Of the second class, the refugee emigration — 100 scattered and hurried in general to found separate French settlements — the first begin ning from the north was at Boston. From 1660 on, small numbers had come from the Channel Islands and Rochelle, but after the Dragon nades 200 or 300 families came. over, including some of the most notable names in Boston his tory. A settlement at Oxford, was made in 1687, primarily to convert the Nipmuck In dians, but that tribe joined hands with the Canadian tribes in league with the French and inflicted such horrors on them — one whole summer besieging them in their blockhouse that the settlement broke up in despair, many of them taking refuge in Milford, Conn. Many small groups settled in Rhode Island; the largest had a miserable history, being defrauded by a New England company organized expressly to sell to innocent foreigners a tract of land to which it had no title. In Connecticut, Hartford and Milford received the greatest number. In New York the arrivals strengthened the French element, but soon melted into the general mass. In Pennsylvania. Delaware and Maryland, many hundreds settled, but as scattered members of the population, and left no outward trace. In Virginia, whose southern climate was congenial to them, the Huguenots had settled in consider able numbers for many years, but in 1690 William III sent over some 300 Huguenots who had followed him from Holland and they made a settlement named Monacantown, from an extinct Indian tribe. In 1700, after long nego tiations, four shiploads more came over under Marquis de La Muce; about half of them set tled at Jamestown, Va., and in South and North Carolina, the rest at Monacantown. Several hundred more came over at different times and the settlement seemed to have struck enduring roots; but furious religious dissensions broke It in two, and the pastor led part of them to the Trent in North Carolina, whence in fear of Indian massacre they finally went to South Carolina, the Canaan of the Huguenots, settling at Jamestown. This South Carolina French immigration, due to the latitude and soil fitting their habits, began in 167A in small numbers. In 1680 the city of Charleston was founded, largely under French auspices; the same year Charles II sent over about 90 Huguenots tc produce wine, oil and silk. After the Revoca tion the great tide began to flow in ; in 1687 there were four wholly or largely French settle ments— Jamestown on the Santee. the Quarters on the Cooper, Saint John's Berkeley and Charleston. In 1732 a band of 360 French Swiss Protestants settled Purysburg on the Savannah; and in 1764 the last French colony was founded— New Bordeaux in Abbeville County. In the intervals there was a steady stream, very large for many years after 1685. Some of the greatest names in Southern his tory are French, and the entire character and action of the State have been deeply molded by this fiery, impulsive, gallant strain. It is pitiful
to record that after all the sacrifice and courage of these exiles, religious persecution forced them to close their churches. All but members of the Church of England were disfranchised in 1706, and the Huguenots were bribed into sub mission by government support of the churches and having the liturgy translated into French.
The Huguenot settlements in the West In dies—Saint Christopher, Martinique, Guade loupe and some smaller ones — belong in origin to the former group, that of voluntary coloniza tion; their later history and the flight from them belong to the latter. They were colonized by a trading company under Richelieu's patron age from 1626 on; there was nominal prohibi tion of public worship, but actually the law was a dead letter, as there would have been no trade but for the Huguenots; the Walloon Synod of Holland supplied ministers and the life was one of prosperity and content. Then as the Revo cation approached, atrocious penal laws were passed, but still not enforced. The Revocation changed everything into a scene of misery. The first result was the using of the islands as a penal settlement for the Huguenots of France; they were sold into service, sometimes of the worst character, and the horrors of the passage rivaled the worst of the slave-trade. Then the governor-general was ordered to extirpate heresy at all hazard and threatened a dram nade if the inhabitants did not recant. The effect was a general flight; next a stern order from the governor-general to stop or he would carry out the government orders in all their severity, which produced a still greater stampede, as sisted by the Catholics themselves. In a few mont}-s the islands were half depopulated and their trade nearly ruined. The king then modi fied his orders; the flight ceased and a few re turned; but most of the refugees remained in the English colonies or Bermuda. Several score at least removed to New York, and some of them founded New Rochelle; a few to New England, and the Southern colonies naturally received the largest quota. This immigration had an important effect on the United States trade with the West Indies, as the Huguenot merchants, from their familiarity with the re gion and their family ties, took the lead and greatly developed it.
The of the French churches in America, the test of that element's separate existence, is about the middle of the 18th cen tury; beyond that, according to Baird, few existed and fewer kept their language. French instinct was to blend, and of course it was much the best that it should do so. The element was absorbed soon and utterly. but its blood and its ideas have • been very valuable to the United States. Consult Baird, History of die Hugue not Emigration tb America' (1885) ; 'Collec tions of the Huguenot Society of America.'