Jessé de Forest
Encyclopedia
Jessé de Forest was the leader of a group of Walloon
Huguenots who fled Europe due to religious persecutions. Jessé de Forest emigrated to the New World, where he planned to found New-Belgium
. He died before reaching what is now New York, but his family settled in Long Island
, where it is remembered by the name of Forest Hill
.
(County of Hainaut
, now Nord, France
). The family name originated from the village of Forest in the canton of Landrecies
near Avesnes. In 1576 he left Avesnes for Sedan
and Montcornet
before settling in Leiden, Holland.
In Leiden, he moved to obtain the right to emigrate with his own and other Walloon families to the New World. During his stay, he also met Pilgrim Fathers, future passengers of the Mayflower. De Forest served with Prince Maurice of Nassau
as a lieutenant and captain.
On February 5, 1621, Jessé de Forest sent a petition, to Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester
, English ambassador to The Hague
. It applied for permission to settle about fifty Walloon and French Huguenot families that planned to follow the Puritans to America (then called the West Indies) in Virginia
. De Forest asked to dispose over a territory of eight English miles radius. Known as the Round Robin
, this document is now preserved in the British Public Record Office
. On August 11, 1621, the Virginia Company
gave an agreement in principle, but raised some restrictions. The worse one was the refusal to have the settlers dwell together in one autonomous colony. De Forest declined the proposition.
could practice their Reformed Protestant Christianity
without persecution. He then sought permission from the Dutch to establish a colony in what is now New York City. He was granted permission. He assembled approximately 60 families of Walloons and Dutch Protestants for the settlement in New Amsterdam
, New Netherland
. The first permanent settlers arrived in New Amsterdam during May 1624.
The foundation of the Dutch West India Company
in 1621 had given gave rise to multiple opportunities. In 1581, Philip II of Spain
had prohibited commerce within his realm with Dutch ships, including in Brazil
. Since the Dutch had invested large sums in financing sugar production in the Brazilian Northeast, a conflict began for control of the area. Proposing his services and those of his fellow countrymen to the Dutch West India Company
, de Forest informed them that a group of families practicing various trades had the opportunity to emigrate to America. The States of The Netherlands, realizing the importance of such an opening for future colonization, immediately consulted the Directors of the Company, who were meeting in The Hague
.
On August 27, 1622, after efforts delivered by Willem Usselincx
and Jessé de Forest, the latter finally received the authorization to emigrate with other families to the West Indies. Left on reconnaissance for the coasts of Guyana
in 1623, Jessé de Forest died on the Oyapock River
bank (present borderline between Brazil
and French Guyana), on October 22, 1624. His daughter Rachel and his sons Isaac and Henri and other family members joined New-Belgium
ten years later in the territories surrounding the future New York City.
, New York City called the Walloon Settlers Memorial. That monument was given to the City of New York by the Belgian Province of Hainaut in honor of the inspiration of Jessé de Forest in founding New York City. Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, representing the government and Albert I
, King of Belgium
, presented the monument to Mayor John F. Hylan
, for the City of New York May 18, 1924. There is also a monument in Jessé de Forest's honor in Avesnes
, France
, the College Jesse de Forest and Jesse de Forest Avenue.
Category:People of New Netherland
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
Huguenots who fled Europe due to religious persecutions. Jessé de Forest emigrated to the New World, where he planned to found New-Belgium
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. He died before reaching what is now New York, but his family settled in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, where it is remembered by the name of Forest Hill
Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood is home to upper-middle class residents, of whom the wealthier residents often live in the neighborhood's Forest Hills Gardens area...
.
Background
Jessé de Forest was born in AvesnesAvesnes-sur-Helpe
Avesnes-sur-Helpe is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department Nord-Pas Calais. Avesnes-sur-Helpe is known as "the little Switzerland of the north." This region is filled with spacious country parks areas and leisure facilities, including Val...
(County of Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
, now Nord, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
). The family name originated from the village of Forest in the canton of Landrecies
Landrecies
Landrecies is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is the site of a skirmish between the British I Corps under Douglas Haig and the German Fifth Army on 25 August 1914.-Heraldry:-People:...
near Avesnes. In 1576 he left Avesnes for Sedan
Sedan, France
Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.-Geography:The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around from the Belgian border.-History:...
and Montcornet
Montcornet
Montcornet is the name of several communes of France:* Montcornet, Aisne, in the Aisne department* Montcornet, Ardennes, in the Ardennes department...
before settling in Leiden, Holland.
