Michel de Foret

• Sources:
  • 1671 Acadie Census - shown to be 33 years old which estimates birth to be 1638.

    ---

The Origins of the Acadian Michel Forest

• Not the son of Henri de Forest & Gertrude Bornstra
• Not the son of Crispin de Forest & Marguerite Bornstra
• Not the same person as Gereyt de Forest

yDNA test show that Michel is not descendent from Henri or Crispin de Forest.

1671, Census of Port Royal, Michel de Forest, laborer, age 33. His wife Marie Hébert, age 20. Their three children: Michel age 4, Pierre age 2 and a half, and René age 1. His land under labor is two arpents, and he has 12 horned beasts (cattle) and 2 sheep (L. Forest 1977, 38; P. Gaudet 1905, 58; Hebert 1980, 461). His first wife, Marie Hébert, was the daughter of longtime Acadian colonists Etienne Hébert and Marie Gaudet. She was born around 1650 and married Michel around 1666 (L. Forest 1977, 38).

1678, Census of Port Royal, Michel Forest, a widower, no age given, is recorded as owning four acres, three cows, two calves, and one gun (Entremont 1971, 230; 1979, 56). He has six children: Michel age 12, Pierre age 10, René age 8, an unnamed male (probably Jean-Baptiste) age 3, Gabrielle age 6, and Marie age 4. From this report we gather that his first wife was dead sometime between 1675 and 1678.

1686, Census of Acadia, Michel Deforest age 47. His wife Jacqueline Benoist (or Benoît), age 13. His six children: Michel age 19, Pierre age 18, René age 16, Gabriel age 13, Marie age 11, and Jean-Baptiste age 9 (Hebert 1980, 503). He is reported as owning one gun, 8 cows, 4 pigs and 5 acres. His second wife, Jacqueline Benoist, was the daughter of Martin Benoist and Marie Chaussegros. She was born around 1671/1672 according to the 1678 census (Entremont 1979, 56, n. 29) and died at the reported age of 82 in October 1755 while in exile in Virginia (L. Forest 1977, 38). Given her reported age on the 1678 census, should would be about 14 or 15 in 1686, therefore, she probably married Michel around 1686.

1693, Michel does not appear on the census. His three eldest sons, Michel, Pierre, and René, are on the census (Entremont 1979, 56, n. 29). His second wife appears as the spouse of Guillaume Trahan on this census.

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown] [sibling%28s%29 unknown]

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: Name: Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);;;

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F. 3

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: Name: Name: Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);;;;

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F.

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: Name: Name: Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);;;;

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Jean Francois Flan, person ID L8PB-CL2. 3

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F. 3

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F. 3

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: Name: Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);;;

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F. 3

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: Name: Name: Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);;;;

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F.

GEDCOM Source

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch Name: (https://www.familysearch.org);

GEDCOM Source

accessed 12 Jun 2018), entry for Michel # Forest, person ID 933W-K2F. 3

GEDCOM Note

Father Vincent-de-Lerins: "As the archives of Amsterdam and Leyden contain no mention of Gereyt de Forest after his birth, neither a record of his marriage, nor of his burial, nor any other document in which he might have appeared; and that furthermore the archivists of these cities are inclined to believe that he left the country for America, as other members of this family did; and considering further that this Gereyt de Forest is never mentioned in the censuses of Port Royal, or of other places in Acadia; it seems very clear that on the occasion of his conversion to Catholicism, for he was a Huguenot, Gereyt took a saint's name, that of Michel, as his patron and also in memory of his great- grandfather, Michel Maillard, who had notpassed over to Calvinism."?

NAME: (750) DE LAFOREST Michel Geyret (1638-)

BIRTH: 18 June 1637 PLACE: Leyden, , , Netherlands DIED: 1691 PLACE: Port Royal, ,New Brunswick, Canada BURIED: PLACE: SPOUSE: Marie HEBERT MARRIAGE DATE: MARRIAGE PLACE:

SIBLINGS:

CHILDREN:

Family Data Collection - Individual Records about Michel De Forest Name: Michel De Forest Spouse: Marie Hebert Parents: Henri De Forest, Gertrude Bordstra Birth Place: Acadia, Port Royal, Ns Birth Date: 1638 Found this on Ancestry.com May 31, 2010

See the related discussion item and add your thoughts and arguments to it (since it allows multiple entries by various users for a thread whereas "Notes" do not. Thanks!

