History of the family Michaud from Orvin
The oldest mention of this name dates from 1534: Pierre Michal, mayor of Orvans,
Jehan and Wuillemin his brothers, Bendicte their mother, hold lands in feudal
benefice belonging to the Church of St-Pierre in Orvin. So this name derives from
the first name Michel and underwent the following transformations : Mitscho in 1539,
Michaulx in 1557 and until 1621, Michaux until around 1650, then finally Michaud.
Pierre Michal (in German Peter Mitscho der mayer) also holds lands in feudal benefice
which the Abbey of St-Jean at Cerlier owned in the village of Orvin in 1539. His five sons
continue the holding in 1585, probably with the death of their father. Daniel Mitchat, clerk,
was noted again in 1649 to owe to the abbey for annual taxes, six sols in money and a capon,
for 'Richard's piece of land' (le pré Chie Recharel). According to Dr. Bloesch (Die Geschichte
der Stadt Biel), there was in 1400 in Bienne a family of a similar name, Mitschelet. It is possible,
as for other families of Orvin, that this one came to settle here after the destruction of the town
of Bienne in 1367 by Bishop Jean of Vienna; many inhabitants of Bienne, pushed out by the fire, went
to settle in the neighboring villages. In the roll of Orvin lawyers, one finds six members
of the Michaud family.
 Michaud Armorial Bearings Adam Michaud, born in 1705, enters into the service of France on February 7, 1725 as a volunteer in the Regiment of Erlach; he is a sergeant in 1738, enters the Regiment of Eptingen on February 2, 1760 as an ensign, becomes second lieutenant the same year and in 1764 receives a pension of 500 livres. According to the lawyer Jean-Pierre Michaud, the armorial bearings of the family are : "d'or ŕ 3 flanchis de gueules et au chef d'azur ŕ un lion d'or passant".
The above information is taken from "La Seigneurie
d'Orvin".
Printed first at La Chaux-de-Fonds by Courvoisier printing house in 1923, it was printed a second time,
courtesy of Mr. Eric Ferrat, Litho Prestige at Drummondville in Quebec, Canada in 1980.
Family's actualities
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