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1290. Nicolas Gode, born Abt. 1593 in St Martin D'Ige Diocese, Seez Perche, France; died 25 October 1657 in Ville-Marie, Quebec, Canada. He married 1291. FrancoiseGadois.

1291. Francoise Gadois, born in France; died Unknown.

Notes for Nicolas Gode:

Nicolas came from St. Martin D'Ige Diocese from Seez Perche, France. (Couldn't locate Seez or old province of Perche) Perche is a region of France in the northwest. Landed in Canada 18 May 1642, assisted at the first mass in Ville-Marie (now Montreal). His name appears on a monument at Place Royale as is his wife's and daughter's. Nicolas and his son-in-law, Jean de Saint-Pere, were scalped by the Iroquois after they welcomed them into their home on 25 Oct 1657. Their servant was beheaded.

More About Nicolas Gode:

Burial: 25 October 1657, Ville-Marie, Quebec, Canada

Occupation: Master Carpenter

Children of Nicolas Gode and Francoise Gadois are:

645 i. Francoise Gode, died Unknown; married Jean Desrochers 18 November 1647 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

ii. Nicolas Gode, died Unknown; married Marguerite Picard 12 November 1658 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; died Unknown.

iii. Francois Gode, died Unknown; married Francoise Bugon 11 January 1648/49 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; died Unknown.

extrait tiré de/ taken from: Histoire du Montréal par M. Dollier de Casson (1636-1701), Mémoires de la Société Historique de Montréal, 1868.

reproduit en PDF par www. canadiana.org)

p.122

This year began with a very morbid story, if, however, we can find something that can be called thus among good people. The event transpired as follows: On October 25, 1657, an excellent carpenter named Nicolas Godet, whom the Company of Montreal had brought over with all his family from Normandy as early as 1641, his son-in-law Jean Saint-Père, a man equally as solidly pious, a sharp mind and altogether, it is said, also of as excellent a judgement as has been seen here, were cruelly murdered with gunshots along with their servant (1), by treacherous Iroquois who came in peace amongst us, as we no longer had war between us since the last solemn peace in which they had returned our people and we freed theirs who had been in our jails. Of course this perfidious rupture was maddening because it is very difficult to find such people as we lost, it is very hard to see the best of our inhabitants perish by such infamous cowards who, after eating their bread, surprised them unarmed, made them fall from the roof of their house like sparrows: the heavens found this act so dark that these barbarians fled too quickly to receive the punishment for their crime here,

(1) 1657, Oct. 25, Nicolas Godé, Jean St-Père and Jacques Noël, murdered by the Iroquois. (Parish Records) (J.V.)

p.123

they were punished by reproaches made by the tongue of one of those they had shot, what I say is a common belief which originates with the assasins themselves who have claimed that the head of the late St. Père, which they had cut off, made a number of reproaches while they carried it off, and that it told them in very good Iroquois, eventhough while he lived he had never heard it spoken: "You kill us, you commit a thousand cruelties towards us, you want to wipe out the French, but you will not succeed. One day they will be your masters and you will obey them, you can be as bad as you want." The Iroquois say that this voice was heard from time to time both during the day and at night, that it scared them and made them uneasy, sometimes they put it in one place them in another; and that at times they even put something over it so that it could not be heard, but they couldn't stop it. Finally, they skinned it and reluctantly threw it away, yet they continued to hear the voice from the direction where they had put the hair. If this is but a savage fiction it must be said that God, in the shadow of this death, wished them to know, by way of these reproaches, what has since happened, that if one wishes to doubt the tale, for the same price that I paid from believable people, and I can say that the last person to recount it to me and who claims to have heard it from the mouths of these Iroquois is a man of great honnesty who also knows the native language as well as I know French, and that being the case I thought it important to recount it in the manner told me and I think it would be wrong to leave it in the darkness of silence. Since this disaster we started, a bit too late, to be more vigilant and to not allow the Iroquois to approach closer than the range of our muskets...

