GENERAL BACKGROUND AND ORIGINS

  1. Jerome (Jeremiah) Dumas, a Huguenot, arrived in James Town, Virginia July 31, 1700 and his descendants are numbered in the thousands, and are the subject of this web site.

     

  2. The first Dumas in North America were French settlers in Canada in the 1600’s. They were generally Catholics from the North Coast of France. Many of these Canadian French and their descendants are found in the northern states and a few as far south as Alabama and Oklahoma.

     

  3. There was a slow migration of Dumas from France and adjacent countries from the 1700’s to the present. They generally went to towns where the other French people were such as New Orleans, New York, Minneapolis, etc.

     

  4. The Dumas family is of French origin. The name is said to have originally been Du Maison (of the house). Such variants as DuMais, Dumas, DeMoss, Dimas, DeMas, Doomas, Dumis and similar names may have had the same origin.

     

  5. The name of Dumas appears frequently in French records. Among those sufficiently prominent to have their names in biographies appear Adolphe Dumas (1806-1861) born in Vancluse; Charles Luis Dumas (1765-1813) born in Lyons; the chemist Jean Baptiste Andre Dumas (1800-1884) born at Alais, died at Cannes; Louis dumas (1676-1744) born at Nimes; Rene Francois Dumas, born in Lons-leSaulnier in 1757, at one time president of the Tribunal Revolutionnaire, was guillotined on July 28, 1794. A brother, Jean Francois Dumas, born in 1750, a notedwriter and at one time an advocate in the Department of Justice was noted for his eloquence and devotion to the Protestant faith; he was guillotined June 24, 1795 in Paris. Michael Dumas, an artist, born in Lyons, France in 1812, had pictures in the Salon of 1853 and was awarded a decoration. The relation, if any, of these people to the American branch of the family is not known at present. Thirteen or more Dumas Coats of Arms are known for the Dumas family.

     

  6. Alexandre Dumas, the author, cannot be a relation. He assumed the name of Dumas as a pen name.

     

  7. Frenchmen by the name of Dumas were active in the fighting both before and during the Revolutionary War. Captain Dumas from Languedoc with 1500 men was in a battle at Pointe des Peres, 9 miles from Quebec, Canada on July 12, 1759. Charles W. F. dumas was a courier between Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones, etc. Count Guillaume Mathieu Dumas (175301837) born in Montpelier January 23, 1753 was a French general and military historian; he served as aide to Count Rochambeau, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army sent to aid the American revolutionists; he was a friend of Lafayette and later seved Joseph Bonaparte, dying in Paris October 16, 1837. Included among the sailors of the French ships in the revolutionary war were (Name, Home, Ship):
Jean Dumas, St. Remy, LeZele
Jean Dumas, Lormant, Le Protecteur
Pierre Dumas, Bergerac, Le Cesar
Andre Dumas, Royan, Le Couronne et and Le Pluton
Francois Dumas, Saintes, L’Indian Devenu

Among the French soldiers in the war were (Name, Home, Regiment, Company):

Jean Dumas, Languedoc, Bourbonnais, Montford
Louis Dumas, Languedoc, Gatinais, pecomme
Claude Dumas, Anjou, Gatinais, deSireuil
Louis Victor Dumas, Artois, Gatinai, Coussel
Jacques Dumas, ?, Tourame, La Coste
Etienne Dumas, ?, Tourame, Thorenc
Etienne Dumas, ?, DeFoix, Sigoyer
Jean Dumas, ?, DeFoix, Dompierre
Antoine Dumas, ?, D’Hainault, Marieuel

There is no information to connect any of these people with the American branch of the Dumas family.

  1. Most of the Dumas with which we deal are Protestants. Jerome (Jeremiah) Dumas was a Huguenot and came over from London to Virginia with a Protestant group who settled around Manakintown in what was later King William Parish.

    There was a Dumas in Hamburg, Germany who was a friend of Benjamin Franklin and is reported to have loaned money to the American revolutionists.

  2. There were a number of different families that came to America. A few are named in the following paragraph.

    A Marie Dumas, born in 1675, married Francois Monet in Canada in 1699. Edward Dumas, born in Canada and father of eight children died in North Brookfield, massachusetts in 1771. Frank Dumas, born in Canada in 1733, father of nine children, also lived in North Brookfield, Mass. According to Cartmel (Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Descendants) Louis Dumas and his two sons Charles and Thomas of France arrived in Frederick county, Virginia between 1737 and 1740. U.S. Army records show a Hipolite Dumas of France who was a Second Lieutenant of Engineers April 30, 1813, First Lieutenant Feb. 20, 1814, Captain March 31, 1819, resigned January 1, 1825, died February 7, 1841. We have no information on relationship to any of these people.

  3. According to Mrs. D. G. Dumas, the founder of our branch of the Dumas family was Jerome (Jeremiah) Dumas of Languedoc, France, who arrived at Hampton, Virginia July 31, 1700.

     

  4. Census of Heads of Families for 1790, lists the following in North Carolina who can be related to our branch (Name, County, District):
Andrew Dumas, Richmond, Fayette
Benjamin Dumas, Richmond, Fayette
Jeremiah Dumas, Richmond, Fayette
Susannah Dumas, Richmond, Fayette
David Dumas, Sr., Montgomery, Salisbury
David Dumas, Jr., Montgomery, Salisbury
  1. Most of the early day Dumas people were plantation owners. They were pioneers and established settlements with the name of Dumas in Georgia; Wilcox County, Alabama; Tippah County, Mississippi; Desha County, Arkansas; and Morre County, Texas. There is a strong artistic tendency in the family and a number have been artists of some local renown. The present generations are largely business and professional people.

     

  2. The record presented here is by no means complete. It is largely based on information on the early history obtained from Mrs. D. G. Dumas, from the Murphy-Perdue-Perry Family Quarterly (1968) and From a graphic family tree obtained from J. J. Dumas of Oregon, also from various family records and from search of various documents, genealogies, and histories. It is certainly in need of corrections, revisions and additions and it is hoped that these will be send in by all interested parties so that a more complete and accurate family record can be prepared at some time in the future.