Home : History : The Mangeot family : Footnote 25

The house of Autreville was the residence of François Charles Mangeot, born in 1828 in Autreville, and of his wife Jeanne Catherine Sesmat, born in 1829 in Dieulouard. We can only suppose that after his marriage (26 February 1851 in Dieulouard), François Charles Mangeot tried to establish a home in different places, because his oldest daughter Eugénie (married Joly) is born in 1852 in Dieulouard. The second child, Nicolas Mangeot is born in Autreville in 1853. Catherine Henriette is born in 1855 in Hadigny les Verrières, Vosges, where she died in 1857. Then Henriette is born in 1860 in Autreville and also her younger sister Marie, born 14 years late in Autreville in 1874. It is in this house of Autreville that Aline who was either on vacations or on a visit at her grandma, remembers to have received a spanking from her, for having leaned over the small attic window. Aline thought that she was old enough to know the danger and was very careful not to lean too far. . But her grandma did not see this with the same eye.

According to Aline, her grandmother Jeanne Sesmat (married Mangeot) was austere and strict because she had been soured by the trials of life: she has lost a little girl 18 months old and their farm in Vosges had burned, perhaps set on fire by a worker who had been sent away. Another souvenir of Aline is when she was helping to harvest the grapes in Autreville: she was tired of working, therefore she started to play with her pruning scissors and cut up wine leaves. Her grandmother noticed her and asked: “what’s Aline doing?” to which the maid of uncle Mangeot replied: “Oh, she is making patterns.” And grandmother Sesmat threatened that if she did not hurry to get back to work, her grandma was going to give her a spanking.

This shows us that grandmother Sesmat Mangeot worked hard and expected every one else to work hard, no matter how young. I can bear witness that all the days of their life, Henriette and her daughters worked hard. It also shows that the Mangeot family of Autreville must have been financially at ease since Nicolas Mangeot (brother of Henriette), had a maid. Also François Charles Mangeot was godfather to the church bells of Autreville. I can only assume that this privilege meant some financial gift to the church.

As we have said above, the mother of Henriette was a Miss Sesmat from Dieulouard, a family of inn keepers which is traced back to Jean Sesmat, said to be from Dieulouard, when he marries in 1718 with Marie Gagneur. But it is remarkable that the name Sesmat, Cesmat, Seymat, does not exist in Lorraine prior to this ancestor Jean Sesmat and who is the ancestor of ALL the Sesmat of Lorraine today. According to the family traditon he was a horse merchant who had come from Savoie, to sell horses to the cavalry of Pont-à-Mousson, where he met his future bride, Marie Gagneur. Since he died in 1738 age 67 and married in 1718, at which time he would have been 47, we might wonder if it was his first or second marriage? Marie Gagneur was 15 years younger than he. But so far we have not proved his place of origin. But it is a fact that in Hautes-Alpes, around the valley of Chorges, namely in Saint Laurent du Cros, there is an unbelievable number of Sesmat, Cesmat, Ceymat, etc. mostly protestants.

Henriette also knew (and told me) that her paternal grandmother was Marguerite Madeleine Parfait born in Frouard in 1795, the daughter of Pierre Parfait, (“buraliste” = office keeper?) of Frouard. The first Parfait known of this branch is Demenge Parfait, charcoal-burner married to Antoinette Blicqué/Blocquey. A century before Demenge, we find in notarial records of Nancy (3 E 2620), which mentions a Demenge Parfait and also Claude Parfait from Saint Mard (region of Bayon) in 1529. These notarial records are extremely difficult to decipher.

Apparently in 1651, our Demenge Parfait resided in Nancy (see document below.) We know that later he was in Azelot which is not so far from Saint Mard. Perhaps the Thirty year war had driven him to seek refuge in Nancy?

3 E 2023 Nancy. Maitre Mardidier (the 8th July 1651 ... this document shows that Demange Parfaict, charcoal-burner in Nancy agrees to sell grain to Simon Grandclaude of Ferriere for a price of ... In 1652 the creditor declares to be perfectly satisfied with the grain he received ...)

Le 8 de juillet 1651 avant midi Simon Grandclaude laboureur a Ferriere a confesse debvoir a Demange Parfaict charbonnier demt. a Nancy prnt stipulant la quantite de trois paires de Reseaux de grain mesure de Nancy moitie ble et froment et lautre moictier orge pour cause de pareille quantite a lui vendu aujourdhuy et prix convenu a raison de 36 francs la paire quil a promis de vendre et delivrer au lieu de Nancy a ses frais perils et frotune dans le jour de feste St Martin dhiver prochain subvenant en bon grain sain et net ... marchand sans fautte a venir de tout depend obligeant et submettant et renoncant et notamment a tous ... et dicts et autre ordonnances faisant au contraire pnt. Jacques Jacquemaire manouvrier et Claude Guillemet tailleur dhabit demt. a Nancy, tesmoins connus ...

En marge. Le 21 Nov 1652 le crediteur en la presente minute a declare estre satisfait des grains ci mentionnes et partant a consent a la cassation et a dit ne savoir signe.

© 2004, 2005 Jean-Marc Samson and Yvette Longstaff