Revolutionary Huguenots: the Timothy Family
How one family’s multigenerational journey offers us all a glimpse into our shared history
By Elizabeth Gay, Cheves Leland and Renée Marshall
In preparation for its celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Huguenot Society of South Carolina began a renewed study of the family of Louis Timothée and his wife Elisabet Vilain. It was Peter Timothy’s printing of a broadside of the Declaration of Independence in August of 1776 that prompted a return to the study of this family. What began in the late hours of society research last year, in search of a remaining copy of the Timothy-printed broadside, has led to its exhibition this summer at The Charleston Museum. It is the work of the society and the museum that made the return of the broadside to Charleston possible, and its exhibition will be greatly enhanced by two lectures planned for the summer in June and August. The Huguenot Society was awarded a grant by SC250 in support of one of the lectures and six educational banners, making the lecture planned for June available free to the public.
The Timothée-Vilain family is a French Protestant (Huguenot) family best known for printing The South-Carolina Gazette from 1733 to 1802, and visitors to Charleston are reminded of their business by historic markers, including one near King and Broad streets and another at East Bay Street near Vendue Range. Their printing story begins on Church Street. From an issue of the paper dated February 2, 1733-1734, Issue No. 1, there is the first colophon of “L. Timothée in Church Street” printing The South-Carolina Gazette. With this record, we have the spelling of the surname as Timothée, printed as well as the location where he first began his work in Charleston.
The research has yielded the most in-depth study of the family in the Huguenot Society’s history and provides a rich examination of a family that exemplifies so many of the pre- and post- Revolutionary-era families who survived great hardships, contributed to the beginning of the colony and the Revolution, and generationally went on to produce citizens of merit. From this one family we have the first librarian of the Philadelphia Library Company; the editor of the first German newspaper in Philadelphia; the first female publisher and editor of a newspaper in the colonies; a passionate patriot who used his ink and paper to support the cause of liberty; official printers to the governments of S.C.; a second female publisher and editor; and her son — the namesake of long-time family friend, Benjamin Franklin, who printed until 1802. Also, in the Timothée-Vilain descendants, we find a lifelong friend of Francis Marion who served at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island with him, his wife, who later would carry, in secret, munitions and information to Marion; their son who was a noted painter; and his son who was the architect of numerous landmarks in S.C., including the French Protestant (Huguenot) church.
Theirs is a remarkable story and one worth remembering in this, our country’s 250th year of Independence.
Amsterdam Origins
The Timothée-Vilain family originated in Amsterdam with the marriage of Louis Thimothë and Elisabet Villin (sic) in July 1724 as recorded in church records. Their betrothal record, or ondertrouw, provides some information about them. From it, we know that Louis was 26 years of age, that he had no parents or relatives to stand for him, and that he was living on Elantstraat. Elisabet Willin (sic) was 22 years of age and living on Elantgnass. The marriage is in the records of the Oúde Kerk, the oldest parish in Amsterdam. After the Reformation in 1578, it became a Reformed (Calvinist) church, which remains today. Amsterdam was a heavily Calvinist community with several Dutch Reformed kerks (churches). Elizabet Vilain was born in Amsterdam to French Protestant (Huguenot) refugees Claude Vilain and Elizabet Graciot. As for Louis, records indicate he was from “Hal,” and research continues to better understand his origin.
At the time of Louis and Elisabet’s marriage, the Netherlands, or Dutch Republic, was a decentralized confederation of seven provinces. It was the “silver century,” with a diminishing global expansion accompanied by a continued healthy economy and trade. The Dutch East India Company was the dominant trading company, holding a monopoly on trade with Asia. Most interesting to our study of the Timothée printing family is the prolific production of paper, books and newspapers in the Dutch Republic at the time of their marriage. Since 1618, newspapers and books had been printed in Holland, and the region was a hub for paper manufacturing and printing.
The newspaper publishers of the Dutch Republic were the first to embrace advertisements, and they were instrumental in the success of the book trade across Europe, connecting sellers with buyers. Huguenots were heavily involved in numerous printing businesses. Evidence of their extensive reporting may be found in the archives of the Gazette de Leyde, Gazette d’Amsterdam, and Gazette de Rotterdam, which are among many papers printed by the Huguenots. Everything from news of the times to book reviews was available to readers. The Netherlands provided access to information through its extensive trade; it was open to immigrants and had a relatively free press. These characteristics converged to create an information hub for all of Europe.
In the early 18th century, agents representing various American colonies advertised in Amsterdam’s newspapers and published promotional pamphlets in the Dutch Republic. These advertisements and broadsides targeted European migrants and were meant to attract settlers, the merchant class and the indentured.
Although research thus far provides no documented evidence of prolific printing and publishing in the Netherlands, nor of advertisements for the colonies influencing the Timothées, the family boarded the Britannia of London in Rotterdam in 1731, bound for Pennsylvania. On board were mostly German immigrants from the Palatinate, some other Dutch citizens, and a scattering of French Protestants. Louis and Elisabet traveled with their four children Pierre, Marie Elisabet, Louis Paul and Charles.
The move to Philadelphia
The year 1731 was a momentous one for two other men in Philadelphia whose lives soon became entwined with the Timothées. Chief among these was Benjamin Franklin, who was 26 years old and elected the official printer for Pennsylvania. That same year, Franklin signed Articles of Agreement with Thomas Whitmarsh, who agreed to partner with Franklin to establish The South-Carolina Gazette in Charles Towne, South Carolina, the first of several publishing franchises that Franklin set up in the British colonies.
Two weeks after his arrival in Philadelphia, Timothée advertised on October 7, 1731, that he was “Master of the French tongue” and would “keep a publick French School … Front Street.” Less than a year after his arrival, the first issue of the Philadelphische Zeitung, sponsored by Benjamin Franklin and translated by Louis Timothée, was published on May 6, 1732. This was the first German-language paper in Pennsylvania and the first connection we find between Franklin and Timothée. Later in 1732, Louis and Elisabet welcomed a son, John, who was baptized at Christ Church. The church was very near Franklin's print shop and the Timothée family's home. Benjamin Franklin was also a parishioner and held a pew there.
In November of 1732, Timothée’s relationship with Franklin deepened when he was appointed as the first librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia, co-founded by Robert Grace, his landlord. Grace was an important member of Benjamin Franklin’s Junto, his is the first name on the list of signatures for the library’s articles of agreement. Library records provide that Timothée donated “two manuscripts in rolls, in the Russian language and character” to the library and “a religious work by Melchior Adam, a German Calvinist literary historian.” Timothée’s three-month contract required that he “attend the library for an hour every Wednesday afternoon and for six hours each Sunday.”
He was to receive £1 each month, “plus such further allowance as should be considered reasonable.” A little more than a year since his appointment as librarian and while he was working as a journeyman for Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette, Timothée accepted a new opportunity and signed Articles of Agreement for a six-year co-partnership with Franklin to publish The South-Carolina Gazette. The agreement was structured on a 1/3-2/3 basis and included a proviso that Timothée’s son, Peter, could continue the partnership if his father died. This proviso would prove important a few years later when an “unhappy accident” would bring a tragic change to his family.
Elizabeth Gay, Cheves Leland and Renée Marshall are all proudly associated with The Huguenot Society of South Carolina.