(translation by JLP)

xtrait de/taken from: Histoire du Notariat au Canada, Depuis la Fondation de la Colonie Jusqu'à nos Jours,

Premier volume, par J.-Edmond Roy (1858-1913), La Revue du Notariat, Lévis, 1899. reproduit en PDF sur www.canadiana.org)

p.66

Sister Bougeois recounted the same tale:

"The Savages, she said, having taken away Saint-Père's head for his beautiful hair, it was recounted a few days later, that this head spoke to them: M. Cueillerier, who, having been captured, was in their country, has attested that this was true; others have confirmed that the head spoke and that the Savages heard it more than once."

extrait de The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, originalement compilé et édité par Reuben Gold Thwaites

et publié par The Burrows Brothers Company, Cleveland, VOL. XLIII (rédigé par Jean de Quen), pour l'année 1657. reproduit en PDF par www. canadiana.org)

1 Nov In the morning, A canoe arrived at Québec from Montréal, which brought the news that The Onontagéronnons or other savages had killed three Frenchmen, — to wit, Monsieur Nicolas Godet, St. Pere, And his servant. This was on the 25th of October.

3 Nov Geneviefve, a huron, died at the hospital, at 6 o'clock in the evening. Monsieur The abbé‚.had given her the Viaticum, on all saints day, as also the garb of Religion. On all souls Day, he administered extreme unction; And, a little before dying, she took the vows of Religion, as she had desired. She

end page 67 was only 15 years old. She was buried the next day, Sunday, at the hospital, by Monsieur The abbé‚. At 9 o'clock in the evening, sieur la Meslee brought 5 Agnieronons from three Rivers to Monsieur the Governor, in order to learn from them who were the murderers of the three Frenchmen killed at Montréal. These 5 agnieronons, with 6 other agnieronon, were taken by the French of three River, who had obliged them all by subtlety to enter the village, and seized them there. One of them defended himself Against Monsieur le Barbier, who, finding himself not strong enough to stop him, laid hold of his sword and struck the said Agnieronon with the point, which merely grazed the skin. The 5 mentioned above are lodged with Monsieur Cousture, and are shackled together, two by two.

3 Nov At the same time, we learned that the Alguonquins, 9 in Number, who had gone to war against the Onontagéronnons, toward the islands of Richelieu, had returned with an Onontagéronnon Scalp.

4 Nov At 7 o'clock in the morning, Monsieur d'Alliboust, Governor, gave me word of this News. He told me that he was of opinion that 2 agnieronons of the 11 prisoners should be Sent into their country, to warn their people of their detention and of the cause of it, — which was the murder of 3 Frenchmen by the savages, — And to learn definitely who were the murderers.

Jean Luc Pilon

The death of Nicolas Godé as well as Jean de Saint-Père and the hired man François Noel, was not an isolated event but is part of the complex politique context of New France in the XVIIth century. Some have interpreted this event as the spark that lit a fire that would not be extinguished until more than 40 years later with the signing of the Great Peace of Montréal of 1701.

Havard, Gilles

1992 La Grande Paix de Montréal de 1701. Les voies de la diplomatie franco-amérindienne. Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, Montréal.

p.51

The Iroquois wars, commonly referred to as the fur wars, began towards the end of the 1630s and were closely tied into the long struggle, sprinkled with truces, which opposed the Five Nations and the French from 1609 to 1700.

p.52

In 1654, the Iroquois noted that the Odawa had replaced the Huron as commercial middlemen between the nations of the North-West and New France, and this rekindling of the fur trade on the route of the Ottawa River was at the root of a new Iroquois war. Wishing to control this trade with the West, or at least to neutralise it, the Five Nations, playing the looting card, attacked the Odawa as early as 1655-1656, then came up against the French beginning in 1658. Not before 1667 was a general peace concluded following the successful expedition of the Carignan-Salières Regiment against Mohawk villages in the fall of 1666.

