I am a new reader of this board and just saw your message. My husband's grandmother was Lavinia Mallet, b.2 Nov., 1878, daughter of Mary Hannah Dower and Joseph Mallet. Along with the few facts that were handed down through his family is the following:The Mallets are descendents of the Mallet de Granvevilles who were Norman followers of the Huguenots. The Huguenots did not go out in the daytime. They prayed at night at the grave of Hugo. Forewarned of the Edict of Nantes and being persons of property, the five brothers left France prior to St Bartholomew's Massacre of August 15, 1572. Jean and his married brother Albert were able to remove most of their goods and set sail for England. They were put ashore on a reef called the "Lizard" off the coast of Cornwall. There they were permitted to but land and herds. When their sons and daughters intermarried with the locals, the elder Jean decided to drop the de Granville (sic) portion of the name. Of the other three brothers, one married brother went to Switzerland, one to Holland, and the third, a bachelor, arrived in the wilds of New Jersey around 1610. The brother in N. Jersey had two sons and opened a tannery. Per Hal Mallet's letter dated 31 Jan. ??43, the brother in New Jersey did very well for himself and this caused Hal's branch of the family not to wish to have contact with those from New Jersey. "filthy with too much lucre..."
I hope this is still of interest to you. If anyone has more info on my Mallets, I would love to hear.