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Chapter Fourth

LMOST two centuries have rolled on their course since André Freneau, the founder of the family in America bade farewell to the quaint old city of La Rochelle in France to face the shores which were thenceforward to be his home.

The pitiless hands of time and fire have obliterated nearly every trace of his existence. The family records, along with much that was valuable in the way of letters and manuscripts, perished in the flames that consumed the family residence of Philip Freneau at Mount Pleasant (now Freneau) in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in the year 1818.

One old relic, piously rescued from the relentless flames, remains, and mutely seems to say, "I alone have escaped to tell you." This heirloom in the form of a Bible, published in Geneva in the year 1587, has been in the Freneau family, perhaps before, but certainly ever since the year 1590. The first record on its time-worn pages tells us that it was in that year it began its journey from father to son, as was the custom in the Huguenot families in France.

It alone remains to tell us of the hands it has passed through, until the present time, when, for want of male heirs, it has come into the possession of a great-granddaughter of Philip Freneau, the Poet of the Revolution.

Its record runneth thus:

Ce livre fut donné par Philip P. Fresneau à son unique fils Jacque. Janvier 3d 1590.

De Jacque Fresneau à son second fils Jacque Fresneau Janvier 1eme 1605.

De Jacque Fresneau à son second fils Thomas Fresneau Janvier 1re 1630.

De Thomas Fresneau à son frère Jean. Janvier 1653

De Jean Fresneau à son fils André Fresneau mon second Janvier 1re 1680

De And. Fresneau à son second fils André Fresneau Jan. 1re 1702

De André Fresneau à son second fils Pierre Fresneau

Jan. 1re 1725

De Pierre Fresneau à son première fils Philip Fresneau Jan. 2d 1752 (O S)

Philip Morin Freneau reçoit ce livre de son père Pierre Freneau.

Philip Morin Freneau departed this life Dec. 18th 1830. aged 80 yrs. 11 mo. & 13 days.

It is a remarkable coincidence that its first and last possessors of the name of Freneau should have borne the name of Philip, and that of its nine owners they should be the only ones that bore that Christian name. This Bible, being a Protestant version, was expatriated along with its owners.

The family of de Fresneau belonged to La Rochelle, once famous in the history of the Huguenots

now so changed in their regard. This name, we are told, was of some note amongst the Rochellais, but how it happened that its members escaped the fate of so many of their compatriots, we are not told; the flames have guarded their secrets well.

That the family residence of André the refugee was named "Mont Plaisant" is the only fact of transatlantic days that has been transmitted to his descendants.

It must have been a dreary place, that La Rochelle, and like a city of the dead to those remaining there like the grapes left from the vintage! How all things around them must perforce have brought up sad memories of those who had once lived and loved amongst them, but were now wanderers on the face of the earth.

There was la Lanterne,1 in which Gabriel Bernon and so many others had been imprisoned; and not far from it stood the former dwelling of Pierre Jay. The residence of Ester Le Roy still faced the king's palace, but the voice of Ester was no longer heard within its walls. Of the Bernons, one alone was left in the old mansion, so veiled in mystery, and in which the remaining Huguenots met for their secret services. The dwellings of the Allaires and Du Ponts, even if not entirely without occupants, yet lacked some of the former members of their families, who were now numbered amongst the aliens of the land of their birth.

There were yet to be seen the old Scriptural inscriptions, or verses from Marot, over the small, plain doorways that gave to the street, but opened inwardly into residences in which evidences of wealth, refinement, and elegance met the eye.

The narrow, crooked streets, where formerly the tokens of recognition were so frequently interchanged, were peopled with strange faces. No wonder, then, that hearts should sicken and desires awaken to leave these sadly suggestive spots, - and that André Freneau should bid good-bye to his native land.

We may imagine the sentiments he experienced as the sombre towers of la Lanterne and Saint Nicolas faded from his view, and the receding shores of the isles of Ré and Oleron told him that he was henceforth a stranger to the land of his fathers.

We would infer from his age at the date of his death that at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, he was but ten years of age, and from the fact of the ancient Bible having been presented to him in the year 1702 it would seem like a parting gift from his father.

1 La Lanterne was built for a lighthouse, but was used as a prison during the persecution of the Huguenots.

It is most probable that he first went to England, and from there directed his course to the port of Boston, but we do not hear of him in the new world until the year 1705.

In this year rumors of copper being discovered in the township of Suffolk, Connecticut, caused the proprietors in that locality to appoint a commission to institute a search, which proved successful. The news travelled to Boston and caused some capitalists there to interest themselves in excavating.

The land had been the hunting ground of Indians, and being unclaimed property the proprietors of the town of Simsbury assumed its control, and leased the ground to some private individuals as well as companies. André Freneau proceeded thither and, leasing a mine, began to excavate.

According to the laws regulating the colony, smelting of ore was prohibited; therefore, loading a vessel, Freneau shipped it to London. The ship was captured by a French cruiser, and his enterprise resulted in total loss. So great were the disadvantages attending mining at that time, it is not surprising that Freneau, in the year 1707, relinquishing all hopes of realizing any profit from his enterprise, left the mining district and turned his thoughts to the city of New York, where Benjamin Faneuil had already commenced commercial business.1 It is not certain whether Louis Allaire preceded or followed him to that city.

Upon arriving in New York André engaged in the shipping business, and also acted in the interests of the Royal West India Company of France," in which he was associated with Etienne Delancey, Auguste Jay, Benjamin Faneuil, René Het, and others.

1 This mine was afterwards converted into a prison called Newgate, and was the first state prison in Connecticut. The excavations served for the safe keeping of the convicts. The prison was afterwards removed to Wethersfield, and the mine is now used as a show place. It retains the name of Copper Hill.

On the seventeenth of June in the year 1710, André married Marie, the eldest daughter of Pierre Morin, or Morine, whose name appears as the head of a family in the records of the Church of St. Esprit. He was the maternal grandfather of John Morin Scott, the prominent Whig lawyer, of whom we will speak hereafter.

After his marriage, André and his young wife, who had just entered her seventeenth year, resided on lower Broadway facing Bowling Green, which was at that time the aristocratic part of the city, and it is said he entertained in considerable style. His name appears in the records of the French Church as the head of a family, and an ancien of the church.

It had always been the custom in the temple, or principal religious edifice, of the Huguenots, for the anciens, or elders, to have, along with the consistoire, prominent seats reserved for them during the services. In the mother country, the consistory was composed only of the pastors of the churches in a certain district, and one ancien chosen from each congregation, to represent it in the assembly. As such members were charged with the oversight of the flock and its temporalities, as well as their spiritual interests, the office was one of considerable responsibility, as well as honor. In New York, there being but one congregation, the elders formed the consistory. They were elected every three years.

In the year 1713, a robbery having been committed in Trinity Church, of which the Rev. Mr. Vesey was rector, the minister and consistory of the Church of St. Esprit, fearing a like sacrilege, presented a petition to the governor that the perpetrators should be apprehended and brought to justice.

The petition being of no great length, and its quaintness amusing, we will insert it. We have failed to find any method amongst the colonial writers generally, whether English, French, or Dutch, for the use

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