| Notes |
- It is unclear why Samuel Martin and his family moved to Canada. Some in the family have said that Samuel Martin was a loyalist, but it is impossible to determine the accuracy of this assertion or how strong his loyalist opinions were, if, in fact, he was a loyalist. Certainly he remained in the United States for many years after the Revolutionary War. We don't know if Samuel served in the War (see notes below), but he did not try to avoid Revolutionary War veterans; both Josiah Skinner, with whom he shared the lease in Rensselaerville, and Levi Greene, his brother-in-law who lived on the neighboring lot, were soldiers in the War. Perhaps, Samuel's Tory leanings became more pronounced with time.
The availability of land in Canada also may have been a powerful factor in the family's decision to move, as their situation in Renssealerville was unfavorable. Samuel leased land from the Patroon Stephen van Rensselaer III, who owned the Manor of Rensselaerwick, an almost feudal fiefdom which had been founded by Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the 1630's.
Rensselaerwyck was a 1000 sq. mile block of land divided by the Hudson River. It included most of present day Albany and Rensselaer Counties and parts of adjacent counties to the south. Other large landholders ran similar fiefdoms elsewhere in the Hudson Valley. This land was worked by tenant farmers under a system that continued until Stephen died in 1839. When Stephen's heirs began to rigidly enforce the leases, the farmers rebelled and there was a period of turbulence called the rent wars. Eventually, Stephen's heirs sold the land to speculators and Rensselaerwick dissolved.
For more than 150 years after its founding, most of Rensselaerwyck lay vacant. In the 1780's, Stephen van Rensselaer tried to improve his income by attracting farmers to his land, and by having the land surveyed so that he could systematically lease the property. Some people, known as squatters, were already living on the land, and he forced them to sign leases. Farmers were offered leases to clear and farm the land for several years for a nominal rent after which they would pay full rent to the Patroon in perpetuity. If a tenant wanted to sell his lease (after turning wilderness into farmland), the landlord took 25% of the sale price. The farmers were obligated to pay all taxes. The Patroon retained mineral, water, and timber rights, and all rights to build mills and roads on the land.
Samuel and his partners signed a standard lease which contained all of the restrictions favoring the Patroon. They were allowed to develop lot 147 for farming for six years at the cost of one peppercorn per year. After that they had to pay 30 skipples of good merchantable winter wheat, four fat fowls, and a day's service with carriage and horses per annum (one skipple was about 3/4 of a bushel). Under these circumstances, Samuel would never have a chance to own land or to build an independent life for his family.
Research: The problem of Samuel's ancestors.
The only record I know for Samuel's birth year is his grave monument, which gives his date and age at death (73 years).
It is possible Samuel was born or raised in Lanesboro, Massachusetts. Samuel's wife's family (the Greenes) lived in Lanesboro or nearby Cheshire, and Silence's sister Huldah married Samuel Baker in Lanesboro. (See the "History of town of Lanesborough, Massachusetts, 1741-1905" [Book on Ancestry.com]) The Greene siblings (Levi, Rowland, Huldah, Silence and Mary) and their families moved to Rensselaerville, New York; all were in the 1790 US Census for Rensselaerville. Thus, our Samuel Martin seems to have known the Baker and Green families in Lanesborough.
Our Samuel did live in Massachusetts, as his son Silas was born there circa 1783.
One of the earliest settlers of Lanesboro was a Capt. Samuel Martin. He was willing to give land for a meeting house and burying ground on 20 Aug 1760. This could have been our Samuel's father (p.130.) At present I see nothing to rule out the possibility that Captain Samuel Martin is the same as the Samuel Martin (b 1722) of Cothren's History of Ancient Woodbury, who married Ann Hurd and was the father of a Samuel Martin (bapt. 1758). However, there is no evidence connecting our Samuel to Captain Samuel and Y-DNA evidence suggests, but does not prove, that our Samuel is not descended from Cothren's Samuel (b. 1722).
