|
|
|
|
|
 Back
to Homepage |
|
Family
History Notes, Part I |
|
Family History Notes, Part II |
|
Family
History Notes, Part III |
|
Directory
of Ancestors |
|
Directory
of Descendants |
|
Midway
Sunday |
|
Books
about Us |
|
Family
Manuscripts |
|
Family
Photo Album |
|
Virtual
Cemetery |
|
Search
for family |
|
Family News |
|
|
|
|
Family History Notes, Part II
Arthur Morrison Martin, The Flemington Martins (Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company, 1970).
Family History Notes, Part II
Family History Notes, Part III
Heirs of John Martin (includes letters)
The estate of John Martin, WHose wife was Jane Martin, was appraised as to goods and chattels which were divided among his five children as follows:
| Lot
No. one to William G. Martin |
Lot
No. 3 to Henry Martin |
|||
| Major............................ |
$1,000
|
John ............................. |
$1,400
|
|
| Nanny........................... |
800
|
Molly ............................ |
500
|
|
| Rachael......................... |
150
|
Dianah .......................... |
135
|
|
| Cato.............................. |
600
|
Doll .............................. |
900
|
|
| Harry............................ |
300
|
Malack .......................... |
350
|
|
| Davy............................. |
400
|
1 gold watch .................. |
125
|
|
| 1 Bay Horse................... |
100
|
1 Lot carpenter tools ..... |
9
|
|
| 1 gig No. 2..................... |
40
|
1 handmill ..................... |
15
|
|
| 12 head sheep............... |
24
|
1 Mattress No. 2 ............ |
10
|
|
| 1 Bed No. 3.................... |
10
|
1 2 plows ...................... |
6
|
|
| 1 side saddle.................. |
8
|
1 slab and glassware ...... |
8
|
|
| 1 Lott copperware......... |
6
|
1 pr old cart wheels ....... |
3
|
|
| 1 pair flats..................... |
37˝*
|
1 Tea table .................... |
1
|
|
| 1 dining table No. 2....... |
4
|
1 Bedstead No. 1 ........... |
2
|
|
| 1 Bedstead .................... |
3
|
1 Clock reel ................... |
1.50
|
|
|
25*
|
1 Bedstead No. 3 ........... |
4
|
||
|
---------------
|
3 wheels & 4 pr cords .... |
4
|
||
|
$3,445.62˝
|
1 Lot hoes ..................... |
3
|
||
| 1 pr gig wheels .............. |
2
|
|||
| 1 grind stone ................. |
1
|
|||
|
----------------
|
||||
| Lot
No. 2 to James E. Martin |
$3,479.50
|
|||
| Caesar .......................... |
$1,100
|
Lot
No. 4 to Eliza Martin |
||
| Sally ............................. |
700
|
Lewis ............................ |
$1,200
|
|
| Ben .............................. |
450
|
Bob ............................... |
600
|
|
| Peter ............................ |
500
|
Nanny ........................... |
300
|
|
| Mariah ......................... |
800
|
Peggy ............................ |
600
|
|
| 1 gig and harness .......... |
50
|
Judy ............................. |
800
|
|
| 1 wagon ........................ |
40
|
1 Sorrel Filly ................. |
125
|
|
| 1 dining table ............... |
15
|
1 Gin Rope & C .............. |
30
|
|
| 1
pr. Dogs, tongs, shovel ........................ |
5
|
1 Bed No. 2 .................... |
50
|
|
| 1 set table spoons ......... |
15
|
1 clock .......................... |
10
|
|
| 1 set teaspoons ............. |
5
|
1 Pine table ................... |
.5
|
|
| 1 Lott books ................. |
25
|
----------------
|
||
| 1 Mattress No. 1 ........... |
2
|
$3,695.50
|
||
| 1 Mattress No. 3 ........... |
1.50
|
Lot
No. 5 to Sarah Martin |
||
| 1 Saddle and bridle ....... |
3
|
Isaac ............................. |
800
|
|
| 4 jugs & 1 demijohn ...... |
5
|
Nelly ............................. |
800
|
|
| 1 Lott cookery .............. |
4
|
Joe ................................ |
150
|
|
| 1 Shot gun .................... |
5
|
Venus ........................... |
500
|
|
| 1 Lott Pots & kittles ...... |
3
|
Robert .......................... |
150
|
|
| 1 Loom ......................... |
4
|
George .......................... |
250
|
|
| 1 Bedstead No. 2 ........... |
4
|
Ally ............................... |
300
|
|
| 1 Chest drawers ............ |
6
|
1 Brown mare ................ |
125
|
|
| 1 Lock chain ................. |
2
|
24 head hogs ................. |
35
|
|
| 1 Desk ........................... |
1
|
Bed No. 1 ....................... |
50
|
|
|
---------------
|
1 Bedstead ..................... |
2
|
||
|
$3,745.50
|
1 Steel trap .................... |
2.5
|
||
| 2 Rice seives ................. |
2
|
|||
|
----------------
|
||||
|
$3,156.50
|
||||
| *two-bits--25˘, three-bits--37˝˘ |
Family of William Graham Martin
Again we narrow our study, this time to the family of William Graham Martin and Eliza Sumner Bacon. This was the generation that survived the War Between the States and Reconstruction. Four of their sons attended Oglethorpe College at Milledgeville. The fifth son, growing up after the War, could not attend a college, and there was no Oglethorpe Col- lege to attend.
