Possible Ancestor, Gedeon MERLET -------------------------------- compilied by Thomas Horton - deceased courtesy of Mike Horton - hortmike@earthlink.net formerly mhorton@gte.net http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/h/o/r/Mike--J-Horton/ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gedeon La Plante MERLET - 131 Birth: Abt 1620 Place: ,Roucy,Champagne,FRANCE Death: Bef Mar 1683 Place: Piscataway, Middlesex Co., NJ Burial: Place: Father: Josue (Josias) MERLE Marle-128 Mother: Jeanne ROBBE-130 Spouse: Marguerite MARTIJN or MARTIN-133 married: 21 Aug 1644 -------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FOR GEDEON LA PLANTE MERLET MARLET 17 Aug 1997 =========================================================================== The variation in the spelling of the surname MARLET (MARLE, MERLE) may stem from the inconsistency in transcribing and pronouncing the surname MARLET in a time and place (New York 1662-1700) where French and Dutch- speaking immigrants were still being assimilated by the English-speaking majority. New York before 1664 was Dutch-speaking Nieuw Amsterdam, and the French-speaking Calvinists or Huguenots who accompanied the Dutch to the New World began to have their names spelled many different ways, but usually dic- tated by the English-speaking clerks who spelled names as they heard them. The British pronunciation of pall-mall ("pell-mell") and Derby ("Darby) can suggest how the name of Merlet (originally Marle or a diminutive or Merle or its diminutive) came to be pronounced "MAR-LETT" by the English-speaking neighbors of Gedeon Merlet or Marlett of Staten Island and New Jersey. The connection between the two names MARLE and MERLE, and later Marlett, Marlatt, and Mellott, can be traced back to French language and custom. For example, the arms of the MARLOT family of Champagne show three "MERLETTES" (martlets). Thus the merlette was the symbol in battle for the family named Marlot. The French suffixes frequently changed to suggest a certain branch of the family. Both names may have been used interchangeably, but the English would definitely have prounced the spelling Merlet as MAR-LETT. I believe this is why so many of Gedeon's descendants maintained that spelling. John Peter, evidently, dropped the "r" and was frequently referred to as John Peterson Melot, Mellat, or Mallat. Theodore's 1694 baptismal record shows the spelling MELOT, which became Mellott among his son John Mellott's descendants, mainly in Pennsylvania. Theodore himself signed his name MALOT, whereas most of his second wife's (Catherine de la Chaumette or Delashmutt) children carried on the Malott spelling. Source: In Leyden, Holland, in the Records of the Church of Leide, exist the following records for Gedeon Merlette/Merlet/Marlet. "Received into the membership of the Church of Leide, Decemeber, 1643, Merlette, Gedeon, "surnomme La Plante" (nicknamed La Plante), according to the records of the Church of Ter Gouda". "Received as member of the Church of Leide December, 1651, Merlet, Gedeon, and Marguerite his wife, according to the records of Paris." "Baptized in the Church of Mannheim the 7th of February, 1656, Merlette, Abraham, son of Gedeon and Marguerite Martin." "Baptized in the Church of Mannheim (The French Huguenot Church) May 2, 1658 Merlet, Jean Pierre, son of Gedeon and Marguerite Martin." "Member of the Church of Leide, Merlet, Gedeon, and his wife, part of the record of March 15, 1664." [Please note: Although Gedeon and Marguerite (Martin) Merlet had emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1662, while it was still in the control of the Dutch, they evidently were still considered members of the Church at Leyden, Holland.] !Betrothal: Wallon Church of Leyden, Holland, Betrothalbook N, p. 114: "Aenget. de Augusti 1644. Gedeon Merleth, timmerman, jongman van de Rousy, wonende op de Santestraet, vergesz. met Philip Merleth, sijn oom, wonende mede aldaer. met Margriet Martijn, jongedr. van Limborch, wonende op de Langegraft, vergesz. met Jenne Martijn, haer nicht, wonende mede aldaer." Translation is as follows: Entered August 6, 1644. Gedeon Merlet, a carpenter from Rousy, dwelling in "Sand