Nicolas Martiau (; 1591–1657) was a Frenchman who immigrated to the English colony of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in the 17th century. He was born on the western island of

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; en, Isle of Ré, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its high ...

. The garden behind the

Ernest Cognacq Museum The Ernest Cognacq Museum ( French: ''Musée Ernest Cognacq'') is a French regional history museum, located in the city of Saint Martin de Ré, Île de Ré, France. The museum is housed in the "Hotel de Clerjotte", built in 1470-1480 by Louis C ...

in Saint Martin de Ré holds a monument with a statue of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, with the base of the monument featuring a medallion representing Martiau. The monument was inaugurated on October 11, 2007, by the ambassador of the United States to France. The relationship between the two men is described on the monument.

Life

Nothing is known of Martiau's youth except that he had learned to read by studying the Gospels and

the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

. At the same time he absorbed the doctrine of

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

, and learned to speak English. It is likely that, because of the political and religious context of the time, he was forced into exile in England since his signature is found on a register and a Huguenot church. On January 11, 1619, he was naturalised English. He married Englishwoman Elizabeth Jane Page. Nicolas Martiau's will written March 1, 1656/7, proven April 24, 1657, names daughters Elizabeth Reade, Mary Scarsbrook, Sarah Fuller, his three sons-in-law and provided freedom for slaves Phill and Nicholas. He also left one "heifer" to his servant Hugh Roy. On May 16, 1620, Nicolas Martiau, aged 29, left England on the Francis Bonaventure in August 1620 and arrived in Jamestown where he built the fence defense which allowed the city to be spared in a massacre by the Powhatan Confederacy in 1622. The success of this action earned him the title of "master engineer fences". Nicolas Martiau was married to Jane Berkeley. In 1646, he remarried Isabel (Isabella) Beech, widow of Robert Felgate and George Beech. He died in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Co ...

, in 1657.

Notable descendants

(1732–1799) – General of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, first American President; 3rd great-grandson *

Thomas Nelson Jr. Thomas Nelson Jr. (December 26, 1738 – January 4, 1789) was an American Founding Father, soldier and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia. In addition to serving in the Virginia General Assembly for many terms, he twice represented Virginia in t ...

(1738–1789) – Brigadier General, Signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

, Governor of Virginia; 3rd great-grandson *

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, wit ...

(1774–1809) – American explorer, Governor of Louisiana Territory; 4th great-grandson *

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

(1885-1945) – General of the United States Army during World War II; 8th and 9th great-grandson *

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

– Queen of the United Kingdom; 10th great-granddaughter WikiTree contributors, "Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)," and "Nicolas Martiau (1591-1657)," WikiTree, https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:Relationship&action=calculate&person1Name=Windsor-1&person2Name=Martiau-2 (accessed 23 August 2022).

References

exhibit and monument.
Genealogy
* Nicolas Martiau, the adventurous Huguenot, the military engineer, and the earliest American ancestor of George Washington, by John Baer Stoudt (Norristown, Pa.: he Norristown Press1932). {{DEFAULTSORT:Martiau, Nicolas 1591 births 1657 deaths 17th-century French people Washington family French emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Virginia colonial people People from Yorktown, Virginia