WILLDEN FAMILY-------MICHAUX,  FAITH AND FORTUNE IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA

     In the previous post, we watched as Susanna ROCHET fled from France in the dark of night, hiding in a barrel placed aboard a ship to Amsterdam, Holland. There she met and married another refugee, Abraham MICHAUX, and this is where our story of this family begins.....

the dock in Amsterdam, Holland

     The MICHAUX family had lived in Sedan, France, in the region of Champagne for over a century when Abraham MICHAUX was born in 1672.  As members of the Protestant Refomed Church of France, the MICHAUX family had the same freedom of worship issues as Susanna ROCHET in the previous post, so at age 19, Abraham and his father Jacob MICHAUX  escaped from the Catholic persecution under King Louis XIV and went to Amsterdam, Holland, in 1690. The Dutch Reformed Church roll of January 28, 1691, includes Abraham MICHAUX in its roster of Amsterdam members. A little over a year later, that same Church would be the scene of the marriage of Abraham and Susanna ROCHET, whom he met while working in a gauze and lace factory. The young family continued to live in Amsterdam until about 1700, but due to a bad economy and a lack of opportunities,  they moved to London, England, where they were listed as members of the Reformed Church on Threadneedle Street on August 25, 1702.
     About this same time, the Huguenots, who were not really welcomed by the Church of England, had been of  help to King William, and thus he decided to reward the French immigrants with an offer of free land in the Virginia Colony, set aside exclusively for the religious group.  The King also gave them a 7 year tax-free grace period in the New World.  The land granted to them covered 10,000 acres on the south side of the James River in the Virginia Colony, about 20 miles above present-day Richmond, along a 4 mile stretch between the Upper and Lower Creeks, known today as Bernard's Creek and Norwood Creek. About 700 Huguenots had already sailed from Gravesend, England, to the former Indian site that was fast becoming known as Manakin Town.

Gravesend, England...where the Michaux family sailed from to America

     Abraham and Susanna MICHAUX decided to make the move to Virginia, and with the help of a Relief Committee in London, they sailed from Gravesend, England, to Stafford County, Virginia, where they remained for a short time, then moved to Manakin Town, Henrico County, Virginia, in 1705.  Joining their fellow Huguenots was not quite as joyous as they had hoped, as it seemed that some of those who had been there for five years complained that it was not fair for the "newcomers" to get the same amount of land. But, in the end, Abraham MICHAUX received a grant for 574 acres on the south side of the James River in November, 1705, now in Powhatan County, Virginia. They became members of the Manakin Episcopal Church that had started in 1700, and is still in operation today. On the wall of that church in 2014 is a plaque dedicated "to the memory of " Abraham and Susanna MICHAUX, over 300 years later.

In the Manakin Episcopal Church, Virginia

Manakin Episcoal Church and Huguenot Memorial in Virginia

   


 Abraham continued to acquire land around his initial grant, and in 1713 added over 1,000 acres to his holdings. In 1714, there is a note in the Manakin Church record that says Abraham MICHAUX was paid two shillings for "bringing the communion wine to the Church from Major Billings home".
By 1716, he and Susanna had raised 5 sons and 7 daughters in the Huguenot settlement. One son, Jacob, had settled up the James River away from the family, and the area became known as MICHAUX's Ferry.  Another son, Abraham Jr., was killed by Indians in Lunenburg County in 1747.
Abraham MICHAUX died in 1717, and in his Last Will and Testament he left over 3,000 acres to his wife and children. Susanna ROCHET MICHAUX lived almost another 30 years before dying in 1744, after one of the most adventurous lives of any woman in her day. Abraham and Susanna MICHAUX are the 7th great grandparents of Tonya Kim WILLDEN MARTINI.