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The TT Series groups together into numbered files many of the archives having to do with Protestants and the consequences of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. That I Saw, documents are mostly all from the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s. These include lists of Huguenots who fled the country, Huguenot family information, the demolition of Protestant churches, etc. The National Archives have divided the TT Series into several larger sections. I will mention the three most pertinent ones: 1) TT Series No. 1 through TT Series No. 83 have to do with the management of the property of the Protestants in various and sundry areas of France. 2) The next division is TT Series No. 84 through TT Series No. 229 and along with it is TT Series No. 459-460. These are organized by the last name of the Protestants and have to do with the confiscation of their property and such. Last names beginning with B, for example, are in TT No. 89A through 108. The last names only begin with B. They are then organized haphazardly, not alphabetically. A Bodin file could be anywhere mixed in among them. There is also a supplement for letters A to Z in TT Series No. 229 B to 229 D. 3) The next large division is TT Series No. 230 through TT No. 276 B. These are like parish or presbytery archives (called Consistoires in French) arranged more or less alphabetically by the name of the village, city, or town. And there are a couple more of these large divisions that I think have less to do with Bodins but could hide something. Each Number in the Series might have several reels of microfilm that you would need to go through. Of course it is mostly all in French. The French is sometimes easy to read. Mostly, though, it is difficult to decipher. Unless you know French, you could only find the easiest and most noticeable things in these documents about any Bodins.
IF SOMEBODY WITH A LOT OF MONEY LYING AROUND WOULD LIKE TO INVESTIGATE THE DOCUMENTS AND RESIDUE MENTIONED BELOW MORE COMPLETELY AND THOROUGHLY, THAT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT THING TO DO. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BODINE GENEALOGY AND HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY, THERE ARE RESEARCHERS IN PARIS WHO COULD DO THAT. IF YOU NEED HELP FINDING SOMEBODY, LET ME KNOW AND WE'LL SEE WHAT WE CAN FIND. THAT KIND OF RESEARCH IS EXPENSIVE, THOUGH. IT MIGHT COSTS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!
I quickly glanced through names on the microfilm reels for 89 A and 89 bis. I did not see anything obvious about any Bodins. When I saw how long that took just to go through the reels for No. 89, I realized I did not have enough time at the Archives that day to check the remaining reels for 90 through 108. Those DO need to be checked carefully by somebody. These are the most likely Numbers in the entire TT Series to have something on Bodins.
Residue: One should also check the Supplement for letters A-Z that is in TT No. 229 B-D.
I then went on to check what the Archives described as records for the general areas of Amiens, Picardy, and Flanders. Of the TT Series No. 1-83, those seemed most likely to have anything to do with the Bodin family of the Bethune area. I discovered that almost all of these records have to do with Amiens which is not that close to either Bodin location in France. The No. 1 series has many reels. The No. 2 series has four reels. And the No. 34A series has two reels I think. I checked all of them quickly. Some things seem to be mentioned about Picardy and Artois, but they mostly all really seem to have to do with Amiens, France. By the way, if you have a Protestant ancestor from Amiens, you are lucky since there is so much in these records about them.
Residue: One could still check TT No. 17 through 18 D which has to do with La Rochelle. That might yield something to do with Jean Bodin of Medis, but it would not be the first residue to check. It would be kind of a long-shot but worth taking.
And somewhere in TT No. 63-64 and No. 83 there might be something about Flanders from 1731, but I doubt there's anything that applies to the Bodins. Again, it would be a long-shot.
The last documents I was able to check were from the Parish/Presbytery (Consistoires) documents from the TT Series. I looked at what they call the Dossiers for certain towns. I checked into an index of TT No. 230 to No. 276 B and the following are good possibilities for finding something on Jean Bodin. Some are better possibilites than others.
NOTE1: Dr. Charles W. Baird, in v. 2 and pages 38-39 of his work History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, has said that Jean Bodin was mentioned as a "fugitive of Medis, District of Saintes." However, Baird gives no specific reference to where in the National Archives! Based on another footnote about somebody else on page 14 of Baird's v. 2, that might have been in TT Series No. 259. However, Ronny Bodine had a researcher check thoroughly into TT Series No. 259 and nothing could be found. The researcher said that the TT259 Baird mentioned is based on an older numbering system. That old TT259 is now TT231, TT232, TT244, TT246, and TT267. Based on Ronny's research and according to the description of the new No. 259 in the detailed TT Series information I find online, it says No. 259 is about the City of N�mes in southeastern France. There is then no relation between N�mes and Medis or Soubise or western France. They are hundreds of miles apart and across France from one another. There is, however, in TT Series No. 260, the town of Niort (Dossier #10) which is close to Port-des-Barques. If we were really dealing with the modern TT259, my bet would be that something might be mentioned in that Dossier in No. 260, not No. 259.
