Susannah (Emory) Martin (abt. 1749 - abt. 1796)

Born about 1749 in Cherokee Nation East, Tennessee

Ancestors

Wife of John Stuart — married about 1765 in Cherokee Nation (east)

Wife of John Martin — married 1780 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Descendants

Died about 1796 at about age 47 in Cherokee Nation East, Tennessee

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Biography

As with most early Cherokee women, there is little documentation for Susannah. She was born about 1745-1750 in the Cherokee Nation (East), generally believed to be the daughter of Mary Grant, a Cherokee woman, and William Emory, a white trader. She was the granddaughter of white trader Ludovic Grant and his Cherokee wife. She had two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary.^[1] James Hicks and some other researchers believe that she also had a half-brother named Will Emory.^{[citation needed]}

She had eleven children by three white men:^[2][3]

By John Stuart:

• Bushyhead;

By Richard Fields:

• Richard,
• George,
• Lucy,
• John,
• Turtle,
• Thomas,
• Susannah

By John Martin:

• Nannie,
• Rachel, and
• John, Jr..

Researcher James Hicks believes that some of the Fields children had a different Cherokee mother, but presents no documentation.^{[citation needed]}

Evidence supports that she lived in the Tugaloo region along the South Carolina border until her death about 1796.^[4] Although her exact date of death is unknown, an 1831 letter relates that Susannah died when her youngest son, John Martin, was an adolescent so she must have been dead before 1800. ^[5]

Research Notes

Although some researchers believe that Susannah was too young to have borne a child by John Stuart, Starr and others list Bushyhead as their son. The story in Starr's book that Stuart fathered a child with Susannah while serving at Fort Loudon cannot be accurate, since she would have been at most 10 years old. Stuart was in the Cherokee Nation until 1779, so a later date is probable.

Starr's book also erroneously named Joseph Martin as Susannah's husband and the father of her three youngest children. An 1831 letter from Benjamin Cleveland to Georgia Gov. Gilmer clarified that John Martin, not his brother Joseph, was the father of John, Rachel, and Nannie Martin. ^[6]

Fellow contributor Donnie Daniel states: "noted historians and authors have long since conceded that John is (Rachel's) father and it was recorded on her slab marker before someone 'turned it over'."^[7]

NOTE: The Find-A-Grave memorial gives "1747 Tennessee" as date of birth,^{[citation needed]} however there is NO SOURCE to back it up.

Sources

1. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979 p. 306. Digitized at Google Books, link
2. ↑ Starr, History, p. 306. =
3. ↑ John T. Adair testified in 1887 that George Fields was the half-brother of John Martin, and that George had a brother named Tom. Cited in Shadburn, Don & Strange,John. Upon Our Ruins, Cottonpatch Press, Cumming, GA. 2012. p. 164
4. ↑ Crass, David C. The Southern Colonial Back Country, University of Tennessee Press, 1998. Chapter 10. "Between Two Cultures: Judge John Martin and the Struggle for Cherokee Sovereignty," Elizabeth Arnett Fields.
5. ↑ Warren, Mary B. & Weeks, Eve, ed. Whites Among the Cherokees. Heritage Papers, Athens GA 1987, p. 93
6. ↑ Warren, Mary B. & Weeks, Eve, ed. Whites Among the Cherokees. Heritage Papers, Athens GA 1987, p. 93
7. ↑ FindAGrave: [1] Memorial# 61972720. Created by: DMLeForce --Record added: Nov 21, 2010.