Our story of Honoré Martel in Québec begins in 1663. 
To understand why he and the other soldiers of the 
Carignan Regimentwere brought to Québec we need to 
go back to an earlier time. France was interested 
in establishing itself with the fur trade in 
Québec in the early 1600's. To aid them in their 
commercial venture they enlisted the help of the 
more friendly Algonquin and Huron Indians. The settlers 
were consistently being attacked and harassed by the 
Iroquois Indians. There seemed to be such a hatred by 
the Iroquois towards these people whom the Indians thought 
were going to steal their land and force them out. The 
English were only to happy to help the Indians and keep 
fueling this hatred so as to further establish themselves there.

Our ancestor Romain D'Estrepagny, son of Charles Detrepagny 
and Marie Maillet, married Genevieve Drouin, daughter of 
Robert Drouin and Anne Cloutier, in 1656 in Québec. They 
were part of a group of 100 settlers who came from France to 
help to more firmly establish Frances' dominance. 
These settlers, who had to learn to be soldiers or die, 
were quickly dwindling in ability to cope with such 
fierce opponents and desperately needed some assistance 
or France would lose their hold completely. 
In August of 1661, Governor Dubois Davaugnour arrived in 
Québec and was very disheartened with the condition of 
the people and the colony. He immediately sent word to 
King Louis XIV that help was desperately needed or the 
colonists would perish. So persuasive was he that the 
King dispatched the Carignan-Salières Regiment made up 
of 1,000 officers and men and also the first colonial 
administrator, Jean Talon. The Marquis Alexandre de 
Prouville de Tracy was named Lieutenant-General of North 
and South America by the King and was determined to end 
the Iroquois threat once and for all. The regiment had 
proven itself many times in battle and to belong to it 
was considered an honor so the Marquis de Tracy felt very 
confident of his task. 
On June 30 of 1665 the regiment, of which our ancestor, 
Honoré Martel dit Lamontagne, was a member, arrived in Québec. 
By November of 1666 the Indians threat was broken. The 
majority of the soldiers voted to leave the cold of 
Québec behind but 403 officers and men decided to 
stay and make this land their new homes. The officers 
were given Seigneurs (land grants) 
and parceled out sections to the men who served with them. 
Our ancestor Honoré Martel was among those who decided to 
stay in this beautiful land.

With all these single men wives would be needed for them. 
At first marrying native women seemed like a great way to 
ensure ties with their Indian friends and also to populate 
the land. Finding that this was not working as well as first 
hoped, the Governor appealed to the King for some needed 
assistance in providing good women, thus the Filles du Roi 
program was started. Similar programs were started by the 
English and the Spanish in their colonies so this was not 
a new idea. In France most of the women recruited were 
from Paris, Rouen and other northern cities. For the 
women it was the death of one or both parents that forced 
them to become a Fille du Roi. Of the 683 women who went 
to New France as a Fille du Roi, 64.4% had lost one or 
both parents.
 A simple selection process was set up in France whereby 
a girl had to show her birth certificate, proof that she 
was free to marry and that she was healthy. For most girls 
this was a chance to have some choice in their life. In 
France marriages were arranged by the parents and the 
girls had no say what-so-ever. If the girl refused to 
marry her parents choice she was forced into a convent 
for the rest of her life. The cost of sending each 
Fille du Roi was 100 livres: 10 for the selection, 
30 for clothing and 60 for the crossing. Now that would 
be equal to $1,425. Along with the 100 livres the King 
also provided a case containing some useful items. 
Each case contained: a coiffe, bonnet, taffeta handkerchief, 
pair of stockings, pair of gloves, ribbon, four shoelaces, 
white thread, 100 needles, 1,000 pins, a comb, pair of 
scissors, two knives and two livres in cash. Each girl 
was also given appropriate clothing and provisions 
upon arrival in New France. 

The journey from France to Québec took 2 months and was 
especially difficult for women. In the hold passengers were 
grouped according to their marital status with single men 
in the front, married men and families in the middle and 
single women in the back. Also in the hold were the ships 
provisions and the live animals to be butchered for eating 
during the voyage. In the good weather access to the deck 
and the open portholes offered some relief from the smells 
of seasickness, livestock and latrine buckets but during 
rough weather when passengers were confined to the hold 
the stench was sometimes unbearable.