(translation by JLP)

The Family of Nicolas Godé

French Ancestor of the Marentettes

Nicolas Godé

he was born about 1583 in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, évêché de Sées, Perche, France
while still in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, he married Françoise Gadois (1586 - 1689), probably about 1618/19
he died suddenly and tragically October 25, 1657 at Pointe-aux-Trembles on the Island of Montréal (click here to learn more about his death)
Nicolas and Françoise had 4 children (see below)

François Godé

he was born in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, évêché de Sées, Perche, France in 1620/21
on January 11, 1648/49 he married, in the church of Notre-Dame in Montréal, Françoise Bugon, originally from Auvergne in France
nothing else is known of this couple as they returned to France shortly after the death of Nicolas Godé in 1657

Nicolas Godé

he was born in January, 1628/29 in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, évêché de Sées, Perche, France
on November 12, 1658 he married Marguerite Picard (January 1, 1641/41 - June 9, 1722), originally from the parish of Saint-Barthélémi in Paris, France and the daughter of Jean-Michel Picard and Marie Holin, both of Paris, France, in the church of Notre-Dame in Montréal
he died on April 13, 1697 in Montréal
Nicolas and Marguerite had 7 children and the descendants of their son Jacques carried the name Marentette (click here to learn more about this family and their descendants)

Françoise Godé

she was born in 1633 in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, évêché de Sées, Perche, France
on November 18, 1647, she married Jean Desroches, son of Jean and Antoinette, in the church of Notre-Dame in Montréal
she died March 9, 1714/15 at Pointe-aux-Trembles, Island of Montréal

Mathurine Godé

she was born in January, 1636/37 in the parish of Saint-Martin d'Igé, évêché de Sées, Perche, France
on September 25, 1651, she married Jean de Saint-Père (1618 - 1657), originally from Dormelle, France and the son of Étienne Saint-Père and Étiennette Julian, in the church of Notre-Dame in Montréal. Jean de Saint-Père died suddenly and tragically along with his father-in-law on October 25, 1657 (click here to learn more about Jean de Saint-Père)
they had 2 children; a son Claude who died very young and a daughter Agathe (1657 - 1748) who married Pierre le Gardeur de Repentigny (click here to follow a very interesting link by Céline Payette about Agathe de Saint-Père)
on November 12, 1658, she married Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Marie (1622 - 1701), originally from the parish of Saint-Rémi, Dieppe, in Normande, France and the son of Pierre Le Moyne and Judith Duchesne
she died in Montréal on November 12, 1672
Mathurine and Jacques Le Moyne had several children (click here to learn more about their children

Maps

This is a copy of a map dated 1796 and reproduced by Lajeunesse in his "Windsor Border Region" (oddly enough, the legend in Lajeunesse's book states that the map dates to 1754). In addition to #2 which is attributed to Marantete (again, there appears to be some confusion because in his text, Lajeunesse states that #1 is Marentette while the legend on the map says it is #2), a textual record indicates that #7 belonged to Godet . We may conclude that these references are to François Godet dit Marentette and Jacques Godet respectively, especially if the map is a 1754 production.

With such a map we should not be concerned with precise features or locations, but rather the relations between elements. Clearly then, Marantete, presumably François Godet dit Marentette, was located just beside the Huron lands at the Pointe de Montréal, while Godet, presumably Jacques Godet, was located almost directly across from Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit.

1767 - 1881

Published in the 1881 Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Essex and Kent, the map section on the right clearly shows the location of Lots 63 to 67 immediatly east of the Huron Churh Line or what is today the Huron Church Road (see the oh too-modern map on the left). These long and narrow lots reflect the old French style where access to the river was crucial. When François Godet dit Marentette purchased a lot from Father Potier, the Jesuit missionary to the Huron, in 1767, he likely bought what was, in 1881, Lot 63, which included a small reserve for the Huron Church and the cemetery adjoining it (clear here to see an insert map showing the location of the Assumption Church which replaced the more modest Huron Church), (click here to read the text of that land sale).

While the shoreline has obviously changed since 1881 with much infilling taking place, the general configuration of the streets, especially those to the southwest of the Huron Church Line, have remained the same. By superimposing the two maps and allowing for slight distortions and orientation problems, it is clear that these lots have been the subjects of a land petitions in the late 1700s and early 1800s (click here to read these petitions). Lot 66, for example, lies between modern-day Randolph and Askin Avenues and ran inland as far as today's Tecumseh Road W. See for yourself by clicking on the 1881 map on the right. This will open up an animated image which will fade through from the old map to the modern one (a warning, the image is 607 k in size and will cycle through 5 times; it will take a while to load, but it is worth it!).

