Louis Demoss

Evidence needed to support as son of Louis Dumas, Vicomte De Drui & Catherine Dumas

Louis Demoss

• AKA Lewis, Demose, Dumas
• Born about 1690
• Died before 9 Mar 1744 before about age 54 in Frederick, Virginia, British Colonial America
• Husband of Catherine (Unknown) — married Aug 1714 in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland
• Father of Catherine Demoss, Lewis Demoss, William DeMoss, John Demoss, Peter Demoss, Jane Demoss, Thomas Demoss Sr., James Demoss and Charles Demoss

Disputed Origins

Birth seen as March 09, 1681 at Alencon, Departement de l'Orne, Basse-Normandie, France without supporting evidence.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Demoss-150

It has been claimed that Lewis Demoss (Demos, DeMoss) was the fourth child of Louis DeMoss (Dumas) and Marthe Duval de Rocoulle. There is no documentation establishing that the Lewis Demoss of Baltimore County is the Louis DuMas b 1681-1684 son of Louis and Marthe. This would place the birth of his first child between age 31 and 34 which is quite old for this time period. And, there is nothing in any primary source documentation indicating this relationship while the son of Louis and Marthe is otherwise accounted for. See Research Notes for discredited information. See Research Notes for Additional Information.

Biography

The origins of Lewis [sic] Demoss are currently unknown but he is found in Baltimore County by 1715 and still resided there in 1731. He married Catherine _________________. In Aug 1719 he was fined for refusing to repair his road.[1] Please note there is no documentation of his wife's maiden name nor the date of marriage.

By 1735 he is found in Old Frederick County, Virginia where he is first mentioned 12 Nov 1735 in the 1315 acre patent on Mill Creek for John Mills. James Wood surveyed land for his wife Catherine in 1734 or 1735.[2]

It may be read that he is interred at Bunker Hill, Berkeley, West Virginia and this was his last known residence. However, there is no documentation of his date or place of burial.

Children[1]

Note: Barnes cited immediately above did not find first daughter Catherine in the records and thus does not list her but she is named in the Will. All children believed born Deer Creek, Harford County.

Children of Louis DeMoss Jr. and Catherine:
(From dead link at WeRelate)

1. Catherine DeMoss - b abt 1714 b. abt 1713, Old Baltimore Co. MD m. James Crabtree
2. Lewis DeMoss - b. or bapt. 1 Nov 1715, St Johns Parish, Baltimore MD. d. bef 6 Jun 1749. He m. Margaret Ramsey, who relinguished her right to qualify as Admin- istrator June 6 1749. They wed bef 1 Jan 1743.
3. William DeMoss - b. 22 Sep 1716, Deer Creek, St. Johns Parish, Baltimore MD. He m. Rachel - , had a son William.
4. John DeMoss - b. 9 Aug 1718, St Johns Parish, d. abt 1790. Wed bef 1 Jan 1743 Susan Ramsey. Had John Jr. b 9 Aug 1718
5. Benjamin - b 25 Oct 1719 (In the later image appearing on this profile he is seen as Peter)
6. Peter DeMoss - b. 25 Oct 1719, Deer Creek, St Johns Parish, Baltimore MD
7. Jane DeMoss - b. 25 Oct 1723, Deer Creek. She m. Peter Sagathy aft 1743.
8. Pine DeMoss - b. 25 Oct 1723, Deer Creek. (?) (some believe this to be Jane) not mentioned in fathers will, so must have d. bef 1743.
9. Thomas DeMoss - b. 5 Sept 1726, Deer Creek, St Georges Parish. He was in Fayette Co PA in 1790 Census, unwed.
10. James Demoss - b 8 Sep 1728, Deer Creek, St Georges Parish, Baltimore MD.
11. Charles DeMoss - b 2 Nov 1731, bapt. 2 Nov 1731, Deer Creek, St Georges Parish. His will proved 9 Jun 1786 in Berk- ley Co. VA. He wed 1)Fannie- who d. before 1765. He m2) in 1765 Rebecca Throckmorton (1742-1792). He had: Catherine, Peter, Ishmael, Andrew (by 1st wife), and Susannah, Charles, William, Thomas, Louis, Throck- morton and Sarah by 2nd wife.

    ---

St. John's Parish Record Log

Will

Note: A link to an estate inventory at Ancestry was found bad and can be added if reestablished.

