Since 18 February 1999
The following is extracted from pages x-xiv of the Preface of the book The First 200 Years of BRASHEAR(S) in America. Click on the preceding to get more information on the book. It is placed here (by permission of the Author) in an attempt to publicize the mythology associated with the origins of the BRASSEUR/BRASHEAR/BRASHEARS/etc. family.
| a1. | Jean de Brassier, b. c?1415 (fl. 1444-77), a gentleman originally of the city of Reims, who followed Geffroy le Maingre-Boucicaut, brother of Merechal de Boucicaut when he besieged the anti pope Benedict at Avignon, and who in the beginning of the XVth century settled in the province (departement of Vaucluse), where his descendants perpetuated themselves. About 1440, he move to the city of Pernes, where his name is on documents 14 Feb 1446, 15 Feb. 1449, 8 Jan 1456. On 11 Jun 1449, Humbert de Rota, notary of Avignon, in a document executed in the Castle of Boulbon in Provence, remitted revenues which he had exacted for Jean de Brassier. Jean de Brassier m.1. Antoinette de Maulsang, through whom he inherited land, but had no children; m.2. Huguette de Grignan, of the city of Carpentras, who also died with children from only her first marriage, her will dated Jan 1463; m.3. 24 Mar 1465, Isabelle de Rics, d/o Baudet de Rics of the city of Apt. Jean de Brassier made his will 9 Mar 1477, in which he named five children, who, should his widow remarry, were to be under the care of Etienne and Pierre de Riccis, his brother-in-law. Jean's descendants established four different branches of the house: 1) the Lords and Marquises of Jocas, residing at Carpentras; 2) the branch of Brassier de La Plane, direct issue in the second degree, who settled at Rouergue and became extinct with Bernard Brassier, the knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost of Montpellier, in 1696 (i.e. the one who commissioned the genealogy); 3) the first branch of Brassier de Saint-Simon, descendants in the fourth degree, who settled in Germany; and 4) the second branch of Brassier de Saint-Simon, descendants in the seventh degree of the previous one, who "actually domiciled in the ancient Provence of Le Rouergue." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| e1. | Alleman Brassier de Jocas, b. c1575, Pernes, d.
Pernes (will, 18 Sep 1625, names five children); m. 18 Jun 1594, at Pernes,
Madeline
de Cheilus, b. Pernes, d/o Jean de Cheilus and Louisa Alleman de
Chateauneir, of Pernes, France. In some charts, Alleman is listed
as parent of Benois Brasseur, but we can now document that Benois' father
was named Robert Brasseur. With a brother who was Canon of Avignon,
two daughter who were nuns, and a son who died in a religious war, one
could be sure that Alleman would not recognize any Huguenot (i.e. Protestant)
children.
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| f2. | Pierre Brassier de Jocas, will at Pernes 14 may
1652, names four children; m. 17 Nov 1749, at Avignon, Marguerite
Teste, d/o Gabriel Teste and Marguerite Silvestre de Marignagne.
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We'd like as much as anyone to connect the Brashear / Brasseur family to their roots in France, but we want documentation. Failing documentation, we want circumstances so compelling and probable that they leave little doubt. For example, if our family used some or many of the same given names, I might consider the connection a possibility. But the names that run in our Brasseur families simply do not appear in the deBrassier family. A fantastic wish / need and a superficial likeness of a surname are not enough.
We wish we had more family legends
like the one that says the Brasseur family came from the Rhone Valley.
They are great leads for research. But what we have is family after
family where the children on the frontier did not know their grandparents
in Maryland, may have never even seen them, may not even have known their
names, certainly did not pass the names down to us.
Records before the Revolution
(though many are missing) are generally good. Most men of that time
could read and write their own names, and they may have had the British
colonial compulsion to keep records of everything. But with the population
explosions of the mid-1700s, Brashear families started squirting through
all the mountain passes and along the navigable rivers, anxious to grab
as much good land as they could, before their neighbors beat them to it.
Many of their children were illiterate, were living in frontier conditions
where paper and pencils may not have been available, and maybe they didn't
care whether records were kept or not. After the establishment of
county governments in the new territories, records get better again, though
war, fire, and just plain negligence have taken their toll. After
the mid-1800s, education and literacy became desirable again, and our task
as family researchers get a bit easier. Many of us have good lines
back to the early 1800s and (we think) good lines in the Colonial period,
but are missing a link or two when our ancestors crossed the mountains
to invade their paradise of dreams.
All of the above is from the book The
First 200 Years of BRASHEAR(S) in America with the permission of the
Author. Get a copy of the book from Charles Brashear (click on the
above reference for details).
Charles Brashear
5025 Old Cliffs Road
San Diego, CA 92120-1151
619/265-7674; 582-5513
e-mail: brashear@mail.sdsu.edu
DISCLAIMER: The author makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information provided in this document and is not responsible for any consequences of its use. Most of the material is based upon factual information, but some of the material related to individuals may be the author's opinions.