Detroit

by Patrick Marantette

Detroit is one of the oldest cities on this continent, and the first to become a modern important city. Its history is charming because it is so filled with Indian legends and stories of pioneer life. For sixty years Detroit was a French town. A bit of Sunny France hidden away in the heart of the western wilderness, and such it might have remained to this day had not Wolfe, one dark night in September 1759, scaled the heights of Quebec, and on the Plains of Abraham changed the fate of North America. Long before the white man came to visit, the native red man seemed to appreciate and love the natural resources of the Detroit River.

The great French leader Champayne received from his Indian friends a most favorable account of land where his country men should plant the outpost of civilization, under the lily of Naverre and the cross.

In 1694 Cadillac was made governor of Mackinac and at once planned to make Detroit a sight for military and a trading post. After years of effort he received authority from the French governor to found a French fort.

It was a sweltering hot day in July 1701, when Cadillac with his little fleet of birch bark canoes, decorated with Indian symbols and waving gayily the flags of France, carried fifty soldiers and fifty workmen southward from Lake St Clair and entered the broad, clear, beautiful river now known as Detroit.

He planted a city in the wilderness. Two days later the foundation of St. Anne's Church was laid, and hand in hand, church and state began a struggle for life. (The record of this church have been preserved and are the oldest in the west)

Cadillac was appointed commander of the Fort Pontchartrain, and so the city was called, Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit, and since is called Detroit. The fort contained only enough ground for a few houses and at that time it was the home of the working men and farmers.

It is about these days that I wish to write, as they give a touch of the old world life, that is felt even now in the best circles of Detroit.

The first that came here were men from the France of Louis 14th. Cadillac granted strips of land under conditions which seem absurd to us of the present day. but feudalism was firmly established. During French rule, kings, regents and queens, cardinals, archbishops and generals of religious orders, ladies of high degree, governors and generals exercised authority over the City of the Straits.

We can scarcely contemplate these things now in connection with Detroit. But they were a part of its historic evolution. Prehaps we can better imagine life at those times from stories and records than anyting else. Dueling was the fashion in those days and it was at the famous duel fought between Gen'l Hugh Brady and his former friend Captain Levy, that the most novel efforts were used, at peace making, that was ever heard of on this continent.

The old Cass mansion of Detroit was noted as a land mark because it was the residence of some of the first governors of Michigan. Its doors and sills were marked by bullets and arrows used in the Indian and Colonial wars. It was the residence of Governor Cass until he was made a member of General Jackson's Cabinet. When his house hold goods were sold at auction before he moved to Washington, it was Grandfather Marantette privilege, as a close friend of Governor Cass, to purchase several articles, and among the articles was a mahogeny clover leaf table which is our pleasure to still retain at our home.

A contemporary of General Louis Cass, during the first years of the history of Detroit, and during the last century was the Rev. Richard. A missionary and a representative citizen of early Detroit days. He was a pastor of St. Anne's church--founded schools, and brought the first printing press to the North West Territory, was a founder and regent of the University of Michigan, and a professor in the institution. The history of the latter is most interesting and quaint.

Rev. Richard trained the daughters of the aristocratic families of Detroit, many of whom had been educated abroad, to teach the Indian maidens needle work, music, language and house work. The young Indian men he seems to have instructed himself. He also tutored private pupils, one of whom was grandfather Marantette. The first legislative assembly of Michigan was opened by him as chaplain, with a prayer, that they might make laws for the people, not for themselves.

For about fifty years Detroit was nothing but a fort, but its importance as a military post and a trading post, brought prominent and prosperous citizens of France and Canada to dwell there. The lead the king of France, Louis 15th to send as his representative, Robert Naverre. Robert Naverre was one of the oldest families in the North West Territory. The founders of Monroe, Joliet, Chicago, Grand Rapids and Mendon, Grandfather and grandmother Marantette as well as Great Grandmother Montaw were his lineal descendants, and the first settlers in Mendon or St. Joseph County.

In 1831 Francis Montaw came to this reservation in charge of a trading post established by Peter Godfroy, near by where the Marantette home now stands. It was at this trading post that the first religious services were held by the Roman Catholics.