While the girls were awaiting marriage a Marguerite 
Bourgeoys wanted to make sure they would be able to 
deal with future household duties so she established 
a sort of school. The school called La Providence was 
where they girls learned sewing, knitting, cooking, 
washing and how to make some of the natural medicines 
from herbs and plants. They also learned spinning, 
weaving, dressmaking, needlework and other necessary 
skills to maintain the proper home.

The men took some time in choosing their women. They 
didn't just make the decision based on beauty but on 
what looked liked her ability to do the chores of the 
household, thus a girl who was a bit plump and solid 
looking was chosen first. Also if the man had a house 
already built he was more apt to get a wife quicker. 
After the couple seemed acceptable to each other 
a notary would draw up a marriage contract and a wedding 
would usually take place 2 weeks to a month later. 
Since spring and summer were very busy times marriages 
took place in the slower time of fall or early winter 
with Monday being the day of choice. The couple was 
then given a pair of chickens, a pair of pigs, an ox, 
a cow and two barrels of salted meat to start their 
life together. There was an incentive to have large 
families with a yearly pension of 300 livres to families 
with ten children and 400 livres to families with 
12 children. In 1673 the Fille du Roi program ended. 

In 1668, Fille du Roi, Marguerite Lamirault arrived 
in Québec at the age of 23 bringing with her goods 
totaling 300 livres for her dowry. Marguerite was 
the daughter of François Lamirault, who was a coach 
driver for the Queen, and Jeanne Clos/Glous. She was 
born about 1645 on the Rue des Poulies in the parish 
of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris. On November 
26, 1668 She married Honoré Martel in Québec City. 

Honoré Martel was the son of Jean Martel, horse 
merchant, living on Rue des Ursulines in Paris and 
of the late Marie Duchene. It is possible that Honoré 
and Marguerite might have known each other in Paris as 
their families lived very close to each other. 
In the new land Honoré and Marguerite began their new 
life together. For Honoré, who knew nothing but soldiering, 
being a farmer was a difficult task. Clearing the land, 
planting the crops and just the everyday schedule seemed 
to be to much for him so in 1688 he decided to become 
a long sawyer. During those twenty years however, Honoré 
and Marguerite had 12 children:
1. Charles, born on 4th of October 1669 and died on the     
    27th of October 1669.
2. Jean-François, born on the 4th of November 1671; 
    died at the Hôtel-Dieu on the 14th of March 1715. 
    He married Madeleine Vanier at Charlesburg on the 
    14th of February 1695 and they had 5 sons and 3 daughters.
3. Joseph-Alphonse, born on the 12th of May 1672; 
    buried on the 31st of December 1741. He married 
    Marguerite Groinier at Sainte-Famille, I.O. on the 8th 
    of January 1701. They had 6 sons, 5 daughters 
    and 1 anonymous.
4. Marie-Madeleine, born on the 29th of July 1674; 
    buried on 2nd of January 1703. She married Louis 
    Loisel in Québec City on the 12th of June 1696. 
    They had 1 son, 2 daughters and 1 anonymous.
5. Marguerite, born on the 29th of August 1676. 
    She married Louis Courault dit Coulon at 
    Québec City on the 10th of January 1695. 
    They had 2 sons and 1 daughter. Her second marriage 
    was to Jean-François Douault dit Saint-Jean on 28th 
    of January 1704. They had 3 sons and 5 daughters.
6. Paul, born at Neuville on the 24th of May 1678 
    in Québec City; buried at Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly 
    on 27th of May 1723. He married Madeleine Guillot 
    in Saint-Pierre, I.O. on 25th of November 1698. 
    They had 8 sons and 6 daughters.
7. Honoré, born on 6th of February 1680 in Neuville. 
    He died ten days later.
8. Antoine, born on 8th of January 1681 in Neuville, 
    buried at Saint-Pierre, I.O. on 19th of March 1759. 
    He married Catherine Guillot in Saint-Pierre, I.O. 
    on 15th of November 1706. They  had 7 sons 
    and 4 daughters.
9. Isabelle, born on 25th of November 1682 in Neuville. 
    She died two days later.
10. Anne, born on 8th of November 1683 in Neuville, 
    buried at Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly on 25th of 
    November 1703. She married Charles Rognon dit 
    Laroche in Québec on 9th of November 1699. 
    They had 1 daughter and 1 anonymous.
    Charles remarried about 1703 to Charlotte Huot.
11. Jean, born on 13th of November 1685 at Neuville, 
    buried at Baie-Saint-Paul on 22nd of September 1762. 
    He married Jeanne Roulois in Château-Richer on 27th 
    of June 1712. They had 2 sons and 1daughter. 
    His second marriage was to Michel Brule in 
    Baie-Saint-Paul on1st of May 1723. They had 3 
    sons and 2 daughters. His third marriage was to 
    Marie-Joseph de Lavoye in Baie-Saint-Paul on 5th 
    of June 1732. They had 1 son and 3 daughters.
12. Louis, born 1st of September 1687 in Neuville. 
    Apprentice baker in 1704.

