Anthrogenealogy - Genealogy by Genetics - Let Your DNA Do the Walking

The computer gave us a huge leap forward in genealogical research. Finally we could replace searches through dusty record rooms, basements and cemeteries with strokes on a keyboard.

Now we have genealogy using DNA, a new field of family research called Anthrogenealogy. It is now possible with a few scrapes on the inside of our cheeks (and a few weeks of waiting + $) to determine for sure who we are related to. By contacting "matches" we can hopefully match up traditional paper trails and discover new branches on the family tree.

My brother and a 4th cousin that I discovered online both tested and were a match. Tests confirmed what our paper trails led us to believe. We are indeed related. Huge chunks of family history were added with this simple test and more is being discovered. While we always knew we Martins are special, (OK, OK everyone is special)we had no idea we are from a rare DNA pool. We have yet to understand the results, but if you are in doubt about which clan of Martins you belong to, I suggest a male relative with the Martin surname (or fathered by a Martin) be tested. We are related by marriage to Martins from the United Kingdom, but our ancestors are from Germany prior to 1588.

See earlier postings from my personal Facebook below. Send me a friend request to be in the Martin group for updates. Please contact me with your email if you think I do not already have it.

The surname Martin is the 15th most common in the US. Our line is from Germany where the surname does not even make the top 50 most common. Another hint of rarity came with DNA test results of an unusual C3 Haplogroup.

Martin Genealogy via DNA:
"The successful C3 lineage is believed to have originated in southeast or central Asia, spreading from there into northern Asia and the Americas. C3 is also found in low concentrations in eastern and central Europe, where it may represent evidence of the westward expansion of the Huns in the early middle ages..."

Our Martin DNA-matched male relative (Group 11 on the linked results chart) just received notice that we are from Hapgroup C3e SNP P53.1 (P53a). Other than confirming our lineage is very rare, we don't yet know what this means. I've found no published info on C3e. However, since our line is traced back to 1588 in the Hunsruck region of Germany, Atilla the Hun may still be in the running as our founding father. LOL

Our 3 Walker Martins

Walker Booth Martin (9 Nov 1869-20 Sep 1958) spent his entire life in Coweta County, GA. He was the son of Albert N and Martha Ann Walker Martin. Albert was the son of John Christian Martin II and Anne Catherine NAUMAN (NORMAN) and brother to our John Christian Martin III. That makes Walker Booth MARTIN and our patriarch James Edward "Ed" MARTIN 1st cousins.

Martha Ann Walker Martin “was of a quiet homely disposition, who "glorified life with labor, and crowned it with love", the mother of 12. She lived 98 years 8 months and 9 days. She was one of 12 children. From the day of her marriage to that of her death there were but 3 deaths in the immediate family, that is during a period of 79 years 8 months and 9 days” according to a biography of his parents by Rev Cotter S Martin of Kite, GA 12 Oct 1936. Martha Ann was the daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann Carmichael Walker, granddaughter of Solomon and Nancy Unknown Walker of Abbeville, SC. It is unclear if these Walkers are related to those of Carroll County, GA that intermarried with other Martins of this clan.

Walker Booth Martin was married 3 times and had 2 children with each wife. He married Lula Neely in 1893 and had Martha Docia in 1903 and Thomas Martin. In 1908 he married Carrie B Hammett who died in 1917 leaving him with young daughters Carrie Lou and Laura. Carrie Lou married first Gerald Sheats and their daughter was the late Carole Sheats, wife of Ron Burson of Burson Feed and Seed. Laura married Charles H Wright and had a son, Charles Wright. Later she married a Peck. According to Carole the third wife of W B Martin, Blanche Hogan, married WB in 1918, treated his daughters like her own and the girls loved her like a mother. They had Albert or James A Martin in 1919 and Robert. Somehow Phil Herrington of Coweta County Genealogical Society is related.

Walker Martin (1881 - 1883) is buried with the family of Francis and Margaret Hamrick Martin at Stripling Chapel Cemetery in Carrollton, Carroll Co, GA and presumed to be their son. Francis Asbury “Frank” Martin (1849 – 1924) married Margaret L Hamrick in 1871 and had 10 children. Upon Margaret’s death in 1908 he married Margaret Vassie Kilgore. Frank was the next older brother to our James Edward Martin.

The youngest Walker Martin was 95 when he passed in May 2011. See sidebar for his obituary. He is in the photo below provided by Ann Quinn Henry taken 2 May 2004. It is believed this was the last time the living children of John Marvin and Alice Chappell Martin were together. L to R Eva M Hesterly, Walker Martin, Margaret M Quinn, James Martin, Joe Martin. Walker and his siblings were the grandchildren of James Edward and Rebecca Shadinger Martin in whose memory we hold the annual Martin reunion.

We are thankful for the lives of our 3 Walker Martins. Having multiples with the same name adds to the complexity and texture of our genealogy research. Please let us know of other Walker Martins and any history of them you may share.