[5086]
Testament dated Thursday before All Saints, 1411, in which he requested to be buried in the church of St. Martin of Vevey, likely in the same chapel that the family owned as late as 1781.
Movements need to be traced in order to locate possible marriage records. Dictionnaire Historique (Mottaz 1914) has him as Deacon at Aubonne 1618, Burtigny 1618-1620, St. Livres 1620-1625, Bursins 1625, Etoy 1625-1628, Nyon 1628-1658. The registers at Nyon give his tenure as 26 oct 1628 to September, 1658, very likely the date of his death. The next minister at Nyon was installed 16 sep 1658.
A notation in the registers at Nyon seems to say that he was from the parish of Lutry or Savigny, and Cornut is indeed a surname frequently encountered in records from Lutry. In fact, there was a Pierre Cornut who was pastor at Savigny 1627-1644, evidently the father of Esdras. Pierre, said to have been the minister at Messery-près-Thonon (Haute-Savoie) for eight years, is known to have had a son Antoine Cornut who remained in Savigny (notary there) and who in turn had a son Esdras. Pierre also had a son Abraham baptised at La Rossinière 04 dec 1608 who was deacon and then second minister at Morges 1637-1638. Pierre is believed to have had four sons, and at least one genealogy is believed to be in private hands.
The handwriting of Esdras Cornut in the registers of St. Livres and Nyon is highly stylized and, at times, extremely difficult to read. Oddly, a few entries in a very similar hand were noticed in the registers of the Eglise Réformée of Ste.Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France, in the years 1616-1617. Could our Esdras have been a deacon there before taking his position at Aubonne in 1618?
Esdras is almost certainly the son of the minister Pierre Cornut. The baptisms of some of Pierre's children have been found, but not that of Esdras. Another uncertainty is exactly when Pierre left his post at Messery, of which, apparently, no trace remains in the records of that area. It is possible that Esdras was born there. During that period, the most likely explanation for the name Esdras (Greek and then French equivalent of the Hebrew name that has come into English as Ezra) is that he was named after someone who served as his parrain at his baptism. It is very possible that our Esdras was born in the parish of Messery.
Equally uncertain is where he met his wives. Neither marriage has been found, nor have any testaments or other documents that tell us anything about his two marriages or his family. The first marriage might have taken place during his tenure at Burtigny 1618-1620, but the registers of that parish prior to 1676 have been lost. (Note the existence of a series of terriers and other registers containing reconnaissances at Burtigny and surrounding areas in the collection ACV P de Mestral I, which should be all be examined.)
[3819]
Baptism is the first entry upon arrival of Esdras Cornut at St. Livres: "Jeanne Esther fille de moy Esdras Cornu et de Jeanne Paris ma femme a este presentee..." Witness was Eg. Mr. Grivel of St. Livres.
[14400]
This couple appears as witnesses in a baptism in 1635. Date on marriage looks like 1636, but must be 1635 in order for them to be listed as a couple in that year. Record needs to be re-examined.
