MARTIN, ABRAHAM (dit “l’Écossais” or“Maître Abraham”), pilot; b. 1589 in France; d. 8 Sept. 1664 at Quebec.
It is possible that this is the same Martin who was 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. Some sources indicate Martin was a river pilot, some feel he was in the area around 1614 sailing with Jean de Biencourt as a navigator. Abraham Martin was part of a small group of settlers, numbering about 51, with Louis Hébert. The Martins were one several families encouraged to settle in Québec for the benefit of the fur-trading companies.
Martin formally arrived in New France with his wife, Marguerite Langlois, her sister Françoise and brother-in-law Pierre Desportes (the parents of Hélène Desportes) about 1620.
600 livres was given directly to Abraham Martin to be spent for clearing land. Land clearing was always a concern of Champlain since he so wanted to establish a permanent settlement in Canada. Marguerite Langlois was a midwife. She and her Langlois family were from the area of Lisieux, Normandy.
Martin may have been of Scottish descent or he might have used the sobriquet if he had been enrolled in military service or had been a member of an illegal organization: such names were used to avoid detection by officials looking for deserted soldiers or in case the records of an illegal organization were seized. It is also possible that he acquired the name because he had made several voyages to Scotland as a young man. There is some question as to whether Martin was really an official pilot or not, although he was referred to as “king’s pilot” in his own day. He did fish well down into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
When David Kirke captured Quebec in 1629 and left his brother Lewis as governor until 1632, Martin and his family stayed on.
It is presumed that the Plains (or Heights) of Abraham are named after Martin. It is picturesquely said that the “Côte d’Abraham” was the path that Martin used to descend to the St. Charles River to water his animals. His property amounted to 32 acres in all, 12 received from the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France in 1635 and 20 as a gift from Sieur Adrien Du Chesne, ship’s surgeon to Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny in 1645. This land was sold by the Martin family to the Ursulines in 1667.
Stories contradict, but in 1647. Abraham Martin was named a royal pilot (Pilote royale) working on the Saint Lawrence River. He was also a fisherman and a clerk in the Merchants Company.
In his later years Martin fell in the estimation of his fellow citizens when he was accused of improper conduct with regard to a young girl in Quebec. He was imprisoned for this on 15 Feb. 1649.
PRDH has 9 children recorded for Abraham and Marguerite, but there is a gap between 1627 and 1635. Fichier Origine indicates that they also had a child in 1616 in France before they arrived on our shores, and then another in 1630 when they were back in France.
Anne Martin, born in France in 1616 and married 17 Nov. 1635 to Jean Côté, was probably not Abraham’s daughter. There is a question about Anne Martin’s parentage. Is she a child of Abraham, or a child of Abraham’s sister (most likely), or a child of one of Marguerite Langlois’ sisters? For the sake of this genealogy, she is considered the eldest child in the household of Abraham Martin and Marguerite Langlois.
Eustache, was the first child born in Canada and the first son of a Frenchman born in Canada. His was the first baptism recorded in the Notre Dame de Québec parish register, the date being 10-21-1621. His godfather was Eustache Boullé, brother-in-law to Champlain. Champlain’s wife was Hélène Boullé.
Marguerite, born 4 Jan. 1624. She was named in Samuel de Champlain’s will. He left her 600 livres “to help her to marry a man of Canada.” Champlain died on Christmas Day 1635. Marguerite would have been 11 years old at the time. Nothing is mentioned of son, Eustache, so it is possible he was no longer alive at this time. She married Étienne Racine on 22 May 1638, had many descendants, including the two bishops Racine*.
Marguerite is my ancestor via the Montcalm family.
Hélène, born 21 June 1627, was a god-daughter of Samuel de Champlain. She married first Claude Étienne in 1640 and later on 3 Sept. 1647 Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers, the famous Canadian explorer who, with Radisson, was responsible for convincing King Charles II of England to grant a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670.
There is a gap between 1627 and 1635. They had a child in 1630 when they were back in France – Marie? married to Jean Cloutier.
