James Martin Sr. (abt. 1699 - 1775)

Born about 1699 in Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Crawford) Martin — married 1724 in Virginia

Descendants

Died 3 Mar 1775 at about age 76 in Amherst, Colony of Virginia

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Biography

Many claim that James was born on 25 Aug 1699, but no source for this information has been cited. A posthumous deed made to resolve disputes over land formerly belonging to James identified his son Obediah as a cousin to John Martin, son of Stephen. The families of James and Stephen were also closely involved with the families of Henry Martin and Hudson Martin.^[1]

Will of James Martin, 25 Sep 1771, Amherst Co., VA; proved 6 Mar 1775, Amherst Co., VA.^[2]

In the name of God Amen, I JAMES MARTIN of the Parish & County of Amherst being in perfect health & of sound memory, but calling to mind the mortality of my body & that it is appointed to all men once to die, do make this my last Will & Testament revoking all other & former Wills by me heretofore made. And in the first place I recommend my soul to God who gave it & my body to the earth to be peacefully interred at the discretion of my executors herein after mentioned & for such worldly goods as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life. My will & desire is that they be disposed of in the following manner. That is to say I will that all my personal estate of what kind soever these shall be, shall be sold by my executors & that out of the money arising by the sale thereof all my just debts & funeral charges shall be paid & satisfied.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son, AZARIAH MARTIN, the tract of land whereon I now live, lying on the North Branch of the Rockfish River containing 360 acres and my 4 Negro slaves to wit: TOM, JANE, ISAC & BETTY & the future increase of the said JEAN & BETTY to hold to him & his heirs forever & also I give to him 1 feather bed, furniture, 2 cows and all my tables, chairs, 3 iron pots & looking glass.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son, JOHN MARTIN & his heirs forever my 3 Negro slaves: SARAH, BECK & young CHANCY & their future increase.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son WILLIAM MARTIN & his heirs forever, my 4 Negro slaves: JAMES, LUCY, NATHAN & old CHANCY & the future increase of the said LUCY & CHANEY.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son, JAMES MARTIN & his heirs forever my 4 Negro slaves: ANN, JOHN, BOB & RACHEL & the future increase of the said ANN & RACHEL.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son, DAVID MARTIN & his heirs forever my 3 Negro slaves: MANCHESTER, DAVID & PATTY & the future increase of the said PATTY.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son-in-law, WILLIAM TERRIL LEWIS, 10 pounds of current money.

ITEM: I give & bequeath to my son-in-law, THOMAS ANTHONY 70 pounds of current money.

ITEM: It is my desire that the 10 pounds given to WILLIAM TERRIL LEWIS & the 70 pounds given to THOMAS ANTHONY be raised out of the sale of my personal estate & if there should be money wanting to make up the said sums above mentioned, that my sons DAVID, JOHN, WILLIAM & AZARIAH MARTIN each of them pay an equal part to make up the said sums of 10 pounds to WILLIAM TERRIL LEWIS & the 70 pounds to THOMAS ANTHONY.

Whereas I have given my son, OBADIAH MARTIN, my bond for 165 pounds & 2 shillings payable at my decease which I gave him as his part of my estate---& it is my desire that he shall have no more. I also, give my son AZARIAH MARTIN my two Negros Usly & Betty...

Also I give to my son James Martin... my negro Slave Milly...

Also I give to my son William Martin my Negro Slave Sam...

It is my desire that my sons Azariah James & William Martin do pay the above mentioned sum of 165 pounds two shillings to my son Obadiah Martin...

And Lastly I do appoint my three sons William James & Azariah Martin to be Executors of this my Last will & Testament...

