Jean Jean Magny

Abt 1670 - Abt 1703  (33 years)

• Name	Jean Magny
  Title	Jean
  Born	Abt 1670	Meschers, Orange, France
  Gender	Male
  Died	Abt 1703
  Person ID	I5062	My Roots
  Last Modified	13 May 2019

  
  

  Family	Jeanne Machett,   b. Abt 1674
  Married	Abt 1694
  Children	1. Elizabet Many,   b. 1696   2. Jacques James Many,   b. 1698,   d. 1756  (Age 58 years)   3. Jean John Many,   b. 31 Aug 1698, New York City, New York, USA   4. Jeanne Magdaline Many,   b. 1703
  Family ID	F1026	Group Sheet  |  Family chart

  
  

• Notes

  From notes of Harry Tanto *Jean Magny Notes Three Huguenot (supposed to be) brothers fled from persecution in France, in the late 1600s, to seek refuge in Dutch New Amsterdam, already turned over to the English. One of these was our ancestor Jean Magny on the Attix side. Protestantism was introduced into France between 1520 and 1523 and its principles were accepted by many members of the nobility, intellectual and middle classes of the population, who, at first enjoyed royal protection. The rise in the numbers of Protestants excited the alarm and hatred of the French Roman Catholics. Between 1562 and 1598, eight bitter civil wars were fought between French Catholics and Protestants. The greatest act of treachery took place in 1572 when Catherine (who governed in the name of her juvenile son, Charles) and King Charles IX, after signing a treaty granting freedom of worship to Huguenots and lulling them into security, caused thousands to be massacred in Paris on Saint Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1572. To end the strife Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598 by which the Huguenots received almost complete religious freedom. The Huguenots became a strong political force which not only alarmed the Catholics, but also Louis XIII in the desire of his absolutist type of government and even more so that of Louis XIV, who once again instigated a new wave of persecution and more civil wars. The French statesman and cardinal Duc de Richelieu caused the complete downfall of the Huguenot political influence with the capture of the principal stronghold of the Protestants at La Rochelle, revoked the Edict of Nantes on October 18, 1685, and persecuted mercilessly. Hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled the country, many to the non French colonies of North America. New France, under the control of Louis XIV and Richelieu, was maintained strictly Catholic, contributing to the political and religious conflict in North America. Among those new immigrants fleeing France were Jean, Jacques and Jeremie Magny. The earliest record of the Magny men is found in the records of the Narragansett settlement in Rhode Island. In 1686, a group of Huguenots led by their minister, Ezechiel Carre, purchased land west of Narragansett Sound from the Atherton Company. Each family was to have 100 acres of upland and meadow-land in proportion, at a price of twenty pounds per 100 acres. Two Magny families are shown on the map but appear only as 'Magni Senior' and 'Magni Junior'. However, Jacques and Jean Magny do appear in church records of Frenchtown and are assumed to be these two land purchasers. It was common, at the time to refer to an older brother as 'Senior' while a younger one was 'Junior'. Unfortunately, Englishmen had previously taken possession of that same land, so the Atherton Company did not have the right to sell it to these new immigrants, and finally the Huguenots were forced to move in 1691. Jean Magny was for a short time at Oxford, Massachusetts. From 1696 to 1699, Jean Magny (who had become 'John Many' and his brother Jacques was 'James Many') was a taxpayer in New York City. He had become an English citizen in 1693. There in New York City he lived in a rented house, neighbor of Captain William Kidd. Some have speculated that Jean, like Captain Kidd, was a pirate, as his father-in-law may also have been. Lonely vessels upon the seas were fair game at that time; let he who could, be victor! It appears that all three brothers were mariners, and Jean could well have engaged in some piracy. New York shipping records show the arrival on May 19, 1701 of the brigantine 'Laurel' from Jamaica, Captain Jean Magny, Master. Jean had been previously in Jamaica when his father-in-law had died there in 1699. Obviously, Jean was engaged in the West Indies trade. Sir William Penn, with a naval force, had captured Jamaica for the English, from Spain, in 1655. Under the English, population grew, cane sugar, cacao and other agricultural products expanded where slaves became the source of labor, and rum became a product of export. Port Royal in Jamaica became the principal slave market of the world. When Port Royal was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, Kingston, nearby, immediately took its place. Slavery was not abolished in Jamaica until 1838, and $30,000,000 was paid out to compensate owners who lost their slaves. The Jamaica trade was a dangerous, but lucrative activity where piracy was a very common component. It may have been Jean Magny's life at sea which discouraged his earlier marriage. He was age forty-seven when he married Jeanne Machet, daughter of Jean Machet and Jeanne Thomas. With her he had three children: Elizabeth in 1696, Jean (our ancestor on the Attix side) in 1698, and Jacques in 1700. Jeanne Magdeline baptized April 11, 1703 is thought by some to also be his daughter. All that my house, orchard, and lot of land in New Rochelle, Bounded, in front before the house, with the creek and salt water also one negro woman, and 209 pounds '. She also received a part of 'my great lot'. There is evidence to show Jeanne's interest in the extended family. When Jean Machet, son of Pierre Machet and Litio Couly, was baptized at the Church ofSt. Esprit in New York City (the Huguenot church of New York) on July 18, 1700, his aunt, Jeanne (Machet) Magny (or Jane Many) was there to sign the document. Some of her mother's property was left with Jeanne in trust for her sister Mary Anne. On February 7, 1710, the widow, Jeanne (Machet) Many married Elie Pelletreau at the French Church in New Rochelle, Westchester, New York. Jeanne and Elie had a son, Benjamin, together. Elie Pelletreau left fifteen pounds each to his step-sons in his will dated 1728.