Timeline

The Life of Gedeon Merlet, 1624–1684

30 records trace Gedeon (Gideon) La Plante Merlet from a young carpenter from Roucy in Leiden, through Paris, Mannheim and Hanau, across the Atlantic to New Amsterdam, and to Staten Island and New Jersey, where he died by 1684.

Compiled by William P. Marlatt for the Marlatt-Merlet DNA Project Summary Report (2019) and posted with permission. The source for each entry is listed beneath it.

1621–28	The archives at The Hague call Gedeon Merlette a “carpenter, young man from Roussy” in December 1643: old enough to have learned a trade, young enough to be called a young man. If he was 17 to 22 in 1643, he was born 1621–28, or about 1624.Letter from C. W. Delforterie, Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, The Hague, to Lois Hall, 9 July 1974.
December 1643	“Received into the membership of the Church of Leide – December, 1643: Merlette, Gedeon, surnamed La Plante, according to the records of the Church of Tergoude.” The church at Tergoude (Gouda, South Holland) was founded in 1642 and abolished in 1818. A French version of the same entry reads “Gideon Merlette dit laPlanse.”Letter from J. M. Charensol, Pastor, Bibliothèque Wallonne, Leiden, to Mrs. Josef Finck, 17 September 1965; letter from Sara Katerine “Sally” Fox Smith, 1 December 1979.
6 August 1644	Betrothal entry (translated): “Gedeon Merleth, carpenter from de Rousy, dwelling in Stantstraet [Sand Street], accompanied by Philip Merleth, his uncle, … with Margriet Martijn from Limbouch, accompanied by Jenne Martijn, her cousin.”Letter from A. J. Versprille, Gemeente-Archief van Leiden, to Mrs. Josef Finck, 14 August 1965; Dutch Betrothal Book N, p. 114.
21 August 1644	Gedeon Merleth and Margariet Martijn were married in the Walloon Church in Leiden.Mary Malott Everhart, Peter Malott of Maryland and His Descendants (1996), p. 12a.
17 September 1645	Josias, son of Gedeon Merlette, baptized in the Walloon Church at Leiden. He may have been named for his grandfather, thought to be Josias Marles.Versprille letter, 14 August 1965.
11 November 1646	Marie, daughter of Gideon Merlette, baptized in the Walloon Church at Leiden.Versprille letter, 14 August 1965.
26 July 1648	Esechias, son of Gedeon Merlette and Marguerite Martin, baptized in the Walloon Church at Leiden. One witness was Paul Merlette, thought to be Gedeon’s brother.Versprille letter, 14 August 1965.
1651	The family left Leiden after 1648, lived in Paris, and was received back into the Leiden church in December 1651 “by testimony of the church of Paris.”Charensol letter, 1965; Fox Smith letter, 1979.
23 October 1652	“Member at Leide 23 October 1652, Gedeon Merlet and his wife.”Fox Smith letter, 1979.
14 September 1653	Gedeon Marlet and Marguerite Martin baptize their son Paul at Mannheim, Germany. His godfather was Paul Marlet, thought to be Gedeon’s brother.Summary of Mannheim records from the Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, New York, sent by Eva G. Malott, 1986.
20 February 1655	Paul Marles, son of Josias Marles and Jeanne Robb of “Rossy in Champagne,” married Elizabeth Moreau in the French church of Mannheim. This record is the main evidence that Josias and Jeanne were also Gedeon’s parents.Copy of the Mannheim marriage record sent by E. R. Cordtz, 1986.
26 January 1656	Abraham, son of Gedeon Marlette and Marguerite Martin, born at Mannheim; baptized 3 February.Mannheim records, Huguenot Historical Society.
September 1657	Paul Marlet and Elisabeth Moreau baptize a son named Gedeon at Mannheim, with Gedeon Marlet as godfather: another sign that Paul and Gedeon were brothers.Mannheim records, Huguenot Historical Society.
18 April 1658	Jean Pierrat, son of Gedeon Merlet and Marguerite Martin, born at Mannheim; baptized 2 May.Mannheim records, Huguenot Historical Society.
February 1661	Gedeon and his wife are again members at Leiden, “coming from Hanau.”Delforterie letter, 1974.
