A "reconnaissance" recorded by Beno�t Nible, notary of Payerne (ACV Dp 73/1, fol. 13), dated 10 feb 1549, concerns property at Grandcour, held by Claude "Dudamp" (probably this is the name that is usually spelled Dodin) in fief from the notary Jean Marcuard. One of the properties mentioned had previously been held in fief from the Marcuard family by "Jehannette fille de feu Jehan Gachet coheritiere de feu Estievent Ruchat et Nicolas filz d'Estievent Mathey son filz, le moiti� de bize, et Collette femme de Michiel filz de Pierre Ruchat fille de feu Jehan Gachet filz dudict Jehan Gachet, et de feue Jehannette fille dudict feu Estievent l'aultre moiti�". "Estievent" Mathey, with his wife Jehannete Gachet, are clearly the same Stephanus Mathey and Johanneta Gachet mentioned in the terriers, such as AEF Grosse St. Aubin 22 (see below), but Johanneta must have had some connection with the Ruchat family.
The situation is complicated, and it is not learly stated who was meant by "feu Estievent" at the end of this description. The simplest explanation is that Jehannete (1) was the daughter of Jehan Gachet and wife of Estievent Mathey, the same couple called Stephanus Mathey and Johanneta Gachet who are listed among the Gachet heirs in the terrier AEF Grosse St. Aubin 22, dating from 1516 (see the notes for the Johannes son of Roletus Gachet who settled at Grandcour, ID# 18202). Jehannete (2) was the daughter of the late Estievent Ruchat, and she became the wife of Johannes Gachet (ID# 25609), the Johannes who was the father of Jehannete (1). Jehan or Johannes Gachet (1) is the husband of Jehannete (2) and the father of Jehannete (2). The other Jehan or Johannes Gachet (2) is the brother of Jehannete (1), and son of Johannes Gachet (1) and Jehannete (2). Johannes (2) has died, but he left a daughter Collette (or Nicoleta) who married Michel son of Pierre Ruchat.
Therefore, the parties mentioned in the text from 1549, recounting ownership in the indefinite past, are:
1. Jehannete Gachet (daughter of Johannes Gachet and his wife Jehannete Ruchat) had married Estievent or Stephanus Mathey, whom she survived, as did their son Nicolas Mathey, who held a half interest in the property.
2. Jehan or Johannes Gachet (son of Johannes Gachet and his wife Jehannete Ruchat) had died, but he was survived by a daughter Collette who had married Michel, son of Pierre Ruchat, who held the other half interest in the property.
What is lacking here are the dates, some of which can probably be filled in from the terriers and the registers of the notaries. In the registers of Beno�t Nible, there are also mentions of a Colard Gachet alias Mathey, with the same parentage as the Nicolas Mathey mentioned above, still in the indefinite past (ACV Dp 73/1, fol. 16, 14 feb 1549). From this we deduce that Colard and Nicolas are the same person, the name Colard being a recognized variant or nickname derived from Nicolas.
Named in pedigree of Mrs. Margaret Tobias, Somerville, NJ, Cen. NY Gen. Soc. 6 Generation Ancestor Tables, vol. 2, p. 42-43. Matson may be the same surname as Mattison, mentioned in other records of the Hudson Valley.
