Appendix 7: Additional Martin Family Material

Additional Martin Family Material

Martin Family Germantown Land Transactions

Analyzed by William A. Martin

Because of his extensive study of the Martin family in his book, A Martin Genealogy, Tied to the History of Germanna, Virginia, the author requested the assistance of Mr. Martin in determining the ancestory of “Honest” John Martin by analyzing the various Germantown land transactions. The following is Mr. Martin’s kind response. [589]

… The map of Germantown, shown on page 1 of the News and Notes from the Fauquier Historical Society, Spring-Summer 1993, you enclosed has been replaced through extensive research of the deeds associated with Germantown since it was first divided up (deeded) in 1729 into the 1800s.

This is mentioned in my book on pages 51 and 52. The Germanna Record, Nr. 2, is devoted to mapping out Germantown and showing the ownership of the land well in to the 1800s. [On the next page is an enlarged version of the map from page [ ??] of what Germantown looked like in 1729 after the smoke cleared away and the deeds were let.

Although not shown, not everyone has the equal share that was determined in 1724, and this is because several transactions had occurred among the members of the group prior to 1729, and the 1729 deeds only reflect the land ownership at that time. There are no records saying what happened between 1724 and 1729.

In the 1729 plat, lot 11 (upper and lower) was the original Martin place and lot.

15 was the German Glebe. “A” marks the approximate location of the Martin Cemetery. “B” marks the approximate location of the birthplace of Chief Justice, John Marshall—just for reference.

Referring to the map sort of helps in understanding what I want to portray and then I can discuss the ramification of what I point out.

I’m not going into (every) who owned what so much as I want to point out Martin ownership over the years after the original deeds were let.

Lot 7 (upper and lower) was John Jacob Rector’s lot, even though he was dead by 1729. The trustees provided an original deed to his widow, Elizabeth (Fishback) Rector, who later married John Marr.

deeded to Elizabeth’s son, Harmon Rector, in 1746.
inherited by Harmon Rector, Jr., on the death of his father in 1789.
deeded by Harmon Rector, Jr., to John Martin in 1799.
inherited by Louisa Martin from her father, John Martin, in 1823.
deeded by Louisa (Martin) McLaren and her husband, Neale McLaren, to Jacob Weaver in 1833.

Lot 11 (upper and lower) was John Joseph Martin’s lot. John Joseph Martin probably died about 1758-59 at Germantown, and his 2nd wife, Eve, lived until about 1778-1781. Although no will has been found, it would appear that Eve inherited the upper half and the oldest son, Henry, inherited the lower half when John Joseph Martin died.

The upper half was in the possession of Eve Martin, the widow, in 1777
The upper half was owned by John Joseph Martin’s son of the second wife, Eve, John Martin in 1783 and later years, apparently inherited.
The upper half was inherited by Henry Martin from his father, John Martin, in 1823.
The lower half was deeded in 1772 by John Joseph Martin’s eldest son, Henry Martin, to his son, Samuel Martin. From this we can assume Henry inherited the land from his father and then deeded it to his son. Samuel still owned the land in 1790, but had been living in Kentucky for several years.
The lower half was deeded by Samuel Martin to Tilman Weaver in 1796.

Lot 12 was John Kemper’s lot and at his death was in the possession of his son, Henry Kemper.

The upper half was deeded by Henry Kemper to John Martin in 1760 and John still owned it in 1790.
The upper half was inherited by Henry Martin from his father, John Martin, in 1823.
The lower half was deeded by Henry Kemper to Jeremiah Darnall in 1764.
The lower half was deeded by Jeremiah Darnall to John Shanks in 1773.
The lower half was deeded by John Shanks to John Misner in 1784, who still owned it 1790.
The lower half was deeded by John Misner to Dunlap Fisher in 1795.
The lower half was deeded by Dunlap Fisher to John Martin in 1818.
The lower half was inherited by Elizabeth Martin (who married William Weaver) from her father, John Martin, in 1823.

Lot 13 was Harman Fishback’s lot.

The upper half was deeded by Harman Fishback and his son, Harmon, Jr., to John Martin in 1775 and John still owned it in 1790.
The upper half was inherited by Henry Martin from his father, John Martin, in 1823.
The lower half was deeded by Harman Fishback and his son, Harmon, Jr., to John Shanks.
The lower half was deeded by John Shanks to John Misner in 1784.
The lower half was deeded by John Misner to Dunlap Fisher in 1795.
The lower half was deeded by Dunlap Fisher to John Martin in 1818.
The lower half was inherited by Elizabeth Martin (who married William Weaver)

from her father, John Martin, in 1823.

Lot 15 was the Germantown Glebe, but was apparently being “held” by Jacob Holtzclaw.

