Census Soundex Code: M630

Variant Spellings: Martian, Martiaw, Martiew, Martue, Martu, Marti, Martel, Marteau, Martineau

Martell, Martel (English, French) The worker who used a hammer in a smithy; a nickname for warrier.

Martin, Marten, Martens, Martyn (French, Spanish, English) Descendant of Martinus [belonging to the god Mars, the god of war]; one who came from Martin, the name of places in Spain and France. The popularity of the name in Western Europe is due to St. Martin of Tours, the fourth century French saint.
Source: New Dictionary of American Family Names by Elsdon C. Smith, Gramercy Publishing Company, New York, 1988.

This portion of the Family Roots and Branches is dedicated to the study of Nicolas Martiau (pronounced Mar-ti-o) and his descendants.

"The Adventurous Huguenot" and the father of Yorktown, Virginia, was born in France 1591, came to Virginia in 1620 and died in 1657 at Yorktown, Virginia. He was a Captain in the Jamestown militia during the Indian uprisings, a member of the Colonial Virginia House of Burgesses, and Justice of the County of York. In 1635 he was a leader in the thrusting out of Governor Harvey which was the first opposition to British Colonial Policy. He is the original patentee for Yorktown. He is buried at the Grace Church in Yorktown, Virginia.

Descendants of Nicolas are through his daughters, Mary (married Lt. Colonel John Scarsbrook), Sarah (married Captain William Fuller, Puritian governor of Maryland), and Elizabeth (married Lt. Col. George Reade). Nicolas is the earliest American ancestor of our first President George Washington.

Among the descendants of Nicolas Martiau we find - in addition to Washington - one Vice President of the United States, two Justices of the Supreme Court, three ministers to foreign countries, three cabinet officers, six governors of states, eight senators, eleven generals involved in the War Between the States, fifteen congressman, forty commissioned officers who served in the American Revolution, and a veritable host of men and women prominent in national life. Such names as General Thomas Nelson, a signer of the Declaration of Independance; Meriwether Lewis, explorer of Lewis and Clark fame; Duff Green; Thomas Nelson Page and Amelia Rives are of special interest.

In the early 20th century the registrar of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of Virginia contains the names of more than four hundred women who could trace their lineage to Nicolas Martiau.

Nicolas Martiau is my 15th great grandfather and one of two of my earliest American ancestors. Here is my line of descendent from that adventurous Hugenout - Nicolas Martiau:

Larry Van Horn, NMDA Member #174 (Scar(s)brook-Condon-Wills)

1. Nicolas Martiau & Jane ? (Berkley)
2. John Scar(s)brook & Mary Martiau
3. David Condon & Elizabeth Scar(s)brook
4. Elias Wills & Mary Condon
5. John Wills & Susanna Robertson
6. James Cole & Mary Wills
7. James Cole & Fanny Chisman Wills
8. Ware Oglesby & Elizabeth Dancy Cole
9. Aaron Redus & Lucy Ann Oglesby
10. James Ware Redus Jr & Leah Magee
11. Alexander Hamilton David Hurt & Mary Susan Redus
12. James Ira Hurt & Johanna Himena Schneider
13. Witt Lange Van Horn and Jeanette Iris Hurt

The link below is to an Adobe Acrobat PDF Descendants Chart that shows six generations of Nicolas Martiau Descendants. If you are a descendant of any of the below listed in this chart you are eligible for membership in the Nicolas Martiau Descendant Association (see below). The lines represented on this chart are lines that are accepted for membership in the NMDA. As more information is entered into our genealogy database, new charts will be placed on this website and the NMDA website. Be sure to check for these pages for future updates.

Genealogist who can prove descend from Nicolas Martiau are eligible for membership in the Nicolas Martiau Descendant Association (NMDA). The NMDA was started in 1991. Two first cousins from California went to Yorktown to meet Dick Ivy (recently deceased), the Towne Crier and Historian, for a tour of the Martiau Family sites. One cousin fell and injured a knee, was propped up by the wall of the Grace Church cemetery. A lone man was in the mist, reading inscriptions. He paused at the Colonel George Reade/Elizabeth Martiau stone, not aware of the Martiau Family buried there without a marker. This one act prompted the chain of events culminating in the first Tribute to Martiau held in 1993 and the 1997 grave marker dedication. A second Tribute was held in the Spring of 2000 and the third was held Spring 2004 in Yorktown. The cousins were Lee Yandell and Marty Dale. (Reade-Reade-Wattington).

The NMDA had over 182 members nationwide. I have the honor of serving as the National Registrar for this proud and prestigous lineage based organization. You can get more information on the NMDA by contacting me, Larry Van Horn, via email (link at bottom of this webpage) or visiting the official NMDA website at:

At this website you can download lineage and application formsin pdf format to aid you in the application process. On the website you will find selected members lineages, news, events, history and much more.

Thanks to Glee Genealogy Graphics for the graphics used in this site. Click the logo to view Glenda's website. Graphics designed and created by Glenda B ©1998 Glee Graphics

Webpage: martiaumain.htm
Webpage Created: 10 August 2005
Last Update: 15 December 2005
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