Laura Amelia Martin, their first child, was born January 18, 1834. She never married but lived long with her youngest sister, Sarah Eliza (Mrs. James Fraser) at Flemington Crossroads. The second child, Mary Jane Martin, born on October 13, 1835, was twice married. She first married Dr. Joseph Bacon Way, by whom she had one daughter. She next married John Sidney Fleming, by whom she had two sons. None of these married. Mary Jane outlived them all and died on May 26,1918.
The next four children, all sons, attended Oglethorpe College and also served with the Liberty Mounted Rangers in the War Between the States. The oldest son, Henry Edward, born February 5, 1838, died of sickness in 1863, and was buried in Midway Cemetery near his father and his younger sister, Anna Louise. They both had died in 1861.
The second son, William James Martin, was born on October 24, 1839. He and his brothers with the Liberty Mounted Rangers spent most of the war guarding the railroad from Charleston to Valdosta. In 1864, they were moved to Virginia to join the forces defending Richmond. They were employed as scouts and in a preliminary skirmish of the Battle of Cold Harbour, northeast of Richmond, on May 30, 1864, "Brother Willie" was killed by "a big Yankee Irishman." Meanwhile, William James Martin had married Jeannette Thomson Delegal, by whom he had one son who later became unofficially "the Lord of Dorchester," he owned so much property.
The third son, Joseph Bacon Martin, was born November 8, 1841. He was by his brother William's side when William was killed and tried to retrieve the body but the overwhelming pressure of the enemy prevented him. Joe courted and married Ellen Barrett Fleming during the war. They married on November 4, 1863. His letters to her, long in the care of Mrs. Donald F. Martin and now in the care of Joseph Bacon Martin, III, give a "lover's eye" view of the war. These letters, often written on pieces of paper folded into envelopes, tell of his proposal, of battle deaths of friends, including the account of Bill's death, and of the expected arrival-and the arrival-of his first son.
They manifest the warmest of sentiments under great reserve, like steam pressure always under control. The same is true of their expression of strong faith and piety. These letters give us a view of the Martins of that generation, their faith and character. What was true of Joe was true also of all the rest. This heritage of faith and character should well be enshrined in the memory of every Martin descendant, that every succeeding generation may produce men and women of like faith and character.
Several of these letters are included here. They have been printed as faithfully as possible. The "Mifs" represents the old-fashioned writing of the double "ss". Where unusual spelling occurred or grammar was contracted in the difficulty of writing in the field, it is shown just as it appears in the original.
LETTERS
February 23, 1863
Mr. Martin
I have received your very unexpected letter, and can assure you that the sentiments it contains are warmly reciprocated.
Yours sincerely,
E. B. Fleming.
(Note: This is how Ellen Barrett Fleming responded to Joseph Bacon Martin's proposal. Notice the salutation, "Mr. Martin." This has been the salutation of many Martin wives to their Martin men for many years.)James Island
March 7th, 1863
Dear Mifs Ellen
I have received your last on yesterday, having been delayed in Charleston a day before I got it, on account of our mail carrier.
In accordance with your request I had my picture taken on yesterday, which I will send to you by cousin Sue. Way who returns home on Tuesday next. I must say I am not pleased with it, for I had to have it taken in uniform, since I saw those which Mr. Way took in Riceboro last winter.
I will also send a ring by her (counsin Sue) as a token of our love. it is not a good ring, but as good as can be gotten now.
I am very, very sorry to hear that Johnnie Fleming, poor fellow, is so ill. it is sad to think of one so young and promising being taken off, as soon as he has arrived to years of usefulness. The question which first presented itself to me is, that if God has decreed that this shall be has last sickness, is he prepared to go, Oh! what an all-important question that is. May God grant that he may be prepared, and that if he is taken, that it may be only a change from a world of sorrows to one of happiness. I really do pity Mifs Lizzie Quarterman, but she should remember that the Lord loveth whom he chasteneth."
There is a rumor in camp that we (the L.M. Rangers) are going back to Sav. shortly. but I have no confidence in it whatever, for we have heard of several such before that proved false. I am not anxious to go back now, for I think that we are doing our country more service here, than we would be in Sav., but I am anxious to go back before summer. I know from sad experience that it is not pleasant to stay here in the summer season; I am anxious to know what your Father thinks of our engagement as I expect to write him shortly. please write me if you know.
I hear the engagement between Willie Winn and Mifs Mary Mallard is broken off. I am truly glad of it, for I do not think Willie worth of her, but you must not tell her that I say so. Write very soon. and believe me as ever yours,
Very sincerely,
J.B.MLiberty County 30th March 1863
Mr. J.B. Martin,
Dear Sir,
Yours of the 21st inst has been received and in reply say that I sensibly feel the importance of the matter and hope my daughter has given it serious reflection. I have therefore left it entirely with her and do not make any objection but hope it may eventuate in her happinefs.
Very Respectfully,
P.W. Fleming.Richmond 31st May 1864
My own darling wife
I have a few minutes this evening to drop you a few lines for the first time since Friday and it is with a sad heart that I write. I have just telegraphed to Mother telling her of Bill's death, he was killed on yesterday in a cavalry fight at Coals Harbour he was shot through the head. I succeeded in getting his body nearly of the battle field when I was so tightly pushed by the enemy that I had to leave him on the field he never spoke, he was shot near where I was standing.
We fought them for about two hours, on our side we had one Brigade against an entire division. My darling one pray for me often. I don't think I will be in a fight again this week. I have some lead horses to attend to in the rear, Johnnie has not been in a fight as yet. I want to send this by Capt Scriven tomorrow as I want to write Mother and sister Nellie. Pray often for me and keep in good spirits.
May God's blessing rest upon you my darling.
I will write you a long letter tomorrow. I received these letters from you today—20th 23rd 25th.
Your fondly attached Joe
(Note: Sister Nellie, is Nettie, Bill's widow. Actually, Joe told his body servant, Caesar McKeever, to stay behind and bury Bill's body. Caesar went all through the war with Joe, helping him in many ways. After the war, Caesar was campaigning for one of the Martins politically. When asked what connection he had with the Martins; he answered, "I'se their fust cousin.")Bivouac in the woods, June 4th/64
Dear Nellie
I enjoyed a splendid night's rest last night, and awoke this morning finding everything still, it is something unusual to wake up in the morning without hearing the booming of cannons. Yesterday this time a fierce engagement was going on about a mile from where we were then, but on the other side of the river, although I was not in it myself I felt sad knowing that many souls were being ushered into eternity, a great many unprepared. Oh Nellie if I did not have some hope of eternal life don't see how I could muster courage enough to go into battle. I always look to God for his protection before going into battle. It is a great comfort to feel that your relatives who go in with you are professors of Religion, for I always feel as much concern about them as myself, there is a rumor this morning that we are going to Richmond this morning to form a Brigade. Gen Young was wounded a few days ago in an engagement near Ashland Station some ten or fifteen miles from here ( . . . . )(Note: Nellie in the above letter is Ellen, his wife.)
Sept 30
We have just finished burying Luther Quarterman who was killed on yesterday. The rest of the company are all well. I was not in the fight. May God bless you. All is quiet now. The Yanks are all gone back.
Your loving
JoeCamp Dismounted men
October 3rd 1864
My darling wife
For the past four days everything has been in such confusion that I have not had time to write. I suppose you have heard before now that we have been fighting for the past few days and that you have heard of Luther Quarterman's death poor fellow he was killed the first evening.
