THE MARTIN FAMILY. This well-known and time-honored family will become extinct in Washington county with the death of Rebecca Martin. Their genealogy can be traced to one John Martin, a native of County Armagh, Ireland, who was married to Mary McClave. They were faithful disciples of the Protestant faith, and their old Bible, which was printed in 1695, is yet in the possession of the family. Robert Martin, a son of John and Mary (McClave) Martin, was born about 1768, in County Armagh, Ireland, and there married Nancy Burris, who was born about 1773, in County Down, Ireland. The young couple came to America in 1794, landing at Philadelphia after a long, rough voyage. They made a temporary location in Lancaster county, then west to Venango county, Penn., where their hard-earned savings were invested in 400 acres of land, which he purchased in all good faith, only to discover, when too late, that he had bought of some unscrupulous rascal who had no title to the property. This tract has since developed into one of the finest oil-producing territories in the United States. After spending a large sum of money in attempting to prove his title, Mr. Martin was obliged to resign himself to the loss of the whole, and leaving Venango county, descended the Allegheny river. The family there resided at Pittsburgh a short time, but finally located on a small farm in Hanover township, this county, where their remaining days were passed. Robert Martin died in 1823, followed by his wife several years later. Their children were: John (referred to below), Mary (never married, deceased at the age of eighty-three years), Ellen (unmarried, died in her eighty-second year), Robert, James (unmarried, lived in Hanover township), Thomas (a resident of Ritchie county, W. Va.), Agnes (deceased in youth), Samuel and Rebecca (twins). Of this family Rebecca is the only one living.
Robert Martin (son of Robert and Nancy (Burris ) Martin ) grew to manhood on the home place, and in 1828 was married to Elizabeth, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Grant) Hanlin. To this union seven children were born, viz.: Nancy, Elizabeth (of Paris, Penn.), William (deceased at the age of twenty-eight years), James ( a farmer of Jefferson county, Ohio), Thomas H. (living in the West), Samuel (deceased, a farmer of Jefferson county, Ohio), and John L. (who died in Jefferson county, Ohio). Of these children the eldest daughter, Nancy, was born in 1830, and in early womanhood was married to David Parkhill. He was born in 1833, in County Antrim, Ireland, and coming to America when but sixteen years of age, followed the vocation of papering and plastering. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parkhill, three of whom are living, viz.: Lizzie M. (of Paris, Penn.), John C. (an electrician of Wellsville, Ohio), and W. J. (an employee of the Pittsburgh Car Service Association). The father died in 1872, followed by his wife in 1878, and both are buried in the Mooretown cemetery, Jefferson county, Ohio. Robert Martin (father of Mrs. Parkhill) died in 1864, followed by his wife in 1872 Their remains are interred in the Mooretown cemetery, Jefferson county, Ohio.
Samuel Martin, son of Robert and Nancy (Burris) Martin, and twin brother of Rebecca, was born October 24, 1811. He was naturally inclined to mechanical life and learned several trades, but evinced his good judgment by purchasing from the other heirs a small farm of his father's, to which he added other land and on which he made various improvements. He carried on a mercantile business for a short time at Knoxville, Jefferson Co., Ohio, but soon returned to his farm in Washington county, Penn. He accumulated a good property by his own efforts and loaned some money. Politically, he was a prominent member of the Democratic party, having served as 'squire' until he resigned the office. In religion he was a member of the United Presbyterian Church until his death, August 13, 1879.
REBECCA MARTIN, daughter of Robert and Nancy (Burris) Martin, has never married, and is living on her brother's farm (which was bequeathed to her), with two representatives of the two generations following her own Miss Lizzie Martin (a niece of Rebecca Martin) and Miss Lizzie Parkhill (a niece of Lizzie Martin), who have charge of the farm, which they conduct with signal success. Although Miss Rebecca Martin has passed through the joys and sorrows of four score years, she is yet an active woman, easily calling to mind events which occurred when she was a child.
John Martin, son of Robert and Nancy (Burris) Martin, married Mary Williamson in 1819, and moved to Jefferson county, Ohio. To this union eight children were born, of whom five are living: Mrs. Jane Warren, Mrs. Margaret Warren, both of Iowa; Mrs. Mary White, of California; Rev. J. W. Martin, of Mt. Perry, Ohio, and Dr. Samuel Martin, of Sealkote, India. Thomas Martin, son of Robert and Nancy (Burris ) Martin, married Miss Catharine J. Moates, of Ritchie county, in 1854, to whom one son was born, Robert H., a clerk in the War Department, Washington, D. C.
Text taken from page 1048 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]