SECTION III
That Philip and Martha Were Married in France
That Philip and Martha had been married some years before Philip
purchased the home in Beverly (1698) is evidenced by the fact that their
eldest child, John, was at that time over three years of age, having been
born(1) Jan. 1st., 1695. And in the light of this fact, and of the evidence
elsewhere presented that Philip and Martha were of French nationality and
were scarcely English-speaking at the time Philip purchased the Beverly
home, it may reasonably be concluded that their marriage took place in some
French-speaking community and quite probably in France itself. In looking
then for the marriage record of Philip and Martha we must in all reason
turn to French records of about 1693-94, should such be in existence after all
the vicissitudes of French history over this period of nearly two hundred and
fifty years.
Although in the light of the above evidence, that the marriage of Philip
and Martha took place in France, it seemed unnecessary to look for a record
of their marriage in the vital statistics of other Massachusetts towns of that
time, we nevertheless have done this, with the result only of confirming the
above conclusion that their marriage did not take place in the land of their
adoption, and that they were married before leaving the old world.
TEXTUAL NOTES TO SECTION III
- See for date of his birth the town book of Beverly for that time, in which
is given a list of the six children of Philip and Martha by birth date and
given name. This cannot be accepted as evidence that John was born at
— 14 —