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Page 186 of 797

Descendants of Jean La Tourette




Generation No. 1


      1. Jean1 La Tourette (Source: (1) Hix, Charlotte Megille "Staten Island Wills and Letters of Administration, Richmond County, New York.., (2) Keve, J. F. "History of the Keve Family".., (3) Bayles, Richard M., "History of Richmond County, New York from its Discovery to the Present Time".., (4) New York City Court of Common Pleas, Richmond County, 1711-1847.., (5) Clute, J.J., "Annals of Staten Island".., (6) New York Surrogates Court Probate Records, 1664-1806, Richmond County.., (7) Staten Island Record Book, 1680-1750, Richmond County Clerk.., (8) Transcription of Early Town Records of New York: The Earliest Volume of Staten Island Records 1678-1813; Historical Records Survey.., (9) Sereville, E. de and Saint F. de Simon "Dictionnaire de La Noblesse Francoise".., (10) Dauzat, Albert "Dictionnaire Etymologique, Paris, 1938.., (11) Fucilla, Joseph Guerin "Our Italian Surnames" Baltimore, 1987.., (12) Driggs, C.L. "Unpublished Manuscripts on the La Tourette Family as found in the NYGB Library.., (13) Baird, Charles W. "History of Huguenot Emigration to America".., (14) Latourette, Lyman E. "Latourette Annals in America".., (15) Courcelles, "Dictionnaire Universal de La Noblesse de France" Volume 1-2.., (16) Courcelles, "Historie Genealogique des Pairs de France" Volume 1-12.., (17) Douen "La Revocation de L'edit de Nantes a' Paris", Volumes 1-3.., (18) "La Revocation de L'edit de Nantes Dans Les Cevennes et Le Bas-Languedoc, 1685-1985".., (19) Lart, "Huguenot Pedigrees" Volumes 1-2.., (20) Du Pasquier, J. Thierry, "Records of Huguenots in France".., (21) "Bulletin de La Diana" Montrison, 1955. p. 129.., (22) Scorza, Angelo "Libro d'oro della Nobilita de Genova".., (23) Maynard, John A., "The Huguenot Church of New York" New York, 1938.., (24) Huguenots in Bearn, FHL 1573180.., (25) Haag, "La France Protestante" FHL 0962951.., (26) Naybord, Reverend John A.F., "The Huguenot Church of New York Records" Volumes 1-2.., (27) Pearson, Jonathan "Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and city of Schenectady".., (28) Kolb, Avery E. "1703 Census of New York", 1976.., (29) Jacobs, Verna, "Latourette Family and Associated Families", 1965, NYGBL.., (30) Weiss, Charles M., "History of the French Protestant Refugees".., (31) Arnaud, Etienne, "Repertoire De Genealogies Francaises Imprimees" Tome 2..) was born Abt. 1651 in Osse, Bearne, Southern France, and died July 1725 in Freshkills, Staten Island, New York. He married Marie Mercereau July 16, 1693 in French Church, New York City, daughter of Josue Mercereau and Elizabeth Dubois. She was born November 06, 1670 in Moise, Saintonge, France, and died Abt. 1733 in Staten Island, New York.

