Huguenot refugee

"Swartwout Chronicles": Sailed from Holland in the same ship with Jacques Caudebecq, and had also settled in Kingston where on 1 Sept 1689, he attested his loyalty to King William and Queen Mary by taking the oath of allegiance.204

Pierre Guimar, a native of Moize, in Saintonge, France, also a Huguenot refugee, son of Pierre and Anne D’Amour Guimar, had sailed from Holland in the same ship with Jacques Caudebecq, and had also settled at Kingston, where, on September 1, 1689, he attested his loyalty to King William and Queen Mary by taking the oath of allegiance. On April 18, 1692, he was united in marriage, at New Paltz, to Hester, daughter of Jean and Anne D’Oyaux Hasbroucq.* [*The children of Pierre and Hester Hasbroucq Guimar were: Anna, baptized in Kingston, June 3, 1694, married, May 30, 1721, Jacobus Swartwout; Hester, born May 5, and baptized in Kingston, May 16, 1697, married Philip Du Bois; Rachel, baptized in Kingston, March 24, 1700; Mary, baptized in Kingston, January 24, 1703; Elizabeth, born March 22, 1705, baptized in Kingston, March 24, 1706; Pierre, born November 15, 1708. The will of Pierre Guimar, senior, is dated September 24, 1726.]205

Pierre Guimar was a resident of the little hamlet of Moise, in the province of Saintonge, near the Atlantic coast of France in the vicinity of LaRochelle, a Huguenot stronghold and major port. He was the son of Pierre Guimar and Anne D’Amour of Moise.

The French Protestants (Huguenots) were being pressured and hounded by the French government to give up their religion or face confiscation of property. The result was that somewhere between one and two million Huguenots fled to Germany, England, America, or the Canary Islands. Young Pierre Guimar, age 20, chose to flee to England and hence to America.

The usual escape route for Huguenots from Saintonge was to go down at night to the beach near the swamps and dunes at the mouth of the Charente River and be ferried by fishermen out to the Ile d’Oleron. From there they could obtain secret passage to England on one of the British fishing boats which frequented the area.

In England, the French refugees could obtain support from a large refugee charity fund in London. This might be in the form of a five pound note to pay for passage to the American Colonies.

Pierre Guimar, in company with Jacques Caudebec of Caudebec, near the Siene River, took passage to Maryland, one of the British colonies which offered religious freedom. From Maryland they travelled to New Rochelle, New York, a Huguenot settlement in the Dutch countryside now under English control.

In the central part of the flats they wished to occupy was a small rise, elevation about 20 feet, on which they began to build houses. This hill, called Peenpack, had on it a spring and brook for fresh water. Surrounding the spring, house lots were laid out. Pierre Guimar located himself at the southwest end of the hill. Of the type of house architecture there is no record, but it may be guessed that it took the Flemish rather than the more ornate Dutch style, perhaps similar to that of his father-in-law Jean Hasbrouck, whose house still stands in New Paltz.

Guimar’s occupation in France is not known, but the tradition says it was not manual labor and that the tasks of the American wilderness were hard on his hands and physique. He did know how to grow and process flax, however. His livelihood in Peenpack depended on farming and making flax into cloth. He planted apple trees, and the cider he made replaced for him the wines of France.

The union of Pierre Guimar and Hester Hasbrouck barought forth six children. The first, Anna, born in 1693 in the wilderness, was named after both grandmothers. Four more daughters followed: Hester, Rachel, Mary, and Elizabeth. The children were perhaps carefully spaced three years apart. In 1708 the last child and only son was born, christened Pierre but called Pieter in the Dutch fashion.

The children grew up without formal education. The small wilderness community could not afford to support a tutor or minister. Father and mother taught them their religious obligations. Pierre Guimar also earned the reputation of working his children and slaves equally hard. He started out with two slaves, probably purchased from the New York pirate market, to help with the farm work.

The Dutch language, the common tongue in the New York and New Jersey colonies at the time, began to have an impact in the Peenpack settlement. The French Huguenots wished to keep their native language, but it was necessary to communicate and do business in Dutch.

There was another reason for blending in with the Dutch. The first of the old French and Indian Wars was just beginning, and if you were a betting person in 1690, the odds would be that France would win out in North America. After all, Louis XIV had the largest army and navy in Europe, and France had the largest population and richest treasury of any kingdom in Europe. If France should capture the New York Colony, from the St. Lawrence River down to Manhattan, the considerable French Huguenot refugee population might be again in danger. If they were to assimilate into the general population and live on the frontier, perhaps French forces wouldn’t bother with them if they captured the colony.206

The union of Pierre Guimar and Hester Hasbrouck brought forth six children. The first, Anna, born in 1693 in the wilderness, was named after both grandmothers. Four more daughters followed: Hester, Rachel, Mary, and Elizabeth. The children were perhaps carefully spaced three years apart. In 1708 the last child and only son was born, christened Pierre, but called Pieter in the Dutch fashion.

The children grew up without formal education. The small wilderness community could not afford to support a tutor or minister. Father and mother taught them their religious obligations. Pierre Guimar also earned the reputation of working his children and slaves equally hard. He started out with two slaves, probably purchased from the New York pirate market, to help with the farm work.