Martin Dye (abt. 1642 - bef. 1722)

Born about 1642 in England

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Homer Hopper [send private message], Eddie Pike [send private message], Catherine Ehlert [send private message], and Mary Ratliff [send private message]

Disputed Parents

There are unsourced internet family trees claiming that Martin was the son of David Dye and Elizabeth Howe. There are also unsourced internet family trees claiming that Martin was the son of Robert Arthur Dye and Grace Harcourt. There is no known evidence to support either supposition. Martin's parents and place of origin are unknown.

However, the names Robert Dye and Thomas Dye appear in the records of Accomack County, Virginia in the 1630s, and three daughters of John Dye, deceased, would be granted land there in 1666.^[1] Could John have been the father of Martin?

Martin Dye arrived in Virginia by 1666. Two different men received patents for 50 acres of land for transported him to Virginia in 1666, and a third in 1667. In addition, a man from Charles Co. Maryland received land for transporting Martin in 1667. This was a fraud of course by all but the man who actually brought Martin to Virginia.^[2]

Aside from his four immigration records, there are only two known records of Martin Dye in America.

On 18 May 1672, Martin and Margaret Dye were recorded as the parents at the baptism of Arthur Dye at North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia.^[3]

On 30 Sept. 1674 Robert Sisson of Farnham Parish in Rappahannock County, "out of the love and affection I beare unto my Sonne and Daughter in Law Martin and Margaret Dye and my God Sonne Arthur Dye the Sonne and heire of the said Martin and Margaret Dye," granted, "during the natural life" of Margaret Dye and Arthur Dye, "as much ground on and about the place where the said Martin is now seated as he himself can sufficiently tend and also for what hands [laborers] the said Martin can for himself purchase together with what timber he shall have occasion to make use of to his own proper use," together with firewood, water, and permission to come and go, to go into effect as soon as Martin planted and fenced an orchard of 100 apple trees on the land.^[4] It is clear that Martin didn't own this land, so he didn't need to write a will.

Biography

Martin Dye was a Virginia colonist.

Martin Dye Arrived from England to America in Oct 1666, landing in Virginia. He was listed by three men and also listed in Charles County Maryland. This may have been due to The Headright Immigration where persons that pay for an immigrant receive land. This was a fraud of course by all but the man who actually brought Martin Dye to America Martin where he settled in Richmond County Virginia in which Warsaw was the County Seat, where Martin Dye married.

Martin Dye left no Will. He was young & probably single as he married about 1670. He may have had relatives in America. I'm not including earlier Dye families and ship lists here as I have not found sufficient proofs Martin Dye settled on or near the Rappahannock River, (Chesapeake Colony) and is found in a later deed there. George Dye ( his brother) came over on the same ship).

Traditions, One of the early Dye's supposedly married a Miss Fauntleroy.This Dye Fauntleroy couple were supposedly exiled from England on religious grounds. They were Roman Catholics. These traditions that were mainly not proven and are written so that future generations of researches hopefully will prove or correct these lines.

Many false or unproven things has been written in the past about the Dye Line. For example Jacob Dye Sr. being the father of William Dye Jr. Also dates on our early Dye's just guessed at by Dye descendants who in many cases just wanted into the D.A.R. or perhaps the 17th century Dames, or perhaps The Jamestown Society etc. These dates & paces were stated by later researchers as proofs. These records of the Dye Line into America are based on proofs of recorded documents and any best guess assumptions will be stated in text.

Family tradition, claims he had several children. Those possibilities are William, Thomas, Sarah and others. His proven eldest child was Arthur born 18 May 1673. It was the English custom was the son being named after a grandfather. Tradition also states that he was a planter and an attorney. An old rent roll listed a Widow Dye in 1721. This is his wife Margaret that proves that Martin had died by this date.

Family tradition, claims that our Martin Dye was part Irish and English. He was mixed up in a racing scandal that made him leave Ireland in a hurry. From England he was exiled to America.

Another tradition, is that he had trouble with the Church of England, who at the time forced all citizens to pay tithes. Non payment of tithes resulted in fines. Martin left England and went to the Catholic State of Charles County, Maryland to escape the local Protestant Virginia Church of England. A contemporary example is Robert Dye who was fined several times for not attending church services and was sentenced to lay prostrate in the form of a cross in front of the church all Sabbath Day.

Martin must have returned to Virginia from Maryland as his son was married there. It is likely they had more than one child. At this time (1996) Arthur was the only proven child. Family tradition states that Martin died as an old man and had already buried his wife. Could their graves and stones be located in this area? It's possible as older stones found in New England and Europe are still legible. I think that any Dye who lives in Va. should search for old Dye graves in Richmond, King George, Stafford and Fauquier counties. Old records are hard to find in the late 1600's. We cannot find Martin Dye's Will or the inventory of his estate nor death record.

The Dye name was often spelled incorrectly by clerks. I have found our Dye name listed as Duy-Digh-Dey-Day-Die-Dee and Dy, over and over again. I've had problems with nicknames. They made it harder to interpret the family history. I found many of our people used nicknames even on legal documents. The following is a list of Dye Family Nicknames. Anne was never spelled Ann, Catherine was Caty or Katie, Catherine was Caty or Katie, Elizabeth was Betsy or Betty, Francis was Fanny Hopkins was Hock, Margaret was Peggy, Martha was Patsy, Mary was Polly or Molly, Nancy was Ann or Nan, Sarah was Sally. After 1850 different nicknames were being used. The most prominent Dye male name was William.

This Martin Dye is the first recorded Dye in America & he is the ancestor of thousands. He is ours and we will remember him.

By Elizabeth A. Dye Budai

Note

Elizabeth was very ill when she published her book. Her husband was dying of Cancer. She had her niece type the manuscript on a typewriter, from her hand written copy. Elizabeth researched the Dyes & related families for decades.

She went to the town of Milton where many of the Colonial Dye and related families lived. She said that the town was basically gone, found many old foundations and possible grave sites. This trip was taken in the 1960's when she was on vacation and was also visiting courthouses, Library, and cemeteries. Pike-2301 01:23, 3 January 2016 (EST)

DNA

This profile would benefit from male descendants down the paternal line testing their Y-DNA. Please join the Dyer FamilyTreeDNA project.

Sources

1. ↑ Beverly Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, vol. 1, pp. 6, 20, 22 (and other pages) for Robert; pp. 86, 87 for Thomas. For John Dye and daughters, see Cavaliers and Pioneers, p. 554.
2. ↑ The records, from Nugent's CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, and Skordas' EARLY SETTLERS OF MARYLAND, are abstracted at this 2000 forum post by Barbara Marsh.
3. ↑ From King's REGISTERS OF NORTH FARNHAM PARISH, quoted at this 2000 forum post by Barbara Marsh.
4. ↑ Margaret Sisson's page at the Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck website, citing Old Rappahannock Co Deed Book 5 - 1672-1674, pp. 234-35. Witnesses were Robert Walker and Thomas Freshwater; the deed was registered on 21 Oct. 1674.

• The Martin Dye Family 1666 – 1996. Self published in 1996 by Elizabeth A. Dye Budai.

Acknowledgements

WikiTree profile Dye-338 created through the import of Dulaney, Kelley Family Tree.ged on Aug 1, 2011 by Christina Marshall.