Notes for Jean La Tourette:
Jean is the earliest ancestor known to the famous La Tourette family in America, and most persons who carry this surname today in America are descended from this man. Jean was a well known French Huguenot, and he was early styled as Count Jean de La Tourette. That he was actually a Count in France is not known for sure, but he did have at least two properties as will be shown below. The earliest references to the surname of La Tourette is to be found in Genoa, Italy, ca. 985 AD. It is here that a street named "Via della Torretta" can be found, and also we find a place referred to as "Plazza della Torretta". It seems that this family may have come from the area around Ceii, Italy at this time. It is not known when the first ancestor of this family passed over the Maritime Alps to Provence in present day southern France, but no doubt it was in the early 1100's or so. The meaning of the name of de La Tourette is "the little tower". In Latin it was written as della Torretta, or della Turris. In Greek it was written as Torris. The English word of Turret comes from della Torretta. Thusly, the name describes an architectural formation, a tower. Therefore, it is possible that the first ancestor of the French family of La Tourette was from Northern Italy, and that originally the surname was written as either Torretta, or della Torretta. Historically, the French Historians tend to believe that most persons in France who carried the surname of Tourette, or La Tourette were originally Northern Italian. The name of "de Vassal de La Tourette" appears in Quercy, France in the 1400's, especially in the town of Rignac. Also a titled family of Counts called "de Ginestous de La Tourette" were found living in Verdun, France, and they had branches living in the Alps-Maritime region, and Levens, and in Turin, Italy. They had established a Coat of Arms. A small town in the Alps-Maritimes, in France was named in honor of this family, and it is today still called "Tourettes". Another line called "Des Rougiers Des Tourettes" lived in La Rochelle, France, a location known to the family in question. Another family called "de La Rivoire de La Tourette" lived in Vivarais, Dauphine, France. They were established as Seigneurs, and Barons. This line was also referred to as Seigneurs de Romagneau in Dauphine. This family also had a Coat of Arms established. It is not known whether Jean de La Tourette in this history was connected to the families mentioned above. The true origin of our line in question is still a mystery. The surname of La Tourette has been mis-spelled in many ways such as de La Tourette, de Latourrette, Toritas, Tourrettes-Levens, Latteret, della Torre, Tourettes, de Torretas, Torrita, Latourrete, La Touritta, and Latterrette. In Italy, the family of della Torre (Torretta) intermarried into some noble families of Genoa. Some of these families were the Spinoala, Fieschei-de Marini, and the de Franchi families. These families were all established Counts in the Northern Italy area. They owned numerous castles in the area from 985 up until Napoleon's time. Story has it that more than one member related to one of these lines passed over the Alps-Maritimes into Dauphine, and Provence, France early in the 1100's. An area located near the city of Turin in those days was referred to in records dating from 1042-1086 as Torretta Territory. By the year a1200 or so, the Chateau de Torreta was well established, and members of this family had married into the famous Grimaldi family, Princes of Monoco. In the late 1400's the family seems to have spread out from the Torretta Territory near Levens, and went to areas like Dauphine, Languedoc, and La Rochelle, France. Many of this surname were later in the 1500's to be found in the Department of Aude. There is little doubt that the early family of Tourettes, which lived in the Alps-Maritimes region of France, and who established the territory of Tourettes-Levens in 1042, was distantly related to the della Torretta family of Genoa, Italy. After 1450 the family of La Tourette first appears in French records as living in the French departments of Aude, Charente, Correze, Eure-et-Loire, Pas-de-Cahors, Puy-de-Dome, Rhone, and in Tarn de Vienne. It is not known whether these lines were related to each other, or to the main line in Levens. But they all wrote their names as de La Tourette, the same spelling as our ancestor, so it is possible that he may have been distantly related to one of these lines. A third line called Tourrettes-Les Tourrettes was found as early as 1099 in the Basses-Alps area of Dauphine, and they may be related to the Levens Torretta family. A fourth line called de Latourrette was found in the French departments of Dordogne, Cot-et-Garonne, and Haute-Pyrenees. They seem to first appear in French records (Nationale bibliotique, Paris, France) ca. 1280, and there is good reason to believe that our line was distantly related to this one, for our line did have holdings in the Haute-Pyrenees. The first known ancestor of this line was probably a man named Azon de La Tourette who moved to the Pyrenee's, and had a home in the Haute-Loire region of France. French records list also the following mentions of this name as follows. A Hugues de Ginestous de La Tourette lived in Velay, near the Alpes-Maritimes area in 1181. There is a mention of a Chateau (Mansus) de Torretta in the town of Lazere in 1327. Also there is a mention of another Chateau de Torreta listed in 1258 in du Monastier, Dauphine, France. A man named Reginaud de La Tourette lived in Saintonge, France in the mid 1400's, and he married a woman named d 'Horric. He may have been related to our Jean, for Jean also lived in this area of France. In the 1400's a Knight named A. Torreta lived in the town of Chomelix, in the Haute-Loire region. In Anselme's famous work dealing with the Genealogy, and History of the Royal families of all France there is a mention of a Jean de Vassel, who was listed as the Seigneur de Rignac in 1424, and he assumed the title of Seigneur de La Tourette in 1460. His ancestors styled as Seigneurs de La Tourette lived on estates in Montviel, Foulamar, and Guinne, France until the 1650's, but they never seemed to have used the surname of La Tourette. Another Chateau called de La Torretta was found in the town of Thiolent in 1499, and it was later known as a house of a Pious, and Religous man. Anselme's work also lists a Marie Felix Imbaud de La Rivoire, who was titled as the Marquis de La Tourette. He was a Chevalier de Legion de Honour. He was also the ancient deputy, and consul General of the town of L'Ardeche. Some of his ancestors assumed the title of Count de La Tourette, but they seemed to have kept the last name of La Rivoire. Some of this line may have assumed the surname of La tourette after 1550, but no known connection exists with the family of Jean La Tourette. Also Anselme lists a Gabriel de Ginestous de La Tourette, who was titled as the Seigneur de Cinniqule. He was a master of the camp, and a General in the French Calvary. His family came from the Alps-Maritimes, near the town of Levens-Torettes. This town, which is probably named in honor of one of the early ancestors of the La Tourette line, is located near Nice, in Provence, France. In the 1540's a Baron de La Tourette married Francoise de Joyeuse. Others of this surname appear in many other records, but no match to our line has been proved. What is known about Jean de La Tourette is as follows. Jean was born ca. 1651 in Osse-en-Bearn, France, a little town in the foothills of the Pyrenee Mountains bordering Northern Spain. Early records suggest that Jean was titled as a Count, but this author after many years of search in Noble ancestral records dealing with French Aristocracy has not proven this statement. That he owned two estates one on a Hill overlooking Osse, and the other in La Vendee, near La Rochelle, France is known. Also it is definitely known that Jean