Du Bose, Isaac

The Du Bose Family, Louisiana

Submitted by Mike Miller, Jan. 2000

Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 1), pp. 384-386. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.

The Du Bose family. Isaac Du Bose, the founder of the illustrious Du Bose family in the United States, was born in Dieppe, Normandy, France, but as early as 1689 came with his six sons and one daughter to the new world and settled in South Carolina. The names of his sons are as follows: John, Stephen, Andrew, Peter, Isaac and Daniel. John became the father of the following children: Martha, Joseph, Mary, Rebecca, Elias and Daniel (twins), and Isaac and Eliza (twins). The father of these children died in 1778.

Martha, his eldest daughter, married John Warren, by whom she became the mother of several children but nothing is known of her sons. Her daughter Martha married John Norwood. Daniel, the son of John Du Bose, first married a widow by the name of Simmons, who was formerly a Miss Panton. They had one child Mary (or Polly), who became the wife of John McCrea. His second wife was Mary Nettles, whose mother was Lucy Boss of Virginia, and their children were: Samuel, who married Jane Dick; Elizabeth, who was married twice, first to a Mr. Shackelford who left one son, and second to Ira Bowman by whom she became the mother of twins: Eliza and Robert., the former marrying I. N. Baynard and afterward Dr. Loit. Her son, Ludlow Baynard is a druggist in Alexandria, La.

Margaret, daughter of Daniel Du Bose, who came from France to America with his father Isaac, married John Gauldin Richardson, to which union the following children were born: Louisa, Gibson, and Frank and Mary (twins). Mary married a Mr. Bowman and bore him the following children: Jessie, Dorsey, Young, Alexander, John W., Edward M., Daniel Du Bose, and Margaret.

Mary, the daughter of John Du Bose, married Dr. William Langley. Elias Du Bose, twin brother of Daniel, married Lydia Capers, and to them eleven children were born: Elias, Jesse, Margaret, Martha, Daniel, Isaiah, Benjamin, John, Ezekiel, Lydia, and Mary, the latter marrying William Law, of Williamsburg, S. C., on January 12, 1791.

Martha, the third daughter of Elias was born March 30, 1778, and married Thomas Gordon in 1797. Isaiah, the brother of Martha Gordon was married October 6, 1808, to Gillian Benton and bore him the following children: Kentrough, James R., Margaret, Sarah, Henrietta, Virginia and Elizabeth. Kentrough, the eldest child, married Bettie Weatherspoon and the children born to them are as follows: John W., James, Eugene, William, Louisa, Rosa, Augusta, Marion and Benton. Of this family James and Eugene were killed while serving in the confederate army, and Marion and Benton have only been dead a short time. The mother of these children was the sister of Thomas H. Benton of Missouri.

John Benton Du Bose, son of Elias Du Bose, eldest brother of Mrs. Martha Gordon, married Dorcas Wilson June 29, 1809, and reared a large family but few lived to maturity. One of their children, Mary Margaret, married Rev. William Beasley and upon her death left three children: George, William and Archibald A.

Lydia Du Bose, the daughter of Elias (twin brother of Daniel), was born June 8, 1788, and was married May 7, 1809, to Samuel Wilson, their children being named as follows: Mary Adaline, who married George W. Dargon, afterward chancellor of equity, left two children; Adaline, who married N. W. H. Plaiser and is now deceased, leaving a daughter, Georgia, who is unmarried; Margaret, daughter of Elias Du Bose and sister of Martha Gordon, was married to William Dick June 17, 1788, and of their children, Elias was killed in a duel with Frank Hampton, while they were both captains in the war of 1812; Jane married Samuel Du Bose, son of Daniel, and moved to Alabama; Margaret married John Du Bose of Camden, S. C., and moved to Florida; Elizabeth married Stephen Miller, who was governor and United States senator of South Carolina, and by him became the mother of one child; Elias Dick, who died while attending college; Lydia married William Baker and had one daughter, Guliaelma, who married Dr. Furman; Daniel Du Bose, son of Elias, married Miss Ann Shackelford October 80, 1793.

Their daughter Martha married Rev. William Winans, D. D., their children being: Mary, Margaret, Wesley, Anne, Eliza, and two that died when young. To Daniel Du Bose a son was born whom he named Samuel, and to the latter a son was born who was christened Samuel. The brother. and sister, of the latter were: William, John D., Daniel, Henry and three daughters: Jane, now Mrs. Packer a resident of Alabama; Margaret, now Mrs. Nettles of Alabama, and Elizabeth (Mrs. Marshall), who also lives in that state. The son, John D., lives in Alabama and all but William who died in Louisiana, died in Alabama.

