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John DuBois (16??-abt. 1723) and Subsequent Generations

 


The presumed progenitor of the “South Carolina DuBois” family is John DuBois who, at the time of his death around 1723, left a widow named Jane. Our connection is:

John>Jasper>Peter>Peter>John>Rufus>Rev. HHS DuBois>Martha K., Bill, and Hugh

Who was this man? How/why/when did he go to South Carolina? Was he the father of Jasper DuBois from whom we can definitely trace our DuBois lineage?

John’s presence in the colony of Carolina is noted in 1696 where he is paying Quit Rents on a lot in Charles Town (Charleston). He likely had some connection to the lot sometime prior, as it was common for many to occupy the land before recording the patent and then paying quit rents (taxes). It is possible he was there by 1670 when Barbadian settlers arrived. There was a strong connection between Barbados and Charleston for decades, including the arrival of land speculators. Also permeating Charles Town was the slave trade.

After 1696 are John DuBois’ land transactions further out in other parishes (the area was governed as Anglican parishes) which show John was surrounded by land speculators from Barbados whose surnames were not often French. This leads me to believe that a family tradition that the family immigrated from Barbados to be true.

I cannot yet find a connection between John and presumed son Jasper, unless it is through the land. I have not yet examined the exact location of John’s land and then Jasper’s. They were at least in close proximity. Both men had several parcels of land, and at some point, comparing the two would be beneficial. It is, at the very least, reasonable to conclude the two were related in some manner.

The Huguenot Society of South Carolina has accepted John as a Huguenot. Jasper’s children were baptized in a Huguenot Church, and he was surrounded by many who can trace their roots directly to France. Indeed, Jasper married a woman, Susannah Juin, whose ancestry can be traced to France, and their son Peter, our ancestor, also married a Huguenot woman (Anne Mouzon). The Juins and Mouzons immigrated with groups who migrated together as French Huguenot refugees. Neither Jasper nor John are yet documented to have come from France.

John died intestate, so we do not have children’s names from a will, nor does there seem to be extant church records. Fortunately, there are baptismal records for Jasper and subsequent generations.

John’s history prior to his arrival in colonial Carolina is riddled with possibilities. There are marriage and baptism records for a John in the correct time period in London, Leyden (Netherlands), Belgium, and Barbados. Unfortunately, the records do not include a Jasper or a Jane.

There is a “Captain John DuBois” whose sloop is documented as arriving in Charles Town. Was it a slave ship? I once saw a record for a slave ship captained by a Jean DuBois out of France, but I cannot now locate the record.

There is a “Doboys” river or stream on a colonial map. This leads me to believe that DuBois was pronounced as doo-boys very early on.

Instructive as to the kind of life John led while in Carolina (he could have also held lands in Barbados and elsewhere) is a review of his estate inventory. Included are seven slaves: a middle-aged man and woman, and five children. Also, six oxen; forty cows, calfs, steers, and a bull; five horses; eleven hogs; household goods; carpentry tools; and 150 bushels of rice. This bolsters another family tradition that early on, the DuBois family had rice plantations in the country, and a carpentry trade in the “city” of Charles Town. Back then, planters rowed or sailed boats back and forth, depending upon the tide and also the season as they would want to escape the times illness was prevalent in the country. We know that the carpentry trade was carried on in the family for several generations, and they usually did so in conjunction with being planters.

As to the enslaved people owned by the DuBois family, we know that typically, one family of slaves was inherited in each generation, although it appears neither Rev. John DuBois (b. 1798), nor his father owned any in their earliest adulthood. They either eventually inherited them or bought them. Rev. John initially had two (later a few more), likely inherited through his wife; and his father, Peter, had only one.

Although the lands were sometimes referred to as “plantations” which conjures up hundreds of enslaved people enduring hard labor, not at any point in our direct lines on any side do I find ownership of more than a handful of slaves. But, even one causes pause.

Duo roles of planter and carpenter seems to have stopped with Rev. John’s father, Peter, who became a builder of homes and carriages. He left the country for Charleston as a teenager with his widowed mother, though his uncles still maintained large parcels of land.

Rev. John DuBois, however, seems to have revived the duo role by being a cotton gin maker and planter when he migrated to Alabama. He was also a Methodist minister. His father and grandfather were Methodist ministers as well.

Rev. John DuBois’ son, Rufus (m. Martha Jane Slaton; presumed photo below), was a dentist in Greensboro, Alabama his entire adult life. Though active in his Methodist church in the choir and otherwise, he was not a minister.

Dr. Rufus DuBois’ son, Rev. Henry Harris Slaton DuBois and his wife, Jennie May Stark, will be documented at a later date.



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