Street", accompanied by Phillipe Merlet, his uncle, also living there. with Marguerite Martijn (Martin) from Limbourg, accompanied by Jenne (Jeanne) Martijn, her cousin, also living there. Gedeon Merlet and Maguerite Martijn (Martin) were married in the Walloon Church of Leyden on August 21, 1644. There are baptismal reccords there for their children on these dates: "September 17, 1645: Josias (Josue), son of Gedeon Merlette. The witnesses were Claude Marcy, Jean Martijn, Jeanne Martijn, and Clasinne Tertelim." "November 11, 1646: Marie, daughter of Gedeon Merlette. Witnesses were Daniel Fromavesijn, Francois Charret, Jacquemine du Lon, and Catherine de la Tour." "July 26, 1648: Esechias, son of Gedeon Merlette and Marguerite Martin. Witnesses were Paul Merlette, Augustin Goftin, Marie Cordies." After living in Leyden from about 1643 until the 1650's, Gedeon, Marguerite and the first three children moved to Mannheim, in the German Palatinate, an area known as a haven for French Huguenots at that time. There two more sons were born and baptized, namely Abraham and Jean Pierre MERLET, MERLETTE, MARLETTE or MARLET. From the records of the French Huguenot Church of Mannheim, Germany: "On February 7, 1656, was baptized in the Church of Mannheim, Merlette, Abraham, son of Gedeon and Marguerite Martin." "On May 2, 1658 was baptized in the Church of Mannheim, Merlet, Jean Pierre, son of Gedeon and Marguerite Martin." Evidently the family returned to Holland between 1658 and 1662. They resumed their membership at the Walloon Church of Leyden. Gedeon and his uncle Philippe had been listed there in June, 1643 as having come from Gouda. This uncle may be the same person as the "Phillipe Merlet, born at "Crum", widower of Magdalena Gilbert," who married at Amsterdam on 12 October, 1647, "Jannete Pau, born at Sedan, a widow." If "Rousy" is Roucy in Champagne, it is interesting to note that there is a very old town called "Craon" not far away. When I was in Paris in 1988, I visited the French National Archives. In the section for documents concerning "fugitifs religionnaires" or those who were persecuted for their religious beliefs, I opened an old file containing a letter to the Count of Roucy and it was written about 1599. The letter discussed the Count's Calvinist religious beliefs and basically was a warning that prior to the Edict of Nantes, his estates would have been confiscated, but since the Edict, they would not be taken from him. A warning tone was evident. It was this Count, of the family de la Rochefoucauld, who held the chateau at Roucy, in Champagne, France, during the lifetime of Josue Marle or Merle and Jeanne Robbe, the parents of Gedeon Merlet. A local historian told me that the Counts of Roucy were Calvinists (Huguenots), and it is perhaps for this reason that the Marle/Merle family was living in Roucy in the late 1500's. The Edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis the Four- teenth on __________, but many Huguenots had already left France for the Netherlands, for the Palatinate in Germany, and for New Amsterdam, where a much greater tolerance than in Louis XIV's France prevailed for the Calvinist religious beliefs of the Huguenots. From SHIP PASSENGER LISTS: NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY (1600-1825), edited and indexed by Carl Boyer, 3rd (Self-Published: Newhall, CA, 1978), p. 130. "October 12, 1662. In De Purmerlander Kerck Gedeon Merlitt, wife and four children, 15, 8, 6, and 4 years old." [The four sons were Josue or Josias; Poulus or Paul; Jean Pierre or John Peter; Abraham.] [Note that Gedeon's children Maria and Eseschias Merlet had died before the family emigrated from Holland in 1662. One more child, Anne Merlet was born after arriving in New Amsterdam.] Source: NY ABSTRACTS OF WILLS: LIBER 19 B, p. 427. "Chirurgeon's report about the death of Mary Marshall and Anne Marlett, New York, August 25, 1681. These are to certify that I, being requested by John Collier, Coroner, to view and search the dead bodies of Mary Marshall and Ann Marlett, doe declare that after strict search and enquiry, I find no other accident to have occasioned their sudden death, but being overset in a canoe