Blog post #1001: The family of Martin Root Jr. 1753-1822

If you don't mind my saying so, this family intrigues me.  Martin is a DAR recognized Revolutionary War soldier, for one thing.  For another, in his later years he moved from Westfield, Massachusetts, to Montgomery, (still in Hampshire County), Massachusetts and then later still to the Buchanan Settlement in Harrison County of what is now West Virginia.  Why did he leave Massachusetts, the home of his ancestors for generations?  So far, all I can deduce is that members of his family as well as other settlers from Montgomery traveled and settled together.  I'd love to find the rest of this story!

Martin was the son of Martin and Eunice Lamb Root, of Westfield, Massachusetts.  He was born in 1753 and died in 1822.  He was married twice, as I just recently learned.  His first wife is Ruth Noble, the daughter of Stephen and Ruth Church Noble.  She died in 1790 and he then married Lois Smith, the daughter of Warham and Martha Belding Smith, in 1793.  I have seen her referred to as Ann Lois, but the marriage records of Westfield list her name as Lois, so that is the name I'm using.

Martin and Ruth had at least 6 children together, all born in Westfield.  What I find fascinating about this family is that three of the six children married siblings, the children of Daniel and Rebekah Bosworth Barrett.  These two families must have been very close friends, probably members of the same church, and the cousin relationships are hard to keep straight.  

Noble Root was their first son.  He married Damaris Barrett, daughter of Daniel and Rebekah Bosworth Barrett.  Their children are Alanson, Belinda, Cynthia, Rebecca, Laurinda, Oriliana, and George.  After Damaris died, Noble then married Harriet Bushnell, the daughter of Ebenezer and Susanna Hubbard Bushnell.  They had three daughters-Harriet, Elizabeth and Susan. Noble died in 1831 in Granville, Licking County, Ohio.

Martin was the next born, in 1781.  He married Mary Barrett, daughter of Daniel and Rebekah Bosworth Barrett, and sister to Damaris above.  Their children are Marcus Aurelius, Linus, Mary, Moses, Martha, Samuel, Lysander and Damaris.  Martin died in 1838 in Granville, Licking County, Ohio.  

Ruth was the next born, in 1784 and she was their first daughter.  She married Samuel Falley, the son of Richard and Margaret Hitchcock Falley.  Their children are Lois, Clarissa, Richard, Charles, Samuel, Francis, Ruth, Edmund, Linus, Eunice and Charlotte.  (So many of these names are used over and over, I certainly hope I haven't mis-identified any!)   Ruth died in 1862 in Granville, Licking County, Ohio.

Charlotte was born in 1786.  She married Theodore Stearns, the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth Edwards Stearns.  Their children are Mary, Charlotte, Daniel or/and possibly David, Henry, and Theodore.  She died in 1863 in Easthampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts.   I usually ignore middle names when I name the children, but this one is so unusual it must be mentioned.  Theodore's middle name was Obookiah.  He was likely named for Henry Obookiah, a native Hawaiian who was educated in Connecticut as a Christian pastoral candidate, but who died of typhus before he could return to Hawaii.  It would certainly be interesting to know how close Charlotte or Theodore were to this man, and the source of their relationship! Theodore is noted as being a deacon, so it's likely that there was a connection through church.

Charles was the next son, born in 1789.  He married Mary Jackson, the daughter of John and Jemima Davison Jackson.  Their children are Jemima, Charles, Elizabeth, William, another William, Carlton, Henry, Charlotte, and Truman.  Charles died in 1847 in Edwards County, Illinois.

Martin and Ruth's last child was Eunice, born in 1790.  (Ruth's death that same year may well have been connected to the childbirth.)  She died June 29, 1822 in West Virginia.  Her husband was Elisha Dow Barrett, son of Daniel and Rebekah Bosworth Barrett.  In the approximate six years of their marriage, they had four children-Lysander, Louisa, Eunice and Louvinia.  

Martin and Lois, his second wife, had at least two children.  

Edmund was born in 1795 and married Eva Reinhart, the daughter of George and Susannah Wiles Reinhart.Their children are George, Susan, Mary Jane, Flora, and a son who died in infancy.  Edmund died in 1848 in Bone Gap, Edwards, Illinois.  

Linus was born in 1797. He married Martha Burr, the daughter of John and Mary (Polly) Copeland Burr.  (If we follow the Burr line back far enough, she was a descendant of John and Mary Warren Burr, who are ancestors on the Holbrook side of the family).  Their children are Lois, Louisa, Martin, John, Mary Jane, Edmund, Linus, David, Charles, David again, Martha, and Richard.  Linus also died in 1848 in Bone Gap, Edwards County, Illinois. 

Martin is credited with 64 grandchildren.  His children settled mostly in Granville, Ohio and Bone Gap, Illinois, although one stayed behind in Massachusetts and one died shortly after arriving in West Virginia.  The family was growing as the country grew, thanks to the efforts of men like Martin, and other Revolutionary War soldiers mentioned in this post without reference to their military service. 

The family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr.

