The DeWolf family (also spelled D’Wolf or DeWolfe) is a prominent Canadian and American family that traces its roots to Balthazar DeWolf. The family's lineage can be traced back to Balthazar DeWolf, who was born in 1643 in the Netherlands and later immigrated to North America.
The DeWolf family played a significant role in the early colonial history of North America, particularly in the regions of New England and the Atlantic Canadian provinces. They were involved in various industries, including shipping, trade, and later, the slave trade.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, certain individuals from the DeWolf family rose to prominence as slave traders and held plantations in the Caribbean. They were deeply involved in the transatlantic slave trade, accumulating significant wealth from this enterprise.
In recent times, numerous descendants of the DeWolf family have been actively involved in confronting their ancestors' history of slave trading through their participation in documentaries, authoring books, and engaging in public discussions, these family members have openly addressed their family's past involvement in the slave trade.
Balthazar DeWolf
Balthazar DeWolf (d. about 1696) is first mentioned in the records of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1656. He married a woman named Alice by 1646, it is not known where. Some believe she was Alice Peck, born on 26 February 1625, in Liddington, Rutland, England, a daughter of William Peck and Elizabeth Holt. They had at least five children. After 1668 they settled in Lyme, Connecticut.
It is thought that Balthazar DeWolf was from the Livonian branch of DeWolfs, which is an offshoot of the Saxon branch. However, that is only one of the most commonly cited versions, others mentioning that Balthazar DeWolf was a Huguenot, or Pole, or Russian, or Jew, or Dutch, or German. There is a high possibility that DeWolf was English or educated in England as he and his children only married to other English settlers, which was very common at the time.
Both Nova Scotia's and Rhode Island's DeWolfs are descendants of Balthazar DeWolf as shown below: