Historic leaves, volume 2, April, 1903 - January, 1904

That the Mallets were early subjected to severe persecution because of their devotion to the cause is amply proved by various records, and while there is no actual proof that those who fled to this country were of the same family, there is every reason to believe that they were. The custom in those days of re-naming children for the elders of the family makes it difficult to trace a direct line, but it also goes to prove in this instance a kinship, since all of the Mallet emigrants to this country bear the same Christian names. There were several Mallets who fled to America about the same time and settled in different localities. We are told that David Mallet, who, with his five sons, held a position of prominence in the army of Louis XIV., fled to England, and died there in 1691. One son was broken on the wheel, another established himself as a physician in Yorkshire, Eng. A third went to Germany, and we hear of a David Mallet, of Rouen, and later hat manufacturer in Berlin in 1685, who was probably one of these five sons. The fourth son, John, came to America, bringing with him a brother and a nephew named Peter. This John was a ship carpenter, so tradition says, and probably escaped from Lyons, France. He was a man of considerable wealth, and succeeded in bringing some of it with him. He first came to North Carolina, and made several return voyages (probably secretly) to France. During one of his return trips his wife and child were lost at sea. He then married his servant, Johannah Larion, a woman said to be very beautiful; to them were born several children. This couple finally settled in Fairfield, Conn., and died at a ripe old age, leaving many descendants and much property. The sons and daughters of families in those days were more numerous than at the present time, and there is no doubt that some of this John's descendants remained in North Carolina, and finally settled in Virginia, since the name of Mallet is among those of the early settlers of Manakin, Va.

Charles Weiss, who was assisted in his work of compiling a history of Huguenots in France and America by a Charles Mallet, tells of the contraband trade established by the refugees, which