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The Daughters of William Martin

As every researcher knows, one of the most difficult tasks of piecing together a family that lived over 200 years ago, is proving the existance of undocumented children. In most cases there is a will or a family Bible that spells out each of the children's names and that of the wife. Since neither has been found for William Martin, I am relying heavily on parallel research being collected about William's friends and neighbors. Even more difficult, is securing proof of a child that happens to be female.

The first evidence I came across concerning William Martin's daughters, was that mentioned in a letter written around the turn of the twentieth century. The letter was among several written by an early family historian who made an attempt to document what she knew about her Rippy and Martin lineage. Born in 1837, Mrs. Sarah C. (Rippy) Lutts' writings have become very beneficial to our research. Consider the following letter she wrote to one of her kin. Some of it was very difficult to transcribe. My intent was to present it entirely verbatim:

Sallie Lutts' Letter

"Our Grandma Elizabeth Rippy’s Side - My great, great, great grandfather Martin was from England his wife was Scot-Irish & catholic had 4 children 2 boys William & Thomas one girl married an Irvin, the other Benjamin Hardin. My great, great grandfather Thomas Martin married Sabra Wilkey, her father was George Wilkey from France & was lost on the Atlantic. Thomas & Sabra had 8 children 7 sons & 1 daughter Elizabeth, she married a Taylor. The sons William, Thomas second, Valentine my great grandfather, next John, J_ri__, J_ab_ Absolon They all married & moved to different states except Thomas who died near Hickory Creek NC. He had 20 children & raised 18 to be married. William married & moved to Mississippi in 1841. He had one son who was a Baptist preacher one who was a Presbyterian & one a Methodist. one son name Thomas Nelson Martin was Judge of Houston Miss. My father W. M. P. Rippey moved from Spartanburg SC to Houston in 1855 & left for Tenn. in Oct. 1855 & settled at the Rippey stand. All the Martins came from William & Thomas. William’s daughter Mary married Edward Rippey the Third. Valentine Martins (great) grandfather came over in the May Flower. Edward the second sister Fanny married Abednego Adams, their daughter Polly Adams married William Martins oldest son James a Baptist preacher. His eldest sister Betsy Martin married William Adams eldest son of aunt Fannie & Abednego Adams & settled in Water Valley Miss." ...... Sallie Lutts

The Irvin Daughter

William Martin's "girl that married an Irvin" left very little trail of her existance. To date, almost nothing is known about her. Most of what I am listing here was obtained while researching other family members. I am presenting all shreds of information along with any possible leads that I have accumulated in order to gain access to this daughter's identity. There might have never been any indication of her existance at all, if not for Mrs. Lutts:

Spelled "Irvin" by verbal tradition, any variant spelling may be used: Irvin, Irvine, Irving, Irwin, Ervin, Ervine, Erving, or Erwin. My guess is that she was born between 1750 and 1773. This estimate is based heavily on the ages of her brothers.

Although she could have been born in Brunswick Co. VA, along with her brother Thomas, it is more likely that she was born in Chatham Co. NC. I believe she eventually followed her brothers into the Rutherford/Lincoln Co. area while she was still quite young. It is simply imposible at this point to determine weather she married before or after she left Chatham Co. There is evidence of a large group of Irvins living in and around the Rutherford County area so that is the part of the state that I have elected to concentrate my search. Here are a few names and places about which to ponder:

The Hardin Daughter

The other daughter penned into the aged letter of Mrs. Lutts was one believed to have been married to Benjamin Hardin. Fortunately, we have more clues about this man than we had with Mr. Irvin. Among the numerous Hardin individuals resting in the Martin Cemetery (discussed in a later section), I have located a headstone with the following inscription: "In memory of Benjamin Hardin, a member of the M. E. Church, died April 19, 1850 in his 84th year." Born within a year of 1766, this is almost certain to be the husband that Mrs. Lutts was refering to. Here is what I have learned from a one Hardin researcher but have been unable to verify:

Col. Joseph Hardin Sr. b. Apr. 18, 1734, Richmond, VA. m. Jane Gibson, Children:

The duplication of names is somewhat bewildering. Since it is extremely rare to find children of the same parents with the same given name, is it possible that these children were adopted? Maybe they were the product of a second marriage. Whatever the case may be, I have assembled and listed the following notes about William's unknown daughter and Benjamin Hardin. Until I find evidence to suggest otherwise, I will call her Rebecca and attach her to the above son of Col. Joseph Hardin:

