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JEAN BAPTISTE D’AUBY (ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS)
The following research was compiled between the years 1973 and 1977 with the first rendition completed on December 7, 1977. At the time, we used personal interviews, church and civil records, census records, and many other sources that were available to us. In 2012 we started an update on this family using new sources that have added much more detail to this paper. Three people should be given special consideration for all their assistance with these families. They were: Mrs. Alice Forsyth, Archivist for St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans; Mrs. Jeanne Williams of Bay St. Louis, one of the oldest living descendants of Jean Baptiste D’auby; and another descendant living in Slidell, LA, Mrs. Joseph Crawford. Without the help of these people, we would never have been able to complete this research.
The research on these families has been extremely complex. There have been problems determining the correct spelling of names, problems trying to determine places of residence, and problems establishing dates of birth, marriage, and death. With the names, we will use what we feel or know to be the correct spellings and in brackets following the names, we will give other spellings as we have found them. This problem arose because most of these people were illiterate and could not spell their own name. Things became even worse when the Spanish priests of that early time “tried” to spell French names. They ended up spelling them phonetically in most cases.
These early French immigrants were drifters or adventurers (more or less) by the fact that they left their homeland for the “new world.” Even after they arrived on the Gulf Coast, they often moved from one area to another. Thus, we find these people back and forth from Mobile, to Biloxi, to New Orleans in the early 1700s. One can also be sure that government orders,
Indian problems, and famine created some of the relocations.
Jean Baptiste D’auby (also spelled D’Auby, Daudy, Daubie, Dobie, and Doby today)
We will use the “D’auby” spelling for the first generation born in America and “Doby” for all subsequent generations. According to his marriage record and several of his children’s baptismal records, he was bom in Hyeres, Provence, France. Hyeres is currently located in the Administrative Region of Provence- Alpes-Cote-d’Azur. It is part of the French Riviera sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea with a population of 56,000. There was one exception to his place of birth. On the baptismal record of his son, Louis, he states that he was a native of Marseille, France. Probably, this was where Jean lived for a while before coming to America. Hyeres is located approximately 50 miles from Marseille in southern France on the coast. The marriage record of Jean states that he was the son of Pierre D’auby and Madeleine Brouquier.
We assume that they remained in France, for it is relatively certain they did not come to America.
Jean was bom around the year 1770 or possibly a few years earlier. This is based on the Hancock Co., MS census of 1830 which states that he was over 60 years of age that year. With his wife bom in 1772, we assume that he was not much older than her. He also shows up in the 1820 Hancock census as being over 45 years of age that year.
From the Hancock County Court House land records (Deed Book E., p. 237), we know that Jean was dead sometime before April 7, 1836. On this date, his heirs agreed to sell his estate lands. Mrs. Jeanne Doby Williams’ “family tree” states that he died in the year “1834.” This family tree was drawn up years ago by her and a now deceased attorney. She said the attorney
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Doby~D`Auby Jean-Baptiste-D'Auby-of-Hyeres-Provence-France-Ancestors-and-Descendants-002
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