GEDCOM Note

gonl: GenealogieOnline
Michel de Forest
https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/les-celtes-base-1/I1970320.php

GEDCOM Note

gonl: GenealogieOnline
Michel de Forest
https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/les-celtes-base-1/I1974349.php

GEDCOM Note

gonl: GenealogieOnline
Michel (De) Forest
https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/les-celtes-base-1/I1994435.php

GEDCOM Note

Michael de Forest
Father Vincent-de-Lerins: "As the archives of Amsterdam and Leyden contain no mention of Gereyt de Forest after his birth, neither a record of his marriage, nor of his burial, nor any other document in which he might have appeared; and that furthermore the archivists of these cities are inclined to believe that he left the country for America, as other members of this family did; and considering further that this Gereyt de Forest is never mentioned in the censuses of Port Royal, or of other places in Acadia; it seems very clear that on the occasion of his conversion to Catholicism, for he was a Huguenot, Gereyt took a saint's name, that of Michel, as his patron and also in memory of his great- grandfather, Michel Maillard, who had not passed over to Calvinism."

GEDCOM Note

NAME: (750) DE LAFOREST Michel Geyret (1638-)

BIRTH: 18 June 1637
PLACE: Leyden, , , Netherlands
DIED: 1691
PLACE: Port Royal, ,New Brunswick, Canada
BURIED:
PLACE:
SPOUSE: Marie HEBERT
MARRIAGE DATE:
MARRIAGE PLACE:

SIBLINGS:

CHILDREN:

Family Data Collection - Individual Records about Michel De Forest
Name: Michel De Forest
Spouse: Marie Hebert
Parents: Henri De Forest, Gertrude Bordstra
Birth Place: Acadia, Port Royal, Ns
Birth Date: 1638
Found this on Ancestry.com May 31, 2010

GEDCOM Note

Michel FOREST (m. Marie HEBERT) most likely *not* from Netherlands
See the related discussion item and add your thoughts and arguments to it (since it allows multiple entries by various users for a thread whereas "Notes" do not. Thanks!

GEDCOM Note

Category:Port-Royal, Acadie

Biographie ==NOTICE: this profile is protected by the Acadian Project because of uncertainty aboutparents or attempts to add unsourced parents. Please contact the Acadian Project before making any substantive changes. Thanks for helping make WikiTree the best site for accurate information.

Discussion

::Parents Some have stated that Henri de Forest and Gertrude Bornstra are Michel's parents. Accordingto John P Dulong, Henri de Forest (or Hendrick de Foreest in Dutch) was born on 7 March 1606 at Sedan, France, and married on 1 July 1636 at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Gertrude Bornstra, of Friesland. He departed on 25 September 1636 for New Amsterdam, Gertrude staying behind. Henri died on 26 July 1637 of a fever off the coast of Virginia. The couple had only been married for just over a year, but they had beenseparated for much of this time. According to the Jessé theory during a three month period they conceived a son named Michel who eventually migrated to Acadia and settled there. There is no evidence in any document uncovered to date to support this theory. Gertrude eventually came to New Amsterdam with her second husband, Andries Hudde, in 1639. In the settlement of Henri's property, there is no mention made of anychildren, which would normally appear in such a case (E. De Forest 1914, 1: 99-101; 2:355-356). Specifically, Riker (1904, 128-129), the historian of Harlem, New York, states that Henry died childless and his estate fell to his wife.
::More so Y DNA results to this date clearly show that the de Forest from Avesnes and the New Amsterdam De Forest are not related to the acadian Michel de Forest.
::The French Heritage yDNA project, including Acadian lines, is postedhere. Validatedancestral signatures for Acadians including Michel Forest are found here. As of June 2014, there were results from eight descendants and three family trees.
::L'origine de Michel Forest de même que le noms de ses parents nous est inconnue. Après avoir vécu à Port-Royal le long de la rivière Dauphin, il épousa Marie Hébert vers 1666 à Port-Royal où il est décédé avant 1691 vers l'âge de cinquante trois ans.
::Selon Denis Beauregard, FOREST(de), Michel, n 1638 [R1671] ou 1639 [R1686], laboureur en 1671, voir spéculation sur ses parents et son ascendance, son origine la plus probable serait du Poitou comme la plupart des autres Acadiens et où on trouve aussi des de Forest, l'hypothse d'un Gereyt de Forest qui n'a laissé aucune autre trace que sa naissance me semble de plus en plus farfelue et sans fondement [Denis Beauregard]

