Now I will turn to stories about the DEPEW branch of our family tree which follows my father’s mother’s maiden name ancestors. As might be expected just from the sound of it, the origin of Depew is French, and the name was apparently derived from those who dwelt near or on a hill. Sometimes the P is capitalized as well as the D in the spelling (i.e, DePew). However, there are numerous spelling variations including Depue, Depuy, Depui, Depuis, Dupew and many more. None of the variations are very common in the United States. For example there are only about 6000 persons named Depew as of the 2000 census. Most Depew families today live in New York state. Most Depew families in Canada live in the Ontario Province across the border from New York. As you will see later on, however, our line of Depews in America migrated from New Jersey to Virginia and then on to Tennessee.

By the way, also as of the 2000 U.S. Census, only 8.3 million Americans claimed French ancestry. That’s only about 3% of the total population, much less than those who claim ancestry from other European countries.