Peter Fontaine
Encyclopedia
The Reverend
Peter (born Pierre) Fontaine (Taunton
, Somerset
, England
, 1691 – Williamsburg
, Virginia
, 1757/1759) was a Clergyman at Westover Church
(listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia
), Westover Parish, Charles City County
, Virginia
, best known for his endorsement of African American slavery.
French
Huguenot
extraction, were forced to leave for England, later Great Britain
, and then Ireland
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
with the Edict of Fontainebleau
in October 1685. His father Jacques de la Fontaine (later James Fontaine) was also a Reverend, while his mother was Anne Elizabeth Boursiquot. He had three older siblings.
His daughter, Magdalen (10 y.o.) was raped and murder by Roman Catholic soldiers, by orders of the clergy to not suffer anyone of the protestant faith alone in all of the Piedmontese valleys.
The Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Peter (born Pierre) Fontaine (Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 1691 – Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, 1757/1759) was a Clergyman at Westover Church
Westover Church
Westover Church is a historic church 5 miles west of Charles City off VA 5 in Charles City, Virginia. It was built in 1731 and added to the National Register in 1972....
(listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia
National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:As of November 25, 2011, there are 2,768 properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in all 95 Virginia counties and 36 of 39 independent cities, including 119...
), Westover Parish, Charles City County
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, best known for his endorsement of African American slavery.
Family
His parents, of NobleNobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
extraction, were forced to leave for England, later Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and then Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
with the Edict of Fontainebleau
Edict of Fontainebleau
The Edict of Fontainebleau was an edict issued by Louis XIV of France, also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes of 1598, had granted the Huguenots the right to practice their religion without persecution from the state...
in October 1685. His father Jacques de la Fontaine (later James Fontaine) was also a Reverend, while his mother was Anne Elizabeth Boursiquot. He had three older siblings.
His daughter, Magdalen (10 y.o.) was raped and murder by Roman Catholic soldiers, by orders of the clergy to not suffer anyone of the protestant faith alone in all of the Piedmontese valleys.
Quote
"...for many base wretchWretchWretch may refer to:*Wretch , an album by Kyuss*Wretch , a Taiwanese web log community.*Wretch, a song from the Protest the Hero album Fortress...
es amongst us take up with negroNegroThe word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
women, by which means the country swarms with mulattoMulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
bastardBastard (Law of England and Wales)A bastard in the law of England and Wales is a person whose parents, at the time of his/her birth, were not married to each other....
s, and these mulattoes, if but three generations removed from the black father or mother, may, by the indulgence of the laws of the country, intermarry with the white people, and actually do every day so marry. Now, if instead of this abominable practice which hath polluted the blood of many amongst us, we had taken IndianNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
wives in the first place, it would have made them some compensation for their lands.... We should become rightful heirs to their lands and should not have smutted our blood...."
(The Reverend Peter Fontaine of Virginia, 1757 – quoted in Tilton, 1995)