Pierre Rochon

The oldest member of this family for which records have been found is Pierre Rochon. He was born c.1628 in Torre Pellice, a hamlet in Turin (or Torino), In what is now Piedmonte, Italy. He married Sarah Malan about 1650 in Angrogna, Torino. She was the daughter of Jean Malan and wife Madeleine Balsan. They had five known children. Pierre died in c.1718.

The Rochon family is believed to have been Waldensian Protestants. The Waldensian were a sect that arose in the late 1100's, in Lyon, France, in response to the schisms in the Catholic faith at that time. The name derives from the sect's founder, Peter Waldo, a Swiss-German reformer. They advocated a return to the vows of poverty and preaching of the Gospel as advocated by Jesus and his disciples in the New Testament. Originally a reform movement within the Catholic Church, the movement was declared heretical by 1215 and became persecuted by Church officials. The movement became aligned with the Calvinists during the Protestant Reformation. They received some limited rights under the Edict of Nantes, but those were lost with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The sect became persecuted and fled for their lives.

In 1655 the massacre known as the "Piedmont Easter" took place. Pierre would have been about 27 years old having been wed about five years and just starting his family. Catholic forces began their merciless murder, torture, rape and looting; over 1,700 Waldensians perished in this "Massacre."

Torre Pellice is in the valleys formed by the Pellice and Angrogna Rivers. It became the home of many Waldensian families after the Revocation. It is believed that Peter Waldo himself settled there and died there. The exact origins of the Rochon family are unknown, but are likely French (spellings and naming conventions used) and possibly from the Lyon area.

About the same time we find the Pierre Rochon family in Piedmonte, another Rochon family turns up in Quebec. It appears that the New World Rochons were actually Rocherons by ancestry,

Children of Pierre Rochon and wife Sarah Malan:

• Jean Rochon, born c.1650, died after 1702, married Marie Volle
• Vincent Rochon, spouse unknown, possibly seven children
• Susanna Rochon, married cousin David Malan
• Marie Rochon, born c. 1668 and died in 1738, married Daniel Rage
• Pierre Rochon II, born c.1669

Links to additional material:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldensians
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Waldo
• http://www.roshong.org/f_14e.html#6
• http://genforum.genealogy.com/rochon/messages/480.html - origins of Rochon family in Quebec