European Origins of the American Gossetts

Our Genealogical Frontier

If Group-I American Gossetts do not descend from Jean the Huguenot of Jersey Isle, then from whom?  And from where?

There is much more to discover about our European origins, but YDNA evidence suggests that most of the American Gossetts (i.e., Group I) descend from one immigrant (or a few very closely related immigrants), and genealogical research suggests that the immigration occurred just before 1700 with the arrival of John Gossett, who likely paid for his passage through indenture. While his departure point was probably England, his ancestral origins were probably French-Huguenot.  The YDNA evidence does suggest that most American Gossetts have an ancestor in common with Christopher L. Gosset (our best candidate for true descendant of Jean the Huguenot of Jersey Isle) -- but one who lived more than 600 years ago.  That we share the R1b1a2 halopgroup (and our surname) with Christopher suggests we have a closer relationship to him (and therefore to Jean the Huguenot) than we would to some random sampling of Western Europeans.   So, yes, the majority of American Gossetts (i.e., Groups I and II) probably do have French ancestral origin -- but not directly in a line from Jean the Huguenot.

What Family Traditions Tell Us

Tradition has been found to be fairly unreliable in determining the history of the Gossetts in America. Were the Gossetts French Huguenots?  Were they English?  Were they German?  Were they Dutch?  Were they first French Huguenots who moved to another country where they picked up the language (and, more importantly, accumulated family, friends and acquaintances) before going to England to book passage to America?   England was a temporary home for many migrating to America -- even those who did not suffer religious persecution. 

There was a steady stream of Huguenot émigrés from France throughout the 17th century -- the pace accelerating, of course, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.  [For a good, in-depth discussion see "The Huguenot Soldiers of William of Orange and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 -- The Lions of Judah," by Matthew Glozier, Sussex Academic Press (2002);  especially Chapter 2.]    French Huguenots were welcomed (indeed, actively recruited in some cases) by various communities in Germany, Switzerland, England and -- above all -- the Netherlands.  Total numbers of Huguenots leaving France by 1690 are estimated at between 175,000 and 250,000 (about 20% to 25% of all the Huguenots in France, or about 1% of the entire French population) [Glozier loc. cit.].  A large number of French Huguenots settled in Amsterdam after fleeing France. Many in this group joined the French Huguenot Army under William III (William of Orange) and participated in William's invasion of England ca. 1688. This caused many of the French Huguenots who had been living in Holland to relocate to England.  Germany was also a prominent refuge for Huguenots fleeing France.  Brandenburg had five Huguenot "agents" whose sole job it was to assist the resettlement of French Huguenots -- financially and logistically [Glozier loc. cit.].  Mary H. Gosset mentions the existence of Gossets in England who "trace a separate descent from a family which early in the eighteenth century came from Hesse Cassel, where they had previously taken refuge" [Proceedings of the London Huguenot Society, Vol III in a chapter titled, "A Family of Modellers in Wax," by Mary H. Gosset, p. 543 (1892)].

Here are statements we have heard or seen in print -- family traditions and remembrances:

John Gossett of Virginia, because he was indentured to a man with surname of Martin (and served his term of indenture in a very English colony), most likely sailed from England, where the terms of his passage and indenture would have been drawn up.  However, he might have been in England for only a short time beforehand. 

Likely Scenario for Group I   (what we hope is at least informed conjecture)

The most likely scenario is that our Group-I Gosset(t) ancestors were French Huguenots distantly related to the family of Jean Gosset. Like a large number of other Huguenots, they fled France for Holland, Germany, or elsewhere;   one or more later moved to England (for a short or long stay); and one of these (or a descendant), John Gossett, eventually secured passage (via contract of indenture) to Virgina.  In 1705 (about one year after the conclusion of his term of indenture), he left Virginia for New Castle County on the Delaware, where -- by 1709 -- he was married to Jane Williamson and they sold land that was part of her inheritance from her father, Derrick Williamson.

Did John move to New Castle County because he had connections to other settlers there -- connections from his former days in England or Holland?    New Castle County was a melting pot of peoples from different European nations.  It has an interesting history of colonization -- being, in effect, the spoils of various European wars.  It was first settled (unsuccessfully) by Dutch in 1631;  then successfully by Swedes and Finns in 1638;  then passed to Dutch control  in 1655;  then to the English in 1664; then back to the Dutch in 1673;  then back to the English in 1674; and in 1682, William Penn was granted control of the three counties on the Delaware (as a sort of southeastern appendage of Pennsylvania).  Under English control, Delaware was heavily settled by Welsh Quakers, then by Germans and Scots relocating from Pennsylvania.  Though the three counties on the Delaware were allowed their own legislative assembly in 1704, they remained under control of the Governor of Pennsylvania.  Not until 1776 did Delaware become a jurisdiction completely separate from Pennsylvania.

