by Amy Cardon Odell
Extracted from “Cardon Family Saga Eternal Quest for Truth”, page 10
Extracted from “Cardon Family Saga Eternal Quest for Truth”, complied and edited by Amy Cardon Odell 1991, page 10
The Stalé (Stalle) family members were part of the Vaudois people and suffered the same persecutions as the Cardon family. The earliest records of the Stallé family as recorded by James L. Barker (12), “At Angrogne written documents, still extant, contain the name Stalle in 1232. One of their churches as well as one of their generals bore the name Gaudin.” Jean Pierre Stalle was born in Angrogne as was his wife, Marie Gaudin, his third wife (13). After two children were born in Angrogne, they moved to Prarustin, Piedmont Italy. Here(12) they lived in 1855 on the south slopes of one of these Alpine valleys.
“Jean Pierre, Lucille and Isabel write(13,14) had two places, one their winter home on a sunny southern slope of the beautiful valley, the other some distance away, straight up the rugged mountainside. There the soil was thin and the family carried sod up in baskets when they took the sheep and goats up in the summertime. It was here that they made the cheese and butter, part of which was sold, part stored for their own larder.
Susette (1837-1923) was the oldest child of Jean Pierre and Marie Staley (Stalé) and learned to take the responsibility of one place while her father cared for the other. The Staley home was warm in the summer but the winters were severe. The stable was built below the living quarters which had a thatched roof.
They lived almost solely upon their own products which consisted of the products of their small herds, the culture of silk worms, fruits and grains and chestnuts. The chestnuts were of inestimable value to them because they not only ate it but they ground it into flour or meal, used the oil for butter and to burn for light, and the hulls for fuel and feed for the cattle in the winter.
Wine was the common drink throughout the country.
The bread was much sweeter and better than the bread in America. Jean Pierre made the bread and baked it in large quantities in big ovens. He baked only two or three times a year. They used both rye and wheat flour.
The children had cows for pets and they cleaned and cared for them very carefully.
Schools, churches and meetings of any kind had been forbidden to the Vaudois. They also had never been allowed to go to any university or study for any profession. Their ministers or priests had to walk to Holland to study. It was almost impossible to preserve any records. However, they managed to hold church and a sort of Sunday School . . .The Bible was used as a textbook(13.14). The oldest child of Jean Pierre was Susette Stalé (1837-1923) .
“When the missionaries entered the valleys (1850), the Protestant inhabitants numbered about twenty-one thousand, Barker (12). . On the 27th of October 1851, the first convert of the Church, Mr. Malan . . .presented himself for baptism . . . .In the next three or four years a number of families were baptized, among them, the Cardons, . . . and the Stalles.”(29)
References:
12. Barker, James L. “Pioneer Reminiscences of Mrs. Margaret Stalle Barker. LDS Relief Society Mag, July 1926, p 337-342
13. Matthew, Lucille Cardon, “Susette Stalé Cardon Was My Grandmother” Feb 1956
14. Hunt, Isabelle Cardon, “Susette Stalé Cardon”
29. “Record of St. Barthelemis Branch in Italy, No. 1338 p. 7 15. Pierre Stalle 48 residence Prarustin, b Sept 1807 Angwgne Lucerne, Italy, baptized 25 Sept 1853 at St. Second by Eld Woodward Confirmed 25 Sept 1853 by Eld Woodward emigrated 29 Nov 1855 perpetual fund.
Marie Stalle 44 married b. 11 mar 1810 Prarustin St. Second Piedmont bap and conf and emigrated same as her husband”