In Leiden, he moved to obtain the right to emigrate with his own and other Walloon families to the New World. During his stay, he also met Pilgrim Fathers, future passengers of the Mayflower. De Forest served with Prince Maurice of Nassau
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange from 1618, on the death of his eldest half brother, Philip William, Prince of Orange,...
as a lieutenant and captain.
On February 5, 1621, Jessé de Forest sent a petition, to Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester
Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester
Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester was an English art collector, diplomat and Secretary of State.-Early life:He was the second son of Antony Carleton of Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, and of Jocosa, daughter of John Goodwin of Winchendon, Buckinghamshire...
, English ambassador to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. It applied for permission to settle about fifty Walloon and French Huguenot families that planned to follow the Puritans to America (then called the West Indies) in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. De Forest asked to dispose over a territory of eight English miles radius. Known as the Round Robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
, this document is now preserved in the British Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
. On August 11, 1621, the Virginia Company
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
gave an agreement in principle, but raised some restrictions. The worse one was the refusal to have the settlers dwell together in one autonomous colony. De Forest declined the proposition.
New-Belgium
It was de Forest's desire to establish a Colony in the New World, so that the WalloonsWalloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
could practice their Reformed Protestant Christianity
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
without persecution. He then sought permission from the Dutch to establish a colony in what is now New York City. He was granted permission. He assembled approximately 60 families of Walloons and Dutch Protestants for the settlement in New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
, New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. The first permanent settlers arrived in New Amsterdam during May 1624.
The foundation of the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
in 1621 had given gave rise to multiple opportunities. In 1581, Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
had prohibited commerce within his realm with Dutch ships, including in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Since the Dutch had invested large sums in financing sugar production in the Brazilian Northeast, a conflict began for control of the area. Proposing his services and those of his fellow countrymen to the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
, de Forest informed them that a group of families practicing various trades had the opportunity to emigrate to America. The States of The Netherlands, realizing the importance of such an opening for future colonization, immediately consulted the Directors of the Company, who were meeting in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
On August 27, 1622, after efforts delivered by Willem Usselincx
Willem Usselincx
Willem Usselincx was a Flemish merchant, investor and diplomat who was instrumental in drawing both Dutch and Swedish attention to the importance of the New World...
and Jessé de Forest, the latter finally received the authorization to emigrate with other families to the West Indies. Left on reconnaissance for the coasts of Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
in 1623, Jessé de Forest died on the Oyapock River
Oyapock River
The Oyapock or Oiapoque River is a 370-km long river in South America that forms most of the border between French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá...
bank (present borderline between Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and French Guyana), on October 22, 1624. His daughter Rachel and his sons Isaac and Henri and other family members joined New-Belgium
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
ten years later in the territories surrounding the future New York City.
Legacy
Today, there is a Monument in Battery ParkBattery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
, New York City called the Walloon Settlers Memorial. That monument was given to the City of New York by the Belgian Province of Hainaut in honor of the inspiration of Jessé de Forest in founding New York City. Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, representing the government and Albert I
Albert I of Belgium
Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934.-Early life:Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...
, King of Belgium
Monarchy of Belgium
Monarchy in Belgium is constitutional and popular in nature. The hereditary monarch, at present Albert II, is the head of state and is officially called King of the Belgians .-Origins:...
, presented the monument to Mayor John F. Hylan
John F. Hylan
John Francis Hylan , nicknamed "Red Mike", was the Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925.-Biography:Hylan was born in Hunter, New York a town in upstate Greene County where his family owned a farm. Hylan married young, became dissatisfied with farm life and moved to Brooklyn with his bride, and...
, for the City of New York May 18, 1924. There is also a monument in Jessé de Forest's honor in Avesnes
Avesnes
Avesnes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:The commune is a very small village situated some 12 miles northeast of Montreuil-sur-Mer, on the D 129 E 1.-Population:-References:* -External links:*...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the College Jesse de Forest and Jesse de Forest Avenue.
Other sources
- De Forest, John William The De Forests of Avesnes (and of New Netherland): A Huguenot thread in American colonial history, 1494 to the present time (New Haven, CT: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. 1900)
- De Forest, Emile Johnston A Waloon Family in America; Lockwood De Forest and His Forbears; in Two Volumes. Together with a Voyage to Guiana, Being the Journal of Jesse De Forest and His Colonists 1623-1625 (The Apple Manor Press. 2007, originally published in 1914)
- Griffis, William ElliotWilliam Elliot GriffisWilliam Elliot Griffis was an American orientalist, Congregational minister, lecturer, and prolific author....
The Story of the Walloons at Home, in Lands of Exile and in America (Houghton Mifflin. 1923) - Bayer, Henry G. The Belgians, First Settlers in New York and in the Middle States (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1987, c1925)
External links
Category:People of New Netherland