Mac is exactly right, one of my GGGGGrandmothers was a Catherine Martin-Pellend of Berthier, Quebec. Her father was 1st Lt Francois Martin-Pellend who fought on the Colonist's side during the American Revolutionary War in a French Canadian Regiment. He was killed in battle in Fishkill, NY in 1778. Martin is the family surname, Pellend is the "dit" name and is related to the place in France where the family originated from. My French GGGrandfather was Cassimer Rochelle. My problem in tracking down his family is that he took as his last name the "dit" name and not his family name(believed to be Gautron). There are 14 other French surnames associated with Rochelle, like Bonnet and Bouton. After the American Revolutionary War the number of French Canadians emigrating down into America increased significantly. In order to blend into American society as early as say 1820 many French Canadians either dropped their family surnames or the "dit" name. So there may be many more French Martins out there hidden under a different surname. A "dit" name refers to a place of family origin or a family trade. Ed Hagerty