Family history notes from a grandson of John Martin, written 1899

Elza Martin, born 1831, was the eldest son of John's eldest son Isaac.  In his early years, he was acquainted with both of his Martin grandparents, as he was 15 when John died and 32 at the time of Sarah's death.  The following letter was sent to his granddaughter Ivy Dorothy Martin (later Dorothy Frost). We are indebted to Dorothy Richardson for preserving the original letter and providing images of it. (I have chosen to show only the first- and last-page images here; others are available on request.)

ELM

Falls City Neb, May the 14 - 1899

Dear Grand Daughter:

                                Your letter of the 6 came to hand yesterday. I was exceeding glad to hear from you again and to learn of your health and welfare.

We had a hard winter here that tarried til late in the Spring, which caused the usual Spring work of sowing and planting to be very much delayed, which called for all the work and energy I had when the skies cleared and the season became favorable. We had a fine rain this morning which kept us from Church as some of us generally go each Sabbath morning, the distance being but two miles. Tell Ray an "affinity for bread and butter" and plenty of it is no bad symptom. I never knew a Martin boy that had not a strong predilection in that direction. I think you are to be congratulated on your penmanship. It is really a beautiful art as well as useful.

Am glad to hear the papers went safely to you. Tell your Pa to read the editorials of the Interocean and I'll have no fears of his ever becoming a Copperhead or running wild after Free Trade or Free Silver.

You ask if I know anything of the genealogy of the Martin Family. I do not know of any written genealogy except the family records in my Father's old Bible, but I know of much more that has been handed down from father to son for at least five generations of unwritten history but I have received it from my Father and one of his Brothers and also some facts told me by my grandfather Martin when I was not more than 8 years old but of which I have a very distinct recollection til this day. The family emigrated from England before the Revolutionary War but the precise date I do not know, but so long before that when the war broke out they were intensely American, but my first knowledge of any of their personalities dates back to as early as 1774 - 1776 during the Revolutionary struggle when our fathers suffered untold horrors in the Indian wars.

My great, great grandfather's name was John Martin, who lived in what is now West Virginia before the Revolutionary War. He was a large, strong man of the frontier type, an athletic bear hunter and Indian fighter of those days, was well known far and near as a stranger to fear and of most untiring energy.

During the war the settlers had built a fort, had left their homes and lived in this fort for safety. This family consisted of a man and wife, 2 grown daughters, and a younger son (Edward). The father and daughters went a mile or more from the fort to work on their small farm, as they must raise corn to supply them bread for another year. They were attacked by a band of five Indians. The father started the girls for the fort, grasped his rifle, shot one of the Indians dead. They attacked him with their tomahawks, he clubbed his rifle and killed two more of them. One of the surviving Indians struck and broke his right arm with a tomahawk, when they soon dispatched him as one of his arms was powerless. The two surviving Indians were captured by a small band from the fort. One of them said in broken English that man would have killed both the others if they had not broke his arm. That was the end of my great, great grandfather.

His son, Edward, was my great grandfather, a man in most respects very much like his father. My grandfather's name was John Martin. His mother died when he was a youth and now comes in another branch of the family. In those early days a house was burned by the Indians at dead of night. All the family were murdered but one little girl of 4 years old. She left the burning house and escaped in the darkness and was taken care of by friends when the Indians were gone. When she was grown she married a man by the name of Stanley and became the mother of Sally Stanley. Mr. Stanley died and my great grandfather married his widow and brought their two families together. So when John Martin was aged 18 and Sally Stanley 16 (stepbrother and sister), they were married and my father was their firstborn. They called him Isaac. His brothers were Ambrose, Joseph, John, and Archelaus. His sisters were Louisa, Betsy, Lucinda, and Sally. All these are dead but Arch, Sally and Ambrose were living the last I heard of them 2 years ago.

