The Duey Family Reunion, July 1 & 2, 2000, in Carlisle, PA, was a success, thanks to the response of family members from across the nation, including Hawaii. In all, over seventy persons attended. Some Dueys in the Carlisle environs were at the Sunday picnic at the Centerville Lutheran Church, and we had two from the Shippensburg area, Myrtle Yohe and Karin Mathna. Some who had registered could not make the reunion because of changes, as a death in the family, a move of residence, and health problems. We missed them. 

This was truly a representative meeting, for we had newcomers in attendance, and not all from the Carlisle line. Sharon Davies and her cousins, Linda Hansen and Donna Leon, came from KS and FL, claiming Joel/Joshua Duey, from the Nesselrode, VA, family. Their ancestor emigrated from Denmark in Colonial times. Rev. Keith Nonemaker, now living in Camp Hill, PA, was there as a descendant of George Duey, Hogestown, near Mechanicsburg. We haven't been able to tie all the Dueys from around the area into one neat package as yet, so have to do further research. Also from this line of George Duey: Rex Hatfield, of NJ, who is in the family via the Maxwells.

Wisconsin had representation from June Gardner and her sister, Bernice. B's husband, Blacky Zamzow, drove over, picking up a reunioner now living in Ohio, Margaret Dieringer. 
 

The Nebraska Clan came, principally from Clarence Duey, an emigrant from Carlisle in the 1800s. This family goes back to William Drenner/Drinnier Duey, whose line is, we believe, from Conrad, born in 1769 and buried in Newville, Herb Duey (our official photographer), from this line, was present, having moved to CT recently. He saw some relatives for the first time in decades. Some of these Nebraskans have moved around, to VA (Marylyn Smith) and MD (Don Schneider), for instance.

John V. and Rose Marie Duey (Lindsey) came from Hawaii. John comes from Indiana  and traces back to John Samuel Duey and his father, Peter, born 1789, who resided in Walnut Bottom, near Centerville, PA. Several of John V.'s cousins from IN (Winegardner) and OK (Judy Davis) were present. 

A part of the Indiana clan included the Wagners from FL and the Dueys and Rehns from eastern PA, who descend from Philip Alexander Duey, noted musician and singer. Philip's father, Alfred Buchanan Duey, was born in Quincy, PA, and moved first to Ohio and then Indiana.

The Florida contingent is closely related to the Indiana group. They descended from two brothers (Charles and Wm.), who grew up in Harrisburg but were born down in the Gettysburg area, coming also from John Samuel Duey and Mary Ann Durnbaugh, who lived in Quincy, PA. These cousins came to the gathering from FL (9; Duey, Morse), PA (5; Duey), and CT (11; Duey, Ingala, King). Give 'em a hand!

John Samuel's brother, Philip, born 1824, was represented by Wanda Smith, UT, and her daughter, Karen Baxter, OR. 
 

Business Conducted

What is a reunion's purpose? Ask ten persons and get ten answers. Each of us came with some expectations, surely hoping to meet others of the family, to renew old ties, and to learn more of our history. We also came to explore that area of PA and see some remaining Duey houses or the towns where our old-timers resided. And we made some decisions about our continuing relationship as an extended family. 
 

1. The Next Reunion - Paul and Peggy Duey, of Lincoln, Nebraska, volunteered to be our conveners for the next reunion, to be held in 2005. We passed the red-lettered banner over to them as a sign of their awesome undertaking, dignity and authority. (Translate this work.) We'll all look forward to their letters and promotion for this event.
2. SEPT. 2006: The Reunion was held in Lincoln, Nebraska in the summer of 2005, as announced, with approximately fifty persons in attendance. Thanks to Paul and Peggy for doing a great job in managing this event. <;

The Huguenot Connection

It is pretty well established now that our surname is of Huguenot origin. My research has turned up two books written in America that cite our ancestors as Huguenots,* and spell the name Douay. Spelling is not often of  much importance, of course, since clerks spelled surnames phonetically or by their own preference. But these Dueys were in company of others who also had French names, so there is an association involved. Also, a letter from the German Huguenot Society, in Bad Karlshafen, informs us that the Duys in Kriegsfeld, Pfalz (west of the Rhine River, near Belgium and France) were part of an influx of persons of French speech from Flanders, Artois, Hlennegau and Liège. These people were Walloons.** My research correspondent included a reference from a French author who wrote a dictionary of names. According to Albert Dauzat, our surname was spelled d'Huy and is Belgian. This spelling is also cited as the origin of the New England Dewey spelling.*** This is a general opinion, of course, and does not necessarily mean everyone has the same history.

I am continuing this research and have various other citations. I am also pursuing research at the Huguenot Historical Society, in New Paltz, NY. I'll have more on this in the next newsletter. And, I do plan to publish a paper on my research whenever I have some satisfactory documentation. Although people generally think that there is little or no documentation about the Huguenots, there are actually large collections of records available in several European libraries. This sort of research is both expensive and time-consuming, so we must be patient.  

* Stapleton, Rev. A., Memorials of the Huguenots in America, With Special reference to Their Emigrants to Pennsylvania (Orig. publ. Carlisle, PA: 1901); p. 38: "In ship Loyal Judith, November 26, 1740 - Conrade Douay, John Conde, Fred Laurans, Bernett Saye, John H. Leshire, John Angell." Also pg. 98, Chap. xi The Huguenots of Lancaster County; "Among others of Huguenot antecedents who located within the bounds of Lancaster County were the following: … Jacques Duey (Dewy), Jean and Paul Le Cene…"

** Charles W. Baird, D.D., History of the Huguenot Emigration to America (Dodd Mead & Co., New York: 1885), p. 148, "The Walloons were the inhabitants of the region now comprised by the French department du Nord, and the south-western provinces of Belgium. They were a people of French Extraction, and spoke the French language. … In all the principal towns of the region - at Lisle, at Arras, at Douay, Valenciennes, Tournay, Oudenarde, Ghent, Antwerp and Mechlin - congregations were organized; and in 1563 the Synod of the Walloon Churches in the provinces of Artois, Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault was formed."

*** G. Elmore Reamon, The Trail of the Huguenots in Europe (Genealogical Publ. Co., Inc.: Baltimore: 1983), p. 265: "Dewey (Belgian, Prot. Ref., Dhuy, L. 1618); and, Albert Dauzat, Dictionnaire Etymologique des noms de Famille et Prenoms de France (Librairie LaRousse, Paris), "Duy, 'originaire d'Huy' (Belgique), ou francisation du suivant."

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