Surnames
Barbier, Mejaline, Meslin, Mezalaine
Background
About 1853, Jeanne Henriette
(Colin) Mezalaine immigrated to Perry County, Missouri from Salins-les-Bains, Jura, France
with her children. In Missouri
in 1855 she married her second husband, Claude Etienne Barbier, another French
immigrant whom she had known, and probably lived in his household, in France. Her first husband, Michael Louis Mezalaine,
whom she married in 1829 in Salins-les-Bains, remained behind. It is uncertain if he had previously died or
was still in the French Army. In birth
records (actes
de naissance) of “his” children beginning in 1838 he is described as
"militaire en activite". In
the birth record of the youngest Mezalaine child, born in 1850, he is listed as “portier consigne au fort de
Bicêtre” or gatekeeper stationed at Fort
Bicêtre
In Missouri, several, but not all, of the
Mezalaine children changed their name to Barbier.
At this
time it is uncertain which of the two husbands of Jeanne Henriette was the
father of the various children. All of
the children were born in France,
and according to their birth certificates in the home of Claude Etienne
Barbier, while naming Jeanne Henriette as the wife of Michael Louis
Mezalaine. It is unusual that Michael
Louis did not sign any of the birth records.
The unusual circumstances of the children’s birth as well as the
subsequent name changes in Missouri
leave the paternity in doubt.
One hypothesis is that Michael Louis Mezalaine and
Henriette parted ways shortly after their marriage, and that Henriette took up
with Claude Etienne Barbier soon after (divorce being illegal in France
during that period). When the children started arriving, they waited for
word of the death of Mezalaine, so that they could marry. But the news
never came. Finally, with the oldest children approaching the age of
marriage and military service, they left for Perry County.
Several other families came from the same area in France
(departements Doubs & Jura) around the same time and settled in Perry County.
Was Michael Louis Mezalaine the father of the older
children and Claude Etienne Barbier the
father or the younger or did one man father all of the children?
The purpose of this project is to combine traditional
genealogical research with modern DNA testing in an attempt to solve this
genealogical mystery. We are hoping to find
direct male descendants of Henriette’s male children who are willing to perform
a Y-37 DNA test. It is hoped that the
results will answer this question.
While
the initial focus of this project is limited, we also welcome other Barbier,
Mezalaine, Meslin, Mejalen descendants, of global scope, to participate as
well, in hopes of better understanding the relationships of our ancestors.