In 1623, Dr. Johannes De La Montagne shoes up with Jesse de
Forest during a journey to the Amazon River near the coast of Guiana. Jesse De Forest was leading a Huguenot
expedition in Guiana to find a location for a colony. Johannes actually ended up being the keeper
of the journals during the expedition probably because he was literate. He returned to Leyden, Holland with the news
that Jesse De Forest had died in 1624 in Guiana. Johannes also courted and married Jesse De
Forest’s daughter, Rachel. They left in
1628 for Tobago but Rachel returned by 1631 possibly because of poor health
caused by the climate. Johannes returned
in 1633 to Holland and in 1636 left for America.
When Johannes and Rachel left for America in 1636 they
sailed with several of Rachel’s brothers and uncle as well as their 3
children. Rachel gave birth to a
daughter, Maria, on board the ship near the island of Madeira (part of group of
islands off of Portugal). After their
arrival in New Amsterdam, now New York, Rachel’s brother Henry, started a
tobacco plantation called Vrendahl. Henry died soon after and Johannes and Rachel
took over the plantation. The plantation
was located in the upper half of what is now known as Central Park in
Manhattan. They were driven off of the
plantation by some local Indians and the plantation was abandoned.
Johannes became of the official surgeon of New Amsterdam and
spent several years working for both Willem Kieft and Peter Stuyvesant – both had
the role of the Dutch Director-General in the colony of New Netherland. Johannes later became the Vice Director of
the colony and had special responsibility for Fort Orange (Albany) and the
Dutch settlement of Beverwyck. When the
colony was taken over by the British in 1664, Johannes De La Montagne had to
resign his position and sign a loyalty oath.
According to records, Johannes returned to Holland with Peter Stuyvesant
to defend the turnover of the colony. He
returned to the America and probably died around 1670 in Claverack, NY which is
about an hour south of Albany.
My line descends through Johannes and Rachel’s son Jean. The family had a prominent position within the
early history of New York both within the government and founding. I’ve been told that there is a monument to
the Huguenots in Central Park – probably not too far from where Johannes and
his wife Rachel De Forest lived. As a
group who were searching for religious freedom they left a significant imprint
on one of the most important cities in the world, New York City.
One of the
interesting problems with the Montagne family is the numerous spellings. Within my line alone, I find the following
spellings: De La Montagne, Delamontanie,
& Montanye. The family comes from
Harlem, New York City, Pluckemin, NJ, and finally ends up in Charleston,
Montgomery Co., NY which is where my great great great grandmother’s family
lived and near where she married her schoolteacher when she 15 years old. Phebe Montanye Gallup was born a little over
200 years after her ancestor immigrated.
My grandmother and great uncle both remember Grandma Gallup, as she was
called quite well. I think it is pretty
remarkable that we live in 2011 and she was born in 1844 – and she is still
well remembered.
If you are interested in the family of the Montanye's look up Lois Stewart's genealogy on the Montanye's called "The Ancestors and Descendants of James Montaney (1799-1857) of Oppenheim, Fulton County, New York; A Genealogical History...of the Montanye Family"
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