It is possible that Brother Dominique Scot, spoken of in the Jesuit Relations as having gone to the Huron country as a young man, was also a son.
Charles-Amador, b. in Quebec, 7 March 1648. d. at Sainte-Foy near Quebec, d. 19 June 1711.
Martin obtained his elementary and theological education from the Jesuits in Quebec. As part of his training, on 15 July 1667 he and his fellow student Pierre Francheville engaged in a public disputation “on the whole of Philosophy, with honour, and in presence of a considerable audience.” Ordained a priest by Bishop Laval on 14 March 1671, second native Canadian to be ordained a priest. Martin spent his career in or near Quebec. His first position was that of parish priest at Beauport; in 1672, while he was incumbent, the wooden church there was replaced with a stone building. Later he was pastor at Sainte-Famille, again at Beauport, at Château-Richer and Ange-Gardien-de-Montmorency. In 1673 he assisted in the conduct of elections at the Quebec Hôtel-Dieu, the first native priest to do so. He spent several years as teacher at the Quebec Seminary where from 1678 to 1681 he also acted as bursar, in charge of food supplies, repairs and the account books of the farm. On 8 November 1684 Bishop Laval appointed Martin one of eight canons of the new chapter of Quebec. Allaire asserts that, “as a gifted musician, Martin was able to raise greatly the level of the performance of the religious ceremonies at the Quebec cathedral.” An able singer, he composed the chant for the mass and the Office of the Holy Family celebration, which had been established by Laval in 1665. He resigned from this office in 1697 and the following year entered his last and longest assignment, that of priest of the newly established parish of Notre-Dame-de-Sainte-Foy. He held this position until his death during a purple fever epidemic. His remains were buried in the cathedral at Quebec. godson of Charles de Saint-Étienne* de La Tour (lived in St John and lived in Acadia for 56 years).
Abraham Martin died in Quebec in September 1664, Marguerite Langlois died in the same area in December 1665, but not before a brief marriage to a young settler from Poitou, René Branche, who was born around 1641. She would have been about 23 years old, he would have been around 58.
PLAINS OF ABRAHAM
It seems that the use of the name is both popular and military. Abraham’s name appears in the names of Quebec from the French regime. Deeds of the xvii th and xviii th centuries refer to the coast of Abraham and a plan in 1734 even pinpoints a street of Abraham. The first mention of the name are referenced in military documents. This is called, in the newspapers of the Chevalier de Levis and the Marquis de Montcalm, The Heights of Abraham. In the newspapers of British soldiers, one will find in the days surrounding the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the words “Heights of Abraham” or “Plains of Abraham “.
The Plains of Abraham are the main constituent of the Champs-de-Bataille park , forming a large urban park in Quebec City . This is a plateau of 98 hectares (approximately 2 kilometers long by 400 meters wide) consisting of grassy valleys and small woodlots. The plains are bordered on the east by the Quebec Citadel , the north by the Grande Allée , on the west by the gardens and the Merici College and south by the cliff of the hill of Quebec .
Farmland in New France, they are the scene of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham , defeat which led to the surrender of Quebec in favor of the British . Property religious congregations and the federal government , they are partly spared the urban sprawl , including for military purposes. In 1908 , the new Commission on National Battlefieldsactually a historical site. Today, this vast park hosts several major events including the Quebec City Summer Festival .
Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The September 13 1759 During the Seven Years War , this land is the scene of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in which the British army, under the command of General James Wolfe, climbed the steep walls of the Québec hills in the dark, surprising and beating the French. Both Wolfe an the French commander Montcalm died of their injuries, but the battle left the control of the city of Quebec to the British, which will allow them to take control of New France the next year with the capitulation of Montreal despite victory of the Chevalier de Lévis over General James Murray onApril 28 1760. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 , France ceded to England the New France , the Acadia , the island of Cape Breton and eastern Illinois Country . The French Louisiana will be transferred to the New Spain.
Under British rule. The 18th century to the 20th century, several hangings take place on the plains, especially on the Buttes to Nepveu sector today approximately corresponding to the location of the Hotel Concorde . The most famous performance is that of Marie-Josephte Corriveau whose legend inspired the Quebec folklore . These sentences arouse curiosity and people often attends. In 1867 , we built a jail on the plains . This will be in office for 100 years before being closed and converted into a pavilion Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 1980.
