Pierre Chastain^[1]

1659 - 1728  (69 years)

• Name	Pierre Chastain  [2, 3]
  Birth	9 Apr 1659	Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France   [3]
  Gender	Male
  Arrival	1700	Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA   [2, 4]
  Death	3 Oct 1728	Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA   [3]
  Person ID	I18736	Master
  Last Modified	26 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	Estienne Rene Chastain,   b. 30 Mar 1625, Chârost, Cher, Centre, France d. 1694, Chârost, Cher, Centre, France (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Jean Laurent,   b. 1630, Berry, Cher, Centre, France d. 1691, Chârost, Cher, Centre, France (Age 61 years)
  Marriage	Dec 1652	Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France
  Family ID	F6614	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Susanne Renaud,   b. 1659, Issoudun, Indre, Centre, France d. Feb 1701, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 42 years)
  Marriage	1679	, , , France
  Children	1. Jean Adam Chastain,   b. May 1690, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 19 Dec 1761, , Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 71 years)  [Father: Natural]   2. Pauline Elizabeth Chastain,   b. 24 Apr 1693, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 1696, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland (Age 2 years)  [Father: Natural]   3. Pierre Chastain,   b. 24 Aug 1694, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 1697, , , Virginia, USA (Age 2 years)  [Father: Natural]   4. Arthurize Chastain,   b. 4 Mar 1696, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. Jun 1696, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland (Age 0 years)   5. Jeanne Francoise Chastain,   b. 26 Feb 1697, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 1701, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 3 years)  [Father: Natural]   6. Pierre Samuel Chastain,   b. 5 May 1698, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 1701, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 2 years)  [Father: Natural]   7. Susanne Chastain,   b. 10 Sep 1699, Wallone, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands d. 1700, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 0 years)  [Father: Natural]
  Family ID	F4719	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Anne Soblet,   b. 27 Oct 1675, Champagne, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France d. 3 Apr 1723, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 47 years)
  Marriage	1701	, Goochland, Virginia, USA
  Children	1. Margret Rapine Chastain,   b. 1681, Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France d. 26 Jan 1756, , Cumberland, Virginia, USA (Age 75 years)  [Father: Natural]   2. Magdalen Chastain,   b. 1688   d. 1751 (Age 63 years)  [Father: Natural]   3. Judith Chastain,   b. 1690, Berry, Cher, Centre, France d. 1774, Lucys Springs, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA (Age 84 years)  [Father: Natural]   4. Marie Susanne Chastain,   b. 8 Oct 1691, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 1701, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 9 years)   5. Rene Chastain,   b. 1692, Daulphin, France d. 1756, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 64 years)  [Father: Natural]   6. Judith Chastain,   b. 1703, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 1774, Lucys Springs, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA (Age 71 years)  [Father: Natural]   7. Jane Adam Chastain,   b. 6 May 1705, Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland d. 19 Dec 1761, , Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 56 years)  [Father: Natural]   8. Susanna Chastain,   b. 1706, , , Virginia, USA d. 1730, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 24 years)  [Father: Natural] + 9. Pierre Louis Peter Chastain,   b. 1707, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 1756, Hunts Creek, Buckingham, Virginia, USA (Age 49 years)   10. John Soblet Chastain,   b. Dec 1708, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. Bef 1799 (Age 90 years)  [Father: Natural]   11. Mary Chastain,   b. 1709, King William Parish, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 20 Nov 1728, King William Parish, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 19 years)  [Father: Natural]   12. Elizabeth Chastain,   b. 1711, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 15 Jun 1731, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 20 years)  [Father: Natural] + 13. Rene Chastain,   b. 1713, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 27 Jan 1786, Edgefield, Abbeville, South Carolina, USA (Age 73 years)  [Father: Natural]   14. John Chastain,   b. 1716, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 1722, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 6 years)  [Father: Natural]   15. Janne Jane Chastain,   b. 1716, King William Parish, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 12 Jan 1723, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 7 years)  [Father: Natural]   16. Marie Magdelaine Chastain,   b. 1720, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA d. 1803, , Buckingham, Virginia, USA (Age 83 years)  [Father: Natural]
  Family ID	F4720	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	14 Feb 2016

  
  

  Family 3	Marie Magdelin,   b. 1663, , , , France d. 1728, Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	1723	, Goochland, Virginia, USA
  Family ID	F6613	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	6 Feb 2016

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 9 Apr 1659 - Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France Marriage - 1679 - , , , France Arrival - 1700 - Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA Marriage - 1701 - , Goochland, Virginia, USA Marriage - 1723 - , Goochland, Virginia, USA Death - 3 Oct 1728 - Manakin, Goochland, Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Will of Pierre Chastain The will of Pierre Chastain's is taken from a trascript in Avilla Farnesworth-Milligan's Chastain Kith and Kin, 1981. A photocopy of the original will in long hand is also shown in her book. The text below is corrected slightly from the transcript by the photo copy. IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN, I Peter Chastaine of the County of Goochland and Parish of King William being sick and weak but of a sound mind and memory (blessed by God) do make this my last will and Testament in manner following-- First and principally I give my Soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it hoping through ye merrits of my blessed Saviour to receive a Joyfull resurrection and as to what worldly Estate it hath pleased God to bless me with I dispose of in the manner following. I give and devise unto my Son John Chastaine and to his Heirs for ever one Tract of Land lying between John Lavillane and Jacob Ominies containg by Estimation ninty Acres - it being the Land where my said Son lives. I give and Devise unto my Son Peter Chastaine and to his Heirs for ever the tract of Land wheron I live it being One Hundred and Eleven Acres and is bounded on ye lower side by ye Gleabland and the upper side by ye land of Susanna Kerner and Glode Gory. I give and Devise unto my Son Rene Chastaine and to his Heirs for Ever one tract of Land containing three Hundred Seventy Nine Acres lying on Jones' Creek it being the Land wheron Wm Bottom lives. I give and Devise unto my Daughters Judith Susanna Mary Elizabeth and Magdalin and thier Hiers for Ever one Tract of Land containing by Estimation Five Hundred Seventy Four Acres lying on the lower Mankin Creek to be Equally Divided between them and their Hiers for Ever my will is that my Daughter Judith to have the lower part it being where she now lives -- Susanna to Joyne to her Mary to Joyne to Susanna Elizabeth to Joyne Mary and Magdaline to Joyne Elizabeth and if Either of them die before they come of Age or Marry then the Land belonging to them that die shall divide between my other Daughters that Joyne her. I give and bequeath all of the rest of my Estate to be Equally Divided between my Wife Magdalin my three Sons John, Peter, and Rene, and my five daughters, Judith, Susanna, Mary, Elizabeth, and Magdalin, to them and to their Heirs for Ever and I do hereby constitute and appoint my two Sons John Chastaine and Peter Chastaine to be Executors of this my last Will and Testament and I do hereby Revoke all other wills by me made. In Witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 3rd day of Octo. 1728. Signed Sealed published and declared to be his last Will & Testament in presence of Thomas Randolph Daniel Guerrant Wm. B. Bryant (his mark) At a Court continued and held for Goochland County the 20th day of November 1728 This will was proved by the oaths of Thomas Randolph and Daniel Guerrant Junr. and was thereupon addmitted to record. TEST. HENRY WOOD CLCUR Pierre Chastain and the Church The Anglican Church The Church of England was the established church of England. That means it was the only official church, and all others were dissenters. It was also called the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church was supported by the taxes of all the people, regardless of their own church preference. The same was true in America, where the Anglican Church was the established church of some American colonies, including Virginia. Chastains in America were no strangers to the Anglican Church. Though Pierre Chastain, the immigrant, left France to escape persecution from the Catholic Church against Huguenots who frequently