In August 1833, Grandfather Marantette took possession of this trading post. And he having a great influence over the Nottawa Indians, in 1840, he finally gathered them together, and they were removed west. The first frame house was erected by Grandfather Marantette, in 1835 and was named by Grandfather Wakeman "Queen of the Prairies", and it was in this house that the first mass was said by Father Boss. In 1836, a daughter was born to Grandfather and Grandmother Marantette, and for that matter Aunt Elizabeth was the first white child born in Mendon.

Mendon in a way is connected with the early history of Detroit in many ways, because it was settled by descendants of distinguished citizens of Detroit.

Father Hennepin explored the Great Lakes and tributaries including the St. Joseph River. And about thirty-five miles north of Sound Bend, this to mention Mendon again, is about where our little village now stands, and such traditions was what lead to the early French location here.

So we can see in a day in Old Detroit, the great ladies and gentle men holding fete and court and dance "comme il faut" with quaint dress and ceremony. Powdered pompodors, pointed and slim waists, jewels, satins, laces, high-heeled slippers (Grand Mother Naverre Nontaw never wore any others to the day of her death). Though she lived a great many years and died in Mendon). Fine horses, saddles, harness, low running wooden sleighs, fine native wines, and dwelling, all these things for the aristocrats. Fishing, hunting, quaint spinning and weaving. fur trapping and trading, soldiering, vine growing and plenty and simplicity for all.

The meeting of so many human elements differing in origin and habit, caused grave irregularities, but gave a romantic and high color to the scenes in Old Detroit.

The acorn bears no sort of resemblance to the oak, and yet its great trunk, broad leaves and wide spreading branches are all enclosed in the little bowl which lies at our feet, waiting to be fed by the juices of the earth, and invigorated by the sun shine. So in the dead alive old French-English town, we have been considering was enfolded the great city one sees now from its high roofs, streching miles away in stately rows of brick and stone, along broad shaded avenues which branch from a central hub like the spokes of some great cart wheel. The slow paced conservatism of its old time residents is still in the modern city, but it is now so wedded to American enterprise that we meet here an almost ideal community.

(this document can be found in the Archives of the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA)

Record of the Marriage of Marie Louise Gaudet and Charles Bernier

(being found in Appendix VI of Windsor Border Region, E.J. Lajeunesse, 1960, Champlain Society)

In the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, on the nineteenth of November, after having published the three banns on three successive Sundays, between Charles Bernier, son of André Bernier and of Françoise Larivière, his parents from the parish of Charles-bourg of the first part; and of Marie Louise Gaudet, daughter of Jacques Gaudet and Marie Louise Desbutes, her parents from the parish of Ste. Anne of Detroit of the second part, and no impediment having been made known; I undersigned, priest of the Company of Jesus, missionary of the Hurons at La Pointe de Montreal, certify that I have received their mutual consent, and that I have given them the nuptial blessing in the presence of Jean Bapt. Tourangeau, of Charles Courtois, and Jean Bapt. du Berger who have signed with me.

Pi Potier M.J.

Jean Baptiste Touranjeau, P. Charles Courtois

duberge

Pre-1800 Census Data from the Windsor-Detroit Area

In the Census of the Inhabitants of Detroit on September 1st, 1750 (Public Archives of Canada, Series G1, vol.461, p.28)

we find:

Gaudet (must be Jacques because his brother François did not marry until 1755) who was married with one boy and one girl both under the age of 15, 15 arpents of land under cultivation, 450 sheaves of wheat, 150 sheaves of oats, 2 horses, 2 oxen and 5 cows.

In A Survey of the Settlement of Detroit Made by Order of Major De Peyster the 16th Day of July 1782

(Public Archives of Canada, B 123. p.260-273)

we find:

François Marentette Gaudet was married with either a widow or a hired woman, a young or hired man, 5 boys, 2 girls, 1 male slave and 2 female slaves, 10 horses, 8 oxen, 5 cows, 25 sheep, 12 hogs, 300 lbs of flour, 50 bushels of wheat, 15 bushels of oats and 200 arpents of cleared land.

François Gaudette was married with no children, 2 horses, 2 cows, 1 hog, 25 bushels of wheat sown, 8 bushels of oats sown and 120 arpents of cleared land.

