M. 12 Jan 1700 in St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France
Wife: Louise-Angelique Ratté
D. May 1749 in St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France
At the beginning of the 18th century, Louis Martin operated a small boat near where the St. Lawrence River meets the Atlantic. Louis was born on June 12, 1671 at Ste-Famille on Île d’Orleans, the oldest child of Joachim Martin and Anne-Charlotte Petit. The family grew to have 8 children, then when Louis was 19-years-old, his father died. As the oldest son, it’s likely that he shouldered a lot of responsibility in the family because his only brothers were ages 7 and 3. When Louis’ mother remarried in September of 1691, he was one of the witnesses on the marriage contract.
During the next few years, several of Louis’ younger sisters got married, but he remained a bachelor. Somewhere along the way, he became the owner of a small boat, and turned his interest toward fishing. In July 1695, Louis acquired property at Kamouraska, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, although he didn’t seem to occupy it.
Louis suffered some unknown health issues during the period of November 1695 to June 1698, which brought him to the hospital in Quebec four times. The records don’t indicate if the visits were extended stays, or were for simple treatments such as medicine. In January 1697, Louis got another tract of land in Kamouraska that he turned over to one of his brothers-in-law; it’s possible that his medical condition prevented him from moving there.
By 1699, Louis once again looked to involve himself in a fishing venture, and signed on to join a new settlement at a place called Mont-Louis, located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. His father-in-law’s death that year may have delayed him from leaving right away. Meanwhile, on January 12, 1700, Louis finally got married; his new wife was Louise-Angelique Ratté, the daughter of a family friend, Jacques Ratté.
That April, the young couple left for Mont-Louis, joining over 50 families that lived there. The location provided easy access to cod fishing, but it was far away from civilization, and a sandbar prevented large ships from landing there. The fish that were caught had to be transported miles upriver to Quebec City, then put on a bigger ship headed back down the river to France; Louis with his small boat was probably one of the men who went back and forth to Quebec. His time at Mont-Louis was brief, and by the fall of 1700, he moved back to Île d’Orleans. The settlement was totally abandoned two years later.
In November 1700, Louis became a father for the first time with the birth of a son. During the next 20 years, there would be ten more children, with five of them dying young. Through land transactions involving Louis’ mother, in 1702, he left again for the south shore. He made his home at Kamouraska until about 1710, when he returned to Île d’Orleans. By 1720, he was once again on the south shore, living at various times in Cap-St-Ignace, Montmagny, and Port-Joli. In 1725, Louis was said to be living as a farmer at Gaspé, a location out on the gulf of the St. Lawrence; he stayed there until moving back to Port-Joli in about 1729.
At age 63, Louis still engaged in fishing, working on his own boat with one of his nephews. The boat he operated in 1734 measured 30 feet in length and weighed an estimated 300 pounds. Five years later, Louis seems to have retired with his wife Louise at Port-Joli, and he arranged to have his sons Pierre and François take care of them in their old age.
Louis lived another ten years, and died in May of 1749 at St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans. Louise outlived her husband and passed away in February 1760.
Children:
1. Jean-Baptiste Martin — B. 22 Nov 1700, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; D. 1760; M. Marie-Anne Boucher (1702-?), 25 Jul 1737, L’Islet, New France
2. Marie-Anne Martin — B. 26 Dec 1701, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; M. Renee Devin (~1701-?), 16 Jan 1723
3. Pierre Martin — B. about 1703, New France; D. 19 Jan 1773, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Quebec; M. Marie-Françoise Lebel (1697-1780), 13 May 1725, New France
4. Ursule Martin — B. 9 Nov 1704, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; M. Pierre Chouinard, 14 Feb 1724, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, New France
5. Louis Martin — B. 10 Nov 1706, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 17 Nov 1706, Rivière-Ouelle, New France
6. Louis-Joseph Martin — B. 30 Apr 1708, Rivière-Ouelle, New France; D. 2 Jan 1711, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans
7. Marie-Therese Martin — B. 12 Sep 1710, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; D. 29 Oct 1785, Kamoursaka, Quebec; M. Joseph Vaillancourt, 7 Jan 1733, L’Islet, New France
8. Marie-Charlotte Martin — B. 18 Feb 1713, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; M. François Urette, 10 Nov 1740, L’Islet, New France
9. Baby Martin — B. 4 Dec 1715, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; D. 4 Dec 1715, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France
10. François Martin — B. 25 Jul 1717, St-Pierre, Île d’Orleans, New France; D. (probably) young
11. Louis-Philippe Martin — B. 27 Apr 1720, Cap-St-Ignace, New France; D. (probably) young
Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990Un Martin en Amérique: Joachim Martin, né à Aytré, 1636-1690, Marcel Martin, 1997
Parks Canada History (website)
WikiTree
Parks Canada History (website)
WikiTree
