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One descendant wrote that the French ancestors spelled their name Moselle, the same as the river in whose valley they lived. A. C. Mizell wrote, "I note they say that the Mizells spelled their name Moselle when they came over but I don't think so. I know that Pa said our people came from Alsace-Lorraine on the Moselle River, and that our name way back yonder was Moselle, but long before we left France". His chance statement that "according to tradition our ancestors were woolen mill workers" suggests that they belonged to the militant Huguenot family who spelled their name Mazel. At any rate, Abraham Mazel was a wool carder by trade, a Huguenot preacher, and a leader of the opposition after the revocation (2). "The tribe of Mazel abounded in the Cevennes and they had already given many martyrs to the cause. Some emigrated to America, some were sent to the galleys; Oliver Mazel, the preacher, was hanged in Montpelier in 1690, Jacques Mazel was a refugee in London in 1701, and in all the Cevennes, there were Mazels leading as well as following"
French Huguenot Origins
Luke Mizell I was born about 1614. His parents are thought to be Huguenots, who were Protestants in France out of favor with the ruling Catholics. The Wars of Religion had been underway in France since the mid-1500s. Luke probably was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, or possibly in England, after his parents had fled the persecutions. His last name could have been associated with either of two villages in France, Mézel near Digne in the Provencal Alps, or Mezel (no accent mark) near Clermont-Ferrand. He was likely an orphan in England until around 1632 when he was about 18. There were several spellings of the last name since few people knew how to write, and those recording events chose spellings based upon how the named sounded.