Anthony Martell (1782-12-11 – 1854-03-28) and Lucinda Holmes (1786-03-07 – 1872-03-18) were my 4th-great-grandparents, being the parents of Ruth Huntington. Anthony was born in Main-à-Dieu, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Lucinda was born in Hartland, Vermont, but her family were Loyalists and fled to Canada after the American Revolution.

Origins

Anthony was the son of Irish immigrant Charles Martell. Anthony’s mother is said to be Ann Schmidt from Switzerland, although I’m looking for proof of this.

Charles’s ultimate origin is much discussed. He is often claimed to be of French Huguenot ancestry, but this is disputed, with some arguing the Martell family could be entirely Irish. I have yet to examine this debate in detail, but preliminarily there is evidence of some French ancestry.

Lucinda was the daughter of Stetson Holmes and Anna Shurtleff. They moved to Vermont, still under British control, after the Revolution, and moved to Nova Scotia around 1800.

Family

Anthony and Lucinda married in Sydney, Cape Breton in 1803-08. They had twelve children, all born in Cape Breton, the first eight in Main-à-Dieu, the last four in Mira:^ref ref

1. Joseph (1804-08-25 – 1877-07-30), died in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^ref
2. Annie (1806-08-01 – 1865-11-29)
3. Ruth (1808-07-06 – 1900-03-20)
4. John (1810-08-13 – 1899-06-12)
5. Sophia (1812-11-01 – 1895-01-11)
6. Arnold (1814-09-25 – 1884-02-27)
7. Charles (1816-08-08 – 1873-10-22)
8. Anthony (1818-11-01 – 1906-07-19)
9. Lucinda (1820-12-16 – 1908-08-24)
10. Thomas (1833-01-03 – 1893-03-11)
11. Caroline (1834-12-13 – 1910-01-02)^ref
12. Jane (1836-10-31 – 1865-04-01)

Ancestry of Lucinda