established Presbyterian Churches, he came to America as part of a Huguenot community sponsored by England, and so helped found King William Parish, an Anglican Church instead. Pierre Chastain and His Descendants (PCD), volume 1, page 3, states that: Pierre was one of twelve men elected to serve the first vestry of newly created Parish of King William about 1701. [Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (identified hereafter as "VMHB"), Vol. 32] He was elected again 25 August 1718. On 25 November 1718, Pierre Chastain and Abraham Sallee were elected church wardens, both taking oath of office on 18 December 1718. In April 1720, church wardens were replaced by Estienne Chastain and Pierre Louis Soblet, but Pierre continued on the vestry. In July of 1726, he was serving both as church warden and on the vestry. [VMHB, 12:28-30 and 12:376] Pierre's older son, Jean, was also quite involved in the King William Parish Church in Manakin. PCD, volume 1, pages 9-10 show that Jean was serving on the vestry by July 30, 1722 and was elected one of the Church Wardens on April 16, 1723. Jean was elected Clerk of the Church on September 23, 1727 and held that position until 1750. Pierre's younger son, Rene, Sr., was elected Vestryman and Church Warden on September 23, 1737 and attended his last vestry meeting on January 7, 1744, apparently moving along the James River deeper into the Virginia wilderness soon after (PCD, volume 1, page 19). However, many Chastains of the third generation abandoned the Anglican Church of Pierre, Jean, and Rene for the growing, dissenting Baptist movement in the 1770s. After the Revolutionary War, the Anglican Church was no longer the established church anywhere in the new United States of America. The Anglican Church in America was reorganized and renamed The Episcopal Church, but there was quite an issue about how to treat the properties of the Anglican churches paid for by the taxation of all the people. Those of other churches wanted the Anglican resources sold and funds distributed to all as needed, while the Episcopalians wanted everything transferred to their denomination. The Virginia legislature accommodated the Episcopalians. The action of the Virginia legislature prompted a number of petitions from the Buckingham County, where Tillotson Parish Anglican Church had been the established church. The first was the Petition of November 10, 1786 (see text below). The first of many names on this petition is Rane Chastain Min. On page two we find Rane Chastain [another], Stephen Chastain, Martain Chastain, and ranah Chastain. Other petitions followed on October 17, 1787 (including signatures by Rane Chastain Min, Rane Chastain, Martin Chastain, and Stephen Chastain), and on November 15, 1794 (including Rane Chastain, Stephen Chastain, and Joseph Chastain). The argument of the 1787 petition was that the glebe lands should be sold and the funds either applied to the State debt or distributed among the citizens of Buckingham county. A glebe was land belonging to a parish, meant to produce revenues to help support the parish. A glebe-house was a rectory built for the parish priest, vicar, pastor, or rector. Glebe land was often farmed or rented out by the by the church rector to cover living expenses. The petition points out that there was no Episcopalian minister in the parish at all, and requests that the Episcopalian churches there either be sold or opened to all for worship, and that any properly licensed minister be allowed to preach in them. The 1794 petition revisits the question of the glebe lands which were in disrepair. The petition ends: And whereas the Minister in the Said Glebe has long Since dec'd & the parish hath been ever since without a Minister, & whereas the Buildings on the said Glebe are much out of repare, Your Petitioners Conceive that it will be productive of good consequences to Dispose of the Glebe Lands aforesaid before the Buildings thereon are Intirely Decayed, Therefore your petitioners Humbly pray that an Act may pass to sell the Said Glebe Lands & apply the Money arising from the Sale thereof to the payment of our Parish Levies or any other Use that your Honorable Body may think propert. The Buckingham Baptist congregation eventually acquired the building which had housed the Tillotson Parish Anglican Church (Church of England). There is an historical marker to this effect which reads: F 56 Old Buckingham Church. The original or southwest wing of this structure was erected about 1758 as a church for the newly-formed Tillotson Parish. It was abandoned following the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Virginia in 1784, and thereafter was acquired by the Buckingham Baptist Congregation, organized in 1771. It continues in use as the meeting house of the Buckingham Baptist Church. The Buckingham Baptist