DeRosset family (Wilmington, N.C.)

The DeRosset family descended from French Huguenot Armand John DeRosset, who immigrated to the American colonies in the 1730s and settled in Wilmington, N.C., where four generations of DeRossets worked as physicians and merchants. Family members included Armand John DeRosset (1767-1859) and his wife Catherine Fullerton DeRosset (1773-1837) and children Moses John (1796-1826), Catherine Fullerton Kennedy (1800-1889), Eliza Ann (1802-1888), Magdalen Mary (1806-1850), and Mary Jane Curtis (1813-1903). Also included were Armand John DeRosset (1807-1897), his wife Eliza Jane Lord DeRosset (1812-1876), and their children, Katherine Douglas Meares (1830-1914) and Louis Henry (1840-1875) and Louis's wife Marie Trapier Finley DeRosset (1844-1870) and daughter Gabrielle de Gondin Waddell (b. 1863).

The DeRosset family was established in North Carolina in the 1730s with the immigration of physician Armand John DeRosset, a French Huguenot. Four generations of the men worked as physicians and merchants in Wilmington, N.C.

Armand John DeRosset Sr. (1767-1859) was raised by his stepfather, Adam Boyd. He attended schools in Hillsborough before enrolling in Nassau Hall (now Princeton University) and studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to Wilmington and became a prominent citizen. He married first Mary Fullerton (d. 1797) and with her had three daughters who died young and one son, Moses John DeRosset (1796-1826), who died shortly after completing his medical education. In 1797, Armand married Mary's sister, Catherine Fullerton (1773-1837), and had with her five children: Catherine (1800-1889); Eliza Ann (1802-1888), later known as Aunt Liz ; Magdalen Mary (1806-1850); Armand John, Jr. (1807-1897); and Mary Jane (1813-1903). Catherine DeRosset married the Reverend William Kennedy (d. 1840), moved to Columbia, S.C., and became step mother to his children. Mary Jane married Moses Ashley Curtis (1808-1872), moved to Hillsborough, N.C., and had ten children, five of whom lived to maturity. Eliza Ann and Magdalen never married.

Armand John DeRosset Jr. became a physician and businessman in Wilmington. He established a mercantile partnership, with a branch office in New York City, and conducted business on behalf of the Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road in the United States and Great Britain. He married first Eliza Jane Lord (1812-1876), and had with her eleven children: Katherine (1830-1914); William Lord (1832-1910); Eliza Hill (Lossie) (b. 1843); Alice (1836-1897); Moses John (1838-1881); Louis Henry (1840-1875); Armand Lamar (b. 1842); Edward Swift (1844-1861); Thomas Childs (1845-1878), frequently referred to as the Colonel ; Annie (1848-1855); and Frederic Ancrum (b. 1856). He married second Catherine (Cattie) Kennedy (1830-1894), his sister Catherine DeRosset Kennedy's step-daughter.

The children of Armand and Eliza DeRosset married as follows. Katherine Douglas DeRosset married Gaston Meares (1821-1862) and had six children, including Magdalen DeRosset (1851-1855), Gaston (1852-1861), Armand DeRosset (b. 1854), Eliza Lord (1856-1858), Richard Ashe (b. 1858), and Louis Henry (b. 1860). William Lord DeRosset married first Caroline Horatio Nelson (d. 1861) and had with her two children, and married second Elizabeth Simpson Nash (b. 1840), with whom he had six more. Alice London DeRosset married Graham Daves (1836-1902), no issue. Moses John DeRosset married Adelaide Savage Meares (1839-1897) and had many children. Eliza Hall DeRosset married Charles D. Myers (1834-1892) and had many children. Louis Henry DeRosset married first Marie Trapier Finley (1844-1870), with whom he had a daughter, Gabrielle DeRosset (b. 1863), who later married Alfred Moore Waddell; and second Jane Dickinson Cowan (b. 1848), with whom he had two children, including a daughter Katharine (b. 1875). Armand Lamar DeRosset married Tallulah Ellen Low (1845-1901) and had many children. Frederic Ancrum DeRosset married Mary Williams Green (b. 1859) and had no children. Thomas Childs DeRosset was unmarried at the time of his death. Edward Swift DeRosset and Annie DeRosset died in childhood.