MARTIN, Joseph, of Green Co KY

Joseph Martin was born in Virginia in 1799, the son of John O’Friel and Sarah (McNabb) Martin. He was living in 1870 in Green County, Kentucky.[1]

            On 28 May 1818 in Green Co KY, Joseph married Diana Spicer Wilcox.[2]

Diana was born about 1800 in Green Co KY, the daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Hall) Wilcox, and was living at the time of the 1870 census in the same county.

            Although it appears that Joseph and Diana spent their entire lives in one county, that is not so. They are found in various land deeds in Green County, but moved with their families to present-day Menard Co IL before 1830. At the time, this was Sangamon Co IL. They returned to Kentucky about 1838.[3]

            While in Illinois, Joseph Martin participated in the Black Hawk War.[4] He was in Capt Jesse Claywell’s Company of “ninety days men.” His wife’s brother-in-law George Curry was in the same unit, as was her uncle Ephraim Wilcox, although the latter received no pay, so apparently did not serve his full time. The company’s lieutenant was John H Wilcoxson, probably a third cousin, since the names Wilcox and Wilcoxson are commonly used interchangeably.

            Joseph and Diana were in these census entries:

·      1820, Green Co KY, Joseph Martin: 100100/00100

·      1830, Sangamon Co IL, Joseph Martin: 111001/120011

·      1840, Green Co KY, Joseph Martin: 0101001…/220201…

·      1850, Green Co KY, p 108, 414-414[5]

·      1860, Green Co KY, District No 3, p 564, 195-192[6]

·      1870, Green Co KY, Haskinsville Twp, p 452, #214-219[7]

The names of Joseph and Diana’s six or seven daughters and three sons are largely to be determined through proximity in various census years. In 1855, they lost three unmarried young adult and adolescent children.[8]

The censuses indicate these children:

·   Son b 1818-1820                        (John O. b 1819 or 1827; same page 1860 as parents and Daniel Bagby family)

·  Daughter b 1820-1825            (Sarah b ca 1825; m Daniel Bagby; same page 1860 as her parents)

·  Daughter b 1820-1825      (Emily b ca 1825; m Benjamin Gentry)

·  Daughter b 1825-1830      (probably married or died before 1850)

·  Son b 1825-1830            (William b 1830; with parents 1850)

·  Daughter b 1830-1835      (Ellen Jane b 1833, d 1855; with parents 1850)

·  Son b 1830-1835            (Henry b 1835, d 1855; with parents 1850)

·  Daughter b 1830-1835      (probably married or died before 1850, possibly same as unidentified daughter above)

·  Daughter b 1835-1840      (Elizabeth b 1840, d 1855; with parents 1850)

The only child proposed here and not actually with her parents or on the same census page as the parents or a sibling is Emily, my ancestor. Emily’s granddaughter, Mary T (Huff) Davis and several members of her family are buried in the Bagby Cemetery, Green Co KY. This cemetery is named for the family of Emily’s sister Sarah (Martin) Bagby’s family.

These are the children who have been identified for Joseph and Diana:

1. John O MARTIN was born about 1819 in Green Co KY. John died on 17 May 1893. John O married Nancy A –?–. She was born in 1828 in TN. They had the following children:

                        i.            Joseph O (ca1848-)

                        ii.            Peter D (ca1849-)

                        iii.            Spicetta (ca1852-)

                        iv.            Creed R (ca1853-)

                        v.            James H (ca1855-)

                        vi.            Sarah A (ca1857-)

2. Sarah MARTIN was born in 1825. Sarah married Daniel Lealand BAGBY, son of John BAGBY & Esther GIBSON. Born on 27 May 1824 in KY, Daniel died on 9 Jun 1862. Among other they had the following children:

                        i.            Joseph W (1857-)

                        ii.            John H (1859-1929)

                        iii.            William (1861-)

3. Emily MARTIN was born in 1825 in Green Co KY. Emily died after 1880 and was buried in Houk Cemetery, Hart Co KY. About 1841 when Emily was 16, she married Benjamin GENTRY, son of Joseph Oliver GENTRY & possibly Elizabeth ARTHURS, probably in Green Co KY. Born in 1822 in KY, Benjamin was also living in 1880. They had the following children:

                        i.            James T (1842-<1900)

                        ii.            Laura Frances (1844-1911)

                        iii.            Mary E (1846-)

                        iv.            Lucinda (1848-1920)

                        v.            Nancy Jane (1851-)

                        vi.            George N (1855-)

4. William MARTIN was born in 1830. He was living with his parents in 1850.

5. Ellen Jane MARTIN was born in 1833 in Green Co KY. Ellen Jane died in Green Co KY, on 27 Oct 1855; she was 22.

6. Henry MARTIN was born in 1835 in Green Co KY. Henry died in Green Co KY, on 14 Feb 1855; he was 20.

7. Elizabeth MARTIN was born in 1840 in Green Co KY. Elizabeth died in Green Co KY, on 21 Mar 1855; she was 15.

© Kathy Alvis Patterson  2008

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[1] 1870 census, Green Co KY, Haskinsville Twp, p 452, #214-219.

[2] Green Co KY Marriage Book A, 1793-1836, at http://kykinfolk.com/green/marriage_bk_a.htm.

[3] Green Co KY Abstracts of Deed Books 5 & 6, 1806-1814, compiled by Barbara Wright.

1:184ff. 1826 lawsuit, the heirs of Robert Forbis v. Jacob Wilcox and Joseph Martin. Joseph Martin purchased two 40 acre tracts of land from the federal government in present day Menard Co in 1835.

Menard Co. deed book 1, p. 509: Indenture dated 19 Nov 1838. Joseph Martin & wife Spicer of Green Co KY. To John Martin of Sangamon Co. $400 for land in Sangamon.

“Sangamon County Early Voters, 1821-1827” 1 Aug 1831 – Joseph Martin voted at the house of Jonathan Dunn in Athens, Union Pct.  5 May 1834 – Joseph Martin voted at the house of Col. Mathew Rogers in Athens, Union Pct.

Also, Green Co KY Abstracts of Deed Books 5 & 6, 1806-1814, compiled by Barbara Wright. 1:189. 4 May 1847, the heirs of Jacob Wilcox sold land after his death, patented to James Wilcox.

[4] Ancestry.com. History of Sangamon County, Illinois: together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious… [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: History of Sangamon County, Illinois: together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens : history of Illinois, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races, aborigines, Winnebago and Black Hawk Wars, and a brief review of its civil, political and military history. Chicago: Inter-State Pub, 1881, page 162.

[5] Joseph Martin, 51 m, farmer, $400, VA; Dianna, 48, f Green Co KY; Sarah, 25 f, ditto; William, 20 m, ditto; Jane, 17 f, ditto; Henry, 15 m, ditto; Elizabeth, 10 f, ditto. Next door to brother William Martin, wife Mariah and 5 children.

[6] Joseph Martin, 60 m farmer, $100, $350 VA; Dinah, 60 f KY; Betsy Bagby, 20 f, seamstress KY. On the same page are John O Martin, 43, and family, and Daniel Bagby, his wife Sarah, 36, and family.

[7] Joseph Martin, 70 wm farmer $400 $1000 VA, Diana 70 wf keeping house KY, Joseph 21 wm works on farm TN married in Nov, Mary A 21 wf KY married in Nov, Delila 51 wf none $700 KY.

[8] Henry died 14 Feb 1855 of consumption; Elizabeth died 21 Mar 1855 of a cause not listed in the death records; Ellen Jane died 27 Oct 1855 of scarlet fever. See “Descendency of Morris O’Friel” at Ancestry.com.