| HIST |
It is thought by some that the family can trace its ancestry from Maslou, a saint of the seventh century, or from the Northmen, who invaded Normandy in 860. In fact gravestones bearing the name have been found in Normandy with dates as early as 900. At any rate they were among the Huguenots who came to South Carolina after the persecution arising in France in the 1500’s and 1600’s. During the mid 16th century Catherine deMedicis, Queen Mother, who ruled France, decreed the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day in which many Huguenots were killed. With the passage of the Edict of Nantes in 1598, these deeply religious protestants had relief for a time from persecution, and it is said that they formed a kind of Protestant state within the midst of the Catholic domain. Their relief was relatively shortlived, however, for in 1685 Louis XIV repealed the Edict. Before that time (1682) Jean Mellette (Melet) fled France and took refuge in England. Jean and his wife Elizabeth with one daughter are said by Bearl in his REFUGEES FROM THE TRAMBLADE (Vol. II, page 23), to have fled to London in 1682. [3] |
1655 - Abt 1688 (33 years)
