Pilons of the Netherlands |
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Pilons of the Netherlands |
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| The 17th century witnessed great turmoil in Europe, as religious intolerance
reached into many corners of this continent.
In 1685 the Edict of Nantes (1598), which had previously permitted some religious tolerance in France, was revoked. The Huguenots as they became known, left their native country in fear. Today it is not always possible to establish where they had their local origins. Maybe the Dutch Pilons came from the surroundings of the ëCol du Pilonë in the south-east part of France. Possibly they boarded ships at Marseille and set sail for the Low Countries. They might also have taken a journey by land, starting in the Piemonte in Italy; through Switzerland and crossing a mountain-pass which they named ëCol du Pilloní. From there they might have travelled up to Germany and finally arrived in Groningen, then a northern part of protestant Holland. In a church list of members from 1690, for the first time, we found the name Pilon: that of Abraham, born around 1630 and married at Vierhuizen. Probably he was a schoolmaster and a deacon. Below, we present the first five generations of Abraham's descendents. The information was taken from the excellent Dutch Pilon web page produced by Menne Glas which should be visited for additional information on the Pilons. We hope that this will permit descendents of Abraham to more easily
attach themselves to this extensive branch of the Pilon family.
Follow this link to view a page on 11 generations of Pilons in the Netherlands from our Dutch Partner, Jan Pilon.
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