Betty's Genealogy Wish List for 2010 Part Two

Here are a few more brick walls that I wish to break through during the New Year:

1) ALBERT MARTINE born Dec 28, 1800 Clarkstown, Rockland Co NY as per records of the Clarkstown Dutch Reformed Church, son of ISAAC MARTINE (b Aug 26, 1766 Clarkstown, Rockland Co NY d abt 1813 NYC? ) and GEERTJE/CHARITY CAMPBELL ( b Jan 17, 1776 Clarkstown, Rockland Co NY d April 17, 1851 Spencerport, Ogden twp, Monroe Co NY). At this time, I know only that ALBERT's wife's name was "MARY", as per the Civil War Pension records of their two sons, ISAAC MARTINE b 1824 NY and JOHN F MARTINE b 1831 Spencerport, Monroe Co NY (my gg grandfather). I have been able to document this family up to 1800 in Clarkstown, Rockland Co NY, but after that the trail goes cold. They possibly may have moved to New York City by 1810, as there was a census record for an ISAAC MARTINE there, Ward 8, mid-aged couple with two sons, one daughter, but only for that year. I have not been able to find a marriage record for ALBERT MARTINE & MARY unknown. I can't find definitive census records for this family between 1800 and 1840, when CHARITY MARTINE, elderly woman, is listed in census as head of household in Spencerport, Ogden twp, Monroe Co NY, with an adult female (MARY), a young female under 15 (MARIA B MARTINE b 1829) and a young male under age 10 (JOHN F. MARTINE b 1831). The two older children RACHEL MARTINE b abt 1820 and ISAAC MARTINE b abt 1824 were already out of the house by 1840. It appears , from this record, that ALBERT MARTINE died before 1840. He may have been working on the Erie Canal, which runs through Spencerport. He may have died in the Cholera Epidemic of 1832, which hit New York City very hard. I suspect that his wife MARY's maiden name may have been EDSON, as my gg grandfather JOHN F MARTINE named one of his sons JOHN EDSON MARTINE (b Jan 10, 1875 Kansas City, MO). There was a JOHN EDSON living in nearby Genessee Co NY, and he did have daughters born around 1800, but records are frustratingly scarce for this branch of the Edson family. Curiously, ALBERT MARTINE & wife MARY named their youngest daughter MARIA B MARTINE, for Maria (Brown) Brooks, wife of Presbyterian minister Rev Lemuel Brooks of Monroe Co NY. I am not sure why. Perhaps there was some kind of connection on MARY's side with the Brown, Willey or Brooks families. MARIA B MARTINE b 1829 was living in household of William & Clarissa Brown by 1850 census, and married George Tarbox whose mother was Clarissa Willey, and also related to the Brown family of Monroe Co NY. MARIA B MARTINE TARBOX died in childbirth April 22, 1858 Spencerport, Monroe Co NY. She was buried next to her grandmother CHARITY MARTINE, (who died April 17, 1851 Spencerport, NY) in the Tarbox Family Plot, Fairfield Cemetery, Ogden twp, Monroe Co NY. The surname MARTINE is another one that is commonly misspelled in early records and frequently transcribed incorrectly. I have seen it as Martyn, Martin, Martain, Martyne, etc.

2) JONATHAN DIBBLE b abt 1747 Fairfield Co CT, died aft 1820 Pound Ridge, Westchester Co NY. I have not been able to find JONATHAN's parents, or connect him with any of the documented Dibble families in Fairfield Co CT or Westchester Co NY. I don't think I'm alone in this effort; seems as though some folks have been working on JONATHAN DIBBLE for years!! He married RACHEL SLOSSON/SLAWSON/SLASON (b 1740s Stamford, Fairfield Co CT, daughter of ELEAZER SLASON & SARAH RAYMOND) on Aug 20, 1767 in New Canaan, Fairfield Co CT. The 1767 marriage record indicates that he was "of Pound Ridge", Westchester Co NY (which apparently wasn't very far at all from Stamford & New Canaan CT). JONATHAN DIBBLE was a Private in the Revolutionary War, Westchester Militia, 3rd Regiment, under under Capt Stephen Delavan. JONATHAN gave an account of the attack on Ward's house by Major Campbell to J.M McDonald, which was subsequently quoted in Bolton's "History of Westchester" and later in Otto Schufeld's "Westchester During the Revolutionary War". JONATHAN DIBBLE b 1747 is in census records from 1790 through 1820 in Pound Ridge, Westchester Co NY. There was an older JONATHAN DIBBLE b abt 1711, of Stamford, Fairfield Co CT who married SARAH JESSUP, but no indication in wills, birth records or published genealogies that they ever had a son JONATHAN b 1747. Perhaps he was illegitimate, and we will never know his parentage. Very frustrating!!!

3) RANDOLPH MILLER b abt 1650 probably Lancaster Co VA, married KATHERINE (maiden name likely ACRE/AKER/ACREE), died 1721 Lancaster Co VA, as per his will. I have a great deal of documentation on the life of RANDOLPH MILLER. He was a prominent landowner, a gentleman, and quite wealthy at the time of his death. He may have been a cloth merchant, judging from the large amount of fabric listed in his estate inventory. However, I have never been able to discern exactly who his parents were. They were likely immigrants from England or Ireland to Virginia, and definitely acquired land in Lancaster Co VA once they arrived in the New World. I have never been able to find a will, land deed or other records which might indicate the names of his parents. Which is very strange.

