On my father’s side of the family, there is an ancestor named Marie Therese Pequignot . She was my fourth great-grandmother and she lived for 90 years between 1782 and 1872 (link to her death certificate). She was born in Chamesol, France, and died in Montecheroux, a tiny village in Eastern France on the Swiss border. Marie married Luc François Jeanin-Gaume in 1802 after the War of the Second Coalition was ended. Then, after 10 long years, France was finally at peace.

What I discovered is that the Pequignot family dates back to at least the 13th century when they settled as pioneers in a village they called Le Cerneux-Pequignot. They were from Montlebon which is now in the Department of Doubs in France. The village was attacked by Germans in 1639 during the Thirty Years’ War. From 1678, it was part of France; however, in May 1814, following the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the French ceded the village to the principality of Neuchâtel. At that time, most of the Catholics left and went to France. The village now sits on the Swiss side of the border with France. The population of the town is around 300 people. The majority of them are French speakers.