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(I) That Guilluame Prevost, from
whom this lineage is traced, was a man
of noble blood, of considerable wealth,
and education, we have a right to assume
from his coat-of-arms, description of
which follows, and its suggestive motto.
Arms—Party, per pale: First, argent, three ar-
rows points upwards, each one enfilled through a
pierced mullet, sable. Second, azure, a bar, be-
tween two chevrons, or.
Crest—An arm embowed in armor, the hand
proper, grasping an arrow fessways.
Motto—Pro libertate. (For liberty's sake).
The family were Huguenots, many of
whom perished in the massacre of St.
Bartholomew. A man of Guilluame Pre-
vost's prominence could hardly fail to
arouse the animosity of Catharine de
Medici's followers, but he was forewarned
by a friendly colonel in the army, and fled
into Protestant Holland, thus escaping
the massacre. There, in 1574, he married
a French refugee, to whom he was probably
engaged in France. He was born
in 1545. His oldest child was Johannes,
of further mention.
(II) Johannes Provoost, son of Guilluame
Prevost, born in 1576, married, in
1601, in Amsterdam, a Dutch lady, named
Elizabeth. Their son David is of further
mention.
(III) David Provoost, son of Johannes
and Elizabeth Provoost, born in Amsterdam,
Holland, August 10, 1608, came to
New Netherlands in 1624, two years be-
fore the Island of Manhattan was purchased
from the Indians. In 1626 he
returned to Holland, where four years
later he married Margaretta, daughter of
Gillis Ten Waert, a wealthy Dutch mer-
chant. Her father gave her a dowry of
fourteen thousand guilders (equivalent to
seventy thousand dollars), and an annuity
of seven hundred and fifty guilders. A
Colonial record shows that she was still
receiving the yearly payment in 1700.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
98
Four years after their marriage, David
Provoost returned to New Amsterdam
accompanied by his bride. He had the
advantage of an academic and military
education, which was received by few
men in his day, and it is said was a man
of fine address which, with his charming
manners, soon won him a place of prominence
in the colony. The records show
that he taught Dutch, French, English
and Latin, and also spoke several of the
Indian dialects. He also practiced as a
lawyer. He was appointed commissary
of provisions and tobacco inspector by
Governor Kieft. In 1640 he was placed in
command of a force of fifty or sixty men
who built Fort Good Hope at or near
Hartford, Connecticut, as well as several
houses, thus establishing a strong mili-
tary post. Here he came into frequent
conflict with the English. One incident is
of considerable historic interest. In Sep-
tember, 1646, a female negro slave fled
from her English master to Fort Good
Hope. Commander Provoost success-
fully resisted the attempt of the English
to take her by force. Thomas Nelson
Page in his "Old South" is authority for
the statement that this is the first case
of refusal to surrender a fugitive slave.
In 1647 ne asked to be relieved of the
command, and he was the second man to
be appointed notary public, then a remunerative
quasi-legal office of some importance.
On February 2, 1652, he was
at the head of the "Nine Men" of New
Amsterdam, a sort of prototype of the
modern form of government by a com-
mission. Says the Provost family gene-
alogist, to whom we are indebted for
much of the data concerning these early
generations
These nine men were the first to dispute the
autocratic powers of the Governor. They insisted
that they were the chosen representatives of a free
people; that no tax could be imposed without their