Martha (Abbott-Burdeen) Spicer (abt. 1841 - abt. 1920)

Descendants

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Biography

Martha, a daughter of David Abbott (1800-1860) and Tobitha Romines-Abbott (1815- ), was born in Sevier County in about 1842. Her age is based on a number of federal census records.

On February 14, 1861 Martha was married to Oliver Bodine and they produced a daughter Hannah E. Bodine. (1862-1936)

Martha's husband, Oliver, died at about the time of their 5th wedding anniversary and there are no 'known' additional marriages in Martha's future.

For many years she was lost to the records due to misspellings of the Bodine name. She was found in later census records under the name of Burdene. The Burdene connection is confirmed by current families that linked back to Martha's daughter Sarah with certainty.

In spite of the absence of marriage records we know that Martha gave birth to one son who died at about the age of seven, and at least three additional girls.

George Bodine (1863-1870) Mary Florence Burdine (1867-?) Rebecca Jane Burdine (1870-1920) Sarah Evelyn Burdine/Spicer (1879-1952)

Martha's daughter, Mary Florence, is said to have died from injuries that she received from members of the 'White Caps' who were a 'KKK' type of group that took it as their mission to reinforce moral values. Mary was apparently thought to be a 'Loose Woman' and a bad influence in the community and in a vigilante type of beating the 'White Caps' carried their message to far. This mention is not intended as a statement on morality but merely a note of history. Available men were sometimes limited and some girls were never able to find a partner for marriage.

Her youngest daughter was Sarah Evelyn Burdene (Spicer-Parrott) Sarah was the daughter of Martha and William L. Spicer. She was conceived by two young people who had not and did not marry each other. Martha was shown as widowed in the 1920 Census living with her daughter Sarah. William Spicer was married later to Maggie Stuart until his passing. To date there had been no documentation of Martha's actual passing or the location of her burial..

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC6M-JLB : 23 December 2020), Martha Abbot in household of David Abbot, Sevier, Tennessee, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.