and thus drowned. George Lockhart. Return of Coroner's Jury that they were accidentally drowned. Action in New York, this 25 August, 1681. John Lawrence, Jr., Paul Richards, Henry Filkin." Ann Marlett and her friend Mary Marshall drowned while trying to ride a canoe in Hellsgate, in New York's East River. The following is an address made by C. L. Marlatt on Oct. 27, 1935 on behalf of the Huguenot Memorial Association on the occasion of the 250th Anniversary of the Edict of Nantes. The address took place at the Memorial Church of the Huguenots at Huguenot Park, Staten Island, New York. "Two additional Huguenot immigrants have recently been honored by having their names recorded in this edifice, namely Gedeon Merlet and his youngest son, Abraham. Gedeon Merlet was one of many Huguenots who found freedom from religious persecution in Holland during the first half of the 17th century. Under the promise of lands and aid in getting started in the New World, he with some twenty-nine other refugees came over to the New Netherlands in October, 1662, on the ship "Purmerland Church". With him were his wife Marguerite Martin and four minor sons, namely Joshua, born 1647; Paul, born 1654; John, born 1656; and Abraham, born 1658. Early in the year following his arrival, 1663, Gedeon Merlet, with six other Huguenot immigrants, joined in a petition to the Director General and the Council of New Netherlands for grants of suitable land, provision for temporary subsistence, and seed grain so that, as they stated, "the supplicants may exert their industry and zeal without obstruction in the cultivation of the land, not only for their personal benefit, but also for the welfare and good of the whole country. They also promised ultimately to fully repay the Council for such advances. This petition, the original of which is now on file in the state archives at Albany, was approved, and in the instance of Gedeon Merlet resulted in the assignment of land to himself and his sons in Staten Island, much of it in the vicinity and possibly covering the site of this church edifice. Here he lived the balance of his life, and his children grew to manhood." The fragments of the history of this period which have come down to us, in addition to records of land purchase and and transfers, indicate that Gedeon Merlet, during the first British occupancy of New Netherlands, was appointed by Governor Francis Lovelace as a constable in Staten Island (April 20, 1671). A little later, under the very brief re-occupancy of the Colony by the Dutch, he was appointed by Governor Colve as a magistrate (February 14, 1674). We have no record of his death, which must have occurred prior to 1683, as indicated by the inheritance and division of his land. Gedeon's youngest son, Abraham, through whom my family is descended, married about 1677 Christence Billieu, daughter of Pierre Billieu - a Huguenot immigrant of 1661 and prominent in the early settlement of Staten Island. Two children came from this union, viz., Margaret, baptized March 31, 1678 and Abraham, May 16, 1680. We have little information as to Abraham, the youngest son of Gedeon, except that he was for a period collector for the southern part of Staten Island. The name of Merlet very soon lost its French pronunciation and spelling, changing to Marlet, Marlett and Marlatt, with many other spellings. From this beginning the Marlatt family has multiplied and spread widely in the United States and Canada. Mention may appropriately be made here of a descendant of Gedeon Merlet who made a long and earnest attempt to trace and recover the records of the family, namely Mrs. Jane Marlett Taft, wife of the late Chief Justice of the Vermont, Russell S. Taft. Unfortunately she did not live to complete her work, but her manuscript is now in my possession, and if not utilized and published, will be filed for permanent record in the Library of Congress in Washington, to be available for future students." [Mr. C. L. Marlatt, who delivered the above address, referred to his ancestor, Abraham Merlet as "the youngest child" of Gedeon's family. Perhaps in 1935 the baptismal certificate of Jean Pierre Merlet had not yet been found at the French Huguenot of Mannheim, in the Palatinate region of Germany. The baptismal record of Jean Pierre Merlet (born 1658) indicates he was born after Abraham Merlet (born 1656). Source: NY Colonial Manuscripts, Vol. 10, Part 2, p. 49. Translation from Dutch. 