4) JAMES SANDERS/SAUNDERS Sr b abt 1700 VA; died May 1776 Orange Co NC. For many years I labored under the delusion that my ancestor THOMAS SANDERS/SAUNDERS (b abt 1727 VA or NC; d Nov 28, 1812 Davidson Co TN as per his will; Rev War in NC) who married MARY MITCHELL was the son of WILLIAM SANDERS/SAUNDERS & AGNES ADAMS. This information came from a book, "Early Settlers of Alabama Vol II" by James Edmond Saunders. I can now definitively say that THOMAS SANDERS/SAUNDERS was NOT the son of WILLIAM SAUNDERS & AGNES ADAMS, a couple whom I have never been able to trace. THOMAS was definitely the son of JAMES SANDERS/SAUNDERS Sr b abt 1700 and an unknown first wife; JAMES Sr married second to CASSANDRA HAIDEN/HAYDEN in Orange Co NC, and had several more daughters with her. JAMES SANDERS/SAUNDERS Sr had four sons by his first wife: CAPT WILLIAM SAUNDERS / SANDERS b abt 1735 who married HANNAH MITCHELL; MAJOR RICHARD SAUNDERS / SANDERS b abt 1740s, d aft 1832 Wilson or Sumner Co TN, who married unknown; COLONEL JAMES SAUNDERS / SANDERS b 1733 who never married; and THOMAS SAUNDER / SANDERS b abt 1727 who married MARY MITCHELL. All four of them fought in the Revolutionary War in NC. One of the sons, CAPT WILLIAMS SAUNDERS & HANNAH MITCHELL, had several children before moving to TN; one of their sons, ROMULUS MITCHELL SAUNDERS, was raised after 1803 in Orange/Caswell Co NC by his uncle COLONEL JAMES SAUNDERS/SANDERS b 1733.

ROMULUS MITCHELL SAUNDERS obtained a fine education and went on to become a prominent judge & statesman in NC. The book "Biographical History of NC from Colonial Times to the Present" edited by Ashe, Weeks & Van Noppen pub 1906 on page 386 has a biography of Hon Romulus Mitchell Saunders which clearly states that ROMULUS MITCHELL SAUNDERS was the grandson of JAMES SAUNDERS Sr , not WILLIAM SAUNDERS & AGNES ADAMS:

" ...his (Romulus Mitchell Saunder's) grandfather was JAMES SAUNDERS of Orange County, who had four sons, among them COL JAMES SAUNDERS , a patriot in Revolutionary times, who represented Orange County in the Provinical Congress of 1776.... and CAPT WILLIAM SAUNDERS." (p 386).

The bio goes on to say:
"Capt WILLIAM SAUNDERS, a son of JAMES SAUNDERS....shortly after peace was won.... was married to HANNAH MITCHELL, by whom he had two sons, FRANKLIN and ROMULUS MITCHELL, the subject of this sketch. Mrs SAUNDERS dying, her husband and two sons moved to Sumner County TN, where he married Miss (Nancy) CUNNINGHAM, a sister of Major Cunningham, who was a member of General Washington's staff, and who moved from the Dan River to Sumner County, Tennessee. By this lady WILLIAM SAUNDERS had three sons and two daughters. On of these sons was Judge LAFAYETTE SAUNDERS of Baton Rouge, Louisiana....." ( p 386-387)

So JAMES SANDERS/SAUNDERS Sr b abt 1700 was indeed the father of THOMAS SAUNDERS & his three brothers. But this is where things get a bit sticky. Who was JAMES' first wife? Where was he born? When did he come to Orange Co NC? Why did he only mentions three of his four sons in his 1776 Orange Co NC will?? My ancestor THOMAS SANDERS/SAUNDERS and his offspring are not mentioned at all. JAMES SAUNDERS Sr also neglected to leave property to several of his daughters by his first wife and their offspring. They were certainly still alive at that time. One has to surmise that the omission must have been deliberate.

I say this because in the July 6, 1825 Caswell (previously Orange) Co NC will of COLONEL JAMES SAUNDERS (b 1733, son of JAMES SAUNDERS Sr b 1700), THOMAS SAUNDERS was noted as deceased, and several of his children were named as COL JAMES' nephews & nieces, with property left to them. COL JAMES SAUNDERS specifically mentioned the children of his brother RICHARD SAUNDERS, named RICHARD's children as nephews & nieces, and left property to them also. Likewise, ROMULUS MITCHELL SAUNDERS was named as a nephew, and was left a parcel of land near the Dan River, and was named executor of the will. One or two of COL JAMES' sisters, their offspring, and the children of nieces & nephews were also mentioned as well.

So the 1825 will of COLONEL JAMES SAUNDERS b 1733 clearly connects & documents the sons and daughters of JAMES SANDERS/SAUNDER Sr b 1700 d 1776 Orange Co NC. But many, many questions remain.

And I haven't even discussed the fact that the family of THOMAS SAUNDER's wife MARY MITCHELL is a complete mystery. Yes, there will be much more research to come on this family!!

As always, your comments are appreciated! Betty