DeBlois Volume of the Psalms of David

Gilbert DeBlois (1725-1791), a prosperous merchant and importer of English goods, was born in New York and grew up in Boston, where his parents were members of the Anglican parish of King’s Chapel. The family remained closely affiliated with the Church of England for decades, and Gilbert may have presented this volume of the Psalms of David to King’s Chapel around 1763, when he and his brother Lewis were appointed vestrymen. DeBlois vigorously opposed Boston’s Sons of Liberty during the decade following the Stamp Act Crisis, and he chose to flee Boston with his sons and brother when British troops were forced to abandon the city in March 1776. DeBlois was declared an enemy of the state in 1778, a portion of his property was seized, and he was banished from Massachusetts.