Church still exists and it is said the original section of the Anglican church building is preserved. The year was 1659 when Pierre Chastain was born in the ancient Province of Berry, in or near the village of Charost, which is almost the geographic center of France. Pierre Chastain was the son of Estienne Chastain and Jeanne Laurent. Pierre's father, Estienne and his grandfather, Jacques Chastain, had both served as notaire royal at Charost. Estienne was born circa 1625, the son of Jacques and Jeanne Audet Chastain. It is thought that Jacques, born circa 1598-1600, was either the son or grandson of the Estienne Chastain who fled the city of Bourges at the time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572. Proof of Pierre's first wife comes from the registers of Vevey in cantonal archives in Lausanne, Switzerland. This proof also corrects the assumption that Magdalaine de la Rochefaucald was Pierre's first wife. Pierre Chastain married Susanne Reynaud, daughter of Pierre Reynaud, from the village of Issoudun. By 1696, the Pierre Chastain family had fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland to escape religious persecution. Sometime after September 1698, the family departed Vevey and was found at The Hague in The Netherlands (Holland). From there, the family moved to London, England where they remained a short time while Pierre became active in gathering together a group of French Huguenot refugees for colonization in Virginia. Pierre Chastain, his wife Susanne Reynaud Chastain and five children were among the group of 207 passengers who embarked from Gravesend, England on April 19, 1700 aboard the ship Mary and Ann of London. This ship arrived at the mouth of the James River on July 12, 1700. The group settled in Manakin, Virginia about twenty miles up the James River. The group was given a 10,000 acre tract of land south of the James in an area once occupied by the Monacan Tribe of Indians. Pierre's wife, Susanne, died after February 1701 and before November 1701, two of the children also had died. Pierre then married Anne Soblet. Ann was the daughter of Abraham Soblet and Susanne Brian. The marriage to Anne Soblet produced eight children. Anne Soblet Chastain died on April 3, 1723. Pierre married a third time to Mary Magdaline (Verrueil) Trabue, daughter of Moise and Madelene Verrueil and widow of Antoine Trabue. Pierre Chastain died in Goochland County, Virginia in the fall of 1728. He had made his will on October 3, 1728 and this will was probated on November 20, 1728. He was buried in the family cemetery near his home. Magdeline Chastain died in late Spring of 1731, she and Pierre did not have children. The family cemetery where Pierre Chastain was buried is located near Manakin Episcopal church. The Cemetery was located a few yards from the family home and contained several field stones and as many as 30 graves. A brick wall surrounding the family plot was torn down in 1929 by a farmer who used the bricks to build a house. In 1982, Lowell Chastain, then President of the Association, erected a grave marker for Pierre Chastain and constructed a chain-link fence around his grave. The Huguenots The name of the Huguenot physician was Pierre Chastain, and he is the father of most Chastains, Chasteens, Chesteens, Chastines, and probably Shasteens in America, including James Edward Chastain and all of his descendants. Who was this man who is so important to us all? And what the heck is a Huguenot? The religious issues began in Germany 180 years before Pierre fled France. A Catholic priest named Martin Luther published an opinion against certain Church practices of the day, and within weeks a heated controversy spread across Europe with some Church leaders denouncing Luther as a heretic and other Church leaders defending him as a mighty leader against false doctrine and practices that had crept into the Church. In fact, though Luther did not intend it, the Church split apart, with Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other. Many of the Protestants were known as Lutherans because of Luther's strong leadership, but others were more influenced by a second great Protestant leader named John Calvin. Calvin's followers were known by different names such as Reformed or Presbyterian. In England they were the Pilgrims and Puritans, and in France they were called Huguenots. The Protestant movement began to grow rapidly in France, and the Catholic leaders fought against them with everything they had. A particularly horrible initiative was the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of August 24, 1572 when 10,000 Huguenots were attacked and killed. A new day dawned for the French Huguenots in 1598 when King Henry IV of France determined to recognize and protect both Catholics and Huguenots. He issued a law called the Edict of Nantes, and it brought a time of peace and toleration for the Huguenots during Henry's reign. However, the kings who came after Henry began increasingly to persecute the Huguenots until King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and Protestantism was made illegal. Over the next few years almost half a million Huguenots fled France to escape the persecution, and some of them found new lives in the British colonies of the Americas. Among the Huguenots' sons are: Paul Revere, Henry D. Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and James Edward Chastain. Manakintown, Virginia Pierre Chastain was born in 1659 near the village of Charost in central France. His parents were Estienne and Jeanne (Laurent) Chastain. The Chastain family had fled to this area from the city of Bourges at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572. After King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Pierre, his wife Susanne (Renaud), and their five children fled France completely and were in Switzerland by 1696. From there they went to Holland, and after that to England where Pierre helped gather a group of Huguenots to colonize Virginia. On July 12, 1700, after a voyage of almost three months, the London ship Mary and Ann sailed into the mouth of the James River near the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony. On board were Pierre, his family, and probable relative, Estienne Chastain. They did not remain at Jamestown, but continued up the river to the 10,000 acre site chosen for a new settlement. In doing so, they passed completely through what one day would be Richmond, down the James River east of the Huguenot site. The new Huguenot settlement was called Manakintown. Other Huguenots arrived in September. As a group, the Huguenots were among the most educated, cultured, and skilled people of Europe. When Louis XIV drove many of them out of France with his intolerance and persecution, the loss of so many highly productive citizens severely hurt the country. Those Huguenots who settled in the British Americas were solid contributors to the developing colonies. Pierre was a medical doctor, and also served as one of the original 12 vestrymen of the Manakintown Anglican Churchwhich was founded in 1700 and still exists today. A photo of the 1895 church building is seen at right. The Huguenots were brought to Virginia by Britain to produce wine, to introduce silk culture, and to determine whether the soil was suitable for growing rice. So, in addition to being a doctor and a civic leader, Pierre was a farmer. Pierre Chastain The time of arrival in the new land was not a good one. Because it was so late in the year, the colonists were unable to grow crops before the onset of cold weather, and some did not survive the harsh winter. Among the losses were Susanne Chastain and some of the Chastain children. By the next year 3 of the 5 children had died. Before long, Pierre married a second wife, Anne Soblet, grandmother to the Brothers of Chastain Central and most of the Chastain lines known today. Anne was the daughter of Abraham and Susanne Soblet who were also Huguenot immigrants. Our progenitor, Peter, Jr., was born to Pierre and Anne about 1707. After Anne died in 1723, Pierre married his third wife, Magdelaine Trabue, but they had no children. In 1728, Pierre was about 69 years old. On October 3, being sick and weak, he made his will. The will was probated November 20 of the same year, so Pierre died sometime between those two dates. At the time of his death, he had 3 sons and 4 daughters surviving. In the will, Peter, Jr., received 111 acres of land from his father. Pierre was buried on his own land, and on June 8, 2008 descendant Aneeta Morton and her husband Bob Morton determined the GPS coordinates to be N37º, 34 minutes, 38.22 seconds; W77º, 42 minutes, 8.82 seconds. Thanks Bob and Aneeta! Descendants of Pierre with variations of the name Chastain descend from one of his three sons who survived to adulthood and produced children: Jean, from his first wife Susanne Renaud, or Peter, Jr. or Rene from his second wife Anne Soblet. This website is primarily about these descendants. However, for the story of the Pierre's female descendants, see Chastain Daughters. Remarkably, several structures built by Pierre Chastain are still standing. His home is a two story wooden structure with a detatched kitchen (see photo above). At least in some pre-electric homes, the kitchens were detatched for two reasons: (1) to prevent overheating the home in warmer months, and (2) to prevent brurning down the house! A well was located just in front of the kitchen. Convenient! Today, there is a brick structure built into the back of the house, we believe in the early 1800s, long after Pierre's death. It now serves as the main part of the home. Another structure from