French refugees in America.
The colony of Huguenots planted in
America by
Coligni disappeared, but the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes (q. v.) in 1685 caused another and larger emigration to
America.
The refugees in
England had been kindly assisted there, and after the accession of William and Mary Parliament voted $75,000 to be distributed “among persons of quality and all such as, through age or infirmity, were unable to support themselves.”
The
King sent a large body of them to
Virginia, and lands were allotted them on the
James River; others purchased lands of the proprietaries of
Carolina, and settled on the
Santee River; while others—merchants and artisans—settled in
Charleston.
These Huguenots were a valuable acquisition to the colonies.
In the
South they planted vineyards and made wine.
A large number of them settled in the province of New York, chiefly in
Westchester and
Ulster counties, and in the
city of New York.