The American Jaquish Family

Descendants of Henri Jaques

Every family has a story. Your family is the story of you… who you are, and where you came from. You exist only because you have ancestors.

This is the story of the American Jaquish family. The American story began when an 18 year old Henri Jaques climbed aboard a boat in France in 1640 and sailed to the “New World” to make his fortune. He stepped off that boat in Newbury, Massachusetts (Now called Newburyport.) He joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony English Puritans, married Anna Knight, and changed his name from Henri Jaques to Henry Jaquish. What happened after that is, well… the rest of the story… as they say.

This historical record offers a glimpse into the past while connecting the reader with fascinating individuals that may seem like they leaped out of an adventure movie onto the pages of the story. The characters range from blacksmiths and witches, to sea captains, an American Revolutionary hero, and law enforcement officers. The Pirate, Blackbeard even makes a brief appearance.

Michael Jaquish is one of the sons of the American Revolution. He is also an author of nearly thirty books, and a descendant of the Frenchman, Henri Jaques. He tells the story using family records that have been handed down through ten generations of Jaquish families. Each of the eight chapters focuses on a member of one of those generations. Unlike many ancestry records that can be tedious to wade through, the author has written this story to grab and hold the interest of the reader. Even those who may not be connected to the Jaquish family may find the story compelling from a historical perspective.