Also, at the time of John's indentured servitude in VA, there was a trade route between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays via a cart road constructed by Augustine Herman (variously spelled "Herrman" as well) that spanned a short, overland distance between headwaters of streams (tbe Bohemia River to the west;  the Appoquinimink River to the east) that were navigable to the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, respectively.  [See Colonial Delaware -- A History, John A. Munroe. 298 pages. Delaware Heritage Press. Originally written 1997, it was reprinted with modest revision in 2003.]   Middletown, DE, grew up as a stop along this heavily traveled route, and was very near to where Dirk Willemson lived (also near what eventually was the Brothers' Land. From the mid-17th, to early 18th centuries, tobacco from VA and MD was routinely smuggled to New Castle to ship overeas, avoiding English taxes [Munroe, op cit]. Did whatever John Gossett of VA labored at, during his indenture, put him in contact with residents near Middletown, DE, and might these acquaintances have attracted his reolcation to the Middletown area after his indenture was satisfied?  This is merely conjecture at this point -- but intelligent conjecture, we hope.

John's wife, Jane Williamson, was from a family who settled much earlier than John's likely arrival.  In the abstract of the 1709 deed of land-sale presented earlier, Jane's father Derrick Williamson is mentioned as having been conveyed the land in 1671.  And a "Dirk Willemsen" is listed on February 21, 1683/4 as taking an oath, expressing desire to be naturalized a British citizen in New Castle County [Records of the Court of New Castle on Delaware, Vol. II, 1681-1699, (Meadville, PA: Tribune Publishing, 1935), p. 37 or visit this link]-- a common requirement for foreigners who wished to remain with the land after the English gained political control.   Dirk Willemsen "of oppoquenemen" [undoubtedly a variant of "Appoquinimink"] is also listed in Court Records of New Castle on Delaware (February 8, 1676/7), registering his branding marks for cattle and hogs [Records of the Court of New Castle on Delaware, p. 68, Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, Printed by the Wickersham printing company (1904)]. The entry immediately above his?  The registration of brands/marks of "Dirk Laurentz of oppoquenemen."    Recall that the aforementioned abstract of the 1709 deed of land-sale listed Derrick Williamson & Derrick Lawrenson as having been conveyed land in Appoquinimink in 1671.   These mark-registrations and the 1709 deed strongly suggest that Dirk Willemsen is the same man as Derrick Williamson;  the implication is that he was probably of Dutch origin.    Did John Gossett immigrate to Virginia, only because that is where his indenture required him to go, but -- upon satisfying its terms -- he moved to New Castle because he had acquaintances, relations, etc., there?  Was John Gossett of Huguenot/Dutch origin?   Or did he move to New Castle for other reasons?  We simply do not know.

Or were John Gossett of VA and John Gossett of New Castle even the same man?  We have been assuming that they are the same man, based on the suitability of dates (John disappears from the record in VA after 1705 and appears in the record in New Castle in 1709);   and also from the relatively low population of persons in the region ca. 1700 and the relative rarity of the Gossett surname in any era. [Click here for more information on Colonial populations and Gossett-surname frequency.]

Fruitful Areas of Inquiry

Here is our "wish list" --  some of the loose ends we hope to address in the future:

European Origin of John Gossett of Lancaster, VA

In an attempt to uncover the origins of John Gossett, the indentured servant of Lancaster County, VA, we engaged a UK-based genealogist.  The task was to find candidates who left England in the last decade of the 17th-century under the direction of Thomas Martin.  [However, many aspiring servants indentured themselves to ship-captains, who sold the indentures upon the ships’ arrival in VA.]  We speculated that John Gossett was born between 1670 and 1680. Various surname spellings were searched, including Gosset(t), Gaus(s)et(t), Gas(s)et(t), Godzet, Goswich, and Goslet(t) with y.o.b. from 1660 to 1685. Attention was centered on English sources that had a “national” coverage, since we had no clue of where he might have come from – if, indeed, England was his country of origin.  [Many indentured servants from Germany and the Netherlands sailed on English ships.]  After consulting many indices of vital records, parish registers, wills, passenger lists, as well as sources such as Peter Wilson Coldham’s “Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage” (and its supplement), no reasonable candidate was found.  And there are no specific classes of materials relating to such indentured servants of the very late 17th and early 18th centuries in the National Archives. 

In summary, we have been unable to find any evidence that John Gossett of VA resided in England before his indenture.  He might well have, but his underclass status just did not result in his being recorded – or records of him have been lost.  We also must consider the possibility that John Gossett was Dutch or German.  If the former, it might explain why he would be attracted to live among his countrymen in the New Castle, DE, area after his indenture was satisfied. 

 

Stay tuned!