M. 12 Nov 1658 in Quebec City, New France
Husband: Jacques Ratté
D. 14 Jan 1717 in St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
There was a period of time in early New France that young men vastly outnumbered young women, which pushed the age of brides to girls barely in their teens. Anne Martin was one such bride. She was born in Quebec City on March 23, 1645 to Abraham Martin and Marguerite Langlois. Her parents had come to New France in about 1620 among the first settlers, and had one of the earliest large families in the colony. Anne was the tenth of eleven children, and she was more than 20 years younger than her oldest siblings.
By the 1650s, Quebec City was becoming a thriving town, with a surge of settlers coming over from France. Almost all of them were single men looking for opportunity to make a living. A handful of single women joined the migration, but not enough to supply the male settlers with wives. So Abraham Martin’s daughters filled the void, even though they were very young. Anne’s older sisters Marie, Madeleine and Barbe all had weddings at age 12, and this became the norm in the Martin family.
Anne was actually just 11 when a contract was drawn up on August 19, 1657 for her to marry Jacques Ratté, a carpenter from France. They were married on November 12th of the following year at Notre-Dame de Quebec. As was the custom with brides who were really still teenage girls, Anne and Jacques lived with her parents for at least the first six months of their marriage.
Anne was actually just 11 when a contract was drawn up on August 19, 1657 for her to marry Jacques Ratté, a carpenter from France. They were married on November 12th of the following year at Notre-Dame de Quebec. As was the custom with brides who were really still teenage girls, Anne and Jacques lived with her parents for at least the first six months of their marriage.
Anne Martin and Jacques Ratté's 1657 marriage contract
While still in her teens, Anne gave birth to three children, all boys who died before the age of four. Mothers that young often had problems delivering children because their bodies were still developing, and this may have been the case with Anne. She went on to have nine healthy children, born between 1665 and 1686. By 1667, Anne and Jacques moved to Île d'Orleans, where they had a farm on the north shore in the seigneury of St-Pierre. This was during the early years of settlement on the island, and until about 1680, Anne’s children had to be baptized at Ste-Famile, because St-Pierre had no church.
Eventually, the family homestead was turned over to oldest son Jean-Baptiste, and Anne and Jacques lived with him in their old age. Jacques died first on April 8, 1699, and Anne passed away on January 14, 1717 at the age of 71. Her death record said that she died suddenly, so it may have been a heart attack or stroke. Anne’s descendants include Bridget Fonda.
Children:
1. Jacques Ratté — B. 30 Dec 1659, Quebec City, New France; D. 31 Dec 1659, Quebec City, New France
2. Bertrand Ratté — B. 10 Dec 1660, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 Dec 1660, Quebec City, New France
3. Michel-Joseph Ratté — B. 25 Dec 1662, Quebec City, New France; D. young
4. Marie-Anne Ratté — B. 13 Feb 1665, Quebec City, New France; D. 25 May 1729, St-Laurent, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Ignace Gosselin (1654-1727), St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
5. Jean-Baptiste Ratté — B. 28 Nov 1667, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. 19 Oct 1760, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Madeleine Blouard (1682-1746), 13 Oct 1698, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
6. Anne Ratté — B. 16 Oct 1670, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. 25 Dec 1709, Chateau Richer, New France; M. (1) Jacques Trapanier (1665-1706), 20 Feb 1691, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; (2) Jean Langlais (~1678-1748), 8 Mar 1707, Chateau Richer, New France;
7. Jacques Ratté — B. 16 Jun 1673, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. young
8. Pierre Ratté — B. 11 Oct 1675, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. 21 Mar 1721, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Jeanne Nolin (1685-1733), 27 Nov 1702, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
9. Genevieve Ratté — B. 27 Jan 1678, Ste-Famile, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. Nov 1754, St-Pierre, Ile d'Orleans, New France; M. Jean Sicard (1664-?), 27 Nov 1694, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
10. Louise-Angelique Ratté — B. 17 Jun 1680, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. May 1749, La Pocatiere, New France; M. Louis Martin (1671-1749), 12 Jan 1700, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
11. Ignace Ratté — B. Aug 1683, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. Jan 1744, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. (1) Helene Bouchard (1689-1728), 10 Nov 1705, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; (2) Genevieve Langlois (1703-1788), 13 Jun 1729, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
12. Guillaume Ratté — B. 14 Nov 1686, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; D. Oct 1759, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France; M. Marie-Madeleine Nolin (1690-1748), 4 Nov 1710, St-Pierre, Île d'Orleans, New France
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
BAnQ
FamousKin.com
