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Unfortunately, our researches, without access to any documents in Cuba, have been unable to uncover the origin of the Martel branch in our family.
According to the Diccionario de Apellidos Espanoles, the "Martel" surname is fairly common in the Canary Islands and in certain zones of Andalucia. The surname appears to be a castilian form of the catalan surname "Martell", which derives from the catalan "martell" (martillo=hammer), either as the nickname of the tool of that name or as a reference to the medieval french king Carlos (Charles) Martel (VII century), who according to tradition, fought the sarracens in the battle of Poitiers using as a weapon a mace (from whence his nickname). Martel is also a popular surname in France, probably deriving from the french "martel" (martel=hammer, maze) or as a reference to the aforementioned Charles Martel. The Diccionario states that because of it prevalence in the Canaries, it is most likely that the surname derives from catalans who resided in the Canaries since antiquity.
According to Carraffa's Enciclopedia Heráldica y Genealógica, a branch of the house of Martel, descendants of the Royal House of France and of Charles Martell or Martelo, progenitor of the Emperor Charlemange (Carlo Magno), settled in Galicia and from there to Seville. Other authors are quoted saying that there were two distinct lineages, the original one from Galicia and another, originally named "Marteli" which originated in the city of Florence in Italy and also settled in Seville.
Another theory, promulgated by our own Armando de la Torre, postulates that our Martel branch originated in Perpignan, France from where they settled in Saint Domingue (now Haiti). They were landowners and farmers there. After the slave revolt in the early 1800s, many French residents of St. Domingue escaped to Cuba and settled primarily in Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. One should also note that the city of Cienfuegos in Cuba was founded in 1819 specifically to become the home of French refugee families from Louisiana and other emigrants from Bordeaux, France. It thus might be reasonable to presume that our branch of the Martel's may have moved there to be among other people of French descent, if indeed they were of French origin.
Purusing this second theory, we examined the microfilms of consular correspondence from the French Consulates in Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa concerning the refugees from St. Domingue but found no reference to anyone with the surname Martel. There is also no reference to anyone with that surname in the list of French plantation owners resident in Cuba in 1843 (see references below).
The earliest reference we have been able to find about our branch of the family is a brief mention of his maternal grandfather, Felix Martel, in the autobiographical book "Mis Primeros Treinta Años" by General Manuel Piedra Martel, hero of the Cuban War of Independence. In this book, he describes his family as "descendant from agricultural families who were wealthy some time before but had been ruined by the time of my birth" (1868). Felix Martel, who at the time lived in Guatá, a rural subdivision of Sagua la Grande, is described as a melancholy man who, due to the deep political perturbations affecting the country, had witnessed the economic collapse of his entire family and the killing, persecution and jailing of other members of the family "which he did not escape".
References:
- Diccionario de Apellidos Españoles - Roberto Faure, Maria Asuncion Ribes & Antonio Garcia, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, Second Edition: June 2002, ISBN 84-239-2289-8
- Diccionario Heráldico y Genealógico de Apellidos Españoles y Americanos - Alberto & Arturo García Carraffa, Nueva Imprenta Radio, S.A., Madrid 1953.
- Mis Primeros Treinta Años - General Manuel Piedra Martel, Editorial Minerva, Habana, 1943.
- Correspondence from the French Consular delegations regarding refugees from St. Domingue (Haiti) to Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. LDS microfilm FHL INTL Film # 960762, 960763, 960764.
- French Plantation Owners Resident in Cuba (1843), Vol 13 Microfilm P13688 from the French Ministry of Foreign Relations, transcribed by Emmanuel de la Burgade and posted on the Web at: www.cubagenweb.org/french/french.htm