Ancestor Archives: Abraham Martin (ca. 1781-1862) and Mourning Biggs (ca. 1792-1877)

 

by Rocky Macy

Abraham MARTIN was born around 1781 in Rockingham County, North Carolina.  He married Mourning BIGGS, but the date and place of their marriage are currently unknown.  Abraham died in Newton County, Missouri, on  April 29, 1862.

Mourning BIGGS was born around 1792 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.  She died in Newton County, Missouri, on September 29, 1877.

The birth dates of Abraham and Mourning are both approximated from their entries in the 1850 and 1860 U.S. censuses for Lost Creek Township of Newton County, Missouri.  Abraham’s age was listed as 69 in 1850 and 79 in 1860, and Mourning’s age was given as 58 in 1850 and 67 in 1860.

Much of the information that is known about Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN comes from two sources:  a biographical sketch of their son, Hezekiah Mitchell MARTIN that was contained in “Goodspeed’s 1888 History of Newton and McDonald Counties,” and a history of the MARTIN family - beginning with Abraham and Mourning, that was written by Minnie Oneida JAY SKELTON, a great-grandaughter of Hezekiah Mitchell MARTIN through his son, Christopher Columbus MARTIN, and published in a book entitled “Biographical Sketches of Newton County Families and their Neighbors” (Genealogy  Friends of the Library, 1992).

Hezekiah M. MARTIN noted in the “Goodspeed’s” sketch that he was born on January 8th, 1822, in Robertson County, Tennessee.  He identified his parents as “Abraham and Mourning (Biggs) Martin, both of whom were born in North Carolina, the former in Rockingham and the latter in Edgecombe County and who died April 29, 1862, and September 29,1877, respectively.”  Hezekiah reported that his parents had seven children, and that he was the fourth.

In the sketch that she wrote, Minnie JAY SKELTON also related that Abraham and Mourning had seven children, a fact that she likely got from the “Goodspeed’s” piece on Hezekian which she referenced at one point, but she reported that only five of the seven were known to her.  She listed the following individual children of Abraham and Mourning along with some biographical detail on each which included the names of their spouses and children.

The following children of Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN were listed in the text of Minnie JAY SKELTON.  In her biographical sketch she stated that all of Abraham’s and Mourning’s children were born in Tennessee:

• William MARTIN (my ancestor) who was  born July 3, 1813, and died March 29, 1892, married Delana HOLMAN who was born March 11, 1814 and died January 30, 1887. 
• Lunicey MARTIN who was born June 12, 1818, and died July 4, 1909.  She married Samuel HORTON (born January 12, 1819) on January 2, 1845.  
• Hezekiah Mitchell MARTIN whose birth information is mentioned above.  He married Eliza Jane REDFEARN on August 16, 1843.    Eliza was born June 22, 1820, in Lincoln County, Tennessee, and died on February 12, 1895.  
• James S. MARTIN who was born ca. 1825 and died on March 11, 1896.  His wife’s name was Martha Caroline (last name unknown).  (She is referenced as “Emmeline” in the 1850 census.)
• Robert P. MARTIN who was born in 1829 and died in 1877.  He married Martha Ann (last name unknown).

Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN were living in Robertson County, Tennessee, as early as 1816 when he received title to twenty acres of land along the North Fork of Red River.  The only neighbor mentioned on the title to the land was a man named John BIGGS who owned adjoining land.  At the present time John BIGGS’ relationship to Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN remains unclear, but it would seem likely that he was her father or her brother.  According to the memoir of Minnie JAY SKELTON, Abraham sold that land on June 10, 1818. 

Abraham and Mourning were still in Robertson County, Tennessee, on January 8, 1822, when their fourth child, Hezekiah M. MARTIN was born.   Hezekiah’s biography in the “Goodspeed’s” also says that he was “reared on a farm in Tennessee” and came to Missouri in 1844 - a strong indication that his parents would have been in the state of Tennessee during much of that time as well.

Hezekiah M. MARTIN stated in his biography in “Goodspeed’s” that his parents, Abraham and Mourning (BiGGS) MARTIN, came to Missouri in the spring of 1843.  Minnie JAY SKELTON’s family sketch said that the family originally settled in the Springfield area, and moved on to Newton County, in 1845.  Their son, according to his biography in “Goodspeed’s,” Hezekiah M. MARTIN, and his bride, Eliza, whom he had married the previous August in Tennessee, migrated to Missouri in the fall of 1844, and a year later they moved to Newton County,  That could indicate that Hezekiah met up with his parents in the Springfield area, and they all moved together to Newton County in 1845.

