Sometimes my research is focused, and sometimes I’m randomly clicking around looking at whatever catches my fancy. In one of those random days I stumbled into some information on the immigrant Mareen Duvall. For a tie-in, after Mareen, a 4th Generation Duvall married a Bayne, and four generations later, a Bayne married a Munter and the connection to the Duvall family is through my Great Grandmother Marjorie Bayne Munter. Mareen is my 8X Great Grandfather and was born about 1630.
This caught my attention for a couple of different reasons. 1) As an Outlander Book series fan the word Jacobite catches my attention – if you’ve read the books or watched the STARZ series you’ll know why. 2) I was totally unfamiliar with the Hugenots and what that really meant.
What is a Hugenot? The Hugenot Society of America (Mareen Duvall is a recognized ancestor) has some good information, but in short, the Hugenots were French Protestants who suffered persecution for their religious beliefs and were regularly at odds with the Catholic church. The Hugenot Society points out that the Hugenots were well learned people who were merchants, nobility and professionals, so their departure to the American Colonies was a real asset to the colonies. History.com has some additional good information on the Hugenots. Knowing that, it makes more sense realizing that Mareen was able to read and write and that he established a large estate in Maryland.
What is a Jacobite? The shortest answer is that a Jacobite is a supporter of the exiled Stuart King James II. In the Outlander series the focus is on the Scottish clans and the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the devastation on the Scottish highland culture. Mareen would have been much before those events as he came to the American colonies in about 1650. The Jacobite movement is as complicated as any current political movement and provides some good information into the British and French culture in the 1600’s in the days of Kings.
At some point I’ll have opportunity to put together a bio on Mareen as part of the blog and in the meantime “Mareen Duvall of Middle Plantation” is a great reference book, as is the Mareen Duvall Society and other various online resources. Middle Plantation currently has a historical marker as it was as luxurious as any English Manor and consisted of 600 acres – in 1650 that seems like a large amount of land!
Cory and Nicole Family History 