Martin, Samuel
1759 - 1832 (73 years)
-
Name Martin, Samuel [1] Born 1759 Vermont, USA 
Gender Male Birth 1759 Scotland Possessions 2 Oct 1787 Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA [2] Samuel Martin, his brother-in-law Samuel Baker and Josiah Skinner (unrelated) leased lot 147 (164 Acres) in the Town of Rensselaerville from Stephen van Rensselaer III, the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck. Residence 1790 Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA Residence 1790 Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA [1] Emigration 1796 Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada [2] Samuel moved from New York with his wife and nine children (six sons and three daughters). He lived at first on lot 9 on Dundas Street with his brother-in-law Samuel Baker who had arrived two years earlier Membership 13 Mar 1798 Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA [2] Samuel was a founding member of the Rensselaerville Federal Library. Each share cost $2.00 Military Service Between 1800 and 1805 Oxford, Ontario, Canada First Regiment Oxford Militia Naturalization 26 May 1800 Canada [2] Swore allegiance to the Crown Possessions 3 Jun 1800 Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada [2] Petitioned for a grant of Lot 20 on Dundas Street in the Eastern Division of Oxford River Thames. ?Petition was approved by the Lt. Governor, 18 May 1804, but by that time he had already been granted a Crown Patent on Lot 24, Concession 1 in Burford. Possessions 3 Jun 1800 Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada [2] Petitioned to lease Lot 8 on Dundas Street in Burford. This land was directly across the road from from the land he bought in 1808. ?Dundas Street is now known as Governors Road and Oxford County route 2. Possessions 5 Sep 1801 Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada [2] Lot 24, Concession 1, Samuel received a Crown Patent on 200 Acres of land in Burford (see document below). in 1808 he sold 100 Acres to his son Calvin. In 1810 he sold 100 Acres to James Griffin who sold it to Calvin in 1815. Discharged Jun 1805 [2] Comprised 1 officer and 37 non-commissioned officers and men. Of these, 22 were AWOL including \"such good men and true, as James Smiley, Comfort Sage, the Martins [meaning Samuel, Silas, Calvin], Eatons and Burches, etc Find A Grave Memorial 13896916 Possessions 22 Sep 1808 Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada [2] Lot 8, Concession 1, Samuel bought Lot 8 and then sold the property piecemeal. In 1813 he sold the last piece to his son Elial. Died 28 Aug 1832 Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada Buried Princeton, Brant, Ontario, Canada - Princeton Cemetery
Person ID I6006 Sullivan Burgess Family Tree | The History John Greene of Quidnessett, The History of Samuel Martin Last Modified 15 Sep 2018
Family Greene, Silence, b. 14 Apr 1762, Coventry, Kent, Rhode Island, USA , d. 29 May 1811, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 49 years) Married Abt 1779 Lanesborough, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA Children + 1. Martin, Earl, b. 15 Jun 1780, Lebanon, New London, Connecticut, USA , d. 1 Aug 1837, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 57 years) [natural]+ 2. Martin, Silas, b. 8 Oct 1782, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA , d. 22 Feb 1858, Rock Falls, Whiteside, Illinois, USA (Age 75 years) [natural]+ 3. Martin, Eunice, b. 1785, USA , d. Aug 1875, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 90 years) [natural]+ 4. Martin, Calvin, b. 2 Sep 1786, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 2 Mar 1875, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 88 years) [natural]+ 5. Martin, Elial, b. 1787, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 5 Apr 1873, Woodstock, Brant, Ontario, Canada (Age 86 years) [natural]6. Martin, Lydia, b. 1790, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. Ontario, Canada [natural]+ 7. Martin, Martha Matilda, b. 21 Sep 1792, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 24 Nov 1874, Ensley, Newaygo, Michigan, USA (Age 82 years) [natural]+ 8. Martin, Francis, b. 1796, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 13 Mar 1869, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 73 years) [natural]9. Martin, George, b. 1798, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 14 Jul 1870, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 72 years) [natural]10. Martin, Solomon, b. 1798, Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA , d. 15 Feb 1809, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 11 years) [natural]+ 11. Martin, Reuben, b. 1802, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada , d. 17 Apr 1881, Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada (Age 79 years) [natural]Last Modified 15 Sep 2018 Family ID F2170 Group Sheet | Family Chart
