When Jacobus Demarest was born on 31 December 1766, in Bergenfield, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, his father, Jacobus Pieter Demarest, was 31 and his mother, Maretje Smith, was 25. He married Maria Gerrits Westervelt on 29 May 1787, in Bergenfield, Bergen, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 7 daughters. He died on 2 June 1825, in New York City, New York County, New York, United States, at the age of 58.
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During the six-year Revolutionary war, more of the fights took place in New Jersey than any other colony. Over 296 engagements between opposing forces were recorded. One of the largest conflicts of the entire war took place between Morristown and Middlebrook, referred to as the "Ten Crucial Days" and remembered by the famous phrase "the times that try men's souls". The revolution won some of their most desperately needed victories during this time.
Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.
The Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris which gave the new nation boundries on which they could expand and trade with other countries without any problems.
French: regional variant of Demarais , a cognate of 2 below.
Altered form of French Desmarets: habitational name, with fused preposition and definite article des ‘from the’, for someone from any of various places called Les Marets (from a regional derivative of Old French mareis ‘marsh’). Alternatively, the name may simply have been topographic. Compare Demaray , Demaree , and Demorest .
History: The progenitor of many of the American Demarests was David Demarest from France, who settled in NY (and later in NJ) in the second half of the 17th century. His father's surname was DesMarets. David Demarest is listed in the (US) National Huguenot Society's register of qualified Huguenot ancestors (as David Demarêts or Demarest or des Marêts or des Marest) and also in the similar register of the Huguenot Society of America (as David des Marest).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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