was a French Huguenot, and that he married in France Marie Mercereau, whose ancestry is found in the Mercereau chapter in this work. The first marriage to Marie took place in a Huguenot Temple in La Vendee in 1683, and in 1684 he probably attended the Mass service at the French Protestant Temple in nearby Marenne. Many thousands of Huguenots attended this mass on a hill near the Temple. The Huguenots were hard pressed, they were hounded by the French government, and the French Army to the point where many thousands of them fled to England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, and North America. The Roman Catholic clergy had no love for the Protestants either, and they persecuted them, and in time killed many of the Protestants. From all sides they were being forced to give up their religious beliefs, but our Count Jean de La Tourette felt obliged to protest instead, and he was informed in 1684 that his name was on a list of proscribed, and he was forced to flee France forever. Either he gave up his Protestant faith, or be put to death. Family records which go back to the very early 1700's state that he decided to hold a great banquet in his fortress Chateau on the top of the hill overlooking the small village of Osse'. He, and his wife invited the surrounding Gentry, and at the height of the gayety he stole away with his wife, from the banqueting hall, and escaped quickly by foot through the hills to the nearby seashore where he had secured a vessel, which was waiting for them, which would bring them, and his wife's famous Mercereau relatives to England, and then to South Carolina where many French Huguenots had already made a home in Charleston. The only things he took with him were his Bible, and family jewels. They lost their two estates, and left many relatives behind. The ship left the coast of France, and sailed across the English channel to England. They stayed in England for a short while, and then they sailed for South Carolina, by way of New York. But they never made South Carolina for their ship ran ashore in a bad storm off the coast of Staten Island, New York. Fate forced Jean, and his family to settle in New York city, and Staten Island would be his new ancestral home. To this day the history of Staten Island is full of the stories, and heroics of the La Tourette, and Mercereau families, and both these families have gone on to achieve many great things in this land. Because of his great courage, and stalwart faith he would rather face an uncertain future than change his religious beliefs. His convictions helped establish a great American Huguenot family. Upon their arrival in New York city in 1685 his family was without worldly goods, but Huguenot swift energy, and perseverance eventually provided them with a home, and a total enjoyment of their much needed religious freedom. The family stayed in New York city until early 1690, and during this time the family attended the French Church in Manhattan. Jean worked hard as a carpenter, and furniture maker. On 08 Feby., 1690 Jean, Marie, and possibly two young children made the long and arduous trip up the Hudson to the small fort in Schenectady, New York. At this time the French, and Indians were fighting the English, and Dutch settlers in the Mohawk valley. Shortly after their arrival the fort was attacked by the French, and Indians, and they killed at least 60 of the settlers, and at least 80-90 were taken prisoner by the Indians. Some 60 of the 66 houses were burned by the Algonquins, and the French. However, fate once again helped this weary family, for the French left one of the smaller gates to the village unguarded, and Jean, Marie, and others escaped through the gate into the surrounding forest, and made their way to Fort Albany, near the Hudson, which was at least one days march south. Family lore States that Jean, and Marie lost at least one daughter in the raid, and that Marie was partially scalped by an Indian, and that she had to wear a small skull cap bonnet for the rest of her life.                                           After the massacre Jean, Marie, and at least one child made their way from Fort Albany south down the Hudson to New York city again. In late a1690 he was listed as an elder in the French Church on Pine street. From 1691-1694 Jean remained in Manhattan and worked as a carpenter. In 1694 Jean received 50 shillings for carpentry work done for the city. In 1695 he petitioned the Governor of New York for Citizenship, and he was also taxed that same year for 15 shillings for a house in the southward of the city, and he was still living in the city in 1699 where he was taxed in the Westward.             Jean's first marriage to Marie took place in a French Temple near La Vendee, France in 1683, but the records were lost, and the new British Government in New York required that he should marry his wife again. So on 16 July, 1693 Jean remarried Marie Mercereau a second time in the French Church on Pine street in Manhattan. Present at the wedding was Pierre Masse, Daniel Mercereau, Joshue Mercereau, Eli Boudinot, and F. Barberie, and the Priest was Peiret's. Also on 07 April, 1693 Jean was paid expenses as a carpenter when he provided work to do the floor of the new Church, and also Iron work. In 1698 Jean, and his wife purchased a 75 acre farm in Staten Island. He purchased this land from Francis Lee, and he immediately started to build a strong fieldstone home on the property, which eventually was passed on to his son Jean La Tourette. This home, and new property is now located where La Tourette Park stands, and is in Freshkills. In 1699 he was also appointed as one of the three trustees who held title to the half acre of land for the new Staten Island French church. He assisted as a joiner (Carpenter) in building this church, which was eventually destroyed by the Hessians during the American Revolution, along with most of the churches records. Jean enjoyed a life of hard work as a farmer, and as a furniture maker in Freshkills. His house had four rooms on a ground floor. Above was mud, and stone rafters, and the walls were nearly two feet thick. Most of his family spent many hours in the kitchen huddled near the wood burning stove, especially during the long winter nights. Just down the hill, not far from their home, along an old Indian trail, turned into a dirt road, stood the "Black horse" tavern, and no doubt the male members of the family spent many hours in the Inn talking, an drinking with the neighbors. The famous American family named Vanderbilt lived not too far from the La Tourette's and both families knew each other in these early days. During the American Revolution his old homestead was used as the Headquarters for Lt. Col. Simcoe of the British forces. In 1723 Jean was elected as a Justice for the Staten Island Court of Common Pleas, and at this time he was the Warden of St. Andrews church. In 1724 he was a Justice of the Court of special sessions. Jean died in his home in July, 1725 in Freshkills.                                                             It should be noted at this time, that this author has conducted a very extensive search for this family material, and that he has conducted many E-mail mailings to distant cousins working on this same family, has read at least 3 family histories dealing with this family, and has gone through the entire unpublished manuscript collection of material, a full two large boxes of such, in the New York Genealogical, and Biographical Society Library in New York city. The author has also conducted a through search of the Staten Island Historical Society holdings, and New York Public Library's holdings, and the Mormon church holding dealing with Staten Island, and this family. He has conducted searches in land deeds, probate records, census records, military records, and old bible records. Jean, and Marie had issue of the following children. Jean's age was gleaned from the 1706 Staten Island census.