Joseph Gaudet was married with 1 boy and 2 girls, 3 horses, 2 oxen and 1 cow, 4 steers or heifers, 3 sheep, 4 hogs, 20 bushels of wheat, 18 bushels of wheat sown, 11 bushels of oats sown, and 80 arpents of cleared land.

A Few Pertinent Notarial Records from the Detroit Area

(being found in Appendix IV of the Windsor Border Region, E.J. Lajeunesse, 1960, Champlain Society)

Liber A

p.114

October 15, 1767 (registered March 8, 1770)

P.Potier M.J. to François Gaudet Marentette

4 arpents and 1 perche wide ENE M. de Longueuil, WSW rest of lands of Huron Mission

1600 livres

full depth as given to us without title in 1747

p.114

June 4, 1769 (registered March 8, 1770)

P.Potier M.J. to François Gaudet Marentette

1 arpents 1 perche wide adjoining lands of the Mission

reserving a small square piece of land near the Church

p.277

October 14, 1774 (registered October 1774)

Joseph Godet to McGregor and McLoed

3 x 40 arpents ENE Vaudry, WSW Charon

180 pounds (2700 livres)

owned formerly by Bineau

p.320

May 6, 1775 (registered May 10, 1775)

Jacques Charon to Joseph Godett

4 x 40 arpents ENE Duperon Baby, WSW Baptiste Bigras

3000 livres (200 pounds)

Liber B

p.156

April 1, 1778 (registered May 23, 1778)

Alex Maisonville to Joseph Godet

4 x 80 arpents ENE Joseph Berthiaume, WSW Bonaventure Reaume

5000 livres (333 pounds, 6 shillilngs, 8 pence)

if dispossessed by Indians or others only money paid will be refunded; improvements made will be lost

p.183-4

August 10, 1778 (registered August 10, 1778)

Joseph Delière dit Bonvouloir to François Marantet Godet, Jr.

1 x 40 arpent & 2 x 40 arpents ENE Charles Delisle, WSW Hyacinthe DeHêtre

11000 livres

sold at auction to settle estate after having been proclaimed at church on three successive Sundays

Liber C1

February 7, 1787

Joseph Gaudet to Antoine Labadie

3 x 80 arpents NE Baptiste Pelleteau, SW Joseph Bon Reaume

3000 livres (200 pounds N.Y. currency)

military records

When Called Upon, They Served

Marentettes in the Military

pre-1800 Militia

François Gaudet dit Marentette

Lieutenant of Militia

Dominique Godet

(according to a list sent from Detroit in Sept. 1778 by Henry Hamilton, Lieut-Governor

published in Report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, Vol.IX, 1908)

War of 1812

(The following information was obtained from a listing of individuals claiming land consequent to service in the military during the War of 1812. These records are included under RG 9 I B4 at the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa. Name spelling is as in records.)

Antoine Marantelle of Colchester served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1836 (1875)

Joseph Marantelle of Sandwich served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1821

Pierre Marantelle of Sandwich served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1821

Benjamin Marentette of Sandwich served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1838 (1875)

François Marantette of Sandwich served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1838 (1875)

Pierre Marantette of Sandwich served with the 2nd Essex Militia 1875

Fenian Raids 1866, 1870

(The following information was obtained from the Medal Register. These records are included under RG 9 II A5 at the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa)

Corporal Charles Marentette (4243) from Windsor, Ontario served in the Sandwich Company of the 23rd Essex Battalion under Captain Thomas H. Wright between March 10 and June 18, 1866 when an attack was expected

Private Dolphus Marentette (16258) from 131 Junction, Detroit, Michigan, USA served in the 2nd Windsor Company of the 23rd Essex Battalion, M.D. 1, under Captain J. O'Connor between March and June 28, 1866 when an attack was expected

South Africa 1899 - 1902

(The following information was obtained from the Medal Register. These records are included under RG 9 II A5 at the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa)

Private V.F. Marentette (1382) from Toronto, Ontario served in the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) (to learn more about this regiments, follow this link: http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/2RCR/html/about_e.html).

He earned the right to wear the Paardeberg (February 18, 1900) and Cape Colony clasps. Medal awarded October 11, 1901.

