Andre Bernon, IV

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214992735/andre-bernon

For Ancestors see Books:

• (1) Philip Freneau: The Poet of the Revolution; a History of His Life and Times, By Mary Stanislas Austin (Raoul Bernon & Charlotte de Talmont)
• (2) History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, by Charles W. Baird, Two Volumes in One, Vol. 1, pgs 278-9. [Children are listed as footnote on page 320.]

The family of Bernon,(1) or, de Bernon, as it was known in France, was originally from Burgundy, and is one of the most ancient families of the kingdom. It claims its descent from the younger branch of the Counts of Burgundy, several of whose princes have borne the name from the year 895. Its arms from the fourteenth century were borne by the Counts of Maçon.

That branch of the family of which Gabriel Bernon, the refugee, was a descendant, has or had, in its possession all the documents necessary to prove its identity from the time of Raoul de Bernon. This house is allied to some of the most illustrious families of France. It has rendered distinguished services to its country, and has numbered amongst its members superior officers of great merit in the army, as well as in the navy. Several of its names are found in the “Livre d’Or de la Noblesse” as belonging to the Order of Saint Louis.

The name of de Bernon is found amongst those of the families that were represented in the Crusades in the year 1191. In the sixteenth century it is seen contributing towards the ransom of the sons of François 1st, who were held as hostages by Spain after the battle of Pavia. It also sent money by the hands of Duplessis-Mornay to Henri Quatre, to assist him in his efforts to obtain the throne.

Besides the claims to nobility entailed by their Burgundian ancestors, the Bernons of La Rochelle possess still another claim to distinction, several of the mayors of that city having been furnished by them. To have held the office of mayor of that city, according to the customs of the time, conferred rank, not alone to the person who had held the office, but to his heirs forever.

Raoul de Bernon, who served with distinction in the wars of his time, married Charlotte de Talmont and their son, Nicolas was mayor of La Rochelle in the year 1357. His son held the same office in 1398. Jean Thomas, son of the latter, funded the two gentilhommières or manors of Bernoniére and Bernonville, the former deriving its name from a small château near Pouzauges in Poitou, now the department of Vendée, and the latter, from a château on the Isle de Ré. Jean Thomas had a son named André, who had two sons: Pierre, sieur de la Bernonére et l’Isleau, and Jean.

Jean’s son André married Catherine du Bouché in 1545 and their son Léonard married Françoise Carré 1578, and had two sons: Jean, sieur de Bernonville, and André. The latter married Jeanne Lescour, and after her death, Marie Papin in 1605; their two sons were Léonard, sieur de Bernonville, and André, the latter being the father of Gabriel the refugee.

The branch of the family to which André belonged was distinguished as de Bernonville, and was amongst the first in La Rochelle to embrace Calvinism. The other branch, de la Bernoniére de l’Isleau, also adopted the same belief.

André, Gabriel’s father, was one of ten children, five of whom were sons, the remaining five daughters. André was a prosperous banker, and ancien of the Huguenot Church. He did not long survive its destruction and the dispersion of his brethren, but died soon after the Act of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes was passed, and was buried by night in his own gardens at Périgny(2).

Notes:

• (1) As Bernon was a connection of Freneau’s family, we give a short sketch of his life and labors for his countrymen in America. [pp39-41]
• (2) Histoire des Réformez de la Rochelle, etc., pp 297-281. This is found as a footnote in: Huguenot emigration to America 2 Volumes in 1 by Charles W. Baird on page 321.

*********************** From:  http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/l/e/Sara-Fleming-Manch...

Andre Bernon (son of Andre Bernon and Marie Papin)

• was born 1614 in La Rochelle, Aunis, France, and
• died date unknown.
• He married Susanne Guillemard on 1631 in La Rochelle, Aunis, France.
• Occupation: Banker and Merchant.
• Children of Andre Bernon and Susanne Guillemard are:
  • i. +Gabriel Bernon, b. April 06, 1644, La Rochelle, Aunis France, d. February 21, 1736, Providence RI.

*********************** André's 10 children are listed on pg 320, vol 1 of ''Huguenot Emigration to America'', by Charles W Baird.  Site does indicate the order of birth for the sons, however it doesn't indicate where the daughters fit into the order of birth.  

*********************** [https://books.google.com/books?id=nMgOxMl5kroC&pg=PA421&lpg=PA421&d... The Records of Oxford, Massachusetts: Including Chapters of Nipmuck, Huguenot and English History - Accompanied with Biographical Sketches and Notes, 1630-1890, with Manners and Fashions of the Time. by: Mary Dewitt Freehand, Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Com, 2009, page 422.]

• The family of Bernon is found registered with the families of Poitou. It is said the name of Bernon occurs in “Froissart’s Chronicles.”
• The daughters of Andre and Suzanne Guillemard Bernon were
  • Esther, who resided in England;
  • Jeannette, m. Jean Allaire;
  • Eve, m. Pierre Lanceau;
  • Suzanne, m. Paul de Pont; and
  • Marie, m. Benjamin Faneuil.
• There were five sons, Andre, Gabriel, Samuel, Jean and Jacques.
  • Andre, the eldest son, was a wealthy banker;
  • Samuel and Jean, the second and third sons of Andre Bernon, renounced the Protestant faith (became zealous Romanists)
    • Samuel, slur de Salins, had changed his faith long before the Revocation, in 1660, shortly after his marriage to Marie, daughter of Samuel Cottony, pastor of a church at Poitiers, in Poitou, having acquired a large fortune in European and American commerce. Samuel Bernon continued to be engaged in commerce with Canada, and is spoken of as a merchant who carried on the most extensive business.
    • Jean, educated in the Protestant faith, became a pastor of the Reformed church of Saint Just near Marennes in the province of Saintonge, but at the Revocation he abjured Protestantism; he is now known as Jean, sierra de Juneau, and resided in Marennes, or the parish of Saint Just, possessing an estate. He died in or before the year 1714.
  • Gabriel Bernon, born 1644, in April, fourth son of Andre, had reached the age of 41 at the time of the Revocation. His accounts show a very extensive commerce with the principal towns of the provinces, -- Poitiers, Limoges, Angouleme, Niort, Chatellerault, Loudun and other places, --and a foreign trade with Martinique, St. Christopher, Cayenne and St Domingo. In Quebec he had been styled the principal French merchant, as as having rendered great service to the colony. “It is a pity,” wrote de Denonville (the Governor of Canada), “that he cannot be converted, as he is a Huguenot; the bishop wants me to order him home this autumn, which I have done, though he carries on a large business, and a great deal of money remains due to him here.”

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