Was Jean Ducas' mother Marie Deshayes or Marie Bos?
A clip of the Notary record of the marriage of Jean Ducas to Charlotte Vandandaigue on the right, shows once again Jean Ducas is written Ducas and not Dugas. What is also interesting is the listed mother "fils de deffunct Jean Ducas et de deffunct Marie Bos". This contradicts the church record which indicates his mother was Marie Deshayes. Most genealogists refer to the church record but which one is accurate? It seems upon reading the full document that the notary, Jean Duprac had more contact with Jean Ducas and the Vandandaigue family, even writing in this document that he passed by the Vandandaigue home on one occasion. Did Jean Ducas not know his mother? Possibly, his mother had 2 surnames, which is common in Bearn as well as Spain. However, it seems that the Deshayes name is either a spelling error or it could be the wrong name. There is no evidence of the Deshayes name in Bearn; in fact it is a name from northern France, not the Southwest. Bos, however is not only present in Bearn, it is present in Oloron around the time of Jean Ducas' birth. With the help of les Memoires des vallées du Bearn, we find a complete Bos family living in Oloron stretching from 1626 to beyond 1700. We also find, from the archives of Spain, a french Brazier or travelling metalsmith, named Pedro Bos living in Labastida, La Rioja in North Eastern Spain cited in a case of Criminal Agression dated 1663. Nevertheless, the 2 different surnames is a bit of a mystery to Jean Ducas' descendents.