NOTE2: The only reference Baird gives in the footnote for the "fugitive" Jean Bodin is "Arch. Nat" which is like saying, "The Library of Congress." We would basically have no idea where he got his info since the French National Archives are huge.
TT 231: This was not searched in 1998 and does not seem to apply to the immediate area of Jean Bodin of Medis, France - except possibly for Dossier #8 Angouleme which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 232: This was at least partially searched in 1998 and some things were found. Ronny's researcher found some things in Dossier #19 (5) about Pays d'Aunis which is an older province that doesn't exist today. It was around La Rochelle. The most important find was something about "Fran�ois and another Fran�ois Bridon" in the Consistoire of Saint-Nazaire. Based on information from the 1998 research, this must be about Francis Bridon, Sr. and his son Francis Bridon, Jr. The estimated value of their abandoned property is 2300 �. There is some more information, but that is the gist of it.
There are a couple of other Dossiers in No. 232 that are about towns in Charente-Maritime that are relatively close to Medis. I don't know if those dossiers were searched. Some important ones are #4 Archiac and MORE importantly #12 Arvert.
TT 233: One possible one to check out is Dossier #6 Barbezieux which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 242: One possible one to check out is Dossier #21 Cozes which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 244: This was not searched in 1998 and does not seem to apply to the area of Jean Bodin of Medis, France. I only see one town from Charente-Maritime in No. 244.
TT 246: This was not searched in 1998 and does not seem to apply to the area of Jean Bodin of Medis, France. There are several towns in No. 246 from Charente-Maritime. One good one to check might be #15 Jonzac.
TT 251: This has several Dossiers worth checking: #5 Mansle, #8 Marans, and ESPECIALLY #14 Marcillac and #15 Marennes which are all in Charente-Maritime.
TT 254: One to check would be #2-3 Mo�ze which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 256A: A good possibility is Dossier #9 Montendre which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 257: A GOOD ONE to check is #5 Mornac which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 260: One GOOD ONE to check would be Dossier #10 about Niort which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 263A: A possibility is #13 �le de R� which is in Charente-Maritime.
TT 263B: This has many Dossiers on La Rochelle.
TT 264: Two VERY VERY VERY good ones to check are #30-31 Royan and Vaux. These are close to Medis.
TT 265: Important Dossiers in No. 265 are #2 Saintes & #3 Saintonge 1612-1687 and #21 Saujon. Ronny's researcher from 1998 seems to have checked and found nothing in Dossier #2 on Saintes, and nothing in Supplement #1 or #2. I also skimmed through the Dossiers on Saintes and Saintonge and didn't see anything obvious. Of course the French is complicated and difficult to read. Something might actually be in there with more careful checking. I do not remember looking at the Dossier for Saujon and I can't tell if the researcher in 1998 did. This one on Saujon would be VERY IMPORTANT to check..
TT 267: This Number has Dossiers #17 and #18 on Soubise that I skimmed through and have noted some important finds below. Other possibly important Dossiers in No. 267 are #1 Segonzac, #8 Seudre, and #23 Surgeres. Those are all in the Department of Charente-Maritime.
In No. 267 were some really wonderful finds. In Reel #2 is Dossier #17 which is about Soubise (or Soubize), France. In some rough numbering system someone has scribbled on the documents, the Soubize documents begin on page 1097 and go to at least 1223. There is a lot there. From pages 1104-1106 is a short list of Huguenot "fugitives" from the area. An explanation at the top of page 1104 describes the list as the people who have fled the area since 1681 until the list was made on March 20, 1685. On page 1105 is listed the following (each "fugitive" has a number in the list):
28 Fran�ois Bridon lesn� [i.e., l'a�n�] Est Revenue Et a less� [i.e., laiss�] Sa famille En angleterre.
Translation: "Francis Bridon, Sr. has returned and has left his family in England." A knowledgeable woman at the archives told me that he must have come back to Soubize after having fled before to England. He must have had to return to take care of personal property and land. I think I have heard he was well off and probably had risked coming back to try and sell off his property and land. Dr. Charles Baird does say in his book on Huguenot emigration to America (v. 2, p. 15) that Francis Bridon, Sr. did flee from Port-des-Barques in 1681 leaving property valued at 800 pounds (a fortune back then). Baird says there is a reference to this in the National Archives, but he does not give a specific reference.
33-34 Fran�ois Bridon le jeune estant de retour s�en est encore retourn� et lesse [either "et lesse" or "delesse"] sa femme en france.
Note: I have asked several expert French researchers to read the line above and have gotten varying responses. What I have now seems to be the consensus.
