Were the first Bucy or Bussey or Busey or Buessey
people in America Huguenots?
Did the come from France by way of England?
Did they change their name from Beausse?

I have to admit, I don't know where I got the idea that the Buseys were Huguenots, least of all that the Busey line originated from France.  I can find no Buseys in France, but it wouldn't be surprising if they changed their name while crossing the pond in the early 1600s, as a lot of folks did.  One obvious idea is that Busey might be of the same derivation as Debussy, but there's no confirming evidence.

When I asked my dad about the Huguenot connection, he said he had never heard it, and yet I thought he was the one who had told me!  Family myth?  Probably most of the first Buseys in America were named Bucy, or maybe I should say that the other way around, and by the 1800s there was a whole clan off the original branch going by Bussey.  But what was their name in France, if they even came from France?

A few days ago, Cousin Heather, aka Hovel Hunting Heather, brought me some startling information.

Seems there's a place name in France called Horsemon pres de Chateau en Beausse and that may be the same as d'Orsemeau dans l'Isle de France.  Was there a Beausse castle, and did the early Buseys come from there?  Were they attached to the castle?  Lords of the Manor, perhaps?  Or kitchen help?

Nigel Cook at http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~diverse/gen2.htm mentions some of the other Huguenot names in the area, including the Portwine family, who had changed their name from Poitevin, some time on their way from France to England.

If anyone has more information on the Huguenots, I would appreciate it.  Gradually I'll start adding a huge gob of links, as well.