikitree without proper permissions. Many of them uploaded before wikitree added the requirement. Are all of those photos being removed as well?
Chastain-1496 and Chastain-69 appear to represent the same person because: Date of death and FAG source are the same. Corrections need to be made to bring both profiles into agreement. One is well referenced and the other is not.
I found a family heirloom that was passed down. It was a sword. Didn't know if you wanted that information here or not on who inherited and who will inherit it next. Please let me know.
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Goochland Court 20th November 1728. "The last will & testament of Peter Chastain is presented in Court by John and Peter Chastain his Executors...William Sallee & Thos. Jevodan their Securities" Goochland Co., VA Order Book No. 1, p. 44. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-4Y4S?i=39
Jean born 1690 - 1st Marriage
Janne born 1716 (female) - 2nd marriage
Pierre born 1690 - 1st Marriage
Pierre born 1707- 2nd marriage
René Chastain, born 1692 1st Marriage
René born 1713- 2nd marriage
Judith Chastain, born 1696 1st Marriage
Judith born 1714 - 2nd marriage
Susanne Chastain, born ca. 1698 - 1st Marriage
Susanna born ca.1705 - 2nd marriage
edited by Michelle (Gerard) Hartley
..........................
edited by Colleen (Carson) Flannery
You should get in contact with the Chastain Alzheimer's project. I'm sure they'd love to hear about your grandmother.
The image can still be seen at Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20353590/pierre-chastain / https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20353590/pierre-chastain#view-photo=95549609 Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 19 March 2020), memorial page for Dr Pierre Chastain (9 Apr 1659–3 Nov 1728), Find A Grave Memorial no. 20353590, citing Monacan Farm Cemetery, Manakin Farms, Goochland County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Mildred Thomas (contributor 46579614) .
Can you please add the link to the photo on Wikitree? Did you remove the photo from Wikitree? I can't tell what the details of the photo were since it doesn't show in the changes feed. There are thousands of photos on wikitree without proper permissions. Many of them uploaded before wikitree added the requirement. Are all of those photos being removed as well?
The last merge resulted in two duplicates in the profile that also need to be merged - Ann Soblet is listed twice Pierre Jr is listed twice Thank you.