Life History

Other facts

Notes

• Mareen Duvall was a French Huguenot and an early American settler.  He was born in France and arrived in the Province of Maryland on August 28, 1650.  He received a patent from the first proprietors of the Maryland Colony, the Calvert Family.  Naming the estate La Val, named after his family's estate in France, on the south side of the South River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He became quite properous. He also owned Middle Plantation in Davidsonville, Maryland.
  
  Some genealogies indicate Mareen was born in the Loire Valley of France, but without stating the source of the information.  Most sources seem to follow the Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Maryland, pp. 13-137, which details the first five generations of Duvalls in the colonies.  The Loire Valley is in Bretagne, and Nantes, where Mareen (Marin) is thought to have been born, is not far from Laval (meaning "The Valley"), on the border of Nomandy.
  
  Mareen's parents are shown as French, but he joined the migrants of Lord Baltimore emigrating to the Colony of Maryland.  I have not been able to find the original sources.  His marriage record reports his birthplace simply as France, but one record collection has England instead.  The latter seems in error, but may indicate a period of association or residence in the UK before migrating to America.
  
  The Huguenot was a striking figure in colonial history.  Many of the descendants of Mareen Duvall rendered distinguished service to the Province in Civil and military life.  His sons and daughters intermarried with the most influential English Families in the Colony, and from the bequesters in the various wills it is evident that the life at Laval (La Val) and Middle Plantation was as luxious and courtly as in any of the manors of the English gentry.
  
  The last wife and widow of the Huguenot was Miss Mary Stanton, before 1700, she became the wife of Colonel Henry Ridgely, the immigrant, and with him, closed the administration of the estate of the Huguenot.  The Younger Mareen objected to the disposition the estate of his father.  He objected to the guardianship of Colonel Ridgely, but the courts did not sustain him.
  
  Mareen Duvall, eldest son of the immigrant, married Frances Stockett, of Anne Arundel County and left numerous distinquished descendants.
  Susannah Duvall, daughter of the Huguenot married Robert Tyler, and had among other descendants, President John Tyler.
  Lewis Duvall, married Martha Ridgely, daughter of Robert Ridgely, the early colonial dignitary
  
  The following excerpt comes from Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, p 104
  
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  Mareen Duval, The Huguenot
  
  No more striking figure in colonial history is found than the personal achievements of this fleeing immigrant from Nantes, about 1650.  He came as one of the 150 adventurers, bought over by Colonel William Burgess.  He settled near Colonel Burgess, in Anne Arundel County, and became of the most successful merchant and planters of the favored section.
  
  When political influences were most active during the Revolution of 1689, Mareen Duvall was among the leaders who sustained the Lord Proprietary.  His name is found in Colonel Greenberry's letter to Governor Copley, as one at the Jacobin Party, whose mysterious meetings he could not solve.
  
  The land records of Anne Arundel and Prince George Counties show that this Huguenot planter and merchant held a vast estate, and left his widow and third wife [Mary Stanton] so attractive as to become the third wife of Colonel Henry Ridgely and later the wife of Reverend Mr. Henderson, the commissary of the Church of England.  Together they built the Old Trinity, or Forest Chapel, near Collington, in Prince George County [Maryland].
  
  The will of Mareen Duvall is an intelligent one.  It was probated in 1694, about the time of the removal of the capital from St. Mary's to Annapolis [Maryland].
  
  --  The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland: A genealogical and biographical review from wills, deeds and church records, by J. D. Warfield (1905), p 104
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  A significant source on the Duvalls is the Maryland Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Maryland, Volume 1.  (Year of publication uncertain.)  It covers the first five generations of Duvalls in the Colonies, under the chapter title "Richard Isaac Duvall," pages 132-141.  Here is a pertinent excerpt I have transcribed.
  
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  Mareen Duvall, the first of the family who settled in Maryland, is said to have come from the neighborhood of Nantes, Brittany, and some support is lent to this statement by the fact that he gave to the first piece of land patented to him the name of "Lavall," and there is a town name "Val" and a chateau "Laval" some sixty or seventy miles from Nantes.  The name "Mareen" is clearly a corruption of the French "Marin" and he was undoubtedly a French Huguenot.  Although the Edict of Nantes was not repealed until 1685, those of the "religion," as the Huguenots called themselves, were nevertheless severely oppressed by the government, and many of them emigrated to the other lands. ... The date of his arrival in Maryland is not recorded, but it was certainly not far from 1650.  At any rate he made his demand for land, July, 1659, and this being duly laid out for him he had a patent, January 22, 1659-60, for a tract called "Lavall" on the west side of South river, in Anne Arundel county. ...
  
  In 1683 an act was passed by the Assembly, and approved by Governor and council, for the encouragement of trade by establishing with great liberality towns and ports of entry in all the seaboard counties, and under the terms of this act Mr. "Marien Duvall" is appointed one of the Commissioners for establishing towns and ports in Anne Arundel county (Md. Arch. vii, 611). ...
  