Researchers say that the original "Hickory Creek" Hardins were made up of 4 brothers:

One final note: The Martins were associated with the Hardin family from Chatham & Orange Counties of North Carolina long before both families migrated together into the Lincoln & Rutherford County area. Until more reliable information becomes available, I am inclined to believe that Benjamin Hardin (b. c1766; married to the daughter of my ggggg-grandfather; buried in the Martin Cemetery), is a descendant of Col. Joseph and Jane (Gibson) Hardin. However, if indeed this turns out to be a false assumption, I would surely turn to one of the four "Hickory Creek Hardins" or the family of the above "Cleveland Co." James as the next logical choice from which to base my search.

The Collins Daughter

When I first began the search for William Martin's daughters, I was under the impression that only two were to be found. Then I recieved a letter from a fellow researcher (Mrs. Jean Oats McSwain) that indicated otherwise. She presented me with substantial evidence of a third daughter. Her name was Mary and she was the wife of Jacob Collins Sr. Mrs. Lutts never wrote of a daughter named Mary. Maybe she was unaware of her existance.

Everything that is known about this daughter stems from a civil Lawsuit filed in Cleveland Co. NC on Aug. 18, 1859. The lawsuit pairs Elizabeth Roberts (wife of Thomas Roberts) against Morris Roberts and his heirs. This is what Mrs. McSwain wrote:

"According to Equity Case Elizabeth Roberts of Cleveland County, NC. filed a claim to exclude 50 acres of property from her husband’s estate at his death. Elizabeth stated that her father, Jacob Collins, died May 1, 1795. Jacob’s heirs were Jacob Collins and his wife, Jane; William Collins and his wife, Ann; Mary and her husband, Young J. Hardin; and Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Roberts. When they had deeds made, they got their uncles, Thomas Martin and Wm. Martin and Neighbor, Captain Abednego Adams to divide and lay off land of Jacob Collins. The group of Collins children, their spouses, William Martin, Thomas Martin, and Abednego Adams worked all day and into the night. William Martin wrote the deeds to each piece of property and dated them September 16, 1809. At that time, Elizabeth disputed her land being deeded to her husband, Thomas Roberts who was a widower with children from his first marriage. At Thomas Roberts’ death, Elizabeth filed the above claim to remove her inheritance from her husband’s inventory. The date of the depositions in this case was August 10, 1859. Elizabeth stated that she married Thomas Roberts, a widower with children, September 1, 1800."

In Jenny (Martin) Fagg’s book (Thomas Martin Sr.) p. 18, is a deed, 2 Oct. 1784 to Thomas 1 Martin from James McAfee and William Green. The deed was witnessed by Jacob Collins and registered in Lincoln Co. NC. On page two the hand-written complaint filed in the 1859 court case, one Elizabeth Martin, widow of Josiah Martin, is named as a defendant. This was Elizabeth Roberts, daughter of Thomas Roberts and his first wife, Eliza. She married Josiah Martin, son of William 3 Martin. Elizabeth Roberts Martin was the stepdaughter of Elizabeth Roberts, who filed the complaint. In "Sandy Run Cemetery Records", Mooresboro, NC. by Hart, we find Elizabeth Roberts Martin born 1798 married 1819, died 9 Aug. 1872, and Josiah Martin, born 1798, died 1848.

The Martin daughter who married Jacob Collins had four children. Several of her grandchildren married into the Martin family. Besides the five children of William Collins who married children of Thomas 2 Martin, a granddaughter of William Collins married a son of Ransome and Rhoda Martin Collins. Mary Collins, daughter of Jacob Collins, married Young John Hardin. Could he have been the son of his mother’s sister, the Martin daughter who married a Hardin?

The Martin Cemetery (Little Bethel)

To find Little Bethel (Martin) Cemetery: from I-85 take exit 104 west, go .8 mile, turn left on SC-99 and go 1 mile. This should put you at Lee Putnam's house. The cemetery is in a grove of trees about 1000 feet behind the house.

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Any comments or corrections to this information would be greatly appreciated. Please send them to me... Jeffrey Lee Martin