The US censuses for the first six enumerations (1790-1840) only contain the name of the head of household for each family enumerated, and that person and the remainder of the household are quantified by race, gender, and age range.   There are multiple Abraham Martins - with spelling variations - in North Carolina and Tennessee during those fifty years, but the only one who stands out as likely to have been the subject of this profile was “Abram” MARTIN who was listed on the census for Robertson County, Tennessee, in 1840.  

That census entry contained a total of thirteen free white persons in the “Abram” MARTIN household and no slaves.  There was one male (10-14 years of age), two males (15-19), two males (20-29), and one male (60-69).  There was also one female (under the age of 5), two females (5-9), one female (15-19), two females (20-29), and one female 50-59.  Abraham (who was about 59) and Mourning (who would have been around 48) were close enough to the upper age ranges that a harried census taker could have just estimated their ages.  The rest of the household was undoubtedly multi-generational with children, spouses, and grandchildren.

Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN do appear with absolute certainty in the 1850 and 1860 censuses of Lost Creek Township of Newton County, Missouri.  In 1850 they were listed in the same household as their son, Robert P. MARTIN and Robert’s wife, Martha Ann.  Robert and his wife were both listed as being 22-years-old, with him being born in Tennessee and her in Alabama.

Hezekiah M. MARTIN, the son of Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN was the head of the household that immediately followed that of Abraham and Mourning in the 1850 census.   That census describes Hezekiah as being 28 and born in Tennessee, Eliza (his wife) (33, TN), Elizabeth (7, TN), James M. (5, MO), and Robert (2, MO).

In the household immediately preceding that of Abraham, Mourning, Robert, and Martha Ann MARTIN, was the household of Robert’s older brother, James MARTIN, (26, born Tennessee), his wife, “Emeline” (25, TN), and three small sons:  Joel (4, MO) James (2, MO), and Abraham (8/12, MO).

In the household immediately preceding that of James MARTIN, was the household of Adam BIGGS (probably the brother of Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN.  Adam was listed as being 54 and born in North Carolina.  His wife, Sarah, was also 54 and a native of North Carolina.  Their four sons residing in the household were:  David (23, TN), Andrew J. (17, TN), Larkin (13, TN), and Alford (10, MO).

And, in the household immediately preceding that of Adam BIGGS was  Joseph BIGGS whose information indicates that he was likely an older son to Adam and Sarah BIGGS.  Joseph (28, TN), Sarah (his wife) (26, KY), Mary (7, MO), Levi (5, MO), Adam (3, MO), and Synthia Ann (1, MO).

All of the Martin and BIGGS census information from 1850 indicates that the families could have traveled together from Tennessee to Missouri, with the exception of Adam BIGGS’ son, Alford, whom the census taker noted as 10 and having been born in Missouri, but either his age or state of birth could have been an error on the part of the census taker - or Adam and his wife could have come to Missouri before the others and they followed a few years later.

When the 1860 census was taken for Lost Creek Township in Newton County, Missouri, Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN were still residing with their youngest child, Robert, who by that time had seven children, ages 4 months to nine years, with no wife / mother listed.

Abraham MARTIN passed away in 1862 and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN lived until 1877.  So far Mourning has not been located on the 1870 census.

What appears obvious is that Abraham and Mourning (BIGGS) MARTIN, although they had traveled halfway across the continental United States during their lifetimes, ended up spending their final years in a community that was populated with many of their relatives and descendants.

New Salem Cemetery in rural Newton County, Missouri, was established on land donated by Hezekiah M. MARTIN, the son of Abraham and Mourning, and at least three of Abraham and Mourning’s children are buried there:   William, Lunicey, and Hezekiah.  The burial place of Abraham and Mourning MARTIN, the progenitors of the local MARTIN family, remains unknown, but because they lived in the same general area as those three children, it is likely that they are buried in or close to New Salem Cemetery as well - though their markers no longer exist.

Hopefully they are resting peacefully among family.