Timeline
The Life of Gedeon Merlet, 1624–1684
33 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. |
| 1662–63 | The West India Company’s ledger of emigrants’ passage money charges “Gideon Merlitt” for “freight and board money” for the crossing of 12 October 1662 on the Purmerland Church: 39 guilders for himself, 39 for his wife, and 97 guilders 10 stuivers for four children aged 15, 8, 6 and 4, a total of 175½ guilders, or roughly seven months’ wages for a carpenter. The family sailed on credit. The facing credit page is blank, so this book never records the debt as paid. See the entry.West India Company, list of emigrants to New Netherland, 1654–1664, folio 64, New York State Archives, series A1810, vol. 14. |
| 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. Family research says he was appointed at Dover on 20 April 1671 under the English governor, Francis Lovelace, but that appointment has not yet been found in a published record. On 16 January 1671/72, as constable, he takes the inventory of the estate of Walraven Letin of Dover (printed as “Walnovers Letin”), “in presence of Peter Belew, Simeon Corne, Tys Barenson, and many others then present.” Peter Belew is almost certainly Pierre Billiou, founder of Oude Dorp, whose daughter Christance would marry Gideon’s son Abraham in 1678. The estate, including “one lot and housing,” was valued at 2,592 (the printed abstract gives the sums in pounds). See the printed record.“Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York,” vol. 1, pp. 23–24, in Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1892, abstracting New York County wills Liber 1–2, p. 93; Charlotte Megill Hix, Staten Island Wills and Letters of Administration, p. 109. |
| 26 April 1671 | At a council in the fort, with Governor Lovelace present, “the Busynesse of Staten Island” is heard: the inhabitants’ petition is presented by Thomas Carle and Nathan Whitmore. The council orders the Surveyor General to attend the next morning, the order being “sent by Gideon Marlette,” an errand for the island’s constable. (Older summaries said Gideon was “called before the council.”) The next day the council decided on lots and a cattle road for the Old Town.Victor Hugo Paltsits, ed., Minutes of the Executive Council of the Province of New York: Administration of Francis Lovelace, 1668–1673 (1910), vol. 1, pp. 85–88; 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. |
| 22 May 1674 | A patent to Paulus Regrinar for 70 morgens of land on Staten Island, “on the bay, about 1 Dutch mile from Gideon Marlet’s point.” A point of land on the bay was known by Gideon’s name.E. B. O’Callaghan, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, Part II, English Manuscripts (1866), p. 29 (vol. 23, p. 21). |
| 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. |
| 12 July 1694 | Paul Richards petitions for a survey of thirty acres of meadow “near the mouth of Fresh Kill, on Staten island, formerly owned by Gideon, Joshua and Paul Marlet”: the family’s salt meadow of the 1675 patent, by now in other hands. See the printed page.E. B. O’Callaghan, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, Part II, English Manuscripts (1866), p. 242 (vol. 39, p. 191). |
The printed record of the Letin inventory
The earliest surviving record of Gideon at work as constable, as printed in 1893 from the New York County will books. The abstract runs across two pages; click either image to see the full page.
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 | 20 | Merlet | 8 |
| Gidion | 3 | Marlett | 8 |
| Jejedon | 1 | Marlet | 8 |
| Marlette | 3 | ||
| Merleth, Merlit, Merlitt | 2 each | ||
| Marles, Marlott, Merlett, Marlitt, Murlet | 1 each |