Recently, President Obama reminded the world that the French were our first European allies during the American Revolution. France formally recognized the United States on February 6, 1778. In 1780, the French fleet arrived in Newport to join the American forces.
The French were not new in Newport in 1780. Almost 100 years earlier, French Huguenots were arriving in New England from France, England and Holland, seeking religious freedom. Among them were Gabriel Bernon and Hester Le Roy who were married in La Rochelle, France in 1673 and settled in Newport shortly after 1688. Gabriel Bernon helped establish the first three Anglican parishes in Rhode Island at Newport (with fellow Huguenot Pierre Ayrault), Kingstown and Providence. Hester’s kinsman Jacob Le Roy sailed to New York from Rotterdam and established a dynasty of Le Roys whose descendants also include summer colonists Livingstons, Kings and Rhinelanders. Le Roy and Ayrault are commemorated as street names in Newport.
Image: Memorial tablet to Gabriel Bernon found in Trinity Church. NHS Collections.