At the beginning of 19th century, the influence of the construction of the prison because of the Plains of Abraham a place of prostitution and vagrancy 5 . Many brothels and taverns welcome many soldiers and sailors stationed in Quebec. Forested even become robbers marks.
At the same time, the population was growing very rapidly with immigration and the land located a few meters from the town, along the Grande Allée and the top of the cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River , become coveted. The occupation of the site by the army , especially with the Citadelle of Quebec , had hitherto prevented the subdivision . Meanwhile, the concept of urban park is a little way to everywhere. The best known example is probably Central Park , the United States , built in 1857 . However, it will be at20 September 1901before the federal government bought part of the land to the Ursulines of Quebec , while owners. The acquisition of the remainder of the Plains of Abraham will take a few years.
A manufacturer armaments factory on Ross military rifle is built on the site in 1903. It ceased its activity in 1917 and razed in September 1931.
In 17 March 1908, the new park is the first national historic site of Canada under the auspices of the National Battlefields Commission , a gift from the Canadian federal government to Quebec City for its 300th anniversary .
In 1930, in order to create jobs for the many unemployed people hit by the economic crisis, the Quebec City Council built a water reservoir in the plains. In addition to improving the water system, it offers better protection against fire. Buried two meters below the surface, it contains about 136 million litres of water. Located on one of the highest points of Quebec, it provides drinking water to several neighbourhoods in the borough La Cité-Limoilou . Its vault is supported by 900 columns and topped twenty vents camouflaged by shrubbery.
Also in 1930 , a rail tunnel is built at a depth of 100 meters in the western plains. Six hundred men work twelve hours a day on this site. The project progressed 16 feet daily. The26 May 1931A first train borrows the tunnel which is still in operation today. Its northern end is in the neighbourhood Saint-Sauveur , near the boulevard Charest between rue Vincent Massey and Verdun. The southern end is located at the Anse au Foulon .
The Plains of Abraham, near Quebec Citadel , hosts various events throughout the year.
Since then, the Plains of Abraham received almost four million visitors and tourists annually for sports activities, relaxation, outdoor concerts or festivals, especially during the celebrations of the National Day of Quebec , the Quebec Winter Carnival and Quebec City summer Festival .
20 July 2008. Hundred years after the creation of the park, as part of celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Québec City , the big stage of the park hosts Paul McCartney for a free show in front of over 260,000 people . Céline Dion also gave a concert there for the same occasion. Over the years, several important artists have performed there in the Quebec City Summer Festival , including: ZZ Top , Indochina , AC/ DC , Scorpions , The frisky Cowboys , Van Halen , Charles Aznavour , Gilles Vigneault, Stone Temple Pilots , Kiss , Sting , Placido Domingo , Iron Maiden , Santana , Arcade Fire , Rush , Black Eyed Peas , Rammstein , Elton John , The Black Keys , Metallica , John Fogerty , Bon Jovi , Johnny Hallyday , Aerosmith , Billy Joel and the Rolling Stones . The21 July 2012, Roger Waters presents the last show of the tour The Wall in front of 75,000 people. This is the first paid concert presented on the Plains. Madonna it is produced in turn1 st September 2012.
Nearby, is the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Bordering the museum, you can also discover the sculpture garden and Julie Christian Lassonde.
MONUMENT to ABRAHAM MARTIN on the PLAINS of ABRAHAM
ABRAHAM MARTIN
(B.1589-D.1664)
ARRIVED IN NEW FRANCE IN OR
ABOUT 1620. HE PASTURED HIS
LIVESTOCK ON LAND BELONGING
TO THE URSULINES, WHICH
WAS THENCEFORTH KNOWN AS
THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. IN THE
COURSE OF THE 18TH CENTURY,
THIS DESIGNATION WAS MADE
OFFICIAL IN MILITARY
RECORDS AND IS THE NAME
STILL USED TODAY.