With these 12 children Honoré and his wife Marguerite 
moved to the city of Québec in what was then called 
Upper-Town. Their house was located on Rue Saint-Louis 
and they paid an annual rent of 70 livres. The house, 
with a cellar, two rooms on one floor and an attic, 
seems rather small for such a large family. They also 
had two more children while living at this address:
13. Marie-Anne, born in Québec on 28th of August 1689. 
She married Thomas Ferret in Québec on 29th of 
August 1708. They had 5 sons and 5 daughters. Her 
second marriage was to François Boucher in Charlesbourg 
on 10th of July 1727. They had 2 sons and 1 daughter.
14. Marie-Thérèse, born in Québec on 4th September 1691. 
She married Guillaume Hoguenet dit Argencourt in 
Québec on 3rd of September 1714. No known children.

Being a long sawyer seemed to be more to Honoré's liking 
and since there was always a demand for plank boards his 
future appeared to be long and profitable. There were 
several contracts that Honoré was involved in, the first 
one in 1789 for one hundred wild cherry planks of 
different measurements, to be delivered to Jacques 
Chappelain, a woodworker in Québec. For the second 
one in 1692 Honoré had a partner, Pierre Rocher dit 
Champagne. Together they produced 2,000 pine boards, 
eight feet long, to be used in the building of ships. 
The next one was in 1693 and Honoré worked with his 
son Jean, along with Pierre Desrochers and Jacques 
Cochu who were also long sawyers. This contract was 
extremely important as the wood was "for planking 
for the use of the King". This was probably the 
largest order Honoré had been involved with up to 
this point as it was for 10,000 pine boards, 30ft. 
long and 500-600 boards 10ft. Long. In 1693 Honoré 
agreed on a contract by himself for 15,000 ft. of 
planking in various lengths to be used in the building 
of ships for the King and other work. Since this was 
such a large amount of planking we have to assume 
that he had help from his son Jean or some other able 
bodied person although there is no mention of this.

This type of work must have been agreeable to Honoré 
and his purse strings because sometime in 1693 the 
family moved to another house on Rue Cul-de-Sac in Québec. 
They spent many good years there before tragedy stuck the 
Martel home in 1706 when Marguerite died on October 17th 
at the age of 62. Since there were five children not yet 
married Honoré realized another woman was needed in the 
home. On October 26th, 1707 Honoré married Marie Marchand. 
He and Marie had three years together before illness must 
have claimed Honoré. The hospital notes him as leaving 
there for the last time on 28th of July 1710 and any 
mention of him after that is in the past tense so we 
assume that he departed from this life.




The sources for all information including names, 
dates and places are the following:
1. Our French-Canadian Ancestors Vol. XVII 
    by Thomas J. Laforest
2. King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: 
   The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673  Vol. I & II by 
    Peter J. Gagné
3. The Life of New France 1663-1760, 
    The Carignon/Salières Regiment

  

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