Note that in the Bequest to James Martin my Negro Bob is Interlined

At a Court held for Amherst County at the courthouse the seventh day of August 1769, and in the ninth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third now King of Great Britain Before his Majesty"s Justices, to wit James Nevil James Dillard John Rose Henry Rose Aaron Higginbotham produced his commission to be a Captain, Charles Tuley produced his commission to be a Captain, and Nathaniel Davis and Samuel Higginbotham produced their commissions to be Lieutenants of the Militia of this County who severally took the usual Oaths to his Majesty's person & Government, and the abjuration Oath, & Repeated & subscribed the abjuration Oath & Test. Order Book, 1766-69 Page 519 June 27, 1745 James Daniel James Nevels James Martin Albemarle County,Va. Order Book, 1744-1748

Research Notes

"Big Y" DNA results prove that James was of the same patrilinial descent as documented members of the family of Dr. Jeremy Martin of Redland Court, Bristol, England, but the exact relationship has not yet been proven by a paper trail, and likely never will be due to the near-total loss of colonial records in New Kent, Virginia. James and his documented brother Stephen both named their firstborn sons "John," as did their closest Big Y match Henry, who was the very-well-documented son of John Martin Sr. of New Kent. These three men appear to have all been brothers following the traditional English naming pattern.

On 3 May 1759, James Martin Sr. gave most of his land to his sons in a series of deeds recorded consecutively, all right after a deed to his brother Stephen Martin, to whom he sold a 200-acre portion described as the tract that Stephen was already living upon:^[3]

1. 200 acres to Stephen Martin for 2£ (brother)
2. 310 acres to John Martin his son
3. 200 acres to James Martin Jun'r (his son)
4. [200 acres] to Obediah Martin his son
5. 200 acres to William Martin his son
6. 200 acres to David Martin his son

Genealogically Remarkable Deed

A subsequent deed to the ones above from James to his brother and sons was recorded after most of these tracts had changed hands several times to settle disputes over how some of the lines had been drawn. This remarkable deed describes the relationships between many of the men involved:^[4]

• 28 Apr 1807, Whereas James Martin formerly of Amherst County was possessed in fee simple of a certain Tract of Land conveyed to him the said James Martin by Chiswell out of a larger grant which the said Chiswell then owned on Rockfish River and its waters which the said conveyance to the said James Martin contained 1650 acres,^[5] then called Albemarle County, and the said James Martin [died] being so seized & possessed; afterwards divided and conveyed among his Sons and others the whole of the said Tract of Land, among whom he gave, sold or conveyed it to his son John Martin part of the said Tract containing 310 acres which said Land the said John Martin sold and conveyed to Sharod Martin late of Amherst County dec'd, who by Will devised the same to his son George Martin of the said County of Amherst. And also about the same time the said James Martin dec'd conveyed to his Son Obadiah a part of the said Tact of Land adjoining the said conveyance made to his said Son John, without mentioning any quantity therein, but by lines designated, which said last mentioned Tract of land was by the said Obadiah sold and conveyed to John Martin a cousin who died intestate and the said Land descended to Obediah Martin the younger, a Son of the last mentioned John Martin, who sold and conveyed the same to Hudson Martin Jun'r of the said County of Amherst by certain Marked lines said to be done in the presence, and by diserection of the said James Martin dec'd, by which said lines the Lands hath eversince been held and sold as tho' by late surveys discovered to be different from the original conveyances, made by the said James Martin dec'd to his sons aforesaid: Now the said Geo: Martin and the said Hudson Martin Jun'r being willing to put an end to all disputes... for $20 paid to George by Hudson, a new boundary line is established; witnesses: George Norwell Jun'r, Aaron H. Morrison, Alexander Reid & John Goodwin.

Sources

1. ↑ See Genealogically Remarkable Deed in the Research Notes section.
2. ↑ Amherst, Virginia, Will Book 1, pp. 279-285.
3. ↑ Albemarle, Virginia, Deed Book 2, pp. 135-142.
4. ↑ Amherst, Virginia, Deed Book L, pp. 41-42.
5. ↑ Albemarle, Virginia, Order Book 1, p. 264.

See Also

What does this remnant note mean? The Amherst order book for 1766-69 includes an entry for James Martin as a witness to Stephen Martin's will on page 520, but the other names below were not involved. Nothing matching this is found in the Albemarle order book for 27 Jun 1745:

• Order Book, 1766-69 Page 519 June 27, 1745 James Daniel James Nevels James Martin