Recensement des familles de l'Acadie de 1671:
Michel de Forest, laboureur, aagé de trente trois ans, sa femme marie hebert aagée de vingt ans, Leurs enfants 3.--Michel aagé de 4ans,Pierre deux ans et demy--René un an. Leurs terres en labour deux arpans. leurs bestes à cornes douxe et deux brebis.sic

Recensement de Port Royal de 1678
«Michel Forest Widower, 4 acres 3 cows & 2 calves 1 gun: ses enfants 4 garçons: Michel 12 ans, Pierre 10 ans, René 8 ans, Gabrielle 6ans, marie 4 ans, un enfant mâle 3 ans (probablement Jean-Baptiste) ; 2 filles Gabrielle 6 Marie 4.»

Recensement de 1686 Port Royal, Beaubassin...
«Michel Déforest 47 ; Jacqueline Benoist 13 ; enfants du premier lit(femme Marie Hébert) : Michel 19, Pierre 18, René 16, Gabriel 13, Marie 11, Jean-Baptiste 9 ; 1 fusil, 8 bêtes à cornes, 4 cohons, 5 arpents en valeur.»

Biography

(version française ci-dessus)

Michel Forest ...
Position of John P Dulong on the Origins of the Acadian Michel Forest

Origins of the Acadian Michel Forest
Compared to French Canadians, it is difficult to find the origins of many Acadian families back in France or other parts of Europe. This is due in part to the poverty of the early settlement, to illiteracy among the Acadians, to a lack of officials responsible for keeping records, to the continually shifting political control over the colony, and to region's turbulent history and consequent destruction of records. According to Rev. d'Entremont (Entremont 1991) the origins of only abouta hundred male immigrants to Acadia are known for sure based on surviving records. Consequently, finding the French or European origin of an Acadian ancestor is an important accomplishment.
For several years, there has been a general theory expressed concerning the origins of the Acadian Michel Forest. He was the founder of an Acadian family that has many descendants now living in the Canada and the United States. Hence the importance of this theory for his many descendants. According to this theory, Michel Forest is part of the de Forest family of Huguenots who lived in the Netherlands before coming toNorth America. The history of this prestigious bourgeois family is covered in several books (E. de Forest 1914; J. W. de Forest 1900). The de Forest genealogy reaches back to Gaspard de Forest who in 1450 was living in Avesnes, French Flanders. The de Forests, because they whereFrench-speaking Protestant Walloons from French Flanders, sought refuge from religious persecution in the Netherlands. Several of them became involved in various New World colonization efforts including the New Netherlands (New York) and French Guiana.
What do we know about Michel Forest?We know very little about Michel Forest. He appears on several census records. According to the available censuses we know the following about him:
1671, Census of Port Royal, Michel de Forest, laborer, age 33. His wife Marie Hébert, age 20. Their three children: Michel age 4, Pierre age 2 and a half, and René age 1. His land under labor is two arpents, and he has 12 horned beasts (cattle) and 2 sheep (L. Forest 1977, 38; P. Gaudet 1905, 58; Hebert 1980, 461). His first wife, Marie Hébert,was the daughter of longtime Acadian colonists Etienne Hébert and Marie Gaudet. She was born around 1650 and married Michel around 1666 (L. Forest 1977, 38).
1678, Census of Port Royal, Michel Forest, a widower, no age given, isrecorded as owning four acres, three cows, two calves, and one gun (Entremont 1971, 230; 1979, 56). He has six children: Michel age 12, Pierre age 10, René age 8, an unnamed male (probably Jean-Baptiste) age 3, Gabrielle age 6, and Marie age 4. From this report we gather that his first wife was dead sometime between 1675 and 1678.
