For many years I ignored the name Epperson---I wasn't sure of the connection and patronymic names are not very interesting.
But I kept getting DNA connections for Epperson, so I decided to re-examine the family. The name was originally Ep'rnon a noble name. So, then I wondered why they changed it and why a noble French family came to the English colonies. I was even more confused when neither name appeared on the Heugenot rolls. (the French Protestants who were exiled)''
A trip up the Rhine River has encouraged me to research the family---I knew the family was my "royal gateway" to almost every throne in Europe from 900s to 1500s. But, it they were so noble/royal, why Colonial America.
I'm going to start with Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, the first duke of Epernon (1554-1642).Like his father and grandfather, he chose to serve in the military. He fought on the Catholic
side in the French Wars of Religion; at the Siege of La Rochelle (1572–1573), he first came to the notice of the duc d'Anjou, the future Henry III of France.
He became part of the "inner circle" of Henry III and the duchy of Epernon was awarded to him. In 1587, Henry III awarded him with the titles Admiral of France, Governor of Normandy, of Caen, and of Le Havre .
After the assassination of Henri III in 1589, Épernon opposed the accession of Henry of Navarre (Henry IV of France) and attempted to install an independent government in Provence. His attempt failed and in 1596 he was obliged to submit himself to the king, which he did. He had not forgiven or forgotten, however, and in 1610 he was involved in the conspiracy that resulted in the assassination of Henry IV by Ravaillac. He played a large part in the immediate acceptance of Henri's widow, Marie de' Medici, as regent, her son Louis XIII being then too young to rule.
The duc d'Épernon was active in government until 1618 or so; in 1617, he participated in the persecution and murder of the Huguenots in Guyenne. He was named military governor of Guienne in 1622, where he lived quietly for more than ten years in the Château de Cadillac. He had an "altercation with the Cardinal's successor, Sourdis who demanded his excommunication and Épernon was disgraced and exiled. He gave up his post at Guienne in 1638 and died in the Château de Loches in January 1642 at the age.
Jean Louis' son was Bernard de Nogaret de la Valette of d'Epernon (1592-1661). Bernard was
also a militarty man who fell out of favor with Cardinal Richelieu and the French crown in the 1630s. However, he was exiled due to political and military accusations of conspiring with enemies, not because he was a Protestant fleeing religious persecution
He was executed in effigy (a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule) on 6/6/1639.. He had married his 3rd wife Alice-Antoinette De Barbezan-Faudoas, a Huegunot in Wales. He was later re-instated and allowed to return to France in 1643.
Apparently, his family stayed in Wales. His son Jean Vallette d'Epernon, John, immigrated to America with his family having changed the name to Epperson. On the voyage over, his son William Epperson was born at sea in 1680 (my 7 great grandfather)