(to learn more about the Boer War, follow this link: http://www.bowlerhat.com.au/sawvl//main.html)

World War One 1914-1918

Alexander Marontate of East Tawas, Iosco County, Michigan

son of Theodore Marontate and Harriet Marontate of Harrow Ontario

(information found at http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mi/iosco/hsgs/military/mil_ww1b.txt)

(The following information was found in the First Wold War Database of the National Archives of Canada (follow this link http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/index-e.html) and verified through direct inspection of the individuals' attestation records in the National Archives of Canada, Ottawa)

Private Alexander Marentette 3139592

son of Alfred and Elizabeth Marentette of Belle Rivière, Ontario

enlisted August 1, 1918 with the 1st Depot Battalion of the Western Ontario Regiment in London, Ontario and was discharged November 29, 1918 with heart problems and a family history of heart problems

Private Ernest Marentette 3139015

son of Denis and Rose Marentette of Windsor, Ontario

enlisted June 18, 1918 with the 1st Depot Battalion of the Western Ontario Regiment in London, Ontario and served in Canada

Gunner Ernest William Marentette 339758

son of Elizabeth Marentette of Chatham, Ontario

enlisted June 28, 1917 in Kamloops, B.C. and served with the 68th Battalion of the Canadian Field Artillery

in Belgium and France

Private Léo Gilbert Marentette 3139749

son of Alfred Frank and Agnès of Windsor, Ontario

enlisted August 16, 1918 with the 1st Depot Battalion of the Western Ontario Regiment in London, Ontario and served in Canada

Sapper Samuel Joseph Marentette 4005028

son of Christopher and Christine Marentette of Sandwich, Ontario

and husband of Florine (married January 2, 1918)

enlisted March 21, 1918 in London, Ontario and served in England and France with the 1st Battalion

Private Thomas T. Marentette 4005052

son of William and Célima Marentette of Windsor, Ontario

enlisted April 4, 1918 in London, Ontario and served with the Canadian Machine Gun Battalion in France

World War Two 1939-1945

(only includes Marentettes military personnel who died in service as this information is too current for the release of all Marentettes who served in WWII)

(from the online records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site (http://www.cwgc.org/)

Lance Corporal Norman Marentette

Essex Scottish Regiment, R.C.I.C.

who died aged 28 on Wednesday, 20th September 1944.

Lance Corporal Marentette was the son of Edward and Emilie Marentette, of Tilbury, Ontario, Canada.

Remembered with honour

Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Second Lieutenant William Pratt Marontate

U.S. Marine Corps Ace (13)

Washington, USA

Missing in action on January 15, 1943

(information found at: http://www.cableregina.com/users/magnusfamily/ww2usa.htm)

(click here for more information about William Pratt Marontate)

About the name

Family Names in French Canadian Genealogy

by Lanny Marentette

The further back you go in researching French Canadian family history, you run into a variety of spellings, or a family name that is not the one you now have, or double names connected by "dit" or "de". That is why it surprises Marentettes to know that the first ancestor to arrive in Canada from Perche, France in 1641, was Nicolas Godé. The name is spelled in a variety of ways: Godet; Gaudet(te); Gauder; Godette; Godere; Godert. When Marentette is added, the combinations are bewildering: Marantay; Mar(r)antet(te); Maret(te); Marent(te); and so on. Here is a summary of how this happened. (Sources: Fr. E. J. Lajeunesse, The Windsor Border Region, 1960; C. M. Burton, Cadillac's Village or Detroit Under Cadillac, 1701-1710, 1896; both sources draw on the work of Rev. C. Dennison, who did extensive research into the origins of French Canadian families).

Parish registers were meticulously kept by priests for a variety of reasons. It was considered a primary duty of a priest's job, especially in the wilderness. Jesuit and Sulpician priests had to justify spending and pleas for funds, so that parish records were a type of ledger. These men had dedicated their lives to the service of the church, and in the early years, to the conversion of "les sauvages" to Roman Catholicism. Parish records became a history of one's life as a priest, and maybe even proof of one's duty and service. From 1621 to 1760, over 300,000 entries of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths were made by priests (see www.agt.net/public/dgarneau). Another source of records were official documents kept by notaries or lawyers, who recorded contracts, agreements, deeds, sales, disbursements, wills, etc.