Well, I thought that the family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr was well documented.  As it turns out, only most of the children are well documented, or at least, the documents for the others haven't been located yet.  However, I've found enough to help us understand a little of the family, even if we can't understand all the dynamics or interactions that this family experienced.  

John Simpson Aldridge Jr is the son of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  He was born February 27, 1798 in Clermont County, Ohio and married Lucinda Wheeler, daughter of Jason Wheeler and his mysterious wife, who may be Patience or Palina, and who may be a Swan, Tracy, Hamblin, or someone else entirely.  There are records showing him as a soldier in the War of 1812 in Ohio, but he would have been pretty young (not yet 16 when the war ended) so I'm not sure we are talking about the same man.  Of course, he could simply have lied about his age, particularly if he had the appearance of a robust young man.  

John and Lucinda were married in 1819 in Clermont County, and stayed there for a few years.  Sometime in the 1820s, probably before 1823, they were in Rush County, Indiana, where they stayed the rest of their lives.  Lucinda died in 1836 and John in 1842.  In their not quite 17 years of marriage, this couple had 10 children, which may have been one reason Lucinda died at such an early age.  I am not absolutely positive about the birth order of some of the children, as there are at least two who likely died as infants or children, and no records have yet been located for them.  

The first child was Darlington Dart, born in 1821, likely in Clermont County, and died in 1859 in Tipton County, Indiana.  He married Leah Folsom, the daughter of Jeremiah and Sally Lock Folsom.  Their children are Mary, Lucinda, Francis, John, Jeremiah, James, Alonzo, Richard, and Harvey.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.  

Eliza, also seen as Elizabeth, was born in 1822.  She married Uriah Bozell, who may have been the son of Henry and either Catherine Ninon Bozell or Lucinda Brandon Bozell.  Their children are John, James, Henry, Eliza, Melinda, Leah, and Sarah.   She died in 1905. 

Joseph was born in 1824, probably in Clermont County, Ohio per his Find a Grave memorial.  He married Susan Stiers, who was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Creviston Stiers.  If those names seem familiar, Joseph's uncle, Nathan Aldridge, also married a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth, as mentioned in my last post about the family of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  Joseph and Susan's children are Marshall, Mary, Dailey, Patience, Ada, and Rhoda.  He died in Rush County in 1903 or 1909; there seems to be conflicting information on his grave stone.

Next born may have been Mary, who seems to have no further record.  It is not unusual for children who were both born and died between census years, to not have left a record in that time period.  All we can say is that she was likely named for her grandmother, Mary Lakin Aldridge.

Jason Lafayette Aldridge was born in 1825 and died in 1888.  He married Rebecca Sapp, the daughter of George and Sarah Canter Sapp.  He spent his adult life in Clermont County, Ohio, for reasons I have not yet determined (were the Sapps family friends from when his parents lived there?), and he was a Civil War veteran.  Jason and Rebecca had no children.  

Next born was Isam Philander, generally known as Philander, in 1829.  He married Nancy Borden, the daughter of William and Rachel Corn Borden.  Sally Lock Folsom, mother in law of Darlington, married a Stafford Borden after the death of her first husband, but I have not yet made a connection between the two Borden families.  Isam's children are Sarah, Lea, Mary, Melissa, James, Sandy, and Charles.  

Ruhamah was born about 1831.  There may or may not be a hint of scandal about her.  She first married, in 1848, Oliver Abernathy, the son of Randall and Rebecca Moore Abernathy.  They had two children, Isaac and Richard.  I have not yet found record of it, but there seems to have been a divorce because in 1868 she married James W. Toler.  The Abernathy boys are living with the Tolers in Illinois, along with Susan Toler, who is one year old in the 1870 census.  The interesting thing that makes me raise one eyebrow, just a little, is that Ruhamah is 10 years older than James.  Also, Oliver died in 1880.  It would be interesting to see the divorce records in the late 1860s, but Oliver seems to have moved frequently so we don't even know which county to search.

Next born, was John Simpson Aldridge III, about 1832.  He married Mary Toler or Toller, so far not further identified.  Their children are Mary, Frank, and Joseph.  John died in 1880 in Rush County, Indiana.

Here we come to another bit of confusion.  Apparently there was a son, Barr E., born in 1835 or 1836.  At least one tree gives his mother as Mary Henderson, and his father as John Simpson Aldridge, Jr, with no supporting documentation.  I could not find any record of Barr, so he may well have lived and died between the census years.  

To further confuse matters, the last known child was Marcellus, born in 1835 and died in 1882.  Some show his middle initial as E, and some say it was B, for Barr.  It's possible that Marcellus and Barr were one and the same person, but I tend to think there were two babies.  I have no idea whether the Mary Henderson idea is correct, but Marcellus is only shown as the son of John and Lucinda.  He married Hester Beaver, the daughter of Elisha and Mary Ann Walker Beaver.  Their children are Frank, Dailey, and Winfield Scott.  

By my count, this gives John and Lucinda 38 children, assuming Barr was real and was the child of John and Lucinda.  Most of the family stayed in central Indiana, so there are still a lot of Aldridge family members nearby.