Louis DuBois

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Louis DuBois was a Huguenot colonist to New Netherland who, with two of his sons and 9 other refugees, 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.

Born October 21, 1626 in Wicres, Artois France, to Chretien DuBois, Louis married Catherine Blanchan at Mannheim, Germany, October 10, 1655. He came to New Netherland probably in 1661^[1].

DuBois and the others bought a large tract of land from the Native Americans, from the river to the mountains, and settled there in the late 1670s. Their descendants remained there for generations, dividing and to some extent governing their tracts of land through a unique institution called the Duzine. Mangled French for "the dozen," it consisted of one elected representative for each of the original settlers, and membership was restricted to their descendants through either male or female lines. To this date, some of the DuBois land is still retained by the family descendents. A Portion of the original land tract is home to modern landmarks such as the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. The New York State legislature eventually confirmed the actions of this body, which existed in at least ceremonial form into the 1800s, long after a standard town government had been established.

Louis himself eventually returned to Kingston, where he died June 23, 1696^[2]. His widow remarried, and in her will freed two of her slaves.

Huguenot Street, a National Historic District, has stone houses built by these refugees and their descendants, including the DuBois Fort, believed to have been built by one of Louis' sons. 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' brother 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.