Mattias Poulart was born in the midst of a snowstorm, 2 months early. His mother was a hard working and stong woman, who had been taking care of the sheep that afternoon on the mountainside near Neuchatel Lake. As she saw the storm approaching, she managed to take them back to the stable and decided to spent the night there, with the herd. It was there that she had to give birth. When labour was finally over she laid her baby between the sheep to keep it warm.
Mattias survived the first night, and many night after, but remained a person of feeble constitution.
In the town school of Payerne all the school children would mock him for his weakness; he could not run or jump like the other children, and was sick often.
The fresh mountain air and the dependence on his parents kept him in the small town. In this isolated state he was unaware of the political conflicts that were going on in Geneva.
When he was 29 years of age, the war between the cantons expanded, and Mattias was drafted for military duty. However he didn’t pass the physical examination and somewhat disappointed he returned home.
One night he heard faraway shots from outside, followed a little later by a knocking at his door. He opened and invited the man in for protection. The man explained he was a confederationist, persued by a catholic squadron, who wanted him dead. Sure enough the squadron came to inspect the cottage. With the man in hiding and Mattias faking a serious case of tuberculoses, with which he was very familiar, they were quick to depart. Then the man explained that he had been leading the west-protestant companies that fought for the Confederation. His heroic act was not forgotten. When at last the Protestants achieved in the shaping of the Confederation in 1848, Mattias was given the medal of honour and received an honourable mentioning in the Council of States of the Confederation.
At old age he managed to marry one of the daughters of the count of Neuchatel in Geneva. Together they had 12 children, from which only 4 survived childhood.