THE GEORGE MARTIN FAMILY - Harrison County, TX ***************************************************************** 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. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ Submitted by Mary Love Berryman - marylove@tyler.net Director of the Computer Interest Group, ETGS 25 April 2002 ***************************************************************** Originally published in the East Texas Family Records, Volume 3, Number 3, Fall 1979, by East Texas Genealogical Society. The George Martin Family Old George Martin was in East Texas early, before 1840. A son who was born in 1841 stated that the Martin family lived in San Augustine County in that year. A George Martin appears on a list of persons "who have not paid the Taxes due the Republic of Tcxas for the year 1840, assessed upon property situated in the county of Nacogdoches," along with Gillilands (Gilland) and Kuy­kendall, who were related. Harrison County Texas probate records include the will of our old George Martin; his will was dated 19 February 1846; probated 31 March, 1846. His wife, Susannah, and son, George W. Martin were named to administer the terms of the will. I don't know when Susannan died, nor do I know her maiden name. Several descendants who have researched the family believe she may have been a Kuykendall. She was born c. 1787, in South Carolina, if she is the "S. Martin" in the George W. Martin household in Harrison County, Texas 1850 census. Our patriarch, "old George" was said to have been born in Kentucky (statement of his son, George W. Martin, on 1880 census). In I974 I opened a packet from File 1637-A in the Harrison County Probate Records and found receipts from heirs, notice from news­paper (July 1852) which stated that "notice was published for four suc­cessive weeks,Malong with inventory, etc. The yellowed papers were folded so neatly, as if they had been undisturbed for 122 years, and only a fellow genealogist would know the thrill of finding a great-great grand­father's signature from 1852! Children of George and Susannah were: 1. Anna Martin (b. c. 1810, according to census), wife of Henry H. Durham. The Durhams lived in the State of Arkansas in 1852, according to final settlement of the estate of George Martin. And on the 1850 Census of Jackson County, Arkansas in 1850 was a family which appears to be the Durham family. No further record. 2. Mary A. Martin (b c 1810, Tennessee), wife of John Jones. The will of George Martin, written in 1846, asked that "John Jones be given fifty dollars more" [than other children]. However, by 1852 when the estate was partitioned John Jones was dead, and the settlement mentions Mary A. Jones as widow of John Jones. There is a Mary Jones (1828-1905) buried in the Tecumseh Cemetery of Callahan County (near George W. Martin, son of old George) that I had presumed to be the same as Mary A. Martin, wife of John Jones. However, census data leads me to believe this is not the same person and that Mary is the 60-year old Mary A. Jones enumerated in Erath County, Texas in 1870 (thus born in 1810) next door to William C. Martin and very near John B. B. Martin, her brother. 3. Sarah Martin (birthdate unknown); evidently married by 1843, according to children's birthdates, to Edmund Murre11 (b. ca. 1798, Virginia). Sarah was dead by 1852, as the estate settle­ment of George Martin states that heirs of Sarah Martin Murrell were Robert Murrell, age 20; William Murrell, age 18, and Edmund Murrell, Jr., age 14. All heirs lived in Harrison County, Texas in 1852. Edmund Murrell married Cate ______ following Sarah's death, and had at least two children by second wife. 4. Hannah Martin (pby. b. ca. 1815, in Alabama; d. before 1880) Hannah was married 7 August 1836 in Marshall County, Miss. to Moses Jackson (b. c. 1817, Ohio). This couple lived in Texas by 1841 (child born that year in Texas). They appeared on the Upshur County, Texas census of 1850, and final settlement of the estate of George Martin (1852) states that Hannah Jackson, "wife of Moses Jackson, is a resident of Upshur County, Texas. " An original land grant in Tarrant County, Texas was made to Jackson. Moses Jackson married Martha A. Brewer (a much younger wife) and appeared with young children on the 1880 census of Comanche County, Texas. It is not known when or where Hannah died. 5. John B. B. Martin (b. 10 ~ 1817, Alabama; d. 3 August 1889, Erath County, Texas; buried Dublin, Texas Cemetery). Married 30 August 1840, Nacogdoches County, Republic of Texas, to Louisa Jane Gilliland (b. 9 May 1819, Texas; d. 4 February 1892, Erath County, Texas) This man is probably the John B. Martin listed on Nacogdoches County, Texas, tax list of 1840 (no proof). These are my great-great grandparents. They lived in Upshur County, Texas when the 1850 census was enumerated, and were in Tarrant County, Texas by 1854, when the children appeared on a school census list. Louiza's father, Eli Gilliland, had also moved to Tarrant County by that time. The John B. B. Martin family lived in Erath County, Texas by the time the 1860 census enumeration was made, and in 1861 (recorded 13 June 1882) the Tarrant County, Texas deed records reflect that John B. B. Martin deeded 320 acres of land to John T. (Tunley) Gilliland, his wife's brother. John B. B. Martin appears on the Confederate Army Index in Austin Texas Archives: J. B. B. Martin, Canp. Co. for 2nd Front. Dist., Erath Co Ma3'. 46 years old. Enlisted F. 1-64 (sic) in Stephenville; Served 30 days at $3 - $90. Separate listing: J. B. B. Martin, Pvt. Co. A Rangers for Fron. Protec. S. 8-63 for 6 mo. intended service. Age 46. John B. B. Martin and Louiza Jane (Gilliland) Martin had 5 children; Their daughter, Sarah Flizabeth Martin (1844-1900) was my great-grandmother. She was married to Walter "Kern" Barbee, and they had 10 children. The oldest child of John B. B. Martin and Louisa Jane (Gilliland) Martin was William Calvin Martin (1841-1910) who wrote the following: "I was born in San Augustine County 62 years 6 months and 11 days ago. Texas has always been my home. I love Texas and her people. I have lived among the Indians 23 years and 16 long years of that time among the hostile Kiowa and Comanche warriors. I have met the warriors a number of times in their war paint. Have heard their striped arrows and bullets whistle all about me. Have seen their glistening lances and heard the blood curdling war shoops. I have seen service as a Texas Ranger in 1861. 1 saw nearly 3 years of service as a Confederate soldier account of which I have had 5 leaden missile extracted and am still carrying one in the neck. I, my father, brothers, and Walter Barbee, my only sister's husband, away back in the 60's and 70's raised the long horned Texas cattle permiskly scattered and grazing on the hills and in the valleys of six Texas counties. Fifty cowboys could not have rounded them up between heel fly time. "I have seen on the Leon and Trinity Rivers 40 or 50 acres of valleys speckled with wild turkey. I have seen in the Counties of Tarrant, Johnson, and Hill herds of deer half a mile long trailing on the prairies probably 2 or 3 thousand at a sight. I have seen more buffalo in one sight than a man could count in days and days. My love to all and malice to none. Dublin, Texas, April 25, 1905" Continuing with children of George and Susannah Martin: 6. Jonathan Martin (b. c 1820; d. 18C3/64, Tarrant County, Texas) Married c. 1849, name of first wife unknown; m. 2nd) c. 1853, Nancy Irvin (b. c. 1832, Arkansas; d. c. 1906, Guthrie, Texas) Jonathan Martin had two children by first wife; only one survived to adulthood. Those 2 children believed to be Sarah A. Martin (age C) and Drucilla S. Martin (age 3) living with Wm. J. Kuyken­dall and wife Elizabeth "Betsy" (nee Coffman) Kuykendall who lived in Rusk County, Texas in 1850 (census). Upshur County deed records show land sold to one Jonathan Martin in 1847, and estate settlement of George Martin in 1852 proves that Jonathan Martin was a resident of Upshur County. Jonathan Martin had 6 children by his second wife, Nancy (Irvin) Martin lived in Callahan County, Texas after Jonathan's death, next door to George W. Martin, her husband's brother. She later married a man named Johnson and had one child. 7. George W. Martin (b. ca. 1822, Alabama; d. 1892, Callahan County, Texas; buried Tecumseh Cemetery). I believe George W. Martin was married three times: 1st) 22 Sept. 1841, in Nacogdoches County, Republic of Texas, to Jane Walker; 2nd) on 4 September 1850, in Harrison County, Texas, to Julia Ann Peruuson. His wife at the time of his death was Rachael (her maiden name unknown). George W. Martin lived San Augustine County, Texas, when he rec'd patent for land in Harrison County, Texas from the State of Texas. He also rec'd patent for 480 acres in Van Zandt Co., Texas, however there is no indication that he ever lived in Van Zandt (another George W. Martin did live there). He was listed on the 1850 census of Harrison County, Texas, where evidently his mother (Susannah) was living in his household as well as an 8-year old daughter; no wife listed. Assuming that George Martin who married Jane Walker in 1841 was the same George Martin, the young girl in the 1850 census could belong to first wife. It is logical to assume that the George W. Martin who married Julia Ann Ferguson in Harrison County is this same man as "J. A." appears as wife's name in 1860, and a 9-year old son in the household could belong to Julia Ann. George Martin was shot in one of the battles with the Cherokee Indians, near Nacogdoches, but lived a long life. There was another man named George W. Martin in early East Texas records. He received land for military service (Shelby County, Texas) but was killed in military action. His father, Edward Martin, stated that George W. Martin had never married. 8. William Martin (b. c. 1826; d. 1861, Erath County, Texas) William Martin married 28 January 1856, in Harrison County, Texas, Amanda Melvina Burnett. (Amanda was born 19 October 1832; d. 11 March 1912) She was d/o Nathaniel Burnett & Eliz. Oaks. In 1849 William Martin "of Harrison County, Texas," deeded land in Upshur County, Texas to J. B. B. Martin of Upshur County. The estate settlement of George Martin (Harrison County, 1852) states that William Martin was a resident of the State of California at that time. Descendants advise William went to California to the gold fields. William and Amanda appeared on the 1860 Census of Erath County, Texas with three children. After William's death Amanda married a McClure; then on 29 November 1870 she married Judge John Glazier Yarbrough (1812-1907) Another William Martin in early East Texas records was William Louis Martin (1817-1890) who married Julia Buford Rogers in Upshur County, Texas. That William was son of Jonathan Martin and Nancy [Taylor] Martin. Both deed records and census enumerations appear to have used the Wm. L. Martin name, which helps in differentiating between the two Williams. There are marriage records in Harrison County, Texas for members of the William Louis Martin / Julia Buford Rogers family; similarity of given names lead me to believe there was a kinship between the two Martin families. 10. Susan Martin (b. c. 1830/32, Tennessee) married 23 December 1847, Harrison County, Texas, Wade Crouch (b. c. 1816/1819, South Carolina). Susan's marriage, of course, was after the death of her father. The Wade Crouch family appeared in Harrison County in both 1850 and 1860. They had several children. Descendants of George and Susannah Martin who have shared research data and who would be pleased to receive corrections and/or additions to the above material are: Miss Vera Dee Onstoft, 2324 Ridgmar Plaza, Apt. 224, Fort Worth, Texas, 76116 (descended through John B. B. Martin, #5 above) Mrs. Jay Womack [Helen], 3461 Manana Drive, Dallas, Texas 75220 who typed these records for publication (also descended from #5) Mrs. Teresa McMinn, 3930 Montclair, Odessa, Texas (descended from Jonathan Martin through 2nd wife, Nancy Irvin - #6 above) Mrs. Cliarles L. Perdue, Jr. [Nancy], Woodville, Virginia 22749 (descended from William Martin - #8 above) Further notes on The George Martin Family 1. Kissin Kuzzins, Carolyn Ericson, Nacogdoches, Vol. VI, page 22 2. Harrison County Probate Records (Texas), File 1637-A, 1852 and 1854 3. 1850 Jackson County, Arkansas Fed. Census, pg. 045, Cache Township, Household 4, next door to Daniel Martin family (Daniel Martin age 32, b. Tennessee) Who is Daniel? 4. Moses Jackson married Hanna Martin, 7 August 1836, Book 1, Page 13, Marshall County Mississippi Marriage Records. 5. This "autobiography" of Cal Martin is written in pencil on the back of a photograph of himself. It is in the possession of Miss Vera Dee Onstott, of Fort Worth, Texas 6. Van Zandt County, Texas Deed Book 0, page 30, and Deed Book 34, pages 496, 497, 498. 7. Frontier Times, Vol 2, February 1925 (No. 5) published at Bandera, Texas. Letter from Mr. W. E. Gilliland, editor of the Baird, Texas STAR, stated: "Uncle George Martin lived many years in the west part of Callahan County, where he died some twenty-five years ago. His brother, John Martin, married my father's sister, and they all lived in Angelina County in the early days." This letter had reference to an article printed in a prior issue of Frontier Times (Vol. 2, January 1925 - No. 4 - page 22) written by J. H. Greenwood, in "Early Texas Pioneer." That item mentioned that a Mr. Martin (George W. Martin) was shot in the mouth in one of the battles with the Cherokee Indians, near Nacogdoches, Texas (Battle of Kickapoo, 1838). 8. Noncupative will of William Martin, Wit. by Mary Hurley, Adelia F. Burnett, James H. Burnett, filed 30 December 1861, Erath Co. Texas; death date given as 3 November 1861, Erath County. 9. Date from John Glazier Yarbrough Bible 10. Data from Pearle (Davis) Sewell's book on descendants of Patrick Preston Martin (1821-1895) and Harriett Jane Gray Martin (1831-1908); Davis Bros. Publishing Company [1975]