There was a Samuel Martin of Lanesborough who was in the Revolutionary War and close to but not quite the right age to be our Samuel. The record of Samuel Martin in All Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, 17 Vols. (Appendix IX) on Ancestry.com indicates that he was b. ca. 1753 and he would, therefore, be too old to be our Samuel. (but see note on gravestone, above). It said "Martin, Samuel, Lanesborough. Receipt dated Lauesborough, April 23, 1781, for bounty paid said Martin by Gideon Wheler, on behalf of the town of Lanesborough, to serve in the Continental Army for the term of 3 years; also, descriptive list dated Lenox, Aug. 20, 1781, of men raised in Berkshire Co., agreeable to resolve of Dec. 2, 1780, and delivered to William Walker, Superintendent for said county; Capt. Brown's co., Col. Simonds's regt.; age, 28 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 7 in.; complexion, freckled; hair, sandy; occupation, laborer; residence, Lanesborough; enlisted for town of Lanesborough; enlistment, 3 years; receipted for by Capt. Smith." Reference: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, 17 Vols. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1998. Original data: Secretary of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution. Vol. I-XVII. Boston, MA, USA: Wright and Potter Printing Co., 1896. This book listed 7 Samuel Martins as Revolutionary War Soldiers.
Who were Samuel Martin's ancestors?
Samuel Martin (I27) b. ca. 1759, d. 1832, m. Silence Greene. His birthplace is unknown, but is most likely Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Vermont. There appears to be a Lanesborough, Massachusetts connection, as his Wife's family lived there and his Wife's sister Huldah was married there.
Samuel appears to have believed he was of Scottish descent. Three of his children (Calvin, Elial and Eunice) declared their origins to be "Scotch" in the 1871 Canada Census. This tradition was carried on through a few generations. In a 1941 letter to Maud Latham, Eva Sowden wrote "Were there Scotsmen among the Pilgrim Fathers? You said the first time you were over that the Martins were Highland Scotch. Adda Smith said they were and Dr. DeWitt Martin son of Chauncey spelled his name "Martyn" because it was a Scotch name and that was the correct way, he said."
Although not conclusive, Y-DNA evidence suggests that Samuel was not descended from two well-researched New England families whose ancestry goes back to Devon, England. If this could be firmly established, it would show that our Samuel (I27) could not be the son of Samuel Martin (I29), b. 1729 in Woodbury, Connecticut, who married Ann Hurd, as some have suspected.
If you are a male named Martin or Martyn whose direct paternal line goes back to Samuel, please join the Martin Martyn Y-DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA.com (I have no financial interest in this project). Your participation will help to build a "Samuel Martin Y-DNA genotype". It's possible that in the future someone else whose family tree goes back to an earlier ancestor might match the genotype and give us the clues necessary to find Samuel's ancestors.
Memorial taken from marker on Earl's grave as recorded in Maud Lathams's notebook. "Class leader of the Wesleyean Methodist Society, Highly esteemed by all his friends and acquaintances "But our loss is his eternal gain for blessed are the dead that die in the lord". "Sacred to the memory of Earl Martin who departed this life Aug 1, 1837 age 57 yr, 1 mo, 17 da."
Samuel is found on the 1790 Census for Rensselaerville, Albany Co. with his brothers-in-law, Levi Greene and Samuel Baker 107 Martin Samuel 1 4 2
March 22, 1798 - Thomas Hornor was appointed Captain of the Norfolk Militia. (Oxford and Norfolk at that time were joined.) The first two recorded settlers arrived in Blenheim Township; John Galbraith on Lot 2 and Samuel Martin on Lot 8 on Governors Road.
Rec'd 200-acre Crown Land grant on Concession 1, Lot 24, Burford, Ontario in 1800.
Samuel and Silence very likely were married in Lanesborough or a nearby town; although no record has been located yet. Silence's family moved to Lanesborough in 1773 when she was 11, her sister Huldah was married in Lanesborough in 1782, and Silence's son Silas was born in Massachusetts in 1783. Notes from David Martin http://rootdigger.org
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1759 - 1832 (73 years)