Translation: "Francis Bodine, Jr. having come back, has returned again, leaving [maybe abandoning] his wife in France." I'm guessing this might mean that maybe after coming back to France with his father (mentioned in Line 28 above) he then returned to England without his wife for some reason. Maybe he went back with some money from the sale of his father's properties and goods. Just a guess, though. Don't base anything on my guess. I'm also not sure why his wife would have stayed back in France. Maybe she "recanted" and returned to Catholicism. Dr. Charles W. Baird, in his History of the Huguenot Emigration to America (v. 2, p. 15), does say that Francois Bridon, Jr., while the Bridon family was still in England, went back in 1684 to Port-des-Barques, perhaps hoping to recover some of the property left their at the time of their flight to England. Word was sent to Paris of his return. Then in a footnote Baird quotes some French from an unstated record in the National Archives saying, "Francois Bridon, le jeune, est de retour en 1684, sa famille en Angleterre, et parle de s'en retour." This must be the word sent to Paris Baird was talking about. It means Francis Bridon, Jr., was back in 1684, his family in England, and he speaks of going back."
40 Jean bodin et Sa famille.
Translation: "John Bodin and his family." This is not clear if Jean has more than a wife with him, but my guess is that he is with his wife and at least one child. However, no details are given. That is only a guess based on looking at the other entries and some assumptions that one can make from those.
Regarding Francis Bridon above, I will add here something Ms JOLLY, a French genealogist Ronny Bodine knows, found in the book La France protestante, v. 6, pages 239-240 (Entry #429). Ms JOLLY says this shows that Francis Bridon was condemned to a ship as a galley slave. We are not sure if this applies to Francis Bridon, Sr. or Jr., but it must be Francis Bridon, Jr. It would have been very difficult, if not impossible, that Francis Bridon, Sr., an older man by then, survived in the ship gallows for what looks like as many as twelve years. Needless to say, the life of a galley slave was miserable beyond imagination. Many many died in the squalid conditions. Francis Bridon must have been a very true and hardy man.
NOTE: These must be records about Protestants taken from various archives and then compiled into these La France protestante books. I have not checked on the orginal source for this record.
Here is what I understand from the French above. It's kind of in shorthand French, so I added some missing words/ideas in bold: "BRIDON (Francois), from Rochefort or from Soubise in Saintonge, having left the kingdom in 1681, he was caught in the English Channel with his boat on 4 Dec 1685; he was condemned [to the gallows] by the Magistrate (Intendant) of Calais on Dec. 3, 1686. On the ship France or on the ship Palme [He was taken] to [the port of] Saint-Malo in 1698; he was released the same year."
Click on the following links to see the actual documents.
TT No. 267 (Reel #2), Soubize Dossier, p. 1097.
TT No. 267 (Reel #2), Soubize Dossier, p. 1104.
TT No. 267 (Reel #2), Soubize Dossier, p. 1105.
TT No. 267 (Reel #2), Soubize Dossier, p. 1106.
Residue: There are many many pages in this Soubize section. They need to be looked at one-by-one to see what else might be there on the Bodins or Bridons. I only looked through the Soubize files very quickly and might have missed a lot. I found Jean Bodin on page 1105 since that is one of the easier pages to read of all of them.
TT 270: Some possible Dossiers to check are #6-7 Saint-Jean-d'Angle and #17 Saint-Just which are both in Charente-Maritime.
TT 272: I see the important town of La Tremblade in Dossier #25. La Tremblade is an IMPORTANT one to check. Other possibilities are #13 Tonnay-Charente, #17 Thors, Fresneau, and Matha which are all in Charente-Maritime.
TT 274: A good one to check might #12 Vaux which is in Charente-Maritime near Royan.
Residue: There are many many many villages, towns, and cities mentioned in the Section above of the TT Series. One would have to carefully go through the summary of each Number of the series to see if one might apply. I have listed some above that I noticed. Even then, some places might be mentioned under other places. There could be some hidden gems in these documents. The most detailed list of the contents of each Number and dossier in the TT Series No. 230 through 276 B can be found by clicking on this link.
I have not mentioned the Section of the TT Series from No. 277-429 and TT No. 461-462 called R�gie des biens des religionnaires (i.e., Management of the goods of the Religionists). Those are more general in nature and one would have to think carefully about which ones to investigate. Finding something in these about the Bodins might be like finding a needle in a haystack.
And I have not mentioned the Section of the TT Series from No. 430 to 464 called M�langes (i.e., Miscellaneous). These are also more general in nature and one would have to choose carefully which ones to investigate. Again, finding something in these about the Bodins might be like finding a needle in a haystack.
End of Notes
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