Here are some places in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, department Aube, which you might want to research for their connections to the family of the DeGruy immigrant ancestor. These places are mostly ENE of Troyes, France; I found them all on Mapquest and there are lots of references on Google. Magny-Fouchard >>>>> The seigneury there seems to have been first in the possession of a Villenueve about 1425, then passed to his son-in-law, a deVerloing (whose exact origin I don't know yet) whose deVerloing descendants held it for 100 years or so. It then passed to a LePerry whose mother was a deVerloing. A daughter, Jeanne LePerry (granddaughter and namesake of Jeanne de Verloing), married Claude de Gruy in 1639. That seems to be where the duFouchard part of the name comes from, and perhaps the Verloin. Petit-Mesnil >>>>> This is a tiny place near the village of Chaumesnil just to the north of Magny-Fouchard. That Claude de Gruy, ecuyer, who married Jeanne LePerry in 1639 was the seigneur du Petit-Mesnil, so it seems that's the duMesnil part of the name. Bossancourt >>>>> This village is also to the north of Magny-Fouchard and not far from Chaumesnil. The mother of Claude de Gruy was Edmonde de Baussancourt and one of Claude de Gruy's daughters married a de Baussancourt cousin. Vitrey-le-Francois >>>>> This commune, further to the north and actually now in the department of Marne, has, I believe, a church called Notre Dame, where there are registered three sacramental acts for persons named deGruy, one marriage and two deaths. Langres >>>>> More to the south, actually in Haut Marne, now a small town, it was once the diocesan see for the whole area, so it will be mentioned in sacramental acts for the region. I do not know if the records for that diocese have survived or can be accessed anywhere but the Vatican. (Does anyone have a priest in the family? <g>) For instance, that deGruy who was listed at the Hotel des Invalides in 1713 was Jean deGruy du Mesnil Fouchard of the dioceze of Langres. I do not yet know the exact identify of that Jean deGruy, but I think Claude deGruy and Jeanne LePerry had a son named Jean. I do think we are getting closer to solving the puzzle, and any bits you can pick up about the geographical places might be useful. Please post anything you find to this thread. Ann