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Jean Costé & Anne Martin

Discover the story of Jean Costé/Côté and Anne Martin, among the earliest pioneers of New France. They helped establish the first farming community in Beauport and became the ancestors of nearly all North American Côtés. This detailed genealogy explores their lives, landholdings, and legacy in 17th-century Québec.

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Jean Costé & Anne Martin

Among the First Settlers of Québec and Beauport

 

Jean Costé (or Côté) was born in France. His exact origins, the names of his parents, and his date of birth are unknown. He likely arrived in New France in 1635.

Note on Jean’s arrival: Many genealogical narratives assert that Jean Costé arrived in Québec on July 20, 1635, attributing the claim to the Relations des Jésuites. In fact, no such detail appears in the 1635 Relation narrative (French Volume I / Thwaites English Volume VII ), which is purely missionary in focus and contains no arrival logs or mention of Costé. The date does appear, but only in the List of Missionaries appended to Volume 71 of the Thwaites Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, where it states that Father François‑Joseph Le Mercier “arrived in Canada, July 20, 1635.” It appears that later writers conflated this summary entry about a missionary with an actual record in the Relation, thereby attributing Costé’s presumed arrival date to the wrong source. The only contemporary primary record that confirms Costé’s presence in Québec in 1635 is his marriage from November that year.

Anne Martin was born around 1603 in France. Like her future husband, her exact origins and the names of her parents remain unknown. As a Fille à marier, she likely arrived in Canada in the same year as Jean, possibly even on the same ship.

Life in New France in the 1630s

Artificial intelligence image created by the author with ChatGPT (August 2025)

When Jean Costé and Anne Martin likely arrived in 1635, New France was still a tenuous foothold along the St. Lawrence River, governed by the Compagnie des Cent-Associés. Following the English occupation of Québec from 1629 to 1632, the French sought to rebuild and repopulate the colony. By 1635, its population was likely no more than 250–300 people, concentrated in Québec and the newly founded post of Trois-Rivières. Recruitment efforts in France targeted skilled labourers, farmers, and engagés, offering passage, provisions, and the promise of land. Jesuit missionaries were also brought to strengthen Catholic influence.

Daily life was marked by isolation, subsistence farming, and reliance on alliances with Indigenous nations for trade and survival. Houses were simple wooden structures, food came from gardens, hunting, fishing, and Indigenous trade, and religious observance shaped community rhythms. Into this small, vulnerable, and tightly knit society, Jean Costé and Anne Martin began their lives in New France.

Marriage and Children

Jean and Anne were married on November 17, 1635, in Québec, by the Jesuit priest Charles Lallemant. Their witnesses were Guillaume Couillard and Robert Giffard. They were only the sixth couple to marry in New France.

1635 marriage of Jean “Cotté” and Anne Martin (Généalogie Québec)

 

Artificial intelligence image created by the author with ChatGPT (August 2025)

 

The couple made their home in the small settlement of Québec, where they raised a family of eight children:

  1. Louis (1636–bef. 1669), married Élisabeth Langlois

  2. Simone (1637–aft. 1698), married Pierre Soumande

  3. Martin (1639–1710), married Suzanne Pagé

  4. Mathieu (1642–1696), married Élisabeth Gravel

  5. Jean (1644–bef. 1722), married Anne Couture

  6. Noël (1646–1701), married Hélène Graton

  7. Marie (1648–1648)

  8. Louise (1650–bef. 1696), married Jean Grignon

Copy of 1645 Beauport Land Concession to Jean Costé (page 1 of 3) (FamilySearch)

A Home in Beauport

Soon after their marriage, around 1635, Jean is said to have verbally obtained a land concession from Robert Giffard in his Beauport seigneurie. The property was located near the Montmorency Falls, between the Beauport and Montmorency rivers. It measured three arpents of frontage along the St. Lawrence River, extending the full depth of the seigneurie—about 126 arpents. His immediate neighbours were Zacharie Cloutier and Noël Langlois. The concession was officially recorded a decade later, on the afternoon of February 5, 1645, by notary Guillaume Tronquet. Under the agreement, Jean was to pay 20 sols and two capons in annual seigneurial rente per arpent of frontage. The record notes that he could not sign his name.  

Copy of 1645 Beauport Land Concession to Jean Costé (page 2 of 3) (FamilySearch)

Copy of 1645 Beauport Land Concession to Jean Costé (page 3 of 3) (FamilySearch)

 

Map of the seigneurie of Beauport before 1634, copied by an unidentified author from the original created by Samuel de Champlain (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

 

Land Transactions and Later Life

In addition to his original Beauport concession, Jean received another grant on August 27, 1636, from Governor Charles de Montmagny on behalf of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France. This parcel, located on the “main road between Québecq and Cap Rouge,” measured one arpent of frontage along the road, with a depth extending to the St. Lawrence River, and bordered the land of Jacques Sevestre. Under the agreement, Jean was to pay six livres of cens per arpent of frontage. It is unknown whether Jean and Anne ever lived on this property, which today would be near the Martello Tower on the Plains of Abraham. The original concession document has not survived but is referenced in a later sale dated 1652.   

Extract of the 1652 sale which describes Jean’s land on the outskirts of Québec (FamilySearch)

On July 21, 1641, Jean and his neighbour Noël Langlois entered into a contract with the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France to deliver 500 bales of hay for 80 livres. The agreement, drawn up by notary Martial Piraube at Fort Saint-Louis in Québec, records that both men could not sign and left their marks.