Notes for Marie Mercereau:
She was married in the French Church in New York city, her first marriage in France was never recorded. This was her second marriage to the same man. She is not to be confused with her niece Mary Mercereau, who married her son Jean La Tourette Jr..
     
Children of Jean La Tourette and Marie Mercereau are:
  2 i.   N.....2 La Tourette, born Abt. 1684 in La Vendee, France; died Abt. 1690 in Schnectady, New York.
  Notes for N..... La Tourette:
An unknown daughter who supposedly died in the Schenectady, New York massacre in 1690.

+ 3 ii.   Mary La Tourette, born September 23, 1693 in French Church, New York City; died Abt. 1794 in Staten Island, New York.
+ 4 iii.   Jean La Tourette, born October 06, 1695 in Staten Island, New York; died Abt. 1794 in Staten Island, New York.
  5 iv.   Esther La Tourette, born Abt. 1696 in New York City; died January 19, 1781 in Staten Island, New York. She married Paul Mercereau; born Abt. 1699 in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York; died December 10, 1777 in Staten Island, New York.
  Notes for Paul Mercereau:
His will was proven on 10 December, 1777 while living on Staten Island. by trade he was a shipwright, and builder. In his will he states that he was a shipwright, and he named his nephew Daniel Mercereau of Staten Island, son of my sister Elizabeth, also listed was his cousin John La Tourette, and Mary La Tourette, both being the children of his sister Mary Mercereau. Also listed were his cousins David, the son of his brother Daniel Mercereau, and his cousin Daniel, son of his brother David Mercereau.

+ 6 v.   Peter La Tourette, born November 28, 1697 in Freshkills, Staten Island, new York; died Abt. 1754 in Freshkills, Staten Island, new York.
+ 7 vi.   David La Tourette, born December 28, 1699 in Freshkills, Staten Island, new York; died February 23, 1764 in Freshkills, Staten Island, new York.
+ 8 vii.   Susanna La Tourette, born Abt. 1704 in Freshkills, Staten Island, New York; died May 16, 1782 in Freshkills, Staten Island, New York.
+ 9 viii.   Henry La Tourette, born Abt. 1708 in Freshkills, Staten Island, new York; died Abt. 1794 in Staten Island, New York.
  10 ix.   James La Tourette, born Abt. 1710 in Staten Island, New York; died November 13, 1738 in Staten Island, New York.
  Notes for James La Tourette:
He was in the Weaving business along with his older brother Henry La Tourette.




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