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.

WILLDEN FAMILY-------ROCHETTE, A BRAVE FAMILY OF FAITH AND DARING

     Jean and Marie ROCHET had a problem in the early 1680's......their religious faith was under attack in the familiy's homeland of France, let alone the fact that the Seminary School for the controversial faith was in their own hometown of Sedan, in the Province of Champagne. What was their controversial faith that had the King of France himself in a tirade? Protestantism........those pesky believers who had left the Catholic Church, which had been the "go to" religion for centuries. Jean and Marie's parents had been Protestants since they were kids, and in 1598 the King's "Edict of Nantes" had allowed the Reformed Church of France to worship openly with a few exceptions....they could not meet in public in Paris or other large cities, they still had to pay Catholic tithes, respect Catholic Holy days, and obey the marriage laws of the Church.  But at least they could worship without fear of reprisal from the King's officials, or the Catholic clergy's watchful eyes....for a few years.

Built in 1424, this Sedan castle would have been a common site for the Rochet family

     In 1685, the Edict of Nantes that had allowed the Protestants to worship, was revoked. King Louis XIV had decided that there should be only one religion in France, and the Catholic Church amazingly agreed with him. The Protestants could no longer meet anywhere, much less in public. Protestant schools were closed. Protestant church buildings were destroyed....and the children of Protestant families were baptized into the Catholic Church. There were even Catholic "investigators" who went into Protestant homes and quizzed the children to see if the parents were teaching them the Catholic religion properly....and if not, the children were taken away from them, or the parents arrested, or both. French Protestants had not forgotten the last time the Catholics wanted them out, in 1572, when a time called "The St. Batholomew's Day Massacre" saw 25,000 Protestant men, women, and children murdered in Paris alone in a matter of months.  Jean and Marie ROCHET had three teenage daughters now, and they knew they must make some difficult choices...and they did.
     King Louis XIV had ordered guards along the borders of France to keep the Protestants from escaping to eventually Holland, which had become the haven for the religious rebels.  An escape attempt could be punishable by prison or death.  Some Protestants disguised themselves as cattle herders, or as Catholics on a pilgrimage, to get by the King's network of guards.  On a dark night in Sedan, the ROCHET parents said a tearful goodbye to their two oldest daughters, and a niece with an infant in her arms, as they watched them go into the woods with an escort of men called "Night Walkers" to protect and guide them on their journey to leave France.
All went well for the escape party, until the niece stumbled on a rock while crossing the creek at a Mill site. She fell and her infant began to cry, alerting Catholic workers at the Mill, who promptly turned them over to the authorities. Some were arrested and imprisoned, but the daughters of Jean and Marie ROCHET managed to find their way home and temporary safety.

Huguenot trails on the border of France

      The two oldest ROCHET daughters made another attempt a few months later, and this time were guided to Holland with only a minor incident while suffering illness at an Inn along the way. Once in Amsterdam, Holland, the girls wrote a letter to their parents, asking them to please send them the "little night cap" that they had left in France.......a coded phrase meaning for them to send their younger sister Susanne LaRoche ROCHET to Holland next. On October 8, 1685, the time had come once again for Jean and Marie to test their faith, and send their teenage daughter Susanne on a daring adventure. Jean Rochet knew the underground Protestant network that was used to aid the mass exodus from France to Holland, and found a ship's Captain that would smuggle Susanne out of the country for a nice bribe. The deal was done, and young Susanne, the "little night cap" went off into the night protected by her faith and surrounded by "Night Walkers". Upon reaching the coast, she was willingly, although I am certain fearfully, sealed inside of a "hogshead".....a wooden barrel used to transport wine, or sugar, or any needed product safely by ship. The "hogshead" was the cardboard box of the 17th Century. We do not know what size the barrel was, but wine was shipped in 63-gallon barrels, and sugar in either 64 or 128 gallon barrels. Whatever the size, Susanne ROCHET quietly remained inside while the barrel was sealed on the ship, until they were safely out of the range of the King's guard boats, and then she was set free.  She joined her sisters in Amsterdam in a great reunion, celebrating the Faith and Family that had triumphed over the tyranny of a King and his Church.

Imagine hiding in a hogshead like Susanne Rochet

   

Being rolled onto a boat must have been "interesting" for Susanne

        Jean and Marie would visit their daughters at least once while they were in Holland, smuggling money hidden in Marie's hairstyle.  Eventually, the two oldest daughters married and moved to the West Indies where they remained. Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Holland, Susanna ROCHET took work in a factory making lace, and met another refugee in the factory, also from Sedan, France, who worked weaving gauze.  She and Abraham MICHAUX were married July 13, 1692, in the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam, Holland.
Next post, we will read of their future in America.  Susanna ROCHET is the 7th great grandmother of Tonya Kim WILLDEN MARTINI.