  Mareen Duvall was three times married.  The name of his first wife has not been preserved.  His second wife, Susanna, is named in his will as the mother of his son, Mareen, the younger, or Mareen II., as he is usually designated.  His third wife, Mary (Stanton) Duvall, sister of Daniel Stanton, of Philadelphia, was married to him about 1693, the year before he died, and bore him no children.  According to Judge Duvall, who left a thoroughly reliable genealogy of the Duvall family, was born in 1692, and was the son of the immigrant by his second wife, Susana.  In all probability, therefore, Mrs. Susanna Duvall died at the birth of her youngest son, Benjamin, in 1692, and Mareen was married to his third wife, Mary Stanton, in 1693.
  
  Mareen Duvall died in August, 1694, and the following year his widow, Mrs. Mary Duvall, married Colonel Henry Ridgely, in proof of which we have the following:
  9 October, 1695, "came Major Henry Ridgely, of Anne Arundel county, who intermarried with Mary, relict and executrix of Mareen Duvall, late of said county, deceased, and exhibited the inventory of said deceased's estate, etc. (Test, Proceedings). ... He died in 1710, and by his will, dated April 30, 1705, and proved July 13, 1710, appointed his wife, Mary, his sole executrix.  She soon married her third husband, Rev. Jacob Henderson, rector of Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's county, and afterward Commissary for the Province under the Bishop of London.  Rev Jacob Henderson died August 21, 1751.  Mrs. Henderson survived until 1762.  As she was married to Mareen Duvall in 1693, she must have been very old a the time of her death."
  --  Maryland Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Maryland, Volume 1, pp 132-135
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  Several genealogies report a full place of birth for Mareen in Bretagne:
  Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, Bretagne, France.  I have not found specific documentation sourcing on these.  It appears genealogists have assumed Nantes as Mareen's birth place, based on reports that this was his home before emigration.  In light of the contemporary sources, this seems reasonable.  Digging into local Nantes or Bretagne records might provide more details to clarify or confirm this.
  
  The following records of his marriages do not report a place of birth.
  
  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  Mary Bouth
  Gender: Female
  Birth 1634 Place Unknown
  Spouse Name Mareen Duvall
  Spouse Birth 1625 Place Unknown
  Marriage Year 1658
  
  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  Mars Marin Duvall
  Gender: male
  Birth 1630, Place Unknown
  Spouse Name Susanna Brasseur
  Marriage Year 1673
  
  The following reports his birth place as France, as do most genealogies.
  
  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  Mareen Duvall
  Gender: Male
  Birth 1630 France
  Marriage State: MD Anne Arundel Co.
  
  A birth record reports the birth location in France and his parents' names.  His first name is spelled two ways here, the English first and then the French.  But this record show his birth in Normandy.  This may be the wrong birth record, but he did later live in Normandy.
  
  Family Data Collection - Births
  Mareen Marin Duvall
  Father Thomas Duvall
  Mother Nicola Stagard
  Birth 1627 Laval, Normandy, France
  
  Millennium File
  Mareen Duvall
  Birth 1625 Nantes, France
  Death Aug 1694 Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA
  Spouse Susanna Marie Brashears
  Children:
  Susanna Duvall
  Samuel Duvall
  
  A memorial has been posted on Find a Grave for Mareen.  It includes an extensive autobiography.  The memoiral points out the his actual burial place is unknown.  His last recorded residence was in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  His will was probated there in August 1894, which is reported in the memorial as his date of death.
  
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  Mareen Duvall
  Birth 1635 Nantes, Departement de la Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France
  Death Aug. 5, 1694 Anne Arundel County, Maryland
  
  Mareen Duvall was an immigrant from Nantes, France about 1650. There is a chance that DuVall had served in the Scot Army and could have been a part of the Army of Charles II, which was captured by Cromwell in 1651. He came to Maryland as one of the 150 adventurers brought over by Colonel William Burgess, one-time Quaker and sympathizer of the Puritan regime in Maryland, and he served a certain period of indentureship under John Covell. About 1657 he became a freeholder, married, and began life anew as a subject of Lord Baltimore under the British Crown. On July 25, 1659, Mareen Duvall having completed his period of service and as a freeholder, applied for his rights to 50 acres of land. The following is an exact copy from the original entry:
  
  "Marin Du Vail demands fifty acres of land having performed his time of service with John Covell and brought in by William Burgess. Warrant issued for fifty acres return 25 December next. Warrant renewed to John Jones for one hundred acres return 25 next."
  
