Louis Dubois

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Louis DuBois was a Huguenot colonist to New Netherland who, with his son and 10 other refugees forming the Douzaine, founded the village of New Paltz, New York. These Protestant refugees fled Catholic persecution in France and Belgium, emigrating to the Rhenish Palatinate in modern Germany before going to New Amsterdam and later up the Hudson River, ultimately to New Paltz.

DuBois and the others bought a large tract of land from the Native Americans, from the river to the mountains, and formed an early self governing council called the Douzaine, under nominal Dutch rule. Later, under the English, their land grants were confirmed. Huguenot Street, a National Historic District, has stone houses built by these refugees, including the DuBois Fort. This street is known as the oldest street in America with its original houses.

W.E.B. DuBois is said to be grandson of a loyalist descendant of Louis DuBois who left for the West Indies. Most DuBois descendants supported the revolution, though, and now, descendants of the family's "French father" can be found in every state of the union.