1686, Census of Acadia, Michel Deforest age 47. His wife Jacqueline Benoist (or Benoît), age 13. His six children: Michel age 19, Pierre age 18, René age 16, Gabriel age 13, Marie age 11, and Jean-Baptiste age 9 (Hebert 1980, 503). He is reported as owning one gun, 8 cows, 4 pigs and 5 acres. His second wife, Jacqueline Benoist, was the daughter of Martin Benoist and Marie Chaussegros. She was born around 1671/1672 according to the 1678 census (Entremont 1979, 56, n. 29) and died at the reported age of 82 in October 1755 while in exile in Virginia (L. Forest 1977, 38). Given her reported age on the 1678 census, should would be about 14 or 15 in 1686, therefore, she probably married Michel around 1686.
1693, Michel does not appear on the census. His three eldest sons, Michel, Pierre, and René, are on the census (Entremont 1979, 56, n. 29).His second wife appears as the spouse of Guillaume Trahan on this census.
The censuses do not state anything about Michel's origins. They do give us a rough estimate of his age. We can guess that he was probably born between 1638 and 1639. We can also infer that he must have arrived in the colony by 1665 since his first child is born in 1666 or 1667. We know that he died between 1687, the birth of his daughter Marguerite, and 1691, the remarriage of his second wife, Jacqueline Benoist (Entremont 1979, 56, n. 29).
Abbé Forest (L. Forest 1977, 29) indicates that Michel was given landeast of Port Royal on the Dauphine River (now the Annapolis River). However, to my knowledge, there is no document clearly establishing Michel's ownership of any land. This lack of documentation is not uncommon for many Acadian parcels of land.
Lastly, concerning his origins, there is a family tradition among the Forest descendants living on the Gaspé peninsula of Québec that their immigrant ancestor was from French Flanders and that he had converted to Catholicism (L. Forest, 1977, 6, 49-52). However, no document found in Acadia contemporary to Michel supports this tradition. It is unclear when this tradition started, but it at least goes back as far as Charles Forest , who was married to Marie-Anne Poirier at Bonaventure on 3 November 1820. Apparently, this oral tradition was current aroundthe mid-1830s when Charles told it to his sons. Oral traditions can be notoriously incorrect. They may contain some truth, but they must beverified by documents.
This is the sum of the information we know with relative confidence regarding Michel Forest.
Michel (Gereyt) (de) Forest (Crispin & Marguerite Bornstra) was born (according to Vincent-de-Lerins, comme Gereyt) Rg Leyde 19 Juin 1637; converti au catholicisme sous le nom de Michel; laboureur; died before 1691. Michel married Marie Hebert, daughter of Etienne & Marie Gaudet.≤ref>Title: Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes; Author: Stephen A. White; Publication: 2 vols., Moncton, New Brunswick: Centre d'Études Acadiennes, 1999. Copy in possession of Jacqueline Girouard; p. 630.
:Michel married (2) Jacqueline (Jacquette) Benoit about 1686 in Port-Royal, Acadie. Bride is said to be 13 years old and the groom 47 on thecensus of 1686, only 4 years older than her youngest step-child. Shehad a child born about 1687 when she would have been 14.≤/ref>

• 1671 Acadian Census at Port Royal: Michel De FOREST 33, wife, Marie HEBERT 20: Children: Michel 4, Pierre 2, Rene 1; cattle 12, sheep 2.
• 1678 Acadian Census at Port Royal: Michel Forest, Widower; 4 acres, 3 cows & 2 calves, 1 gun; 4 boys: 12 1666, 10 1668, 8 1670, 3 1675; 2 girls: 6 1672, 4 1674.
• CENSUS: 1686, Port Royal, Acadia, age 47, name Michael, living with [second] wife Jaqueline BENOIST, age 13, plus his six children, aged 9 to 19. Four of the sons are the same age or older than the stepmother.Name is spelled Michel DEFOREST. They have 1 gun, 5 arpens worked land, 8 cattle and 4 pigs.

Notes ==*Melanson says father is Henri de Forest; probably not so: probably not so either for Crispin (m 1 July 1636 to M. BORNSTRA)-- son of Gerard(Gereyt? Gerrit?) De Forest who may have been the son of Isaack De Forest Bornstra information from Jehn, Acadian Descendants, v.5, p.iii Geyreyt?

Sources

≤references />* White, Stephen A., Patrice Gallant, and Hector-J Hébert. Dictionnaire Génalogique Des Familles Acadiennes. Moncton, N.-B.: Centre D'études Acadiennes, Université De Moncton, 1999, Print, p630.

• Michel de Foret