Chapter 8: 1629-1653, A Huguenot in Virginia

Life in Catholic France had been hard for the disciples of John Calvin who lived there, especially since the ascension of Louis XIII to the throne and his appointment of Cardinal Richelieu as his chief minister. In fact, after the defeat of the Protestants at La Rochelle in 1628, Robert Brasseur decided that life in his homeland was no longer possible. Thus, in great turmoil and with much trepidation, Robert made arrangements to flee with his children to America.

2 Their first move, however, would be to England. After all, England had been the ally of the Protestants at La Rochelle, and Virginia was their colony in the New World. “We will only be taking with us what few possessions we can carry on our persons,” he had told his son Benois. “Make sure your mother, brothers and sisters understand this.” In the meantime, he had liquidated as many of his assets as he could into cash before loading himself, his wife and his children onto a ship at Calais which was bound for England.

3 They arrived at the Isle of Thanet in the County of Kent in the spring of 1629. Once safely in England, Robert didn’t waste any time in beginning to make preparations for their passage to Virginia.

4 “We will have a chance for some peace and happiness there,” he told his wife. “Everything is so uncertain,” she fretted. “At least the King of France and his soldiers will not be trying to kill us there!” he exclaimed in exasperation.

5 A tear rolled down her cheek and his expression softened. “We will be alright, my love,” he whispered in her ear and lightly kissed her forehead.

6 As it turned out, Robert was right. They made it to Virginia without many problems and had made significant progress towards establishing themselves there within just a few years. Robert had been able to borrow money, purchase some land and construct a home for them on the southern shore of the James River.

7 Unfortunately, however, they soon discovered that the good people of Warrosquoake Shire, Virginia were not much more tolerant of their religious beliefs than the King of France had been. Most of the Englishmen living in those environs were members of the Church of England and didn’t have a very high opinion of Christians who belonged to other sects, especially Calvinists. They were simply too much like their Puritan brethren of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for their liking.

8 As a consequence, Robert decided to move his family to the more sparsely populated Virginia frontier. “I would rather face the savages than live among these bigots,” he proclaimed. Thus, within just a few years, the Frenchman and his family were on the move again.

9 Following the lead of other dissenters, Robert and his family settled around the Nansemond River. Unlike the situation in the North, religious persecution in the South forced Calvinists and Quakers to ban together and become allies there. In fact, two of Robert’s children would eventually become Quakers many years later. Nevertheless, there were enough of his former countrymen already settled in the area to make Robert and his family feel more at home, and one of them quickly became his best friend.

10 Peter Rey had suffered many of the same challenges and deprivations that Robert had over the past few years. Moreover, Peter had decided early on that he liked the tenacious and outgoing Robert and had set out to make him his friend. “We will build a life for ourselves here together,” Peter assured him shortly after they had met.

11 Within a few short years, they had partnered together to purchase six hundred acres of prime land and began to cultivate tobacco. In fact, their venture proved to be so profitable and successful that they were both soon able to turn their attention toward helping more of their countrymen who had fled persecution in their homeland to settle in America and make a fresh start. Indeed, by the year 1653, Robert alone had paid for the passage of twenty-four additional souls to the colony.

12 Fortunately for Robert, the government of the colony was anxious for more settlers and encouraged such generosity on the part of its citizens. For each person so transported, Virginia guaranteed a “headright” of fifty acres of additional land to the person who had sponsored them. Thus, for his generous efforts in that regard, Robert received one thousand two hundred acres of additional land that year.

13 Of course, the desire to help his fellow countrymen and the headrights which he received weren’t the only incentives for paying the costs of transporting people to America. The need for labor was another consideration. It took a lot of hard work to clear the land and cultivate and harvest the tobacco crops, and Robert and his family couldn’t do it all on their own. Hence, many of the folks whom Robert sponsored ended up as indentured servants – working as laborers for Robert to reimburse him for the cost of their passage to Virginia.

14 As a consequence of these circumstances, Robert was finally able to build a secure and rather comfortable life for himself and his family in the New World. His wealth also contributed to the fact that Robert’s daughters became the focus of many suitors over the years that followed (notwithstanding the fact that they were very beautiful, as Robert himself was want to point out on more than one occasion).

15 These are the generations of Robert Brasseur of France:

16 Robert begat Benois, Mary and seven other children.

17 Benois was the forefather of Harry Truman and Barack Obama.

18 Mary Brasseur married James Biddlecombe, and they had a daughter named Mary.

19 Mary Biddlecombe married James Tarpley; and they had a son named James, who owned a store in Williamsburg, Virginia.