12 October 1662	De Purmerlander Kerck (The Purmerland Church), Captain Benjamin Barentsz, sails from Amsterdam with “Gideon Merlitt, wife and four children, 15, 8, 6, and 4 years old.” One later history says the family came from Artois in the “Purmerland Castle,” but kerk means church, and Artois was probably the origin of a fellow passenger, Nicolaes Du Pui.Carl Boyer, Ships Passengers of New York and New Jersey 1600–1825, p. 130; Lorine McGinnis Schulze, “Ships’ Lists,” Olive Tree Genealogy; Staten Island and Its People, vol. 2, p. 925.
18 February 1663	The ship arrives at New Amsterdam.Schulze, “Ships’ Lists.”
19 March 1663	Gedeon and six fellow passengers petition the Director General and Council of New Netherland. They say they were moved to come by “the printed New Netherlands conditions,” and ask for suitable land, seed grain, and provisions for six months, promising to repay what is advanced to them.New York Colonial Manuscripts, vol. 10, part 2, p. 49 (translated from Dutch), extract sent by Mike Horton, 1997.
1 April 1663	“Gidion Marlet” joins the Reformed Dutch Church in the City of New York, with about 19 others.New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 9, no. 2 (April 1878), p. 76.
15 March 1664	The Leiden church still lists Gedeon and his wife, noting they “parted from Leiden” on this date. No return voyage is known; this may just be slow record keeping.Everhart (1996); Fox Smith letter, 1979; Marlatt, Melott, Mallott Past and Present newsletter, April 1995.
1671–72	Gideon Marlet is constable on Staten Island, appointed at Dover on 20 April 1671 under the English governor, Francis Lovelace. On 16 January 1671/72 he takes the inventory of the estate of Walraven Letin of Dover.Abstracts of Wills, City of New York, 1665–1707, vol. 1, p. 24; Charlotte Megill Hix, Staten Island Wills and Letters of Administration, p. 109.
26 April 1671	“Gideon Marlette was called before the council.”Calendar of Council Minutes 1668–1783, p. 13.
14 February 1674	During the brief Dutch reoccupation of the colony, Governor Colve names Gideon Marlet a magistrate of Staten Island.Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vol. 2, p. 681.
1675–76	Surveys of 256 acres on the south side of Staten Island for Gideon Marlett and his sons, and a patent of 243 acres plus 30 acres of salt meadow at the mouth of Fresh Kill to “Gideon Marlett and his two sons, Joshua and Paulus.”Calendar of N.Y. Colonial Manuscripts, Indorsed Land Papers (1864), pp. 65–69.
1681	“Gidion Marlett” appears among the first settlers of Staten Island in the Richmond County records.Orra Eugene Monnette, First Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge (1930), pp. 124–125.
25 August 1681	Mary Marshall and Ann Marlett drown when their canoe overturns. Ann’s parents aren’t named; Gedeon, Josias and Paulus are all possibilities.Abstracts of Wills, City of New York, Liber 19 B, p. 427.
5 December 1681	A Staten Island court orders Gidion Marlett to pay Peter Nowe a debt of 150 guilders.Richmond County Records, p. 7.
1684	“Marlet (Marlett-Marlott-Merlett), Gideon” is listed among the first settlers of Piscataway, New Jersey.Monnette, First Settlers, p. 95.
20 March 1684	The council grants the petition of Josias and Paulus Marlitt for a survey and division of their inherited land, so Gedeon had died by this date.Calendar of Council Minutes 1668–1783, p. 37.
7 December 1685	Mary Murlet, widow, marries John Tailler at Woodbridge, New Jersey. She is thought to be Gedeon’s widow, a second wife (recorded on this site as Mary Taylor).Joseph W. Dally, Woodbridge and Vicinity (1873), Appendix E, p. 348.

How his name was spelled

Across these records, Gedeon and Gideon are the most common spellings of his first name, and Merlet, Merlette and Marlett of his surname: useful to know when searching online databases.

Most common spellings of Gedeon Merlet’s name, by number of occurrences in the records above

Given name	Times recorded	Surname	Times recorded
Gedeon	19	Merlette	9
Gideon	17	Merlet	8
Gidion	3	Marlett	8
Jejedon	1	Marlet	6
		Marlette	3
		Merleth, Merlit	2 each
		Marles, Marlott, Merlett, Marlitt, Merlitt, Murlet	1 each