Peter Helmer Martin (1814 - 1887)

Born 2 Jun 1814 in Painted Post, Steuben Co., New York

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Greiner) Martin — married 19 Jan 1834 in Clark Co., Ohio

Descendants

Died 1 Jan 1887 at age 72 in Walnut, Bureau Co., Illinois

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Biography

Peter Helmer Martin was born on 13 May 1814 or 02 June 1814, supposedly at Painted Post (but perhaps at Addison), Steuben County, New York. The 13 May 1814 date is based on the age given on his gravestone. He was apparently named after his (much older) brother-in-law Peter Helmer (who had married about 1810 to Peter's much older sister Hannah). Peter Helmer had begun handling the Martin family affairs about 1814.

He was just a young toddler during the time (1816) of the "year without a summer" due to the cold summer weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora volcano the previous year. "On June 25, 1816, The Franklin Repository in Pennsylvania reported that snow blanketed the area. Around the same time, The Evening Post in New York described freezing temperatures and nearly a foot of snow. Farm animals in Vermont succumbed to the freezing temperatures as long-time residents said they’d never seen anything like it!" "As fall approached, the Hartford Courant noted that 1816 would go down in history because there had been frost every month of the year. European papers complained that constant rains had ruined crops and created a famine."

They all moved to Clark County (Mad River Township), Ohio, in the autumn of 1817. He was living with his mother Margaret in the 1820 Census. Peter's name appears among the list of Robert Martin's children on an 1826 Clark County Land Deed, and his signature (at the age of 14) appears on that document.

He moved with his mother to Putnam County in 1826 or 1827, but returned to Clark County, Ohio, after his mother's death about 1829. He appears to be living with brother James Martin in Bethel Township, Clark County, Ohio, in the 1830 Census (page 129), the same page which lists George Greiner (Peter's future father-in-law). Peter and James must have been fairly close, since James named a son Peter H. Martin (b. 1837), and this Peter H. Martin (b. 1814) would name his first child James.

He would presumably have awakened to witness the great Leonid Meteor Storm of 12 November 1833 (https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/09/how-newspapers-helped-crowdsource-a-scientific-discovery-the-1833-leonid-meteor-storm/)

Peter was married on Sunday, 19 January 1834 (license dated 18 January 1834), Clark County, Ohio, by Aaron Morehouse, J.P., to Jane Greiner (b. 14 June 1809, Staunton?, Virginia; d. 02 February 1897, Walnut, Illinois), daughter of George Greiner and Catherine Whitsell. By 1838, they may have been living in Yellow Springs (in neighboring Greene County), at least their son Arthur was born there. Not yet found in 1840 Ohio Census (perhaps living in a relative's household?). They moved about 1843 to Hall's Settlement, in Leepertown Township, Bureau County, Illinois.

The 1850 Census (Bureau County, Illinois, page 259) shows Peter and family with two boarders (David and Peter Nevius; they were Jane's brother-in-law David Nevius and nephew Peter Nevius). Peter Martin's real estate at that time was valued at $2100. In 1853, he bought a farm about one mile south of Walnut, Bureau County, Illinois (exact location not yet known and land records need to be researched). Most likely this is the land for which he received two Land Patents in 1854. The first was for 40 acres (NE1/4 of NE1/4, Section 20, Township 18N - Range 8E), and the second was for an adjacent 40 acres (NW1/4 or NE1/4 of the same section 20). In both cases, it was military bounty land which was assigned to Peter H. Martin by the original owners (Martin Young and Increase Pettit, both of whom were soldiers in New York during the War of 1812). These records do not state how much Peter Martin paid for the land.

The Martin family appears in Bureau County, Illinois, during the 1860 Census (page 661) and 1870 Census (page 521). The 1860 Census shows the value of his real estate to be $4000 and personal property of $550. He presumably sold his farm in 1869 when he purchased a residence in the southern part of Walnut.

Just 5 1/2 weeks after his brother Arthur died, Peter Martin died very early on a Saturday morning, a few minutes past midnight, 01 January 1887, after an illness (severe cold) of two weeks duration, at his home in Walnut, Bureau County, Illinois. Services were held the next day at one o'clock at the Methodist Episcopal Church (officiated by Rev. Dickens), and Peter was buried in the Walnut Cemetery. He was an Honorary Member of the F. & A.M. (Free and Accepted Masons) Lodge.

Sources

• 1820 Census (Mad River Township, Clark Co., Ohio).

• 1830 Census (Bethel Township, Clark Co., Ohio), page 129.

• Marriage record, Clark County, Ohio.

• 1850 and 1860 Census, Bureau County, Illinois. 1850 Census here: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/19070293:8054

• 1860 Census weblink: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1860usfedcenancestry&indiv=try&h=37645829

• 1870 Census (Bureau County, Illinois): https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263652_00731?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.3674995.2134788093.1603244123-69617887.1575390212&pId=15895435

• 1880 Census (Bureau County, Illinois): https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&indiv=try&h=29587475

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=2528840&GRid=124549661&

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LX93-1X3