Henry LaRue (1755-1850) of Leeds County

You can find a great deal of information on the web regarding this family so I will provide a summary of relevant material of interest to this family history.  Our interest lies with Hendrick (Henry) Larue (1755-1850) and Marritje Mandeville (1753-1806). The Mandeville family arrived in the USA around 1647 and the LaRue family (variously spelled Le Ruex, Laroe and others)  in 1670 with the arrival of three children of Pierre LeReux (he apparently dying on the ship):  Abraham, Suzanna and Jacques.  Both families were French Huguenots (Calvinists) and under persecution for their religion. The families settled in what became New Jersey and New York. The son of relevance to our story was Jacques who had 13 children, one of them a Hendrick who had at least 9 children, one of whom was Jacobus who had at least 5 children, one of them Hendrick (1755-1850).

Hendrick and Marritje lived in New Jersey, were the first 5 of their children were born.  They then moved to Leeds County, Ontario as Loyalists, in 1788. Another five children were born in Ontario. At least two of their children, including Rebecca, applied for land grants as the children of Loyalists were permitted to do. Marritje died in Ontario and is buried in Mallorytown.  Hendrick returned to the USA in 1810 and remarried. When he was almost 80 years old he applied for a pension from the USA government, claiming he was a Revolutionary and detailing his military service which seemed to be quite minor (and probably exaggerated by memory and the needs of the application).  In any event this has confused me. The family name has all but disappeared from Canada – the daughters married and the sons eventually drifted back to the USA.   Henry’s grave is located in the Brookside Cemetery of Plessis, NY.   Of interest to me is that the stone apparently says:  Rev. War Vet.    There are a great number of indications he was seen as both a Loyalist and a Revolutionary.  If you look at the land grant application of Rebecca LaRue it makes it quite clear that Henry was on the UE list and on the basis of that he is listed in William Reeds book on Loyalists.  But he is not acknowledged by the more official Loyalist web site.  And as stated above he did apply for a revolutionary pension and his grave marker described his a revolutionary war veteran.  I have also looked at the only land grant paper work I can find for Henry which is from 1793.   This application makes no mention of being a Loyalist.  It states that at an early date he moved to Canada and occupied land and later applied to the land board for this land.  In 1793 he simply request an additional grant of land to expand his farm.  Nicely done Henry.

Here is a summary of Hendrick’s and Marritje’s family:

A. Jacobus (James) LaRue b. 1780 in NJ.   m. Hannah Andreas.  James served in war of 1812 while in Canada.
B. Maria Polly LaRue b. 1781 in NJ.,  d. 1865 in Ontario. Married John  Hagerman,  son of a loyalist in Leeds county.  Maria (Mary) received a land grant in Ontario in 1805.

  • Henry LaRue Haggerman
  • Richard Haggerman
  • Charles Norman Haggerman
  • Norman Haggerman
  • John Haggerman
  • William Haggerman
  • Rachel J. Haggerman
  • Mary Ann Haggerman

C. Peter LaRue b. 1783 in NJ    d. 1870 in Breedsville, Michigan.  Was in Canada in 1812 and served in war of 1812.  m. Fanny ?

  • James  LaRue b. about 1820
  • Ann LaRue  b. about 1822

D. Hendrick LaRue b. 1785 in NJ

E. Crynis LaRue b. 1787 in NJ  d. 1871 in Breedsville, Michagan.  m. Hannah Griffin of Mallorytown, Ont. Cryness served in the war of 1812, later living in Clarke Twp, Ont. where he was clerk of the township.

  • Samuel b. 1810
    • Susan b. 1830? in Canada d. ? in USA m. Clark Champine  b. 1830 in NY. d. in USA.
      • Louis Champine  b. 1859 in Canada.
      • Frederick Champine   b. 1864
      • Jessie Champine  b. 1870
      • Sybil Champineb. 1873
      • Jennie  Champine b. 1876
      • Inez  Champine  b. 1879

F. Sophia.  Became a teacher.

G. REBECCA LaRue (1792-1856) who married Nathaniel Hart Powers in Canada, the son of a revolutionary.  Rebecca received a land grant in 1810.  They had a daughter, Suzanna,  who married Thomas Thornton, so check out more on the Powers family and the Thornton family.

H. Rachel LaRue  b. 1793 in Young, Ont.   d. 1868.   m.  (1)  Herman Dochman perhaps born in Young.  (2) James Bradford in 1829.

    • John Dockman    b.  about 1824 in  d. 1927 in Michigan (is this right)
    • Henry Dochman b. 1826 in Wisconsin

I. Hiram LaRue b. 1795 in Young, Ont.

J. Horace LaRue b.  1797 in Young, Ont.

K. Samuel LaRue b. 1797 in Young, Ont.

believe there is a religious quotation at the bottom of the stone.

NOTE:   You can find Hendrick LaRue mentioned in Reid: Loyalists in Ontario, p. 178.

I have no photos yet.  Does anyone else have anything?

Here are some links to external resources.

(1) Check this site for some photos of children of Maria LaRue (Haggerman).    Thanks to Marg Hunter.  Haggerman family

(2) Here is a link to a photo of a LaRue barn from the 18th century (about 1760).   Worth a look.  LaRue Barn

(3) Also find online or through your library the 1939 work by Emojene D. Champine titled:  Jacques Lereus: the French Huguenots and some of his descendants.

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