The Shuey Family was originally from France where the name was spelled Jouy or Juy or Juis. By 1559 followers of John Calvin had established a Presbyterian Church in France. The Shuey family joined these followers and became Huguenots. Despite state-sponsored persecution Calvinism grew steadily in the 16th century. Although the Huguenots were only about 12% of the total population, their wealth and influence made them disproportionately powerful. Distrust between the Catholics and the Calvinists grew and in 1562 the Wars of Religion began.
In 1589 Henry of Navarre, a protestant leader, claimed the thrown of France as Henry the IV. The wars ended in 1593 when he converted to Catholicism. He was offically crowned in 1594 and in 1598 issued the Edict of Nantes granting the Huguenots freedom of worship and equal civil rights.
The Shuey Huguenots survived through the reign of Louis XIII (son of Henry IV). They survived through the wars with the Habsburgs, the Fronde (civil war with the nobility)and the plague. Life was surely difficult but it was the reign of Louis XIV and his concept of absolutism that caused the real problem - "one king, one law, one faith." In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Under the pain of imprisonment or torture some converted. Most, as was the case with the Shuey family, fled. Some fled to America and some fled to other parts of Europe or Australia. David Jouy and his family fled to Germany. He was listed as a refuge in the city of Oggersheim in 1695. Oggersheim is not far from the French border and the town of Grigy where David is said to have lived.
It would be David's grandson Daniel who would make the journey to America arriving November 26, 1746. He would also be the first to be called Schuy which in two generations became Shuey. It is not surprising that they chose Pennsylvania as the place to settle. William Penn the proprietor of Pennsylvania held it as a haven for persecuted religionists. He offered land to all comers on liberal terms and promised toleration of all religions. And so my line of this family stayed in Pennsylvania until the 1920s when my grandfather Harry Allan Shuey left for Michigan in search of work.