• Will dated 17 June 1743 proved 9 March 1744.[2]
• Inventory of estate 16 April 1744.
• The location is in modern day Berkeley County, West Virginia which was in :Orange County at the time of his will.
• About 1743 in Berkeley County, West Virginia,

Louis' Will was proven in open court on March 9, 1744. His wife Catherine and son John were executors of said Will. Inventory of his estate was done on April 16, 1744. The will laves 660 acres which had been purchased from Alexander Ross in present day Berkeley County, West Virginia and lies west of west of Bunker Hill, Inwood and Intersate 81 on Mill Creek and east of Berkeley County, West Virginia Highway 24 with Berkeley County, West Virginia Highway 24/3 on the south and West Virginia Highway 51 running through the center of the tract. Lewis willed 100 acres to his son-in-law James Crabtree and heirs of his daughter "Cathering," the wife of Crabtree. (Tract 173A) To son Lewis Demoss, he willed 200 acres that "he had before." To son Jhon Demoss, he willed 100 acres. (Tract 173B) To son Peter, he willed 100 acres adjacent to John's land. To daughter Jane, he willed personal property and to son William Demoss, one young heifer, "he having his portion given him before." To his two sons Thomas and James, he willed 160 acres to be divided equally between them after his wife's (Catherine) decease or marriage (Tract 173D) This tract was the home place of Lewis and Catherine. To son Charles, he willed three years of schooling to be paid out of the estate.[2]

Research Notes

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Demoss-150

T Stanton contacted the National Huguenot Society in March 2019. Their information that Louis Dumas II is the same as the Lewis Demoss of this profile is based upon applications received to join the Society. The Society could not provide documentation to show they are the same person making their information speculative. Research by Isabelle Martin shows that Louis-François, son of Louis Dumas, is otherwise accounted for and could not be this Lewis.

DEMOSS OF AMERICA DNA PROJECT Y-Haplogroup Study of direct line DeMoss male descendants mtDNA Study of direct line DeMoss family matriarch ancestor lines Autosomal DNA study of all DeMoss in America descendants.

This entry moved from bad placement in Biography: Source: See attached image of St. John's/St. George's Parish Register, Joppa, Harford County, Maryland. This gives his name, "wife, Catherine, and 4 sons born to them in 1715 thru 1719."

The following information is discredited. It is presented to avoid reintroduction as fact.

Probably born to Louis DeMoss I, who was born in France and mother
Marthe Duval de Rocoulle (1655 - 1741)[citation needed]
A 1683 letter from Fontainbleau describes
children of Sieur DuMas of Montmartin (Louis Du Mas de Montmartin (d. 1682) and Marguerite Françoise Amproux (1646-1732)) seeking refuge in Berlin.
Included are
Jacque Louis DuMas age 15, (born 1668)
Marguerite 14, (born 1669). (This is Marguerite Françoise Du Mas (1667-1750), who abjured Protestantism, returned to France, and married Adrien Picot de Meintaye at Paris on 12 Jun 1695.
Samuel 12, and (born 1671). (This is Samuel Du Mas (1669-1746), baron von Montmartin. He remained in exile for his faith and was the chief steward of the Markgraf von Bayreuth.)
Louis 9. born 1674 (This could be Louis II or his father no way to know. in Holland)[citation needed] Note: Documentation establishing that the Lewis Demoss of Baltimore County is the Louis DuMas b 1681-1684 is lacking. This would place the birth of his first child between age 31 and 34 which is quite old for this time period. (This is Louis Du Mas de Montmartin (24 Nov 1671 Pouzages - 4 Feb 1735), who abjured Protestantism and returned to France where he died the Château des Touches.)

(Notes in parentheses added by Todd Whitesides.)

(Todd Whitesides believes two family groups are being confused here. The claim I originally presented was that he was Louis Du Mas de Montbail, born at Alençon on 9 Mar 1681. Details of his first-cousin, Louis Du Mas de Montmartin (1671-1735), are being mistakenly blended. Note by Todd Whitesides.)

Older notes

The name, "DeMoss", from "Dumas";
Louis Dumasdemos DeMoss III

List of Qualified Huguenot Ancestors National Huguenot Society: "de Moss Louis Demoss, Dumas"
Maryland State Archives, Land Office (Patent Records) shows first land record found for Louis Demoss:

20 Sep 1717 for 250 acres of land - which he called "Frenchman's Repose" - on the south side of Deer Creek in Baltimore County;

Louis and his family left Maryland before Nov 1735 and settled in Orange County, Virginia, which is present day Berkeley County, West Virginia; Louis may be buried in Morgan's Chapel, Bunker Hill, West Virginia;

An article written by Ronald W. Brennan titled 'French Ancestry in Northern Kentucky...

The DeMoss Family' refers to Count Louis Dumas, a French Protestant, who fled Catholic France with other Huguenot families to Protestant Holland before the month of October 1685 had ended. His son, Louis II, b. 1694 in Holland stowed away on board a ship for the American Colonies. In his will probated in Frederick County, Virginia in 1743, he calls himself "Lewis Demos". (story is not verified)

It is said that Louis came to America around the age of twelve with his brother Charles as stowaways in a ship; this may only be a family story passed down through the generations or there may be some truth to the event, it has yet to be proven.

Around 1717 Louis bought 100 acres of land from John Clark in Harford Co., Maryland and called it "Frenchman's Repose". Around 1735 he sold the land for 4600 lbs. of tobacco to William Grafton and moved with his family to Berkeley Co., WV, which at that time was Orange County, Virginia.

Louis married Catherine Callett abt. 1712 in St. John's Parish, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Father of the following known children;
1) Catherine (married James Crabtree)
2) Louis II
3) William
4) John
5) Peter
6) Jane
7) Thomas
8) James
9) Charles

(The Demoss/Dumas surname was spelled several ways; and Louis' Will reflects it as Dumas, but he also used the spelling of Demoss. "Demoss" became the most commonly used spelling of the Dumas surname)

Louis' Will was proven in open court on March 9, 1744.
His wife Catherine and son John were executors of said Will.
Inventory of his estate was done on April 16, 1744.

References

1. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~parisho/genealogy/d/demoss.html (unsourced)
2. No DeMoss or Dumas is listed as an ancestor at the Huguenot Society of America. < link >
3. Both the surnames DeMoss and duMas are listed on the National Huguenot Society LIST OF QUALIFIED HUGUENOT ANCESTORS, look under duMas first and you will see them listed. https://nationalhuguenotsociety.org/ancestor-lookup/
4. "Count Louis Dumas, a Huguenot, fled from Paris, France, in October 1685 to settle in Holland, where he died, leaving a family, among whom were sons Louis and Charles. These sons came to America as stowaways in a ship. Charles had suffered wounds from persecutions in Europe, and these hindered his escape from an Indian attack in America, which caused his death soon after coming over. He probably never married, as we have not been able to trace any account of him or descendants from him (though one tradition has it that he left a family of small children). Louis escaped the Indians, and married the daughter of a Virginia planter and had a large family." Page 14 of The Demoss Family in America by Edith Susanna Caughron. [Unproven]
5. Barnes, Robert W., Baltimore County Families 1659-1759, Clearfield/Genealogical Pub Co., Baltimore, 1989, p 169. Note that Barnes primary source documentation is fully detailed in the Bibliography of the cited publication.
6. O'Dell, Cecil, Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia, Wallsworth, Virginia, 1995, p 159-160
7. Wilson, Peter, Settlers of Maryland 1701-1730, Baltimore, Genealogical Pub Co., 1996, p 43
8. Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 5 2022, 17:59:11 UTC
9. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Du_Mas-1951
10. FamilyTree DNA - Demoss of North America. A DNA descendant study of the surname Du Mas/DeMoss and variant spellings in North America with focus on the descendants of French Huguenot immigrant Louis duMas and wife Catherine Callot who founded Frenchman's Repose, Maryland and later migrated to early Colonial Virginia. The project has the intention of defining if the many variant spellings of the name in various areas of the US are associated with the duMas family that fled France and took up asylum in the Netherlands after the St. Bartholomew Massacre. Variations from Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, England, Australia, France are also of interest.
11. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/DEMOSSOFNORTHAMERICA?iframe=yr... LOUIS DUMAS / DEMOSS Death 1743 France R-FTB75290
12. https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~parisho/genealogy/d/demoss.html
13. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:William_Demoss_Or_Dumas_Sr_%28...