I imagine now that you are very uneasy about me. I wrote you a note the other morning tell you I was not in the first fight. I was in the engagement on day before yesterday the first of this month, and am thankful to a kind God that I came out without a scratch. I shot 59 times there were very few of our company in that fight. Pratt Quarterman had a ball to pass between his arm and his body cutting two holes in his coat. the fighting commenced about 12 O'clock and lasted until sundown it was quite warm but our men fought behind tolerable good brestworks and consiquencely we lost few men. Gen Dunivan of S. Carolina who commanded Butler's old Brigade was killed we lost one killed and one wounded that evening in the Batt. Paron Miller was captured the other evening I believe it was on Friday the 30th of Agust, his horse refused to go when the Yankees were charging some of our pickets, the boys say that the last that they saw of him he was urging his horse to go. The Yankees were then in a hundred and fifty yards of him. his horse was a very fine animal but very excitable. I always thought she was dangerous.
Everything has been quiet yesterday and today but do not know how long it will last. I think as soon as this fuss is over we will get our details those of us that are alive. We want to send a telegram this evening if we can get an opportunity we will send another if any thing happens so you will know that nothing has happened if a dispatch is not sent. I think of you often. May God bless you my darling one.
Your own loving JoeCamp Dismounted me Oct 20th 1864
My own darling wife
We have just finished burying Luther Quarterman who was killed on yesterday. The rest of the company are all well. I was not in the fight. May God bless you. All is quiet now. The Yanks are all gone back.
I did not receive a letter last night as I expected, suppose I will get it tonight, every time that I fail to get a letter I am fearful that something has happened, although I want to hear that all is over, at the same time I am almost afraid to hear but I am in hopes that all will come out right. Some how or other I feel as if every thing will be right. Oh that I had faith to believe that my prayers though feeble would be heard. Today is a cold chilly day such as we have down in Liberty the last of November—how I do wish I could be with you today by a good warm fire. how happy we would be. I hope my precious one that that day is not far distance, if God in his goodness and mercy spairs my life I will surely be with you in the course of a month or six weeks, probably sooner, if I have the money I will send you a dispatch when we start, telling you that I am coming. Oct. 22nd 1864
Since I wrote the above I have received a note from Mother telling me that I had a son. I can assure you I feel very much relieved. May God's blessing rest upon the little darling's head and may God give the parents grace and strength to rear him up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. I went out in the woods and committed him to the care of God. Keep in good spirits. The reason that I did not send this yesterday was because I was sent off before I could finish it. I would write more but the mail is about to start.
Your own loving Joe
Joseph Bacon Martin and Ellen Barrett Fleming in their marriage united the families of John Martin and William Fleming, founders of Flemington. They had eight sons and two daughters. Nine of these grew to maturity and married. Eight of them have descendants. Joseph Martin was for a long time Superintendent of Schools in Liberty County and also Sunday School Superintendent of the Flemington Presbyterian Church. He lived about a half mile in front of the church. He died at Flemington November 13, 1912.
John Elbert Martin was born on November 4, 1843. Does his name indicate a connection with Revolutionary General Elbert and a stronger tie to the Governor Martin tradition? John also served in the War Between the States. He was twice married. His first wife was Olivia Curry and his second was Josephine Fleming. They lived just south of the William Graham Martin place, near Hinesville. They had no children. He died at Flemington on September 8, 1911.
Anna Louise Martin was the seventh child of William Graham Martin and Eliza Sumner Bacon. She was born on August 21, 1845 and died on March 19, 1861, just one week before her father's death. Both were buried in Midway Cemetery.
Sarah Eliza Martin, their next child, was born on July 5, 1847. On April 4, 1872, she married James Bacon Fraser. It is said that big sister, Laura Martin, went home with them from the wedding and the three of them lived together "happily ever after." Certainly, they maintained a social center for Flemington in the big house at Flemington Crossroads. Rev. Charles C. Carson glowingly tells of his arrival in Flemington to become pastor of the church. To his surprise he was taken from the train at McIntosh by surrey to the Jimmy Fraser home where he was greeted by the congregation all dressed out in evening dresses and Prince Alberts. Those were the days.
