| INTRODUCTION |
| The first Despain in America came from England arriving in the Colony of Virginia in about 1734. The best evidence suggests that Samuel brought his family consisting of his wife, one son and one daughter. There were more grandsons so that by 1800 there were several Despain families living by then in North Carolina and Kentucky. Descendent branches of the family tended to follow the American frontier as it expanded westward through that century, till by 1900 the name had spread into more than a dozen states of the United States. | ||
| In England virtually all of the people who carried Despain as their surname in any of its derivative variant spellings (usually Despaigne or Disspain) descended from a particular Walloone immigrant of the sixteenth century, John, i.e., Jean. There were a number of early Despain families in the French speaking parts of Belgium, but the relative paucity of records surviving that tumultuous period has made it truly difficult to trace John's roots any deeper. | ||
| Here are some of the principal changes of residence of Despain ancestors of Americans: | ||
| 1579 | Jean Despaigne brings his family from Lille (grandson André born there 1577) in the Low Countries to Canterbury in the County of Kent, England. | ||
| 1700 | Samuel Despaigne (Sr) moves his family to London (his brother Gedeon had come in 1693). | ||
| 1734 | Samuel Despain (Jr) emigrates to Virginia. | ||
| 1775 | John moves from North Carolina and settles his family in Montgomery County, Virginia. | ||
| 1795 | John follows his son Peter and daughter Tempy (1790) as the rest of his family settles in Green County, Kentucky. | ||
| 1812 | Solomon follows Marshall (1807) and moves his family to Lauderdale Co., Alabama | ||
| 1830 | Peter moves his family to Illinois | ||
| 1830 | Mark moves his family to Missouri | ||
| 1830 | James and his brother Stephen move their families to Indiana | ||
| 1830+ | Marshall's family moves to Texas | ||
| 1830+ | Solomon's family moves to Arkansas and then Illinois | ||
| 1830+ | Benjamin's family moves to Illinois | ||
| 1838 | William Joseph moves his family to Illinois | ||
| 1861 | Solomon Joseph moves his family to Utah Territory | ||
| It is very convenient in the genealogies that follow to use abbreviations to refer to many of the common kinds of events, relationships, and other genealogical data. (Abbreviations) | ||