Pierre Chastain is his corn crib (photo to right), a quaint and sturdy log structure that stands solid today. Today, there are an estimated 5,000 Chastain households in the United States. Most of them are thought to descend from Pierre who arrived at Manakintown in 1700. For more information on Pierre Chastain and his descendants, visit other pages of this website and the website of the Pierre Chastain Family Association. The most definitive genalogical treatment of Pierre's descendants is Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, three volumes, 1995-2002. The Chastain family is descended from Dr. Pierre Chastain, the Huguenot, who came to America in 1700. He was born in 1659 in the ancient Province of Berry, near the village of Charost in France. Pierre was the son of Estienne Chastain and Jeanne Laurent. Pierre’s father, Estienne and grandfather, Jacques Chastain, had both served as notaire royal at Charost. Pierre married Susanne Reynaud, daughter of Pierre Reynaud. By 1696 the Pierre Chastain family had fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland to escape religious persecution. From there they found their way to London, England and remained a short time where Pierre became active in gathering a group of French Huguenot refugees for colonization in Virginia. Pierre and Susanne with their five children embarked from Gravesend, England 19 April 1700 aboard the ship “Mary and Ann.” This ship arrived in Virginia at the mouth of the James River on 12 July 1700 and settled at Manakin, Virginia, where they were given a 10,000 acre tract of land south of the James River in an area once occupied by the Monacan Tribe of Indians. By November 1701, Pierre’s wife and two of his children were dead and he had remarried to Anne Soblet, the daughter of Abraham and Susanne Brian Soblet. This marriage produced eight children and Anne died 3 April 1723. Pierre married a third time to Mary Magdalene Trabue. Pierre died in Goochland County, Virginia in the fall of 1728. Through Pierre’s son, Peter Jr., descends our line. His son Rev. John Chastain, known as “Ten Shilling Bell” for his clear ringing voice was born in Virginia in 1743 and married Mary O’Brian in 1763. He was a prominent Baptist Leader in Buckingham County, Virginia. His family moved to Pendleton District, SC where he founded several Baptist churches in that area. He died 31 July 1805 and is buried close to his old mill at Pumpkintown, Pendleton District, SC. Rev. John’s son, Benjamin Chastain, is our ancestor. He was born 6 July 1780 in Washington County, Tennessee and by by 1790, he moved with his father’s family to the Pendleton District, SC. There he married 30January 1798, Rebecca Denton, who was born 28 August 1779 in SC, she was the daughter of Samuel and Jamima Denton, Sr. As early as 1819, Benjamin Chastain had moved his family to Habersham County, Georgia. In 1821 Benjamin was sworn in as one of the Justices of the Peace. In 1823, Benjamin Chastain and Benjamin Cleveland, conveyed 32 acres (land lots number 2 and number 19) to the Justices of the Inferior Court of Habersham, and laid out the town of Clarkesville and sold lots to its first inhabitants. Benjamin bought lot 9 and his son, Jonathan Davis Chastain, our ancestor, bought lot 37 and 38. While living in Habersham County he served in Georgia House of Representatives from 1826-34 and Justice of Inferior Court several years. By 1834 Benjamin had moved his family to Gilmer County, Georgia and settled on the Toccoa River. During the year 1836, Benjamin served as an agent of Indian Affairs in Georgia. Benjamin died in 1845 in Gilmer County and is buried at Toccoa Baptist Church Cemetery, which is in Fannin County today. Rebecca died there in 1872 and is buried beside Benjamin. Benjamin and Rebecca Chastain’s son, Rev. Jonathan Davis Chastain, is our ancestor. He was born 22 May 1803 in Pendleton District, South Carolina. Jonathan came with his parents to Habersham County around 1820, there he married Rachel Stover on 26 December 1822. Rachel was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, a daughter of a Virginia native, Jacob and Sarah Wells Stover. Jonathan D. Chastain, as a young man in Habersham County, served as Justice of the Peace. He was involved with his father in many land transactions from 1826 to 1837. But by 1834 he was selling his property in Habersham. He moved to Lumpkin County, Georgia in early 1835, but by fall he moved his family on to Gilmer County, Georgia, where he bought land in the Cartecay Valley. Jonathan Davis Chastain served as Colonel in the Home Guard in 1837; served at the Convention of 1839 and as Justice of Inferior Court 1840-41. Jonathan Chastain was one of a group of people who established Ebenezer Baptist Church in August 1839. He donated the land for the church and at this first meeting he