My grandfather, John Martin, was a pioneer hunter and did his part in ridding the new country of bears, wolves, Indians and he was in the War of 1812

And now I must tell you something of my grandmother. To my mind she was one of the grandest women I ever knew. Intelligent far beyond the average women of her times, became religious in early life and continued intensely so as long as she lived. Only a feeble little woman, but her energy and industry knew no bounds, and her life was a prodigy of hard work, but always had time to sing and pray and often shouted aloud to God when busy about her daily toil. Some 11 or 12 years after Grandfather died, she removed to Iowa, made her home with my father and mother where she died in the triumph of faith in the year 1862 or 63. I had little idea of drawing this letter out so long, but if you will answer soon and want to know, I will give you a sketch of my own life as I know I am brushing the dews of Jordan's Banks, must soon cross over and say my last farewell to the world, and I feel confident that some one at the beautiful gate is waiting and watching for me.

E. Martin

Commentary on Elza's letter by Pete Martin, 2006

So far, I have found no independent account of the first John Martin's death at the hands of hostile Indians. Yes, records do show that a number of men by that name were killed by Indians in the late 18th century, but in each case the circumstances seem to differ from Elza's account.

The letter names Edward Martin as the father of the younger John Martin, but Edward has been very hard to document. No man by that name is shown in the 1790 census of Pennsylvania (where John was born in 1789) or of Virginia (where, according to Elza, Edward's father had lived). The census does show an Edward Martin in Harford County, Maryland, which is on the Pennsylvania line, but that seems like a long shot. Charles M. Walker's History of Athens County lists Edward Martin among the earliest inhabitants of Alexander Township (see reproduction here), but we have not found his name on any property deeds filed either in Athens County or in Washington County (from which Athens Co. was formed), nor does he show up in any censuses of Athens County. However, listings of adult males in Washington County, compiled in 1800 and 1803, show the names Edmund and Edmond Martin, respectively, and it is possible that this could be our Edward. In both cases, the individual named resided in Middletown Township, which was in the part of Washington County that later became Athens County.

Those of us researching this family have engaged in much speculation about a will filed in Hampshire County, (West) Virginia, in 1796, in which one Edward Martin bequeaths two-thirds of his estate to "John Martin, the son of Catherine Miller." Strangely, at no point does this will identify said John Martin as "my son." Nevertheless, some of us have wanted to believe that the John Martin referred to is our ancestor and that the maker of the will was his father, Edward. I now find this to be unlikely, primarily because (a) I notice that the will names this same John Martin as executor of Edward's estate, (b) our ancestor John was only 7 years old at the time the will was made, and (c) it is unlikely that anyone would have named such a young child to be his executor.

Elza's letter also tells the compelling story of how Sally Stanley's mother, as a young girl, was the sole survivor of an Indian attack on her family. But it gives no further information about this woman — not even a first or last name or the area in which she lived — which makes it hard to connect the story to anything in the historical record. Similarly, the letter refers to Sally's father only as "a man by the name of Stanley." However, based on census records, land deeds, and other legal documents, I believe her father to have been a man named Isaac Stanley, who owned land adjacent to the property where she and John settled after their marriage. This relationship is supported particularly by the 1827 will of Isaac Stanley, which refers to "my eldest daughter, Sarah Martin," and by the fact that Sally named her first-born son Isaac.

However, the apparent survival of Sally's father until at least 1827 does not square with Elza's assertion that "Mr. Stanley died and my great grandfather married his widow . . . ." It is possible that the Stanleys were separated by divorce, rather than death, and that that information was not shared with younger generations (as divorce was considered scandalous in those days). My preferred theory, however, is that Elza simply got the roles reversed. That is, it was Mr. Martin who died and Mr. Stanley who married the widow. I don't doubt Elza's recollection that his grandparents were "stepbrother and sister" — that seems like the sort of tidbit that would have impressed him as a young boy — but he may not have remembered so clearly the exact details of how that came about, who married whom. This theory could also explain why we find no records of Edward Martin after about 1805. Interestingly, the Athens County marriage records do show that one Isaac Stanley married a "Mrs. Elizabeth Martin," but that marriage did not happen until 1815, which would have been too late to make John and Sally step-siblings prior to their own marriage (circa 1808).

Some of the most valuable (and credible) information this letter provides is the list of all of John Martin's children and the information about which of them were still alive as late as 1897. (I only wish Elza had mentioned where they were living at that time, and what Sally's married name was.)

In summary, Elza's letter unfortunately omits many critical details and leaves a number of unanswered questions, but it is fascinating nonetheless, for the insight it gives into the character of some of our ancestors. Family history is much more meaningful when we are able to see the subjects of our research as more than just names and dates.