Duhamel, Josias, II, 1657-1721.

Josias Duhamel, II, son of Josias Duhamel and Elizabeth Languillet-Duhamel, was born in Dieppe France on February 14, 1657; he was the oldest of seven children. Duhamel continued the timber business of his father and later entered into the trade of laces. In 1689 he emigrated to Amersterdam for religious reasons, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He started in Amerstdam as a textile merchant and later on became a money broker and an insurance agent for merchant shipping. In 1691 he married Anne Leplastier; they had four children, two boys and two girls, born between 1692 and 1698. A sea battle under the French Admiral Anne-Hilarone de Cotentin Tourville, off the coast of Gibraltar, caused Duhamel to lose his fortune in 1693. Duhamel and his family were members of the True Christian and Reformed Church. In 1702 Duhamel became deacon of the Wallonian Church of Amsterdam and later became an Elder.