#45 - Suzanne Poulain, French immigrant

Time for me to admit to being French

One of the reasons you don’t research part of your family tree is because it might be “off-putting.” It was unavoidable, I had to face it: some of my mother’s ancestors were French.

My 9^th   great grandparents were Louis Poulain and Margueritte Daniel of Heillecourt, France.

Louis Poulain

Louis Poulain was born in 1610 in Heillecourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France. 

Heillecourt is due south of Luxembourg, not far from Germany, in the province of Nancy, France. 

Marriage

Louis Poulain married Margueritte Daniel on September 10, 1640, in Heillecourt.

Margueritte Daniel 

Louis’ wife, Margueritte Daniel,  was born in 1615 in Heillecourt, France. When she married Louis Poulain, she was 5 years younger than he.

Death: Margueritte Daniel Poulain died on September 10, 1647, in France at the age of 32.
Her daughter was about 3 at the time. I’m not sure if Louis remarried.

Daughter:

Suzanne [Susanna] Poulain – Louis Poulain & Margueritte Daniel’s daughter, my 8^th great grandmother. And yes, she was born in France.

Birth -Suzanne Poulain was born about 1644 in St Germain-en-laye, France, which is slightly NE of Paris, and a good distance from her parent's origin in Heillecourt (now part of Lorriane) in the west. 

Move to Jersey - Susanna (and likely her father or a husband) moved to Jersey, the Channel Islands. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands (England), located off the coast of France.

Susanna lived there before leaving for the colonies.  She may have learned English—or liked English—for Jersey was owned by the British, but likely there was a good amount of French and English spoken there. 

The Colonies & NEW Jersey- Susanna sailed to the N. American Colonies on “The Philip,” which sailed from Exeter, England, and arrived in the colonies in 1665, she was 21.

I’m assuming she was accompanied by someone. If not her father, then perhaps a husband who died en route, or after arrival.

So Susanna arrived in the New World in 1665/1666. She lived in New Jersey, (possibly with her father?) until she wed Richard Skinner. 

Records tell me her father, Louis Poulian, died in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Susanna Poulain and Richard Skinner

Susanna wed Richard Skinner in 1666 in Elizabethtown, Union County, New Jersey (recorded by Sec of East Jersey).

To marry someone with such an English name as Richard Skinner, she likely had at least rudimentary grasp of English.

Children
Susanna Poulain and Richard Skinner had six children.
I am descended from one of their sons named Richard Skinner (to see the relationship, read the end of post).

Death - Susanna died about 1714 in New Jersey, around 70.

Jersey-New Jersey: What’s the Connection?

Is it co-incidence that she had lived on Jersey and then moved to New Jersey? Maybe, but probably not.  The Jersey historians say many people felt New Jersey was suitable place to migrate to.

There was relationship between the Island and the US state of New Jersey which has its roots in the English Civil War.

During that time, King Charles II took refuge in Jersey, as exiled King of England (remember Cromwell?).

The Island of Jersey's loyalty was rewarded when he gave some land in the Americas to Sir George Carteret of Jersey. Subsequently, Sir George Carteret named that part of the colonies “New Jersey.”

Where do the French fit into my mother’s tree? 

  How the French Poulains enter the tree:

Susanna Poulain—Richard Skinner

their son: Richard Skinner M Sarah Moore

....their daughter: Rachel Skinner M  Benjamin .......Webster

.....their son: Joseph Webster M Rebecca Kester

......their daughter: Ruth Webster M William ............Griffith

........their daughter: Susannah Griffith M

.......................Edwin Comly Tyson

           All of their children:

~Isaac Griffith Tyson 1833 – 1913

~Rachel Griffith Tyson 1836 – 1874

~Charles John Tyson 1838 – 1906

~Ruth Anna Tyson 1840 – 1913

~Rebecca Webster Tyson 1842 – 1923