(1602-1665)
Both were single at the time, with few prospects, and since it was reported that there were many bachelors in the new colony, but a shortage of eligible women, they felt they had nothing to lose. Besides, Francoise had just given birth to her first child, a girl by the name of Marie Helene, and they would be able to give her a hand. Coincidentally, the little girl would grow up to marry Guillaume Hebert, son of Louis Hebert and Marie Rollet.
Abraham's wife died soon after they reached their home, and Marguerite and he would be married on October 24, 1621 in Kebec. It is said that their son Eustache Martin, was the first French child born in New France. When he was baptized on October 10, 1622; his godfather was Eustache Bouille, the brother of Helene Bouille; wife of Samuel de Champlain. When their daughter Helene Martin was born in 1627, Champlain himself, acted as her godfather.
Helene Bouille would spend a great deal of time with the Langlois sisters, during the four years she spent at Kebec. It was clear that she was miserable in her current situation, and often confided in them, so when she returned home to stay, it came as no surprise.
The land that they had to clear would become an important historical site, known as the “Plains of Abraham”, after British Forces led by General James Wolfe and the French under the Marquis de Montcalm sealed the fate of New France in 1759. However, the land where Abraham Martin and Marguerite Langlois raised their children; was 32 acres of meadow on the St. Charles River, and the famous "Côte d'Abraham" was the path that they used to water their animals.
(1589-1664)
There is also evidence that he had at one time been employed by Jean De Biencourt and Du Gua de Monts as navigator on the coast of Acadia, although he would have been very young at that time. Charles La Tour was also on that voyage, and it is clear that these two men remained good friends. When Abraham’s son, Charles-Amador, was born on March 7, 1648, his godfather was none other than Charles de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, who was also the infant’s namesake. This too could explain why Martin was called the “Scotsman”, since La Tour’s father had accepted a Scottish Barony after being captured by the Kirke Brothers in 1629.
The Martins would become one of the first three families to be granted land in Quebec City, when they were presented with 12 acres by the Company of New France in 1635. The additional 20 acres were a gift from Sieur Adrien du Chesney, ship's surgeon to Pierre Legardeur. Abraham and Marguerite's descendants later sold this parcel of land to the Ursuline nuns.
Marguerite and her husband played a major role in the development of French Canada, and in a culture that likes it's 'firsts'; a few can be added to their credit. Besides their son Eustache being named the first French child born in Canda (this one is questionable), Abraham has been called Canada’s first pilot (though again only first French pilot since the Canadian people had been navigating the waters for thousands of years), since his occupation was listed as “King’s Pilot” (navigator); their youngest son, Charles-Amador; was the first Canadian-born priest and Abraham drew up the first map of Quebec, even though he was illiterate.
The family also had to deal with a bit of scandal, when Marguerite's husband was accused of “improper conduct with regard to a young girl” (The girl was only 16, so it was detemined to be statuatory rape). He was charged and imprisoned on February 15, 1649.
Abraham Martin died on September 08, 1664 in Quebec city, at the age of 75; and Marguerite the following year on December 17, 1665, at the age of 63. The couple had nine children. Adrien joined the Jesuits and Charles became a priest, but daughter Marie would marry Jean Cloutier and they had fourteen children. Helene married Claude Etienne and had one child before her death in 1653. Marguerite married Etienne Racine and had ten children. Madeliene married Nicolas Forget and had nine children. Barbe married Pierre Biron and had one child before her death in 1660. Anne married Jacques Ratte and had ten children.
Things would have been much different for these families had the seventeen year old French girl, Marguerite Genevieve Millette Langlois , not sought a husband and a little adventure, in the New World, almost four centuries ago.
