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Emigrants arrival

Belgians in America

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Biography :

ALEXANDER MARTIN, proprietor of the Vendome Hotel at Baraga, Baraga County, Michigan, and one of the town's prominent citizens, was born in 1846 in Brussels, Belgium, and is a son of John J. and Adeline B. (Osel) Martin, the surviving members of the family at the present time being our subject and two sisters. The latter are: Celine, who married Francis Hannan, of Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Marie Eleanor Odrate, who married Joseph Dyne, now deceased, and lives at Green Bay. ,Joseph Dyne was a soldier in the Civil War and died from disease there contracted.

Alexander Martin was about five years old when his parents came to America and settled near Philadelphia, at Manyunk. Shortly after they removed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, which at that time was an insignificant town, and there they reared their children. Alexander commenced business life in the capacity of clerk in a clothing store at the age of 14 years, and the outbreak of the Civil War found him there.

In the spring of 1862, when 17 years old, Mr. Martin enlisted in Company G, 17th Reg., Wisconsin Vol. Inf., as a drummer boy, and saw hard service in the armies of the West and the Potomac and accompanied General Sherman on that memorable march to the sea. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg and later returned with his command for three months to this beleaguered and conquered- city. It Nvas his fortune to also participate in the battle of Gettysburg and at the time of the surrender of General Lee he was with Sherman's forces near Richmond.

At the close of the war Mr. Martin returned to Green Bay, having escapes both wounds and imprisonment, although he faced many marvellous adventures and often was in great danger of both life and liberty. Mr. Martin then passed some time on a Wisconsin farm and in 1871 he came to the Northern Peninsula and engaged in clerking until he embarked in the business for himself. in 1886, remaining at Hayfield from 1887 until 1895, when he removed to Baraga. He conducted the McKinley House in Baraga for five years, and in 1899 took charge of the Vendome Hotel, where he has been established ever since. He is a very popular host and by those kindnesses, courtesies and comforts which warm the weary traveler's heart, he has won the bulk of tile patronage in the town.

On April 23, 1868, Mr. Martin married Adelaide Gauyan, who was born at Kewaunee, Wisconsin. No children had been born to this union, but Mr. and Mrs. Martin have given kindness and protection to three adopted children. Fratemally Mr. Martin is associated with the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America.

Mr. Martin comes of old and distinguished ancestry-. From the "Dictionaire Geographic;" a reliable work of 4 volumes published in 1854 at Brussels, we learn that three brothers of the name of Martin were living in Paris in the latter part of the 17th century who were so renowned as duelists that they had been given the name of "Batailles." One was a painter of great renown, who painted many of the battles fought by Louis XIV. Another was a noted diplomat, sent to the court of Vienna as an ambassador by King Louis. The third fought under King Louis XIV in the war for the Spanish succession. In 1706 many French soldiers settled near Ramillies and one was a Martin who located in the parish of Dionleval, married and lived there until 1732, leaving children, the eldest, Jean, being nicknamed "Batailles." He died in 1798, a very old man, leaving children by his wife, Barbara Raillet. The children divided the land into five equal parts, of which Ambrose Martin, our subject's grandfather, received one share.

Ambrose Martin was born in 1765 and died in 1852. He reared two children through his marriage to Jeannie Joseph Delfosse, namely: Jean, the father of our subject; and Annie, who married Joseph Masy. Ambrose Martin served in the Napoleonic wars and was a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle of Waterloo. Our subject has a very interesting collection of his grandfather's accoutrements and the musket he carried on that memorable occasion. When his father brought it to America it had the old flint lock, which he had later replaced by a modern tube and percussion hammer.

Jean Martin, the father of our subject, was born November 2, 1804, in Paris, and died November 21, 1870, at Green Bay, Wisconsin. His wife, a native of Belgium, died September 17, 1874. The six children who have passed away are as follows: Constant Joseph. Xavier, Martin Leon, Pierre Joseph. Desire and Elsie Xavier.

Sources :
J. H. Mertens : "The Second Battle"
Anonymous : "Biographical record, Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties"; Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co., 1903, 378  pgs. for the above biography