Samuel Du Bose, whose brothers and sisters are mentioned above, was married to a Miss Gordon, the daughter of James B. Gordon, a native of South Carolina, who when a young man removed with his parents to Wilkinson county, Miss., where he met and married Isabella Cassels, a native of that state. After a time they moved to St. Helena parish, where Mr. Gordon engaged in planting and where he remained until his death, which occurred when his daughter, who afterward became Mrs. Du Bose, was a child, leaving four children besides his wife to mourn his loss: S. J. C., now of St. Landry parish; Sidney B., who died on the place on which Mrs. Samuel Du Bose is now residing; Mary Lovenia, who died at the age of ten years, and Mrs. Du Bose. The mother of these children died in 1842.

Mrs. Du Bose was the eldest of her parents' children, and at the age of twelve or thirteen years was brought by them to East Feliciana parish, La., where, in 1844, she was married to Samuel A. Du Bose, his being her second marriage. She was educated in Clinton Female academy, which was then managed by Mrs. Girardy and Miss Bancroft, the sister of the eminent historian, George Bancroft.

After the death of her father she was reared and educated by Sydney B. Gordon, a prominent politician of this parish and captain of the East Feliciana militia of cavalry, who took great interest in looking after the wants of the people. He was personally attacked several times by the John H. Murrell gang, but as Captain Gordon was possessed of undoubted courage he was ever ready to risk his life for the benefit of his friends. He carried on large planting interests and was one of the most popular of men, his death being deeply mourned by all who knew him. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and was a man of truly Christian character and unblemished reputation.

He was married to the widow of Samuel Scott, her maiden name having been Neilson, and their union resulted in the birth of four children, all of whom are now dead. Mrs. Du Bose was first married to Samuel Scott, Jr., but the two children she bore him are now deceased: Emily B., died at the age of four years, at the same time as her father, and they were buried in one grave; Martha Isabella, also died at the age of four years.

Samuel Du Bose, the second husband of Mrs. Du Bose, was born in South Carolina, but was reared in Alabama, and came to Louisiana about 1842. Two years later his marriage occurred, and he at once settled on a plantation and began tilling the soil, a calling he followed with good success until his death, in February, 1879, at the age of, seventy-eight years. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and manifested his Christian spirit in his every-day walk through life. He was earnest in his conviction., fearless in his espousal of the cause of justice and right and was blameless in life.

To himself and wife six children were born, four of whom are living: Mrs. Henry Skipwith, Mrs. J. C. White, James G. and Miss M. B. Those deceased are Guliaelma and John C. Mrs. Du Bose and her unmarried daughter live on the old homestead, where they successfully conduct a large plantation. They are members of the Presbyterian church, and are highly cultured, intelligent and refined ladies. Miss Du Bose was educated at what is now the Silliman institute, and is a young lady of fine attainment. The son, James G.; is married and lives near the old home place.

Thomas Gordon, the grandfather of Mrs. Du Bose, came from South Carolina, and was married in 1797 to Miss Martha Du Bose, by whom he became the father of a large family of children, those born before he came to Mississippi being Moses, James, Sidney, Van Rensselaer and Martha. Those born in Mississippi were: Matilda, Lydia and Margaret.

Mr. Gordon settled with his family in Wilkinson county, where he reared his children, afterward moving with his family to St. Helena parish, La., where he died in 1838 or 1839, aged eighty years. In politics he was a stanch democrat, was a man who wielded considerable influence over those with Whom he came in contact, was a member of the Presbyterian church, and was in every respect an upright, Christian gentleman.

His parents came from Ireland, and he was one of their two sons, the brother being Moses Gordon. The latter was married in October, 1808, to a Miss Ann Strong, with whom he settled in Wilkinson county, Miss., where he became a very wealthy planter and died childless.

Moses, the eldest son born to Thomas Gordon and Martha (Du Bose) Gordon, were also residents of Mississippi, but while on a visit to St. Helena parish, the former sickened and died, leaving a widow but no surviving children. James B., his second son, was the father of Mrs. Du Bose. His brother, Van Rensselaer, died in Louisiana when a young man, and Martha, the sister, married John Boykin, by whom she became the mother of a large family, dying in 1890 in St. Landry parish, La.

Matilda married Jesse K. Scott, and died leaving one son who was killed in the late war; Lydia married John Robins, who died leaving a son, Sidney. The widow was then married to Samuel Rogers and passed from life in 1869. Margaret, the youngest child, married a Mr. Weatherspoon, and after being left a widow, was united in marriage to John Neilson, her third marriage being to P. F. Wilson. She had one child by her first husband, three by her second, but all are now dead.