In a message dated 09/02/2000 11:50:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Edward@Fuse.net writes: << Can anyone else help? Edward >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edward, I am looking to see what I can find on this Margaret Robert who married Allard Belin. But I thought you might be interested in the following. Rev. Pierre Robert (b. 1656 St. Imier, Swtz) married 1674 to Jeanne Braye (b. 1660 Basil Swtz) The Rev. d. 1715 and his wife d. 1717, both in French Sante, SC. Their children were as follows: 1. Pierre Jr. b. 1675 Switzerland 2. Elias, b. 1679 Switzerland 3. Jeanne, b. 1681 Switzerland 4. Jean (John) b. 1687 French Santee, SC (my hubbys ancestor) I have this line going back to 1544. They are well documented. Judy ~~~~ From; "The Huguenot Society of South Carolina" "A Tribute To Pasteur Pierre Robert In The 300th Anniversary Year Of His Ordination To The Ministry" by, Thomas O. Lawton, Jr. "In the 300th anniversary year of his ordination to the ministry, we pay special tribute to Pasteur Pierre Robert, one of South Carolina's first Huguenot ministers. Records reflect that Robert, the first minister at St. James Santee, in his removal from the cultivated civilization of Switzerland to the wild frontier of South Carolina, faced the many problems and challenges of an unfamiliar, unstable new land. The records also show that at the time of his death here in 1715, he was revered by his congregation, had achieved a more than moderate degree of economic success, and was the founder of a family, many of whom have since excelled in the professions, the military and in other fields. Robert's story, with certain variations, would indeed be similar to the stories of many of the other Huguenot immigrants to the Province of Carolina. Robert, the son of Daniel and Marie Robert, was born in 1656 in the Swiss Jura at St. Imier, where he was baptized on February 3, 1656. St, Imier, located in the Urguel Valley, only a few kilometers from France, had welcomed religious refugees for several decades before Robert's birth. In fact, tolerant areas of Switzerland had been receiving religious refugees from less friendly areas of Switzerland, from the British Isles, France and Italy since the end of the 16th century. The Catholic Bishop of Bale required enumeration of new inhabitants received by him as subjects, and on the April 28, 1623, List of Strangers for St. Imier, Pierre Robert's grandfather, Guillaume Robert, his father Daniel, several uncles and other relatives are recorded, although their place of origin is not disclosed. St. Imier, in the 20th century, is a village of much beauty, with a handsome medieval church on the town square, Longine watch factories, and Mont Soleil, an excellent ski resort. Unfortunately, military invasion by the French in the early 1800's and numerous fires have destroyed many of the older buildings and ancient records. Pierre Robert, at an early age, left his native hearth for the nearby bilingual city of Bale, on the navigable headwaters of the Rhine. Here he matriculated on January 13, 1674, at the City University in Philosophy, the compulsory, stage for theology, law, and medicine. In his first year he studied rhetoric, Latin, Greek, eloquence, and logic, or elementary philosophy. Founded in 1460 by Pius II, the University of Bale was the first university in Switzerland and became one of the chief centers of the Reformation Movement in Switzerland because of its exceptional faculty, which included among its notable members, Zwingli, and Erasmus. In his eighteenth year, the same year as his matriculation at the University (1674), Robert married Jeanne Braye, daughter of Jehu and Susanne Braye in Bale. His son, Pierre, Jr., was born a year later, and at the infant's baptism on May 9, 1675, in the French Church, the three sponsors were Mlle. Elizabeth Guerri, Mr. Remy Frey, and Mr. De Bieuleau. Mlle. Guerri may well have been a member of the family of Guerry who settled in South Carolina; Frey was of the refugee clan of Frey, still held in high esteem in Bale after three centuries, and Mr. De Bieuleau was a nobleman of minor rank. The gap in Robert's record from 1675 until 1681 was probably time during which he obtained further theological training at a Reformed Center other than the University of Bale. From 1681 until 1685 he served the French Church as a deacon and then as assistant pastor in his native Urguel Valley. Robert left the Urguel and Switzerland in 1685, but it has not been fully ascertained from documents found to date, how, where, and when, he and the other settlers of St. James Santee grouped, made plans, and finally set sail for South Carolina. The Logical answer to these questions would seem to be that the emigrating group gathered at La Rochelle or the Isle de Re in 1685 and came on to Carolina late in 1685 or early in 1686. Such an assumption can be based on certain traditions, records of land grants and warrants of the settlers, and records as to the nativity of the settlers. Tradition within the Robert family for many years has been that Robert, the minister, and his congregation gathered on the Isle de Re in 1685, assembling under the daring and enterprising leadership of Captain Phillipe Gendron, and in 1686 reached the shores of Carolina, where Gendron was also prominent in the affairs of the settlement. Rev Pierre founded the first Huguenot Church St. James Parish, Jamestown, French Santee, in 1706. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: "Huguenot Society of South Carolina" Today, the town of St. James Santee has disappeared, Robertsville is but a cross-road, and the Robert surname no longer exists in South Carolina. However, at last count in 1975, some 88 descendents of the Reverand Pierre Robert have kept his memory alive as members of this Society. Pasteur Robert could look with justifiable pride on the contributions to this state and nation made by many of his progeny. Probably the most well-known of these would be the Revolutionary War General Peter Horry; the Confederate Line General, who was later Quartermaster General of the Confederacy, Alexander Robert Lawton; and of course, General Martyn Robert, author of "Robert's Rules of Order". It is hoped that Pasteur Robert would also look Huguenot compassion and tolerance upon his descendants of lesser achievement and prominence! *I have photo's of the church.