Thanks to long years of research of many others before me, we know about the beginnings of our Martin line. DNA testing suggests Asian origins due to a rare C3 haplogroup. This is consistent with the troops of Attila the Hun who swept the area later known as the Hunsruck Region of Germany where the villages of our early ancestors are located.
Hans or Johann Martin (1588-1654) and wife Maria Leinweber (about 1589-?) had five children die on the same day, 8 Aug 1625 from unknown cause. They were Peter, Martha, Elisabeth, Johannes and either Margreth or Ottilia Margreth. The other children were born after 1625.
Daniel Martin (1626-1679) was a shoemaker in the village of Lauterecken, Pfalz, Bavaria, Germany where he was christened and died. Maria Elisabeth Trautmann (1629-1665 or 1694) was his wife.
Hans Caspar Martin, a shoemaker (1660-1748) and wife Anna Sara Huel (1660-1710) had 8 children. 4 of the 5 boys had Johann as the first name, one girl had Johanna as a first name and the other 2 girls had Maria for their first name. It was common to give the first name of a saint and call the child by the second or middle name.
Johann Valentin Martin (1694-1743 or 1744) was a butcher. The exact date of his death in Herrstein, Germany is unknown. It is said the he died before the marriage of son John Nicholas Martin but that has not been verified. His wife was Anna Elizabeth Schuettenhelm (1699-? ).
John Nicholas Martin (1724-1795)our immigrant father, arrived at Philadelphia on the ship Barclay on 14 September 1754 with his wife Ann Catherine Schmidt (1722-1800) and 2 or 3 children. He was a Lutheran minister and apparently educated because he signed his name on the ship's registry. He was born in Herrstein, Koblenz, Rhineland, Prussia also known as Oldenburg, Herrstein, Germany depending on the time period referenced.
Pastor Martin was self taught and ordained as a minister by the Salzburgers in Georgia. He became the 4th minister at St. John’s Lutheran in Charleston, SC and preached at the dedication of the church building in 1764. A building on the same site remains in use today with an active congregation. He served 3 different times at St John’s and is buried in the churchyard. Pastor Martin gave his sermons in German since he (and his wife) never learned English. He supported his new country by preaching against England and even burned his homestead twice by 1780 to keep it out of the hands of the British, making him a patriot of the American Revolution. He retired from the ministry about 1787 and lived on his farm. “During the later years of his life, his intellect failed…” and he died in 1795. John Nicholas Martin was reported to have held the Apostle John in particular favor and gave all his sons the first name of John.
John Christian Martin I (1753-1799), son of Pastor John Nicholas Martin, is listed as a sergeant on the 1779 Fusiliers Roll at Port Royal and Savannah and during the siege of Savannah during the Revolutionary War. He was later promoted to lieutenant. He is on The Original 1775 Roll of the German Fusiliers Company in Charleston, SC. Christian's brothers Leonard and Peter Martin and sister's husband Daniel Strobel also fought in the Revolutionary War. His occupation was tanner and he is buried at St John’s Lutheran Church in Charleston, SC. His widow Elizabeth Miller Martin (born 1753 to 1758, died 1840) remarried 2 June 1801 to Samuel or Sampson Rogers, and they had 1 child, William Rogers. Elizabeth moved with some of the family to Coweta County, GA and is buried in the family cemetery near Luthersville close to the Meriwether County line.
John Christian Martin II (1786-1835) migrated with some of the family including wife Anne Catherine Nauman or Norman (1786-1869) to Coweta County, GA about 1830 – 1834. They came in the old-time block-wheel ox carts and it took three weeks to make the journey. He was a brick mason, farmer, blacksmith and wood-worker. He was a captain in the War of 1812. He is one of the first to be buried in the Martin family cemetery in Coweta County formed in 1826 from Creek Indian lands after the Treaty in 1825 and opened up for increased settlement by the 1827 land lottery.
John Christian Martin III (1820-1908) was born in SC, died in Carroll County, GA and is buried at Stripling Chapel Cemetery. He was a blacksmith, farmer and wood-worker. John had children with the first 2 of his 3 wives: Emily Bates (1823-1860), Elizabeth Piper (1817 or 1818-1875) and Margaret A. E. Jones (born 1824-1835, died after 1910 Census). John Martin named his sons for prominent men.
James Edward Martin (1851-1914) was named for James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia. Ed made some of the furniture for his home (wood-worker?) with wife Rebecca Shadinger (August 1855-August 1936). Together they had 10 children, 9 who survived to adulthood. About 76 years passed between the death of Jennie Lee, who died as a child, and the next sibling, Florence. The average lifespan of the 9 adult children was 88 years.
Ed tanned (tanner?) the skins of animals (sheep and calves) and made the shoes (shoemaker?) for his little children using the same last. They wore the shoes to shape to their feet. He oiled the shoes with tallow to make them soft and water proof. He was also a farmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment