The Immigrant Jean Baptiste de la Chaumette
Progenitor of the Shumates in Virginia and West Virginia
The progenitor of the Shumates in West Virginia was Jean de la Chaumette, born to attorney Daniel de la Chaumette and Marie Au Courturier, about 1664, in Rochechouart, Poitiers, France. His family was among those being watched by the government because they were Protestant. After the Edict of Nantes was revoked on October 20, 1684, Jean fled France with his two brothers, Josue and Antione, and Clovis Palazy, the pastor of the Reformed Church at Rochechouart. They found refuge in England, but no records have been located to indicate what life was like between 1684 and 1687. Some speculate that Jean served in the English army.
One record that does exist is dated September 8, 1687, and can be found in the Huguenot Library in London, England. It shows his name Anglicized to John (hereafter so called) and that his passage to Virginia was to be paid by an English citizen, Nicholas Hayward. Since no wife is mentioned, he was single at the time the document was written. A translation of the document is below.
To severall ye intended for ye West Indies . . . To Lewis Reynaud of Angoumois, his wife and eight children for tools and others necessaries things to go to Virginia granted 8 pounds; and To Nichlos Hayward notary for ye passage to Virginia of Lewis Reynaud, Anne his wife, Francis, Lewis, Mary and Sara Reynaud their children, and Benjamin Reynaud, Mary his wife, Marianne and Mary their children, and John de la Chaumette granted 33 pounds.
However, John did not actually leave England at that time. It appears he changed his mind and got married instead. He was later widowed, but the wife’s name is not known. There were no known children.
What is known is that, on September 29, 1695, John, a widower, married a widow, Elizabeth Bourgeois Bouvet, in the French Church in London, but it wasn’t until 1708 that Jean and other wealthy French Huguenots set sail for the West Indies. They were there for several years, but after Elizabeth died in an epidemic, Jean decided to leave the West Indies and head for Virginia. With him were his three youngest sons: John, Samuel, and Daniel. His oldest son, Antoine, stayed in Martinique (lower right on the map) at the homestead Jean had purchased. At some point, his name was further Anglicized to John de la Shumate.
The largest influx of Huguenots to the Colonies was in 1700. This was at a settlement known as Manakin Town in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. John arrived by 1722, thinking he would join his brother Arnoul; however, he found that Arnoul had died 20 years before. Apparently, that was one factor in John’s decision not to stay in Isle of Wight County, but to head west, where land was more plentiful. He eventually bought 200 acres in Stafford County, where the deed is recorded. In 1724, John was included in the tobacco list of Overton Parish with his sons John, over 16, Samuel, 14, and Daniel, 12. He died before 1734 in what was then known as Prince William County, Virginia. (Note: I will continue the line through his son John. I have no information on his sons Samuel or Daniel.)
Shumate Sources
http://ancestors.chashartley.com/Genealogy/chart2/Individuals/ShumateJean1.html
(Other sources I used are no longer available online.)
Jean de la Chaumette was my 9th great grandfather. through my paternal grandmother's line.