Martin AUCOIN
Biography

Martin, once thought to be the younger half-brother of the Aucoin sisters but evidently from a different family, was born in c1651, probably in France, and came to Port-Royal soon after the first Acadian census was taken in 1671. He married Marie, daughter of Denis Gaudet, at Port-Royal in c1673. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Chignecto and then to the Minas Basin. They had 19 children, including 10 sons, nine of whom created families of their own. Five of their daughters married into the Guérin, Gautrot, Thériot, Thibodeau, and Bourg families. Marie was around 16 at the time of her marriage, had her first child the next year, and gave birth to her 19th child at age 50. Martin died at Grand-Pré in May 1711, age 60. The priest noted in Martin's burial record: "mort subitement le jour de l'Ascension au retour de la messe, ayant toujours vécu fort chrétiennement et avec édification"--that is, he died suddenly on Ascension Day returning from mass, having always lived a very Christian and edifying life.

Oldest son Martin, fils, born at Port-Royal in c1674, married Catherine, daughter of Germain Thériot, probably at Minas in c1698. They had eight children, including three sons who married into the Boudrot, LeBlanc, and LePrince families. Their daughters married into the Boudrot, Comeau, Henry, Duon, and Melanson families.

Michel, born probably at Chignecto in c1677, married Jeanne, daughter of Martin Bourg, probably at Minas in c1699. They had seven children, including four sons who married into the Amireau, Henry, Michel, and LeBlanc families. Their daughters married into the Dugas and Dupuis families.

Alexis, born at Chignecto in c1684, twin of Augustin, who died young, married Anne-Marie, another daughter of Martin Bourg, probably at Minas in c1707. They had 13 children, including 10 sons who married into the Breau, Amireau, Blanchard, Hébert, Girouard, Trahan, Duhon, Lacroix, and Laidez families. Their daughter married into the Breau family.

Pierre, born probably at Minas in c1689, married first to Marie, daughter of Pierre Breau, at Minas in c1716, then to Catherine, daughter of Jean Comeau le jeune, at Grand Pré in c1718.

René, born at Minas in c1690, married Madeleine, daughter of Martin Bourg, in c1712, and moved on to Chignecto by the 1750s. They had nine children, including two sons who married into the Dupuis and Thériot families. Their daughters married into the Landry, LeBlanc, Maillet, Gaudet, Bourgeois, and Comeau families. Some of his descendants moved west into valley of the Petitcoudiac, while others moved to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island.

Antoine, born at Minas in c1694, married Anne, another daughter of Pierre Breau, at Grand-Pré in c1713. They had four children, including two sons who married into the Thibodeau, Daigre, and Hébert families. Their daughter married into the Landry family. Antoine and Anne moved from Grand-Pré to nearby Pigiguit in the 1740s. By the early 1750s, they had moved on either to Île St.-Jean or to Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island.

Joseph, born at Minas in c1698, married Anne, daughter of Jean-Charles Trahan, probably at Minas in c1720.

Jean, birth place and date unrecorded, but it probably was at Minas, married Marguerite, daughter of Claude Pitre, probably at Minas in c1722. By the 1750s, many of their descendants had moved on to Rivière du Nord-Est, St.-Louis, and Rivière-des-Blonds on Île St.-Jean probably to stay clear of the British authorities.

Youngest son Charles, also born at Minas, married Marie or Anne-Marie, daughter of Martin Dupuis, at Grand-Pré in c1726.

By 1755, descendants of Martin Aucoin could be found at Rivière-aux-Canards, Grand-Pré, and Pigiguit in the Minas Basin; at Cobeguit; at Chignecto and Petitcoudiac at the head of the Bay of Fundy; and on Île St.-Jean.

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