James Bacon Fraser and Lizzie Martin had two daughters, Laura and Lillie Mae, both of them "unappropriated blessings." Laura, the older of the two, was long the schoolteacher at the Flemington school. She was an authority on everything, almost, and sometimes the center of such controversies as revolve around schools, particularly in small communities. (She should have written about the Martins up to this point.) She visited often with the Martins in Augusta and treasured the traditions of the family, Liberty County and the South.
Captain James B. Fraser, at the time of his death, was commander of the Liberty Independent Troop. The colored people of the community, meeting in the Tabernacle Congregational Church at Thebes, passed the following resolution and presented it to his widow.
"At the request of 500 or more persons present at the above named church today, we ask the humble privilege of yourself and relatives to express our sincere sympathy for you and them in your sorrow stricken condition in consequence of the deceased deacon J. B. Fraser (your beloved husband). In behalf of the colored citizens of Liberty County as well as our present congregation, we wish to state that we know that his loss to his family cannot be estimated and we frankly confess that we are not prepared to calculate the loss of his advice and aid to us.
"The immortal Fraser was to us what William Penn was to the Indians and Oglethorpe to the early settlers of our beloved Georgia. He has delivered us from prison, hunger and trouble. And were we able, we would build a monument to his memory that would be the "First to kiss the rays of the morning and the last to bid farewell to the shadows of the evening." He is indeed worthy of a monument and, if possible, "Let it arise to meet the Sun in his coming." But however we may with you regret and bemoan his disappointment to us, we believe that he has met divine appointment in heaven."
"In behalf of many friends (signed) F. R. Sims, W. H. Styles, D. D. Williams."
The local paper added this comment, reporting this action: "When it is remembered that Capt. Fraser came of a race of slaveowners, was a Confederate soldier, and at the time of his death was commanding the Liberty Independent Troop, a white organization, the Guidon thinks that this spontaneous expression of respect honors alike his memory and does credit to the negroes of Liberty County."
The ninth and last child of William Graham Martin was Charles Jones Martin. He was born on August 4, 1849, and was named for his father's good friend. Rev. (later Dr.) Charles Colcock Jones, who was the Midway Church's minister to the slaves. He later became professor at Columbia Seminary and secretary of Domestic Missions for the (united) Presbyterian Church. Charles Jones Martin married Mary Jane Fraser on December 7, 1887, thus making two of this generation to marry a Fraser. Charles and Mary Jane lived on the original John Martin place and raised six daughters and one son.
Charles Jones Martin was baptised at Midway Church. The white laced baptismal gown was ironed out and placed in a basket to be taken to Midway, while wee Charles was dressed in a gingham smock for the trip, saving the gown for the time of the ceremony. His mother was horrified at the church to discover that the lunch baskets were all on hand but the basket with the baptismal gown had been left in Flemington. She refused to have the baby baptised until Dr. Axson, the pastor, asked her, "Are we baptising the baby or the gown?"
The original Martin house burned in 1872 while the wedding clothes of Sarah Eliza Martin were being pressed. This was a two story house with a veranda across the front with pillars. The roof was a hipped roof. Additional one story rooms were joined at either end of the house at the front. At the back, on either side of a wide hallway, were shed rooms.
The kitchen, which was in the back yard, did not burn and remained standing until about 1903. Near the kitchen was the smokehouse, dairy, and other out houses. Beyond the kitchen were three frame houses where the house servants lived.
Around the house was a flower garden with trees and shrubbery and an extensive lawn at the front. To the rear and right of the home were the carriage house, stables and barns.
After
the fire, Charles J. Martin and Daniel Baker, one of the younger
slaves who had been trained as a carpenter and continued to work
for the family, tore down a rice house on one of the plantations
and hauled it to the site. With these wide lightwood boards they
built three rooms, a kitchen, and two porches in which he and his
mother lived. The others all having left home, he cared for his
mother until her death. Before he married Mary Jane Fraser, he built
the present house.
To Thousands of Generations
God designed the family and he made his covenant with the fathers for their children, "showing mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments." God's promises stand sure. Generations of families flourish or fail largely as they remember or forget the promises of God's covenant. The next four generations are listed in the appended Directory of Flemington Martins. No descriptions of their lives and achievements are attempted except to give the dates of births, marriages and deaths, together with their children and family relations. The God of our fathers being with us, the future is bright.