was elected clerk of the church. In May 1842 he was the first man ordained minister in that church and later was pastor from 1845 until his death. He died of a sudden illness 28 November 1847 and is buried at Ebenezer Cemetery. Rachel was left with five children under the age of eight. She maintained her home at Cartecay until she was too old to stay by herself. Rachel died at the home of her daughter, Rebecca Kimmons, in 1880 and she is buried beside Jonathan. Jonathan and Rachel Chastain had twelve children: (1) Mary Melvina, born 6 April 1824, married James Madison Davis, died 30 April 1895, buried at Tickanetley; (2) Nancy Elvina born 3 September 1825, married John Stone, died 10 November 1851, buried at Ebenezer; (3) Sarah Caroline born 16 November 1827, married William Hardy Waddell, died 4 January 1900, buried at Tickanetley; (4) Rev. Joseph Pearson, born 26 January 1830, married Frances Walker, Mar Hunnicut and Millie Quillan (20 October 1918); (5) Hannah Minerva, born 13 June 1834, married John Harris; (6) Jacob, born 1 February 1836, died young, buried at Ebenezer; (7) Martha Ann, born 8 June 1838, married Peter Cantrell, Jr. and died, January 1858; (8) Jonathan Kimsey, born 25 June 1840, married Alberta Hipps (second Martha Roden) and died in Union Grove, Alabama; (9) Rebecca Matilda, born 17 April 1842, married William Kimmons and died 26 May 1925, buried at Ebenezer; (10) Walter Chastain, born 1843, died young; (11) Rachel Jane my great grandmother, born 26 July 1844, married Thaddeus Stephen Ellis, died 11 July 1882 and they are buried at Macedonia Cemetery; (12) and Benjamin Webb, born 28 November 1846, married Rebecca Long. Sources: Family History, Public Records, Census due to the persecution of the Huguenots, Pierre Chastainfled to Switzerland in the early 1690's. The 1693 Swiss census of refugees for the Baillage de Vevay lists him, as does the census of 1696. He is no longer listed in the census records after 1698 and apparently moved to Englnd for a period of about two years. the ruling monarchs of England at that time were William and Mary who were anxious to plant colonies in the new world. Chastain, wife and five children were among 207 Swiss and French passengers who embarked April 19, 1700 on the "Mary and Ann", George Haws, commander, which arrived at the mouth of the James River on July 23, 1700, after a passage of thirteen weeks. It appears that his wife (name unknown) and several children died on the boat or shortly after their arrival On the swiss Refugee census and two Virginia records Chastain is referred to as a doctor. Pierre Chastain was born in 1659 near the village of Charost in central France. His parents were Estienne and Jeanne (Laurent) Chastain. The Chastain family had fled to this area from the city of Bourges at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572. After King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Pierre, his wife Susanne (Renaud), and their five children fled France completely and were in Switzerland by 1696. From there they went to Holland, and after that to England where Pierre helped gather a group of Huguenots to colonize Virginia. On July 12, 1700, after a voyage of almost three months, the London ship Mary and Ann sailed into the mouth of the James River near the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony. On board were Pierre, his family, and probable relative, Estienne Chastain. They did not remain at Jamestown, but continued up the river to the 10,000 acre site chosen for a new settlement. In doing so, they passed completely through what one day would be Richmond, down the James River east of the Huguenot site. The new Huguenot settlement was called Manakintown. Other Huguenots arrived in September. As a group, the Huguenots were among the most educated, cultured, and skilled people of Europe. When Louis XIV drove many of them out of France with his intolerance and persecution, the loss of so many highly productive citizens severely hurt the country. Those Huguenots who settled in the British Americas were solid contributors to the developing colonies. Pierre was a medical doctor, and also served as one of the original 12 vestrymen of the Manakintown Anglican Church which was founded in 1700 and still exists today.

  
  

• Sources

  [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=86886895&pid=100 [S137] Gale Research, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.), Place: Jamestown, Virginia; Year: 1700; Page Number: . Arrival date: 1700 Arrival place: Jamestown, Virginia [S340] Findagrave.com, (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 16 July 2011.). Birth date: 9 Apr 1659 Birth place: Death date: 3 Oct 1728 Death place: [S747] Ancestry.com, U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc), Place: Virginia; Year: 1700; Page Number: 83.