Jean Costé and Noël Langlois’s marks on the 1641 contract (FamilySearch)

Around 1642, Jean acquired a lot in Québec’s Upper Town, situated between “the land belonging to the parish church” and “the house and land belonging to Martin Boutet.” Measuring 150 feet of frontage by 60 feet in depth, the lot contained a small house valued at 450 livres. On November 15, 1649, Jean and Anne sold the property to Pierre Soumande for 300 livres as part of Soumande’s marriage contract to their daughter Simone. [The location corresponds approximately to the modern corner of rue du Trésor and rue de Buade, the current site of Café Buade.]

Although he owned a house in Québec, Jean likely resided there only sporadically, maintaining his Beauport concession as his principal home since 1635.

On August 11, 1652, Jean sold his “main road between Québecq and Cap Rouge” property to master arquebusier Antoine Leboesme dit Lalime for 300 livres, payable in merchandise from the Compagnie des Habitants store. The buyer assumed all future cens and rente obligations. The deed, recorded by notary Rolland Godet, identifies Jean as an habitant of New France.

Conflict with the Iroquois

Between 1650 and 1660, Québec and its surrounding settlements, including Beauport, endured persistent threats of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) attack. Following the destruction of the Huron-Wendat Confederacy in 1648–1649, the French lost a vital ally and buffer in the fur trade. The Iroquois, particularly the Mohawk, shifted their focus toward French settlements, launching swift raids to disrupt farming, seize captives, and control trade routes along the St. Lawrence River.

For Beauport residents, danger was constant. Farmers risked attack within sight of their homes; some were killed or taken while working fields or travelling between concessions. While fortified Québec itself was rarely targeted, its outlying habitations were vulnerable, and many isolated farms were abandoned. Daily routines adapted: guards stood watch while others worked, sentries patrolled river landings, and any travel beyond the town walls required an armed escort. 

By the late 1650s, the situation worsened as the Iroquois consolidated control over western trade and intensified pressure on French settlements. In 1660, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux and his companions intercepted a major Iroquois war party at Long Sault, stalling what may have been a large-scale assault on Ville-Marie (Montréal). Though raids on Québec and Beauport continued, the confrontation bought critical time until the arrival of the Carignan–Salières Regiment in 1665, which marked a turning point in the conflict.

During these dangerous years, families sought safety in numbers. Jean and Noël Langlois decided to live closer together, with Jean renting a small portion of Langlois’s property for an annual 5 sols. There, Jean and Anne built a modest house and remained until the threat subsided, after which they returned to their own Beauport concession.

The last known notarial record involving Jean dates to February 3, 1653, when he transferred a sum of [thirty?] livres to his son-in-law, Pierre Soumande, a master edge-tool maker. The deed, recorded by notary Guillaume Audouart dit Saint-Germain in Québec, describes Jean as an habitant of the côte de Beauport and notes that he could not sign his name. This transaction is the final known document before his death.

Death of Jean Costé

Jean Costé died on March 27, 1661, and was buried the following day inside the parish church of Québec. The translated burial record states:   

 

"In the year 1661, on March 28, Jean Costé, a former habitant of this country, who died the previous day at his home, was buried in the church.”

 

1661 burial of Jean Costé (Généalogie Québec)

Anne Martin in the Census

Five years later, the 1666 census of New France records 63-year-old Anne living in Beauport with her three sons and a domestic servant named Michel Aloup.

1666 census for the family of Anne Martin (Library and Archives Canada)

The following year’s census again lists Anne in Beauport, now with her sons, their spouses, and André Morin (likely a servant). The household owned 30 arpents of cleared and cultivated land described as “valuable,” along with three head of livestock.

1667 census for the family of Anne Martin (Library and Archives Canada)

Anne does not appear in the 1681 census. She was likely living with one of her children and was missed by the enumerator. The next record of her is dated June 7, 1683, when notary Paul Vachon recorded a quittance (receipt) given to her by Noël Langlois. This is her final appearance in notarial records before her death.

Death of Anne Martin

Anne Martin outlived her husband by more than two decades. She died at about 81 years of age on December 4, 1684, in the home of merchant François Hazeur in Québec, Canada, and was buried the following day in the parish cemetery.

1684 burial of Anne Martin (Généalogie Québec)

The Côté Family Legacy

Plaque of the first settlers of Québec (Christian Lemire 2007, © Ministère de la Culture et des Communications)

According to the Association des Côté d’Amérique, Jean is recognized among the founding pioneers of Québec and is listed as one of the first eight land clearers in Beauport.  A large proportion of Côtés in Québec — and many in North America — descend from Jean and Anne. Furthermore, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec (2006 data), Côté ranks as the fourth most common surname in Québec.

The names of Jean Costé and Anne Martin are also inscribed on the plaque Les premiers colons de Québec (The First Settlers of Québec) on the Louis Hébert monument.

From their likely arrival in 1635 to their final years in Beauport and Québec City, Jean Costé and Anne Martin’s lives embody the resilience, adaptability, and determination of New France’s earliest settlers. Through marriage, land acquisition, and the raising of a large family, they secured a lasting place in the colony’s history. Their experiences—shaped by the hazards of frontier life, the obligations of the seigneurial system, and the ever-present threat of conflict—reflect the broader story of survival and community-building in 17th-century Canada. Today, as the ancestors of nearly all North American Côtés, their legacy endures not only in the thousands of descendants who carry their name, but also in the historical record, monuments, and collective memory of Québec’s founding families.

 
 
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