#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 40 Oldest: Mathieu Agee, Oldest Agee Ancestor in America

Mathieu Agee, the 7X-great grandfather of my sons, was the founder of the Agee family in America.

Mathieu Agee, the son of Antoine/Anthony Agee and Judith Chastain, was born about 1670 in Nantes, in the Loire Valley of France. He was of the noble Des Age family.

In order to understand Mathieu's move to America, we need a little background.

The Agees were Huguenots, a Protestant sect following the teachings of John Calvin that began

in France about 1550 when preachers brought Bibles from Switzerland to France. The Huguenots believed that they did not need the intercession of a church hierarchy in order to achieve salvation and that they could interpret Scripture on their own.  They saw themselves as enemies of the follies of this world, trying to live modestly and eschewing public festivities. 

By 1562 there were 2 million Huguenots in France. Both the dominant Catholic church and the French monarchy feared this movement, and civil war raged over the years culminating in the horrific St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were slaughtered. The Religious Wars continued for decades until, in 1598, the French king issued the Edict of Nantes which promised religious freedom. But over the years, more and more freedoms were stripped from the Huguenots and more and more pressure was put on them to convert to Catholicism.  Their churches were destroyed, and they were not allowed to bring cases in the civil courts. Many Huguenots were killed as heretics.

As early as the 1620's, Huguenots began to leave the country, some ending up in America. (In fact, George Washington and Paul Revere are both descendants of Huguenots.) But the largest exodus came when King Louis XIV repealed the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and more than 400,000 Huguenots fled the country. The flight of the Huguenots dealt a double blow.  The hardworking Huguenots were among the most prosperous citizens of France, masters of the crafts in which France excelled.  When they fled, they took their skills with them and taught France's enemies techniques of weaving, lace-making, and silk-work that had once been the exclusive possession of the French.  In addition, many Huguenots enlisted in the English, Dutch and German armies to fight against France.  Some historians attribute France's decline in world power to the flight of the Huguenots.

William of Orange

So, among those who fled was young nobleman Mathieu Agee.  In 1688, he fled to Holland, where he joined up with the staunch Calvinist,
William of Orange. In what has been called "The Glorious Revolution," William and his troops went to England where they defeated the Catholic King James, who was incidentally William's uncle as well as his father-in-law.  William then assumed the crown of England, ruling jointly with his wife Mary. In recognition of the Huguenots' aid to his cause, William offered free passage to the New World and land grants.  A large number of the French refugees, including Mathieu, took advantage of this offer.  

Mathieu arrived in Virginia about 1690, received land grants west of Richmond and built a plantation about seven miles from the town of Manakin where a large group of Huguenots later settled.

In 1714, Mathieu married fellow Huguenot refugee, Ann Godwin (or Gandovin).  They had four children: Anthony, Isaac, James, and Judith.  James and Anthony each had twelve children, known as "The 24."  From them descend all of the Agees in America.  My sons are descendants of Anthony and his wife Mary Jane Binnion.

In Manakin, the Huguenots established King William Parish, named for their patron.  Mathieu and his family were communicants in that parish and a plaque there commemorates him.

Mathieu Agee died about 1761 in Buckingham County VA.

The Huguenot Cross: The Cross consists of an open four-petal Lily of France, and the petals thereby form a Maltese Cross. The four petals signify the Four Gospels. Each arm or petal, at the periphery, has two rounded points at the corners. These points are regarded as signifying the Eight Beatitudes. The four petals are joined together by four fleur-de-lis signifying the Mother Country of France, each of which bears a rounded point distally. The twelve rounded points described in the four petals and the four fleur-de-lis signify the Twelve Apostles. There is formed between each fleur-de-lis and the arms of the two petals with which it is joined, an open space taking the shape of a heart which suggests the seal of the great French Reformer, John Calvin. Suspended from the lower central petal by a ring of Gold is a pendant dove signifying the Church under the Cross. In times of persecution, a teardrop supplanted the dove.