  This was a parcell of Land called Lavall lying on the west side of Chesapeake Bay and on the west side of a river called South River Duvall. It is not known whether Mareen actually settled on "Lavall," but by 1678 "Lavall" had come into the possession of George Parker. In 1664, Mareen Settled near Col. Burgess in Anne Arundel County, on 600 acres on the South side of the South River, known as “Middle Plantation” and became a successful merchant and planter of that favored section. In 1665, he added 100 acres, known as “Duvall’s Addition” to Middle Plantation. During the next ten years, Mareen added much land to his holdings. Mareen Duvall was an educated man. In 1664 he signed his name at an inquest. He was also accorded the title of "Mr." bestowed at that period only on men of rank. Duvall and his family belonged to the Church of England, and later, when the American Episcopal Church was organized [the American church of England just changed its name], his family continued their allegiance to that church.
  
  Mareen Duvall married soon after his indentureship ended, about 1657. His first wife’s name was Mary, her family name was possibly Bouth. It is thought Mareen and Mary had five or six children. Mary died around 1672. His second wife was Susannah, the third and Virginia-born daughter of his compatriot-in-exile, Benois Brasseur, and Marie his wife, she being of The Clifts, of Calvert County. It is thought that Susannah and Mareen had five children. After the death of Susannah, Mareen married again, Mary Stanton, but had no children with her.
  
  Mareen's will was probated in 1694; about the time of the removal of the Capitol from St. Mary's to Annapolis. He left his third wife Mary a vast estate. His heirs, in order mentioned in his will were: his wife, Mary, who inherited a life interest in "Middle Plantation" with the remainder at the death of his stepmother; Elizabeth, who received 150 pounds sterling and 375 acres called "Bowdels Choice" in Calvert County; Benjamin, who received 150 pounds sterling and 200 acres, which was one-half of "Howertons Range;" Mareen the younger, who received 150 pounds sterling and 300 acres called "The Plains" in Calvert County; Mary who received 150 pounds sterling and 320 acres called "Morleys Grove" and 370 acres called "Morleys Lott;" Johanna, who received 150 pounds sterling and 311 acres called "Larkins Choice" and 200 acres called "Duvalls Range," both located in Anne Arundel Co.; John who received 5 shillings, all wearing apparel and a silver tobacco box. John was appointed co-executor with his brother, Lewis, and his brother-in-law Robert Tyler; Samuel, who received 5 shillings; Mareen the elder, who received 5 shillings; and Susanna, who received a silver tankard.
  
  One can easily reconstruct the family of Mareen. The older children, who had already made their way, received little in the way of money or land. These were the children of his first wife. John, Lewis, Samuel, Susanna and Mareen “the elder”. It is also know he had a daughter named Eleanor, who received nothing in the will, perhaps she was also from the first wife. To explain naming two sons Mareen in the will, it was common in those times to have sons with the same name, born of different wives, who were many years apart in age, probably to ensure passage of the name. Hence Mareen “the elder”, born about 1662, and Mareen “the younger”, born about 1680. Mareen the younger, along with his full siblings Elizabeth, Benjamin, Mary and Johanna, inherited land and money in their father Mareen’s will. They were obviously children of his second wife.
  
  Mareen’s widow, Mary [Stanton], married second Colonel Henry Ridgely Sr., as his third wife. She was later to become the wife of Rev. Mr. Henderson, the commissary of the Church of England. One of Mareen’s wives was closely allied to John Larkin, a neighbor and enduring friend of Mareen. Of his children, Mareen the Elder, also called "Marius" by his mother-in-law, married Frances Stockett, daughter of Thomas. He was ancestor of John P. Duvall (Virginia Legislature member). Capt. John Duvall, who held a large estate, married Elizabeth Jones, daughter of William Jones, Sr. Of Anne Arundel County. Samuel Duvall married Elizabeth Clark, in 1687; Susannah married Robert Tyler and was the ancestress of General Bradley T. Johnson; Lewis Duvall married Martha Ridgley, only daughter of the Honorable Robert Ridgely, of St. Inigoes, in 1699.
  
  Spouses:
  Mary Bouth (1639 - 1672) [1st wife]
  Susannah Brassuer Duvall (1652 - 1692) [2nd wife]
  
  Son Maureen Duvall (1662 - 1734)
  
  Burial Unknown
  
  Created by Ken Smith Sep 04, 2014
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #135435598, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=135435598&ref=acom&ftm=1
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Sources

• 1. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• 2. The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland (J. D. Warfield 1905), p 104
• 3. Millennium Files, Ancestry.com
• 4. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 5. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
  • Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.Original data - Filby, P. William, ed.. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2009.Original data: Filby, P. William, ed.. Passeng;
  • Place: Maryland; Year: 1659; Page Number: 204.
• 6. Maryland Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Maryland, Volume 1, pp 132-135
• 7. Ancestors of Benjamin West
  • Location: No longer online;
• 8. Family Data Collection - Individual Records
• 9. RootsWeb Trees
• 10. Family Data Collection - Individual Records
  • Name, birth and death information; error in death year