Wherever they immigrated, the Huguenots were welcomed for their industry and craftsmanship. These desirable characteristics came as the fruit of their biblical view of creation and creativity. Article 2 of the Confession of La Rochelle[1] sets forth the concept that God reveals himself in his creation as well as in the Bible.

II. As such this God reveals himself to men; firstly, in his works, in their creation, as well as in their preservation and control. Secondly, and more clearly, in his Word, which was in the beginning revealed through oracles, and which was afterward committed to writing in the books which we call the Holy Scriptures.

VIII. We believe that he not only created all things, but that he governs and directs them, disposing and ordaining by his sovereign will all that happens in the world; not that he is the author of evil, or that the guilt of it can be imputed to him, as his will is the sovereign and infallible rule of all right and justice; but he hath wonderful means of so making use of devils and sinners that he can turn to good the evil which they do, and of which they are guilty. And thus, confessing that the providence of God orders all things, we humbly bow before the secrets which are hidden to us, without questioning what is above our understanding; but rather making use of what is revealed to us in Holy Scripture for our peace and safety, inasmuch as God, who has all things in subjection to him, watches over us with a Father’s care, so that not a hair of our heads shall fall without his will. And yet he restrains the devils and all our enemies, so that they can not harm us without his leave.

IX. We believe that man was created pure and perfect in the image of God, and that by his own guilt he fell from the grace which he received, and is thus alienated from God, the fountain of justice and of all good, so that his nature is totally corrupt. And being blinded in mind, and depraved in heart, he has lost all integrity, and there is no good in him. And although he can still discern good and evil, we say, notwithstanding, that the light he has becomes darkness when he seeks for God, so that he can in nowise approach him by his intelligence and reason. And although he has a will that incites him to do this or that, yet it is altogether captive to sin, so that he has no other liberty to do right than that which God gives him.

Genesis 1 teaches that man is made in God’s image and given dominion over the flora, fauna, and other resources of the creation. Man, therefore, is a creative steward, called by God to develop the riches of God’s world. So Adam cultivated the garden in Eden and named the animals (Gen. 2). Even after the Fall, man continued to develop his culture. For the redeemed sinner, restored to a proper relationship to his Creator through Christ, the world becomes a theater of servanthood in which he serves God and his fellow man in various vocations. Thus, for the Huguenot, the creation was not a place from which to escape, but a setting to restore and develop along biblical lines.

In 1938 Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo, in reflecting on Huguenot industriousness, remarked, “Our American culture was founded, not on the economic determination of Karl Marx, but upon the spiritual determination of a Christian faith.”[2] Sizoo understood that Marx’s teaching of economic determinism and materialism directly contradicted the Christian view of man and things.

To see a Huguenot workman firsthand, we need to consider a well-known French artisan of the sixteenth century, Bernard de Palissy (1510–1589). M. de Lamartine provides us with a perfect model of the Huguenot craftsman in his biography of Palissy titled Palissy the Huguenot: A True Tale (New York, 1864). His description of Palissy begins as follows: “He is a patriarch of the workshop, showing how to exalt and ennoble any business, however trivial, so that it has labor for its means, progress and beauty for its motive, and the glory of God for its end.”[3]

Palissy lived in Saintes, a town just south of La Rochelle on the Charente River. This region of Saintonge in southwest France had been a place of refuge for the young Jean Calvin. The same preacher and martyr, Philibert Hamelin, who had encouraged Calvin to use his writing gifts for the Lord also encouraged Palissy to use his artistic gifts for the same grand purpose. [4]

It is noteworthy that Palissy faithfully pursued his calling during a period of intense religious persecution. Many of his friends endured torture for Christ.[5] Palissy himself appeared on a list of preachers in the despised Huguenot church.[6] At one point he was arrested and imprisoned for his faith.[7] Living for Christ and pursuing one’s earthly calling were never at odds for the Huguenot.

Since Palissy’s God was the Creator of the universe, “the Sovereign Architect,”[8] the young craftsman took his inspiration from the Bible. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 warned him not to bury his talent but to use it for God’s glory.[9] Palissy took to heart the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.”[10] After reading the account of God’s inspiration of the tabernacle craftsmen Bezaleel and Aholiab in Exodus 15, Palissy declared, “Then I reflected, that God had gifted me with some knowledge of drawing, and I took courage in my heart and besought him to give me wisdom and skill.”[11] All he did was viewed by Palissy as a service to his Savior.[12]

Pottery was raised to a fine art in the deft hands of Palissy. His title was “Worker in Earth, and Inventor of Rustic Small Modellings.”[13] Known as “Palissy ware” today, his ceramic pieces depict subtly drafted, bright-colored plants and animals, such as snakes, lobsters, turtles, and crabs found along the French shores, forests, and countryside where he loved to roam and think.[14]

In his day, Palissy was widely recognized as a consummate natural philosopher. Discourses on Natural Objects was the best known among his many treatises describing and organizing the flora and fauna of his native land.[15] He read and admired the great scientists of his day.[16]

Palissy labored arduously to the end of his life. “Old age,” he tells us, “pressed me to multiply the talents which God had given me,” and he desired to “bequeath them to posterity.”[17] Today many of his works are displayed in the finest museums in the world.

