Deyo

The Deyo name from whence???

Leona Deyo age 2 courtesy SUNY Plattsburgh Special Collections-1
Leona Deyo age 2 courtesy SUNY Plattsburgh Special Collections

As hard as it was for me to believe, our Deyo family name is not from the Netherlands and/or Huguenot communities as I had earlier thought but rather it comes down a more circuitous, and I might say “interesting” route. Let me explain what I have thus far unearthed:

  1. Leona Deyo, my grandmother (father’s mother) was born to George Deyo and Exina Minor in upstate New York in 1906.
  2. Her father, George Deyo, was born in 1868 of Mary Ann Burnah (Marie-Anne Bonin) and John Deyo (alternately known as: John Deo, John Dion and Jean Baptiste Dion).
  3. Jean Baptiste Dion was born in 1838 in Rouses Point, New York of Joseph Dion (also known as: Joseph Deyo, Joseph Deo, and Peter Deyo) and Julienne Denis (aka: Julia Faye and W. Julienne LaFaille).
  4. Joseph Dion was born in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec in 1810 of Benoit Guyon (aka. Benoit Dion) and Marie Alain.
  5. Benoit Guyon was the son of Joseph Benjamin Guyon and Brigitte Dion  born in 1772.
  6. Joseph Benjamin Guyon born 1748 was the son of Claude Guyon and Marie Geneviève Martineau.
  7. Claude Guyon was born in 1720 to Claude Guyon (the elder) and Francoise Gagnon.
  8. Claude Guyon (the elder) was born in 1693 to Jean Guyon and Marie Pepin.
  9. Jean Guyon, born in 1656, was the son of Claude Guyon (the eldest??)  and Catherine Collin.
  10. Claude (the eldest??) was born in 1626 to Jean Guyon dit Dion and Marie Huet in Montagne, Orne, Perche, France.  Claude was a Quebec Pioneer according to PRDH ( Le Programme de recherche en démographie historique -The Research Program in Historical Demography) at the Universite de Montreal (University of Montreal).
  11. Jean Guyon dit Dion was born in 1592 in Perche, France to Jacques Guyon and Mathurine Robin
  12. Jacques Guyon was born in 1562 to Mathurin Guyon and Madeline Aymard.

So as you can see, the Deyos are by virtue of time, transliteration and Anglicisation really part of the Guyon family.

If you want a copy of the GEDCOM file for the Deyos, once I am done with my major efforts, please let me know.  I am happy to share the tree.  As of this writing the tree contains nearly 500 people.

ManyRoads Creator, Professional Genealogist, Family Historian, ManyRoads Podcast co-host, Old Guy and most importantly 'opa'