19 March, 1663: "To the Hon. Director General and Council of New Netherlands. Show with due reverence and respect to your Honorable Worships, Nicollas Dupuij, Gedeon Merlet, Arnold Dutroij, Jacques Cossart, Louijs Laakman, Jacob Kolf, and Jean Le Cancelier, that the supplicants while in Holland, by the advice of some gentlemen there as well as by the reading of the printed New Netherland conditions were urged and moved to betake themselves with their whole families to these regions, in the hope that your Hon. Worships agreeable to the aforesaid New Netherland conditions would come to their assistance. The supplicants address themselves therefore to your Hon. Worships with the humble request that you may please to assigne and grant them suitable lands and also to furnish them with seed grain and necessary provisions for six months, in order that they, the supplicants, may exert their industry and zeal without obstruction in the cultivation of the land, not only for their personal benefit, but also for the welfare and the good of the whole country, expecting to behave and conduct themselves in such manner that they will hereafter be able to make good and repay with thanks all that has thus far been advanced to them and what they may expect from your Honors' usual benevolence. This doing they remain Your Hon. Worships' servants, Nicolas du puis gedeon merlet (with paraph) Arnoult du toict [Note: a relative of Philippe du Trieux] Jacque cossart Louis Lacqueman Jacob Kolver Jean Le concilie" [Gedeon Merlet's request was granted. See section above.] Source: NEW YORK (COLONY) CALENDAR OF COUNCIL MINUTES 1668-1783, Compiled by Berthold Fernow. (Harbor Hill Books, Harrison, N. Y., 1987). p. 13: Apr. 26, 1671 "Gideon Marlette called before the council." p. 37: Mar. 20, 1684 "Order granting the petition of Josias and Paulus Marlitt for a survey and division of their inherited land part of which has been sold to Paulus Richards." [This indicates that Gedeon Merlet had died prior to Mar. 20, 1684, because his two oldest sons had inherited his land.] Source: DOCUMENTARIES RELATING TO COLONIAL HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Vol. II. p. 681: Feb. 1674 "Whereas inhabitants of Staten Island have requested of me that an addition be made to the present number of their Magistrates, which I for reasons granted and allowed them; therefore from the nominations made by them, I have elected as Magistrates Gideon Marlet Nathan Whiteman, and the inhabitants of the aforesaid Island, and all others whom such in any wise concerns are ordered and commanded to acknowledge them as such. Done Fort William Hendrick, 14 Feb., 1674. Gov. Gen. Orders." Source: NY COLLECTION MANUSCRIPTS, Vol. II. p. 686 Feb. 14, 1674 "Gideon Marlet, Magistrate of Staten Island under Gov. Colve." Source: CALENDAR OF LAND PAPERS, NEW YORK STATE, Vol. I. p. 69 Mar. 31, 1675 Survey of 256 acres of land on the south side of Staten Island laid out for Gedeon Marlett. p. 65 Oct. 18, 1675 Survey of 250 acres of land on the south side of Staten Island laid out for Gedeon Marlett and his sons, by James Cortelyou. p. 66 Nov. 1, 1675 Patent of land to Gedeon Marlett and his two sons, Joshua and Paulus, of 243 acres of land on the south side of Staten Island, also 30 acres of salt meadow lying at the mouth of Fresh Kill. Source: CALENDAR OF NEW YORK (COLONY) COUNCIL MINUTES 1668-1783, compiled by Berthold Fernow. (Harbor Hill Books, Harrison, N. Y., 1987). p. 98 Jul. 26, 1694 Confirmatory patent was granted to Abram Marlett. Source: Robert Barnes, Maryland Marriages 1634-1777 (Genealogical Publishing Company: Baltimore, 1975) and Archives of Maryland, Vol. LIV (?), Somerset County Records, p. 671. 28 May 1667 - John MARLETT married Hannah MANLOVE in Somerset County, MD. [Was this a relative of Gedeon MARLETT?] Source: Research of Thomas O. HORTON, deceased. ============================================================================