-
Event Map 
Born - 1759 - Vermont, USA 
Birth - 1759 - Scotland 
Married - Abt 1779 - Lanesborough, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA 
Possessions - Samuel Martin, his brother-in-law Samuel Baker and Josiah Skinner (unrelated) leased lot 147 (164 Acres) in the Town of Rensselaerville from Stephen van Rensselaer III, the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck. - 2 Oct 1787 - Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA Residence - 1790 - Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA Residence - 1790 - Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA 
Emigration - Samuel moved from New York with his wife and nine children (six sons and three daughters). He lived at first on lot 9 on Dundas Street with his brother-in-law Samuel Baker who had arrived two years earlier - 1796 - Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada Membership - Samuel was a founding member of the Rensselaerville Federal Library. Each share cost $2.00 - 13 Mar 1798 - Rensselaerville, Albany, New York, USA 
Military Service - First Regiment Oxford Militia - Between 1800 and 1805 - Oxford, Ontario, Canada 
Naturalization - Swore allegiance to the Crown - 26 May 1800 - Canada Possessions - Petitioned for a grant of Lot 20 on Dundas Street in the Eastern Division of Oxford River Thames. ?Petition was approved by the Lt. Governor, 18 May 1804, but by that time he had already been granted a Crown Patent on Lot 24, Concession 1 in Burford. - 3 Jun 1800 - Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada Possessions - Petitioned to lease Lot 8 on Dundas Street in Burford. This land was directly across the road from from the land he bought in 1808. ?Dundas Street is now known as Governors Road and Oxford County route 2. - 3 Jun 1800 - Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada Possessions - Lot 24, Concession 1, Samuel received a Crown Patent on 200 Acres of land in Burford (see document below). in 1808 he sold 100 Acres to his son Calvin. In 1810 he sold 100 Acres to James Griffin who sold it to Calvin in 1815. - 5 Sep 1801 - Burford, Brant, Ontario, Canada 
Possessions - Lot 8, Concession 1, Samuel bought Lot 8 and then sold the property piecemeal. In 1813 he sold the last piece to his son Elial. - 22 Sep 1808 - Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada Died - 28 Aug 1832 - Blandford-Blenheim, Oxford, Ontario, Canada 
Buried - - Princeton, Brant, Ontario, Canada = Link to Google Earth
-
Photos Martin, Samuel sign 
Martin, Samuel Land Petition Inquiry Letter
Headstones 
Martin, Samuel and Silence Greene 
Martin, Samuel and Silence Greene Memorial Stone Box
The memorial was a stone box. The inscriptions were on the top (which was cracked) and were badly eroded and sometimes illegible. In addition to Samuel and Silence, the monument also memorialized their son Solomon, who died as a boy, and also their son Elial and his wife Mary and several of their sons.
Inscriptions: [illegible] the remains of / SAMUEL MARTIN / who died Aug 28[?], 1832 aged 73 yrs / SILENCE / his wife died May 29, 1811 48[?] yrs / sons of Elial and Mary Martin / SUMMERS/ died Mar[?] 3 1812[?] / ANDREW / died Oct[?] 17 1812 / ISAAC / died Dec 1 1816 AE 11 yrs / JACOB / died April 16 1851 AE 22 yrs / SOLOMON / died Feb 15 1809 AE 11 yrs / ELIAL MARTIN died Apr[?]1873 / Aged 81[?] yrs | MARY / wife of ELIAL MARTIN / died M[?] 1812 / aged 29 yrs
Martin, Samuel and Silence Greene Memorial Stone Box
Histories 
The History of Levie Greene of Rhode Island Massachusette New York Michigan and His Descendants by Mary Shaw Green
Family Crest 
Martin Family Crest
-
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
- 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.
-
Sources