In 1754, Jacob Holtzclaw and John Hoffman (one of three trustees of the grant along with Holtzclaw and John Fishback, and John Fishback died in 1733) sold the upper half to Tilman Weaver, John Kemper, John Joseph Martin, Harman Fishback, and Peter Hitt, the surviving members of the original colony.
In 1771, Fishback, Hitt, and the heirs of Weaver and Kemper, deeded the upper half to Tilman Martin, son of John Joseph Martin.
In 1779, Tilman Martin died and his widow deeded to upper half to Jererniah Danal1.

“So a recap of where we stood in 1823 looks like this:

lot 7 went out of Martin control in 1833.

lot 11 upper was in the hands of Henry Martin in 1823, s/o of John Martin.

lot 11 lower went out of Martin control in 1796.

lot 12 upper was in the hands of Henry Martin in 1823, s/o of John Martin.

lot 12 lower was in the hands of Elizabeth Martin in 1823 and she married William Weaver.

lot 13 upper was in the hands of Henry Martin in 1823, s/o of John Martin.

lot 13,lower was in the hands of Elizabeth Martin in 1823 and she married William Weaver.

lot 15 upper went out of Martin hands in 1779.

Henry Martin, son of John Martin, and (believed to be the grandson of John Joseph Martin—I say believed to be because no one has to my satisfaction solved the John Martin dilemma of why he did not leave anything to his children of the first wife, Caty, if these are the same John Martin) was living on the upper half of the original Martin lot and had the adjoining upper half of lot 12 and upper half of lot 13—the only Martin family still living on Germantown land.

This would certainly indicate that no John Martin was living on any Germantown land after John Martin died in 1823; however, there was an 1807 deed for 70 acres on Licking Run (next to, but not of, the original Germantown grant) from Tilman Martin to his son, Hezekiah Martin, and in 1813, Hezekiah Martin deeded the same land to John Martin (Hezekiah’s uncle as John and Tilman were brothers, we think). This land was not transferred at John’s death and that may be because he had already deeded it to one or more of his heirs of the first marriage. As yet, no deed(s) have surfaced showing what happened to these 70 acres.

THOUGHTS:

It has long been a puzzle why John Martin did not leave any of his estate to first children. Were some or all of them dead, and if only some, who? Was he mad at them? Did he already settle with them while he was alive? Of all the possibilities, the latter shown here seems to be the most likely, but there is always the specter that we are dealing with two John Martins.

In the case of your “Honest” John Martin, b. ca. 1800, a case, albeit it weak at this point, could be made that he was John Martin, Jr., and that he was living on the unaccounted for 70 acres that John, Sr., got from his nephew, Hezekiah. If true that at least puts him “at” Germantown since the land was next to Germantown.

This leaves us with the wife situation. There is a Fauquier County marriage record for a John Martin (doesn’t say Jr., but they rarely do) and Catherine Stephenson in Dec 1807, which would mean that this John had to be born (probably) no later than 1787, and if this is “Honest” John, it would mean he married more than once to have a wife, Susan A. [Fisher].

If we have the right John here, there is a good case for a second marriage since “Honest” John and Susan’s first born, Margaret, was not born until 1836 [We now know that their first born was William Thomas, in 183, a year after their marriage.]

It’s also possible (maybe even more probable) that “Honest” John Martin was another grandson or even a great-grandson of John Joseph Martin through one of the other sons, and I now know that Peter Martin, shown on page 105, is the 12th and youngest son of John Joseph Martin, of Eve, born in 1741.

One cannot overlook that most, if not all, the Fauquier Martins up through the mid-1800s were descendants of John Joseph Martin. ….

Martin Deeds Analysis

Elias Beverly Martin

Martin genealogist William Martin makes a case that Elias Beverly Martin is a possible son of Elias Martin and Mary Mountjoy.[590] The doubt comes because Elias Beverly is not mentioned in his father’s will.

Elias Beverly Martin married Jane G. (or E.) Scott 5 June 1821.[591] Jane Martin is shown as the deceased wife of Elias B. Martin in her father’s will in 1826.[592] Elias Beverly Martin married Elizabeth J. Kennard on 29 April 1828.[593] [594] This is probably the same Elias B. Martin in both marriages. No information was found for children of his first marriage. Jane’s death date is unknown, but it is certainly possible they had no children. Children by his marriage to Kennard were:[595]

James Franklin Martin, born 6 September 1831 in Fauquier County. He died 11 February 1888. He married Fannie Ellen Mitchell about 1853 in Virginia. She was born about 1833 in Virginia. They had Susie and P.B.[596] I could not find information on his marriage or death place.] Check Fauquier marriages and deaths.

Baynton Martin, born 1833 in Fauquier County.

Elizabeth Martin, born 1835 in Fauquier County.

Lucket Martin, born 1837 in Fauquier County.

Beverly Martin, born 1839 in Fauquier County. [contact Mark Wayne Martin. See LDS site Ancestral file.]

Martin Family Bibles

Honest John Martin Family’s Vital Statistics

Here is a table comparing ages of family members from several sources.

From *The Bravest Man in Lee’s Army*, compiled by Lynn C. Hopewell (1940–2006). Manuscript completed January 27, 2006. Published posthumously.