In old age Palissy was imprisoned in the Bastille and sentenced to be burned for his faith. He commented that prison walls could not conceal him from the sight of God. In God’s providence he died a natural death before his sentence could be executed. His final words were, “I am ready to yield up my life for the glory of God.”[18]

It is interesting to note that Paul Revere, best known today for his patriotism, was better known in his day as a silversmith and engraver. His father, Apollos Revoire Romagnien, was a Huguenot immigrant and goldsmith.[19]

The much-maligned “Protestant work ethic”—often blamed for the wanton waste and destruction of natural resources and for conspicuous materialism—only becomes a curse when separated from the Protestant faith that spawned it. A capitalism bereft of a commitment to biblical stewardship and lacking a sense of God’s calling, creates the problems, not Protestantism. Without the biblical idea of calling, industry and creativity tend to deteriorate to the level expressed by some modern art; in its introverted quest for self-expression, such art is appreciated by few and understood by almost no one.

Huguenot Craftsmanship in New Rochelle

The Huguenots brought the creativity of their forefathers to New Rochelle. Lucien Fosdick says of the early settlers, “Every household became a little industrial colony. Those who had never before laboured, now learned to do so, and hardships were cheerfully borne.”[20] Although not wealthy, these French Protestants were cultivated in their taste and enjoyed more comforts from their industry than most of their contemporaries.[21] The famous Boston businesswoman and diarist, Sarah Kemble Knight (1666–1727), visited New Rochelle during her trip to New York City in 1704. She remarked in her journal that she was “greatly impressed with the neatness of the houses and fields, and the cleanliness and comfort of the inns.”[22]

It is amazing what an impressive community these early New Rochellians developed out of practically nothing in a short period of time. John Machett, an elder in the French church, died in 1694, only six years after settling in New Rochelle. In that brief time, he had built a stone house and another wood frame dwelling. He also left a partially finished ship.[23] A perusal of Seacord’s Biographical Sketches[24] reveals Andre Armaud, a sail maker; Jean Contaut, a chair maker; Jeremiah Chardavoire, a tailor; and Francois Coqcillet, a blacksmith. In whatever line of work he found himself, the Huguenot was an industrious craftsman.

Even today the standing architecture of New Rochelle reflects this emphasis on quality. Nowhere is a more diversified and interesting domestic architecture to be found. The Presbyterian Church of New Rochelle’s Pintard Avenue edifice is a monument to Huguenot craftsmanship. The manse, known as the Lewis Pintard House, is one of the oldest buildings in the area, predating 1710. Its dignified simplicity captures the Huguenot spirit. Pintard, a patriot and publisher whose lineage can be traced to La Rochelle, came to New Rochelle in 1774 and resided in the home (formerly the Vallade Farm) until his death in 1818.[25] The church building itself, a colonial reproduction designed by the famous American architect John Russell Pope, was completed in 1928. It includes portions of its eighty-year-old predecessor as well as the original building built in 1697. Considered one of the most beautiful church buildings in the nation, it was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1979.[26]

The Huguenots harnessed the creative impulse to reflect God’s glory and to serve their fellowmen by fostering the enjoyment of their Creator in this world. On the anniversary of the Huguenot settlement in New Rochelle (1988), Huguenot craftsmanship is another wonderful testimony to the fruitfulness of their religious faith.

Endnotes

[1] Confessio Fidei Gallicana. The French Confession of Faith, A.D. 1559; also known as the Confession of La Rochelle A.D. 1571.

[2] Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo, “The Huguenot Contribution to American Democracy,” Huguenot and Historical Association of New Rochelle commemorative address (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Huguenot and Historical Association of New Rochelle, 1938), 7.

[3] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, A True Tale (New York: American Sunday School Union, 1864), 1.

[4] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 81.

[5] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 24.

[6] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 81.

[7] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 132.

[8] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 14.

[9] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 1.

[10] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 14.

[11] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 24.

[12] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 93.

[13] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 93.

[14] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 93.

[15] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 189.

[16] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 192.

[17] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 189.

[18] M. de Lamartine, Palissy the Huguenot Potter, 201.

[19] Albert Q. Maisel, “The French Among Us” in The Reader’s Digest (Dec. 1955), 109.

[20] Lucien J. Fosdick, The French Blood in America (New York: Rochelle Press Almanac, 1880), 409.

[21] Fosdick, The French Blood in America, 410–411.

[22] Henry Darlington, Jr., “The Significance of New Rochelle as a Huguenot Settlement,” in Huguenot Refugees in the Settling of Colonial America (New York: Huguenot Society of America, 1985), 235.

[23] Westchester County, N.Y., Book of Wills, Liber B, 58.

[24] Morgan H. Seacord, Biographical Sketches and Index of the Huguenot Settlers of New Rochelle (New Rochelle, N.Y.: The Huguenot and Historical Association of New Rochelle, 1941).

[25] Seacord, Biographical Sketches, 44.

[26] George M. Walsh, “Church Manse Wins Landmark Status,” The Standard-Star (Sept. 21, 1979), 4.

Gregory E. Reynolds is pastor emeritus of Amoskeag Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and is the editor of Ordained Servant. Ordained Servant Online, January, 2024.