Biography: SAMANTHA P. CHRISTIAN of Itawamba County, Mississippi Compiled for USGenweb Project by Frank Martin Note: This e-mail address not working in August 2002. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ************************************************************************ Samantha was born in Tennessee, probably Sullivan County, about 1840. She was the daughter of Lemuel L. and Charlotte (nee Mitchell) Christian. Her middle name has been reported to be Paralee. She had four brothers and four sisters. This Christian line extends back to the Isle of Man, and contains many Revolutionary War Soldiers and Patriots. Samantha's family moved to Itawamba County MS 1840-1842. Nothing is known of her formative years, except family lore telling of her exceptional beauty. As one descendent said, "in today's terms, she must have been drop-dead gorgeous!" Samantha married James W. McCullough in Itawamba County September 5, 1861, and they had one child, Emily Jane, born June 29, 1862. James McCullough must have died shortly thereafter, because Samantha and Emily Jane apparently went back to the Lemuel Christian household and then moved with them to Perry County IL. In Illinois, Samantha married second a William H. Martin, who had lost his first wife, and they had a daughter, Laura Frances, born December 20, 1869. This Martin family was located in nearby Franklin County IL. It is speculated that these Martins and Samantha's Christians were acquainted in Mississippi, since the Martins at one time were in southern Tishomingo County. Samantha died in childbirth about 1876, and the remaining Martins and Christians moved to Wise County Texas about 1877.