Tradition says that the first American ancestor of the DeBrulers who came to Pike county, Indiana in the spring of 1818 was the son of the owner of a landed estate near Orleans, France. He came to Maryland near the middle of the seventeenth century, and settled in a region near the present site of Baltimore. He brought with him but little money or property but he possessed energy, ability and ambition and was soon in possession of land in Baltimore county, Maryland, along with other Protestant refugees from the mother country.In 1666 John DeBruler was in possession of one hundred acres as shown by the colonial records. His name was still on the tax list in 1699. On May 17, 1701 an act was passed by the Upper House of the Colonial Assembly granting citizenship to John DeBruler and his sons John and William, together with his sons and daughters born in Maryland. This indicates that his two eldest children were born in France. The records show the name spelled in various ways. In one case its form is DeBruler and DeBrulier in the same document.
In 1790, when the first census was taken, several DeBrulers were in Maryland, all of whom were living in the new county of Harford where the DeBruler plantation, "God's Providence", had been established. Those listed were: James, his wife, four sons and three daughters; William and his wife; George, his five sons and two daughters; Jacob and his wife; Anthony, his wife and two daughters; another Anthony, his wife, two sons and two daughters, and Fannie, a widow, and her three daughters. The small number of families indicate that all were descendants of the John DeBruler who was granted citizenship in 1701. Just one DeBruler was listed outside of Maryland---Micajah Greenfield DeBruler, who had migrated to North Carolina after his marriage to Mary Hicks. His grandfather married a widow Roberts. Among their children were twins, George and William. George married Annie Greenfield, a member of the distinguished Greenfield family of Baltimore county, Maryland. Some members of that family had a prominent part in colonial affairs for many years and were vestrymen in the Episcopalian church. Records show that members of the Greenfield family were quite prominent as members of the colonial legislature and that some of them were officers in the colonial army. During the French and Indian war Micajah Greenfield served in the army. He received an honorable discharge at its close. The fact that Annie Greenfield DeBruler named her first-born son for this soldier indicates that he was her father. The Micajah Greenfield of the Revolution was likely her brother or cousin.
MICAJAH GREENFIELD DEBRULER, a son of George and Annie, was born Dec. 30, 1754. He was twenty-two years of age when the Declaration of Independence was signed. He enlisted in the American army and in time fell in with Captain John Hicks, Jr. who was in command of a company which was a part of the Third Regiment of Maryland. At some time near the close of the Revolution young DeBruler accompanied Capt. Hicks to the plantation home of Captain John Hicks, Sr. Here he met Mary, a comely daughter of the prominent planter. Both the father and grandfather of Mary Hicks were influential in colonial affairs. Her father was a member of the colonial assembly and a member of the committee which drew up the plans for the subdivision of St. Mary's county, in which he lived. Captain John Hicks, Jr. remained with the army until he recevied his honorable discharge Nov. 15, 1783, but many of the soldiers received their pay and honorable discharge Aug. 28, 1881 [sic.]. It is probable that young DeBruler was among those who were relieved of military service at that time.
Early in 1783 Micajah Greenfield DeBruler was united in marriage to Mary Hicks. Soon after they were married they migrated to North Carolina and purchased land in Granville county.
It was the kids of Micajah and Mary that migrated to southern Indiana.