Prioleau - Huguenot ancestor

Elie Prioleau was the son, grandson and great grandson of French Protestant ministers.[1] His parents, married 14 Oct 1646 in Saint-Vivien, were Jeanne Merlat, daughter of Hélie Merlat and Catharine Sarrazin of Saintonge Province, and Samuel Prioleau, minister of the Protestant church of Pons and son of Elize Prioleau, sieur de La Viennerye, and Dlle Marie Martin.[2]  Elie Prioleau married Jeanne Burgeaud in the Protestant temple in St. Martin on the Ile-de-Ré on 1 May 1662. In 1673 he graduated from the Geneva Academy and after the death of his mother and brother, Elie Prioleau took over for his father in Pons for a few months in 1678 when Samuel Prioleau was ill. When they were both called before the local authorities and accused of preaching outside the place they lived, Elie Prioleau had to leave his father. He moved to Poitou where he was named a pastor in la Mothe-Saint Heraye near Niort where he suffered more accusations. [3] After the death of his father 17 Feb 1683, Elie Prioleau was named his successor in Pons, southeast of La Rochelle, by the Protestant Synod. He was rebuked and chastised by the Catholic officials who sent representatives to listen to his sermons and monitor his actions. The charges against Prioleau were finally dismissed, but the persecutions continued and the Protestant temple at Pons was levelled 15 Apr 1686 by a mob.

Prioleau and his family and probably some of his congregation escaped from France to England where Elie Prioleau, his wife Jeanne and their children Jeanne and Eli were denizened 9 Apr 1687 in London.[4] Prioleau received naturalization a few months later on 14 June. Identified as “son of the minister,” Elie Prioleau received £8 assistance at sometime between 1686 and 1687. He and his family probably arrived in Carolina in late 1687, possibly traveling from Charles Towne to French Santee where many of the newly arrived French first appeared in the records. In March of the next year, 1688, Prioleau baptized Daniel Huger, twelfth son of Daniel and Marguerite Perdriau Huger, in French Santee.

Prioleau paid the Lords Proprietors of Carolina for 140 acres, receipt dated 23 Dec 1689. This was probably for land on the Back River where he and his family lived and which they called Medway.[5] They may also have had a house and lot in Charles Towne. Prioleau served the congregations of Charles Towne, Orange Quarter and Goose Creek, possibly on a rotation basis with Philippe Trouillard, second French Protestant minister in Carolina, when Prioleau arrived in the colony. Elie Prioleau wrote his will 8 Feb 1689 [?], leaving his wife guardian of their three children, Elie, Samuel and Jeanne, and naming Alexandre Thésée Chastaigner, Sieur de L’Isle, his executor. Elie Prioleau died in 1699.[6]

Questions about other people with the Prioleau surname in South Carolina.  

Who was Jean Prioleau, who with Mr. Peter Girard and Mr. James Dubose were bound to Gov. James Moore for £2000 pounds 10 Dec 1700 to administer the estate of Daniel Durouzeaux.  Moore, SP 4.

Who was Elizabeth Prioleau who owned land bounding on Lot 27 in Charles Towne in June 1715? [Lot 27 bounded west on Lot 26 and east on Lot 11, north on Broad Street and south on Elliot Street.] Moore SP 301; Bates and Leland, Proprietary Records Vol. III (Charles Towne Lots) 125.

His first cousin Marguerite Prioleau, daughter of Elisée (1649-1663) Prioleau, minister of Exoudun, married Joshua Gallaudet, one of the founders of New Rochelle, NY. [Haven’t verified this or found dates, but will try to.]


[1] Crottet, A. Recherches Historique sur la Famille Prioleau. Typed 1859 MS in the Prioleau VF #1 at HSSC.

[2] Robert, Samuel “Un Livre de raison 1639-68.” Archives Historiques de La Saintonge et de L’Aunis, Vol. XI (1883) from HSSC Prioleau #3 Vertical File. Their engagement/marriage contract dated 3 Sept 1646, included a dowry of the mesterie [meaning not found] in Germignac and rents from the fief of Chastellards from her deceased grandmother Sarrazin, £3000 in bonds and her wedding clothes among other things. Prioleau was to receive the sum of £3000 in bonds, his studies and books and the promise to pay all his debts until the marriage took place, as well as other items.

[3] Crottet, A. Recherches Historique sur la Famille Prioleau. Typed 1859 MS in the Prioleau VF #1 at HSSC.

[4] Crottet, A. Recherches Historique sur la Famille Prioleau. Typed 1859 MS in the Prioleau VF #1 at HSSC.

Quarto 18: 190. The name Samuel Pariolleau is on the same list, a few names below Elie Prioleau and his family. According to another account of the Prioleau family, Crottet, who was the Protestant minister in Pons in 1842, did not know what happened to Elie Prioleau and his family. Gallaudet, EM “The Family of Priuli, also called Prioli, Priolo, Prioleau.”

[5] CCPL, Wills & Misc. Records Vol. 54: 242.

[6] Crottet, A. Recherches Historique sur la Famille Prioleau. Typed 1859 MS in the Prioleau VF #1 at HSSC.; Lesser 374

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