In view of the fact that the advent of the Resseguie family in America occurred nearly a century after the earliest settlements had been made, and at a period when the eastern coast had become comparatively well populated, and when town and church organizations had long been completed, it appears somewhat remarkable that no more of a historical nature can be learned concerning them than at present seems possible. The early family was composed of a sturdy, middle-class people, descendants of the Huguenots and Puritans, in whom, especially in the first two or three generations, the pioneer instinct seems to have been remarkably prominent. The manifest desire to make a way for themselves, a distaste for clannish village civilization, and a deep enjoyment of the life of nature to be met with in the forest clearing, urged them instinctively to push further and further into the wilderness, and left no time nor taste for a record of their lives and deeds; and this may, in a measure, account for the sparse and fragmentary evidence of their history, the loss of which we now so much regret. The full genealogy upon which the compiler has been more or less diligently engaged since 1883, and subscriptions for which have been repeatedly solicited, records over four thousand of the descendants of Alexander Resseguie, in eight generations, and would form a printed book of seven hundred pages. Its abandonment and the substitution of the present little work arise from the complete failure of the many efforts to obtain subscriptions at all approaching the cost of the former; while the latter is offered in order that the attainable facts of the early history may be preserved. The five generations noted herein, while containing but one-seventh of the descendants enumerated in the manuscript genealogy, carry the line of descent so near to the present day that searchers may readily connect themselves with their ancestry,

J. E. M.

"D'or à l'arbre de sin.; au chef cousu d'arg. ch. de trois roses de gu." Rietstap, Armorial Général. A green tree upon a golden shield, a silver chevron having upon it three red

roses.

Appearances point chiefly to the province of Languedoc, in Southern France, as the ancient home of the Resseguie family; and to Toulouse, the capital of the department of Haute-Garonne, as their native city. In such research as the means at his command has permitted, the compiler has found the name in connecnection with no other locality (excepting the neighboring province of Guienne), and therefore considers the assumption reasonable that the American family, though not directly traceable to that section, is of the same nativity as those whose names and deeds have been considered worthy of public record, and are thus preserved to us. To the great regret of the compiler, he has been unable to connect the American family with its French progenitors; indeed, the early history of it prior to the settlement of its head in Norwalk, Connecticut, is unknown, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is safe to consider Alexander Resseguie of Norwalk' as the emigrant, and with him properly begins the family history.

It will be of interest, however, to note such facts concerning others of the name as have been found, although largely contemporary with the American family; and beginning in order of date, the first is

Dominique de Resseguier, who, in 1597, resigned his position as secular abbot✶ of the church of St. Afrodise-deBeziers.†

*Hercule de Gailhac fut nominé par le Roi le 22 Octobre, 1597, à l'abbaye séculiere de Saint Afrodise-de-Beziers sur la démission de Dominique Resseguier. Hosiers, Armorial Genéral.

† Beziers is a town of Languedoc, in the department of Hérault, dating from 120 B. C.

6

Jean de Resseguier was born in Toulouse, July 22, 1683, of a family originally of Rouergue,* which for three centuries furnished eminent magistrates to the Parliament of Toulouse.

He, himself, was a member of that body, and president of its Chamber of Inquisition. He was elected judge in 1705, and the same year a member of the Jeux Floraux (a literary institute established in Toulouse in 1322 for the purpose of encouraging the art of poetry); later he became one of the founders of the Academy of Sciences of Toulouse. He died in that city, Sept. 25, 1753, leaving a number of unpublished works, among them a History of the Parliament of Toulouse, the manuscript of which is still preserved.

Clement Ignace de Resseguier (knight), son of Jean de Resseguier, was born in Toulouse, Nov. 23, 1724, and was intended from infancy as a member of the order of Malta (an order of chivalry, whose origin is traced to the Crusades); consequently, when young went to the island of Malta, where his vows were performed. After having won distinction in a number of expeditions against the infidels, he became general of the Galleys, amassed wealth, and had the advantage of a long residence in France. Chevalier de Resseguier, though gifted with wit, was naturally caustic, and imprudently directed a number of epigrams against people of influence, which resulted in his imprisonment in the Bastile. A keen satire upon Madame de Pompadour led to his detention in the Castle of If, from which he was released through the intercession of a friend.

The property which he possessed in France having been lost through the Revolution, he retired to Malta, where he was living when the place was surrendered to Bonaparte in 1798. He died the same year and was buried on the island. He was the author of quite a number of published works, both in poetry and prose.

Louis Elizabeth Emanuel de Resseguier, Marquis of Miremont, grandson of Jean, and nephew of Clement Ignace de Resseguier, was born in Toulouse, May 15, 1755, and married Angelique Louise de Chastenet de Puységur, grandniece of the Marshal de Puységur, and niece of the Count de Puységur, minisister of war under Louis XVI. His merit and high reputation gained for him the position of advocate-general, at the age of 24.

* Rouergue was an ancient district of France, in the eastern part of the province of Guienne. It is now included in the department of Aveyron.