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- Samuel8 Martin (Jean-Baptiste7, Jean-Baptiste6, Armand5, Jean-Baptiste4, Rene3, Barnabe2, Robert1) was born in Bouctouche, NB on 23 January 1844, the first child of Jean-Baptiste Martin and Ludivine Petitpas. He was baptised the next day, 24 January 1844 in Bouctouche and given the name Anselme. He was the eighth generation of Acadian decent to live in what is now Canada; his fifth great-grandfather, Robert Martin, having arrived at Port Royal, Acadie in 1632 from France. He had three sisters: Barbe who was born two and a half years later, 11 August 1846; Marie Aveline born 17 March 1850; and Adelaide born 1 May 1851.
It is believed that Samuel's father, Jean-Baptiste, died about 1851-1854 when Samuel would have been 7 - 10 years old. The family was no longer living in Bouctouche at that time. In later life, Samuel had told his son, Charles, of "being brought up by another family." It appears that they lived with a Bushey family in Wellington Parish. He may have lived with the Bushey family for as long as ten years, until his mother remarried. There were several Bushey families living in Wellington Parish at that time. Samuel and his two sisters are listed in the 1861 census for Wellington Parish, NB, with Bushey as their last name. However they were living with their mother and step-father Oliver Collett by that time.
At the age of 20, Samuel married Domatille Arsenault of Richibuctou Village, NB. The Parish Register for Richibuctou Village records the marriage of 17 Oct 1864 on page 110. The witnesses to this marriage were Barbe Martin, sister of the groom and Marcel Arsenault, father of the bride. Samuel and Domatille had 7 children: Mary Jane, 1 April 1866; John, 28 Feb 1868; William, 13 July 1870; George 14 July 1872; Rufine, 25 March 1876; Oliver, 19 January 1879; and Georgina Anna, 24 March 1881. The births of these children are found in the parish registers of Bouctouche (Marie-Jean and Jean-Baptiste) and Richibuctou Village, as well as being listed under their father in the census for 1871 and 1881. The exception being Rufine who must have died before the 1881 census was taken.
In the census of 1871 we learn that Samuel (English enumerator) at the age of 27 was a farmer and could not write, although he could read. His wife, Matilda, could not read nor write. Ten years later, in the 1881 cenus, Anselme (French enumberator) was 37 and now a fisherman. Sometime between 1881 and 1888 Samuel left his family in Canada and moved to the United States. His first residance in this country was Chaumont, NY, a small fishing village on Lake Ontario. He was residing there in 1889 when he married Lillian Hazelwood of Dexter, NY. They were married by the Methodist minister of Three Mile Bay, NY on 14 January 1889. The town of Lyme (Both Chaumont and Three Mile Bay are part of the town of Lyme.) marriage register lists Samuel's parents as John Martin and Divine Petitpas, thus confirming him to be the same person born in Bouchtouche, NB. It is this marriage record where the use of a middle name James is first recorded -- Samuel J. Martin. From this time on he is always recorded as Samuel J., but the middle initial and name were never recorded in Canada.
Town of Lyme, NY Marriage register No 62 Samuel J. Martin & "Ella A." Hazelwood Jan. 14, 1889 Samuel son of John Martin and Divine Petitpas (Penneaus) "Ella A." daughter of George Hazelwood & Helen Desmore
Watertown Daily Times Feb 26, 1943, p 10 In account of Lillian's death: "married to Samuel Martin Jan 14, 1889, at Three Mile Bay, by the Methodist minister there. At the time of this marriage Samuel gave his age as 39, although he was actually about to turn 45 within ten days. Samuel may have looked young for his age and found it necessary to give a younger age since Lillian was only 17 when she married him. Eleven years later in the US census of 1900 he gave his age at that time as 45, however he slipped up and said he was born in January of 1844. This does not compute! He gave the correct year and the wrong age -- he was 56. For the rest of his life he claimed to have been born in 1855, but at his death he became even younger, when his tombstone gave his date of birth as 1861! It appears that members of the family who commissioned his tombstone thought he was too old. When he died on 24 March 1918, he was actually 74 years old and not 53.
After Samuel and Lillian Hazelwood were married they moved to the city of Watertown, NY where the City Directory for 1889-90 lists him as being employed as a mason. A year after their marriage they had a daughter, Goldie Edna, born 12 January 1890. She was born at home which was 4 Main St. in Watertown at that time. Between 1890 and 1892, Samuel moved his family to Newburyport, MA where their sons were born: Charles George, 29 March 1892 and Clarence James, May 1894.
During his first two years in Newburyport, Samuel was employed as a teamster. It was not until 1896 that he worked as a stone mason as he had in Watertown. Thus it is rather puzzling as to why he moved to Newburyport in the first place. One might have thought that having been a fisherman in Richibouctou, he was attracked to the sea and fishing; but he didn't work as a fisherman there. The family lived in Newburyport for 3 to 4 years before moving on to Leister and then North Adams, MA. While living in Leister, their house was struck by lightening and burned.
By 1900 Samuel and his family were back in Watertown, NY where he continued to work as a stone mason up until at least 1912, when he would have been 68 years old. The 1900 census indicates that Samuel could both read and write, but that he had never become a naturalized citizen of the US.
He is remembered by his granddaughter as being very religious. Every night he would kneel at a dinningroom chair and say his prayers in French. He spoke with a French accent and is remembered by his adopted daughter as singing French songs. He walked his family to church every Sunday. The family attended the Bethal Chapel which was associated with the First Prysbeterian Church in Watertown.
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