Simon Maillet and Sophie Chatillon

Simon MAILLET was born in Indre on 25 April 1790, at the Châtre-Langlin (3km from St Benoit du Saulx, an interesting old village with fortifications).
He was first a soldier and then a royal gendarme and the random postings led to Sense, where he married on 9-7-1823 (marriage contract in La-Fère-Champenoise on 17-5-1823) Marie-Sophie CHATILLON, born in Sêtesous on the 7 thormidor An 7 (25 July 1799). Sophie had a brother, Basile CHATILLON.
Simon MAILLET then became a farmer, as in his wife's family. He died on 30 Aug. 1844, after a horse kick. His wife died on 12 Mar. 1878.

Melina MAILLET is (Remembered by Marguerite Maillet) "born in Sêtesous where she spent her whole life; widow early" (from her husband Eugene LETANDART (1826-1859), owner of large lands in Resous, maquignon and broker. He died of tuberculosis on August 1, 1959, 10 days before the birth of his son Gustave).
Melina raised her two sons:
- The eldest died young (Alfred LETANDART, 1856-1894, died 37 years of a cold and warm, without posterity)
- the second, Gustave Letandart (1859-1939) was the founder of the company Mielle in Châlons, with the grocer Mielle and Mr Delor, then he was administrator of this company. He had married 28/2/1887 Julia LIBERA (born 18/11/1862 in Aigny), whose children he had had - 2 deceased in low age, and 3 daughters, Andrée, Marie-Thérèse and Madeleine - and many grandchildren.

Below are some memories of the granddaughters of Mélina, daughters of Gustave Letandart (Andrée, Madeleine and Marie-Thérèse Létandart) and their descendants, especially that of the eldest daughter Andrée Létandart married to a Basque Fabien ELICHABE, as well as that of the benjamin Marie-Thérèse Létandart married to Henri BISSON.
(remembered by Denise BOTTEEL, granddaughter of Andrée LETANDART and Fabien ELICHABE; and Claude ARNAUD, granddaughter of Marie-Thérèse LETANDART and Henri BISSON).

- Andrée Létandart, eldest daughter of Gustave Letandart and Julia Libera, born in Châlons-sur-Marne on 2 April 1892, married on 15 June 1918, a young soldier from the Basque Country, Fabien ELICHABE, whom she knew during the Great War while he was an officer's order and housed at the Letandart.
After their marriage in Châlons, Fabien left with his young wife in his Basque village of Menditte, where he was carpenter.
The Champenoise has adapted to this new environment and they have had a significant progeny: 8 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

- His youngest sister Marie-Thérèse Létandart, born in Châlons on March 20, 1899, married on May 31, 1921, Henri BISSON, who later managed the family farm in Aigny near Châlons. They had 3 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

- As for Madeleine Létandart, she had 2 children of two different spouses, but unfortunately lost them in low age (Pierre Garrien, 1921-1922 by Maurice Marcq Garrien; and Josette USCIATI, 1926-1933, by Jean Antoine Usciali).

- Every summer between the two wars, the entire ELICHABE family left the Basque Country and went on a car tour to visit the family that remained in Champagne: Andrée's parents (Gustave and Julia Letandart) in Châlons, and her sisters Madeleine and Marie-Thérèse in Aigny (the Létandart family owned 12 houses in Châlons, Aigny and Sotésous).
The 8 children ELICHABE (André, Marguerite, Henri, Marie-Thérèse, Anne-Marie, Fernande, Pierre and Françoise) and their 3 cousins BISSON (André, Yves and Michèle) were happy to meet during the holidays, until the beginning of the Second World War in 1939.

Unfortunately, the war interrupted family visits to Champagne.
Gustave Létandart died on February 10, 1939. In 1940, his widow Julia left with her daughter Madeleine to take refuge at her daughter Andrée Elichabe in the Basque Country.
But as her mother-in-law Mélina MAILLET in 1914, Julia Libéra Létandart died during this new exodus (she died on June 6, 1940 in Nevers of a blood clot in the heart).After her burial in Champagne, Madeleine came down alone in the Basque Country, where she spent a few years with her sister Andrée ELICHABE.

The BISSON family remained in Aigny, where Henri BISSON and his sons André and Yves entered into resistance (they were in contact with many resistors, including Jean MOULIN).

After the war, the ties between the Basque and Champagne branches of the family have been separated but have not been lost, and currently (in 2019) the families of cousins remain in contact (the descendants of Andrée Létandart, married to Fabien ELICHABE and Marie-Thérèse Létandart, married to Henri BISSON in Aigny, near Châlons).

The preceding account is illustrated by several documents prepared by the descendants of Mélina Maillet, by her son Gustave LETANDART, See below: