SOURCE: Genealogy and History A Branch of the Family of LAMAR With It's Related Families of Urquhart, Reynolds, Bird, Williamson, Gilliam, Garratt, Thompson, Herman, Empson, and others," by Edward Mays of Jackson, Mississippi, Page C-5.

Supplied by Hazlehurst Beezer.

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Justice L. Q. C. Lamar in his lifetime on more than one occasion spoke to the writer of a relationship existing between his family and the French statesman and author, Alphonse de Lamartine; but the allusions were casually made, and the writer, understanding them to be mere speculations based on the similarity of names and not made seriously, paid but little attention to the matter. However, it seems that there was more of conviction or knowledge on the subject than the writer apprehended, as will appear by the following extract from a letter written December 15, 1903, by Mrs. Harriet C. L. Jones, of New York City, daughter of Gazaway B. Lamar, to Mrs. Mary A. Ross, of Grenada, Miss, sister of L. Q. C. Lamar:

"It surprises me greatly to find no mention in the book about Cousin Lucius of his visit to Lamartine, and especially to learn that he never told his son-in-law, or you his beloved sister, about that visit. I know I did not dream what he told me of that interview. Why he should have spoken to me about it, and been so silent to his own family, I cannot understand excepting that he knew my mother's family, the Careneous [Cazeneau] were Huguenots and took refuge in Switzerland at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Before my father died he spoke of knowing that Lamartine was our blood relation. Being a child I never thought to ask him how he knew it. Then years after father's death, when cousin Lucius spoke of the fact that he knew Lamartine was our relative, and that Lamartine acknowledged it to him very willingly, I was not at all surprised, remembering what father had said on the subject. When Dr. Currey was sent to Spain to represent the United States, he called to see me before sailing, and I told him then what cousin Lucius had said of his interview with Lamartine. I asked Dr. Currey, as the Lamars were originally Spanish (according to Lamartine) to see if he could get any trace of them in Spain. After Dr. Currey left, I was plunged into ten years of law suits, and afterwards years of inflamation of the nerves, and consequently did not follow up the subject."

Submitted by Mrs. Cecilia L. Fabos-Becker. She has been a Lamar researcher for over 20 years and has contributed to the book The Lamar Legacy by Ruth Lamar Petracek.

First, from the FRENCH records of Normandy, the Le Mare, Lemar, Lamar, Lemaire (etc.) were originally “De La Mare” and from Normandy and NOT originally from Spain. They also were definitely Huguenot, for the most part. Several of them received knightings/ennoblements from Henry IV—the not-so-formerly Protestant king of Navarre who became king of France through his father a Bourbon cousin of the last kings of the line who preceeded Henry. In 1596 and again some years later, the De La Mare were required to submit copies of their papers of entitlement to later Catholic kings of France who wanted to fine and otherwise penalize “all those who did not or should not have really received such papers.” There was literally an inquisition between 1666-69 (the Delamare were affected in 1668) under Louis XIV to review and remove Huguenots from the gentry at which the Delamares again had to show their papers and hope the inquisitor, M. de la Gallisonniere didn’t declare them a forgery. The persecutions of the Huguenot gentry and the “inquisitions” into their merits and titles are documented in a few general histories of France and the religious wars—mostly in French. (Mine was a bit rusty but I still have my dictionaries and grammar books from college days and eventually got through the works.)

From the book: _Dictionnaire des Familles Francaises_ Editions Vendome, 5 Rue de l’Odeon, Paris, 1985, under “Delamare de la Villenaise de Chesnevarin” is an interesting description of some of the history and one of the coat of arms of that family. I’m translating it roughly from the French to the English at this point.

“The family Delamare is part of the nobility of Normandy.
Anthony de la Mare, Sieur (knight, lord) of Chesnevarin was a councilor of the king (Henry IV) and an auditor of the Chamber of the Counts of Normandy, and resided in the election (district) of Gisors when he was ennobled by Henry IV in March, 1590 by letters of patent issued by Henry IV. His title was verified (confirmed) on December 7, 1596. The descendants of this magistrate (he also became a judge) were maintained in their nobility the 21st November, 1668, by judgement of M. de la Gallisonniere, General Intendant (Inquisitor) of Rouen….

Arms: (quartered—four quarters) (1) a cross of gold on a field of blue (2) a licorne sailing on a field of silver “contoured” (sideways, I think), (the ship would be natural colored—brown—one rule of heraldry is color on metal or metal on color but not metal on metal or color on color), (3) an eagle of gold on a field of blue, and (4) two gold lions passante (passing—not upright), on a field of blue.”

This last quarter is close to the coat of arms described as being connected to this family in 1673, as per others of your website information contributors.

I found some additional information about the inquisition and the Delamare of Normandy in other French websites. There are some to this day in Normandy, but most left during the reign of Louis XIV.

There was also a branch of the family in Calais, connected to and descended from the main line in Normandy.