ARE WE RELATED?

Although we are now living on the west coast of the United States, and our roots are in small-town (Stratford) Ontario, Canada, they didn't start there. The Major clan eventually migrated over the provincial border from Quebec (New France), Canada, but at this point we have been able to track our roots back to Montresain, Besancon, France. As a matter of fact our family ended up in Quebec as a part of a French military contigent sent to defend "New France" from the British.

In an interesting development, we found that our roots didn't start out as "Major" at all. The earliest ancestor that we have been able to track down was Claude Boutron, born sometime between 1629-1659 in Montresain, Besancon, France. With Claude and his wife Blaise Saindo's son, the first appearance of the name "Major" appeared - Étienne Boutron -dit Major was born in 1678. Étienne was a member of a French Naval company who came to "New France" to assist local authorities in defending French colonies and ships. This "dit-Major" seems to have stuck around for four generations, when we see it evolve in 1847 with Joachim Majore. I have no idea why the letter "e" was added for two generations, but in 1911 our surname became "Major" with my grandfather Joachim Major.

Here is a simplified version of our (Major) family tree: Claude Boutron (Born Bet. 1629–1659) --> Étienne Beautron dit-Major (B. 1678) --> Jean-Baptiste Victor Beautron dit-Major (B. 1713) --> Jean-Baptiste Beautron dit-Major (B. 1752) --> Joachim Beautron dit-Major (B. 1811) --> Joachim Majore (B. 1847) --> Thomas Gregoire Majore (B. 1874) --> Joachim Major (B. 1911) [my grandfather].


As for my "better half", my wife Denise's maiden name was Martin and her family traces back to @ 1669 in Switzerland. The earliest known ancestor in the Martin clan (Christian Martin) came to America (Lancaster County, PA) in 1749 after having spent at least 30 years in prison because of his faith (Christian Mennonite). Here is a simplified version of the Martin family tree: Christian Martin (B. @ 1669) --> David Martin (B. 1691) --> Abraham G. Martin (B. 1749) --> David O. Martin (B. 1771) --> Christian G. Martin (B. 1864) --> Eli B. Martin (B. 1836) --> Nathaniel M. Martin (B. 1862) --> Ezra E. Martin (B. 1891) [Denise's grandfather]