Sylvanus Henry DeBee was my mother-in-law’s grandfather. The story she told is that DeBee is a French surname and that Sylvanus came to the United States from France. She also explained that original spelling was DeBoe or DuBois. The story is that Sylvanus changed the spelling when he came to America.
Is this a true story? There is probably at least a grain of truth to this story. DeBee probably does have French origins. After a couple of decades of genealogy research, I have not found an ancestor that came over from France. It definitely was NOT my mother-in-law’s grandfather, Sylvanus H. DeBee. His death certificate states that Sylvanus was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania. Census information corroborates this
It’s possible that his father, Lewis/Louis (Henry?) Debee was the original French ancestor, but that is not clear. Louis’s birth place is listed as France on the death certificates of his daughter Lucy. Pennsylvania is listed as the birthplace on the death certificates of his sons. The 1880 and 1900 censuses both state that the father of Sylvanus DeBee was born in France. My mother-in-law believed her grandfather was French. Was this because that is what her father told her?
Yet the 1910 census states that the father of Sylvanus was born in Canada (Fr). It’s possible that Louis was French Canadian by birth. It’s also possible that Louis was the first in the DeBee line to come to the United States. But it’s not clear whether he came way of Canada. Did he come from France, or was he descended from someone who came to Canada from France.
At this point, I can only conclude that the Debee family likely does have origins in France. I can’t confirm the original spelling of the name. I also can’t confirm who the first ancestor to come over from France was, or whether they stopped off in Canada. That leaves me a lot to research!
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