This begins to explain the confusion of spellings. The settler was left to say who they were, and the listener to record what they heard. Phonetic spelling no doubt ruled the day. Showing the listener a copy of a document to get the spelling correct would cause a repetition of an error. Some settlers did try to sign their names, rather than relying on an "X", but their spelling could be uniquely personal, especially if they missed a letter or two, and thus a new way of spelling a name came into use. Some forgot what letter was supposed to go in which place, and might look at another name or word and, finding a letter which looked like the one forgotten, put that one in the space. Some may have preferred spelling their name a certain way, because it was easier to write or remember, or it had a certain flair or prestige attached, or for any number of reasons, they didn't want to copy a relative or family. As time passed, an "s" or an "e" could be dropped, or an "ette" added, or a less complicated way of spelling introduced, such as "de Chesne" becoming "duChesne" becoming "Duchene".

There was a need or desire to distinguish one offspring from another, for legal and personal reasons. French Canadians did not seem to use today's Jr. or Sr. or II or III; instead they relied on double names, as for example, Francois Godé(t) dit Marentette. Certain first names were quite popular (as among Marentettes: Jacques and Francois and Nic(h)olas) and over-used. Probably, like today, there was a wish to honour a father or grandfather or revered uncle. It was common to give the same name to two siblings, especially if one died young. Names of church Saints were popular, just dropping the St. designation, as in Francois. So there was a need for a distinguishing name to be added, and for the French Canadians, they began adding a "dit" name to accomplish this. Fr. Dennison in attempting to explain "dit" says that it doesn't really translate into English, it is so idiomatically French. His guesses include: "also known as"; "called"; "named"; "to wit".

The reasons behind the names are various and interesting. It could be the name of one's original area, district, parish, community or town, either in France, or in Quebec. It could be a "de" instead of "dit", as for example, "de Marantay" or "de Marentz" in the Marentette family records. This could be emulating the fashion during feudal or seigneurial times for landowners to attach a name to their holdings, and hence refer to themselves as "Seigneur de", which became simply "de". French Canadians would thus be imitating the upper classes, maybe trying to attach a little prestige or respectability to their family names. Sometimes it could be using the father's Christian name, or the mother's surname. A "dit Marentette" first appears attached to Marguerite Duguay, the wife of Jacques Godé(t) who began using the "Godet dit Marentette" designation. Adopting the name of a revered relative in the family, and then using this first or last name as one's "dit" name is another explanation. It could simply be a play on words or a humorous reference to someone's appearance or traits, as is the case for most nicknames today. For example, "Poissant" could have begun as "Poisson" or fish. It could be a reference to a circumstance of birth, as for example, "Portage"! Fr. Dennison says that it was very rare for a name to be associated with one's trade, or occupation or profession, as is frequent for people of say English history.

This brings us to the names Godé and Marentette, and additional spellings. Godé could have originated as describing an object found in nature, maybe a gourd, turned into a utensil for everyday use. In the Upper Loire, around Puy, "Godet" referred to a small wooden drinking glass or vase, or a long wooden sleeve or cylinder used to draw water from a bucket, a silver or crystal ewer (N.-E. Dionne, Les Canadiens-Français: Origins des Familles et Signification de Leurs Noms, 1969). A literal translation of Marentette would not be flattering if used as a nickname: "sea in head" or maybe "Dizzy"? In the Windsor/Detroit area, among coureurs de bois, voyageurs and engages who were working the fur trade, it was common for nicknames to be borrowed from the Indians. Since Jacques Godé(t) is mentioned as "a voyageur" in the records of Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit in 1707, this may have been the source of the dit Marentette nickname, rather than his wife, as mentioned above.

Dionne states that the name Marente, Marentay and other variations was common in Arrentes, Dept. of Vosges, around St. Die. According to C. Tanguay, Dictionnaire des Familles Canadiennes, 1975, the name Marette was a common family name in Normandie (the province from which Nicolas emigrated). In one place, I have seen the entry Nicolas Godé de Marantay, for the original Montreal settler.

Hopefully this begins to explain why the Godés of Ville-Marie became the Marentettes of Detroit and Windsor.