Capt. Abram Martin

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ID: I02291

Name: Abram (Capt.) (Sr) Martin

Sex: M

Birth: 7 FEB 1715/16 in Caroline Co., VA

Death: 3 SEP 1773 in GA

Burial: Martin Cem., Edgefield Co., SC

Note:

The Martin family was of Scotch-Irish origin. The family emigrated from the North of Ireland near the close of the sixteenth century and settled originally in Caroline County, VA. The family was a large one, seven sons and one daughter. They resided in VA for many years and finally scattered to PA, KY, TN, NC, OH and SC.

The head of the SC branch was Abram Martin, who was born in Caroline Co., VA, 1708, and there grew to manhood. He moved to Edgefield District, SC, where he owned land around 1768. Land grants aggregating 1300 acres were made to him in four blocks, between May 23, 1771 and August 11, 1772. His home was about ten miles west of Edgefield and became known as Martin Town. They are buried at Edgefield, SC.

Captain Abram Martin's profession appears to have been service in the army. He served in French and Indian Wars as an officer in the Continental line. He lived in Cumberland Parish, VA from 1744 - 1754. He was Justice of the County Court from 1750 - 1754. He was a captain under (then) Colonel George Washington and participated in the disastrous defeat of General Braddock at Ft. Duquanne in June and July of 1755. Abram Martin was killed by the Indians while on a surveying trip in Georgia in 1773. He was the son of "John Martin, Gentlemen," who was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the grandson of Abram Martin who came to Virginia from Galway, Ireland in 1642.

Captain Abram Martin, along with his two brothers, John and Thomas, Abrams eight sons, his brother John's two sons, his brother Thomas's six sons, composed what is referred to in many histories, as "The Fighting Martin's of Virginia." This group consisting of nineteen members participated in most of the major battles of the American Revolution. Only one member of Abram Martin's immediate family was killed and that was his oldest son, William.

On plats dated between 1754 and 1757 for land in the present Edgefield County, SC, there is a a route marked "Path of Augusta" and by 1760 was called Martin Town Road. Initially it was a path for tribal messengers to carry news from one Indian nation to another. With the coming of white men, it began to serve two more functions: commerce and protection.

Ft. Moore and Ninety Six were military post at opposite end of the 62 mile road serving to pacify hostile Indian groups so that traders could travel freely to develop the colonies commercial interest. En route, the path went thought Martin Town. Settlers coming down the Cherokee path, the forerunner of Martin Town Road, built their cabin homes along this path.

District 96 was one of 12 military districts established by the Provincial Congress on the eve of the Revolution, which consisted of the present Spartan, Union, Laurens, Newberry, Abbeville, Edgefield, Saluda, Greenwood, McCormick and parts of Cherokee, Greenville and Aiken. In his two volume of work, "The History of South Carolina in the American Revolution," Edward McGrady list Laurens, Newberry and Union counties as part of the "Forks of the Salude District," but 96 District is widely regarded as containing those counties. The district was named for the post of Ninety-Six, which was thought to be ninety six miles from the trading post at the Cherokee Village of Kenowee. Before the formation of counties in SC, there were military and civil districts.

Indian travel routes in Carolina were called paths rather than trails, and the native Cherokees walked them single file, or rode horses, if there were lucky enough to own them. Some paths were so heavily traveled that they were worn down ten feet or more in some places. Mountain people came down twice a year with cabbage, venison hams, tobacco and mountain whiskey. The latter supplied the many taverns which sprang up as the country opened up.

Whiskey sold for $1.00 per gallon or six cents per drink. In addition to these portions, the tavern keeper was permitted to charge nine pence for "a warm diet with small beer," sixpence for "a cold diet with small beer" and sixpence for lodging in clean sheets, one in a bed. The charge was slightly less for two in a bed. No added charge for more than two persons in a bed. The tavern keeper was a good man to know along the road. Not only could he forewarn you of dangers and discomforts, but he provided medical aid, advice to the potential buyer or seller and sympathy for the homesick. Not many taverns were really good, but they beat camping out.

In the eighteenth century, Martin Town Road lay within Old Ninety Six District. Today it traverses Greenwood, Aiken, McCormick and Edgefield Counties. The Ninety Six area was the center of the storm throughout the Revolution.

In addition to the military freight wagons and settlers moving south, came the drovers. About 120 cattle formed a drove with the "manager" directing the movement from horse back. Two "footman" assisted him, one leading a steer in advance of the group. The herd grazed along the road, but even so, the animals lost almost 15 per cent of their weight. Pigs were moved in droves numbering as many as 5,000, creating a nuisance for travelers on foot or horse. A swine herder could drive his squealing animals only eight miles a day. Turkeys were driven in flocks up to 200. They were lead by a footman leading an old gobbler with a bell about his neck. About an hour before sun down the gobbler started looking for a tree for roosting. When he made his choice all travel ceased and they made camp for the night as the turkeys went to roost.

Martin Town Road in the early 1800's became a part of or an extension of The Great Wagon Road that started about 1730 in Philadelphia, PA, when immigrants were looking for land on which to settle. They used the road to stream into other parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Drovers used this road that ended at Augusta, GA. Augusta, at that time, was a good inland market having outlets by the Savannah River to Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC and New Orleans, LA.

The old Martin Town Road is now a part of the great American highway system being a part of SC State Highway 178 and US Highway 25 through SC, NC, and TN.

References

• Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. AncestryImage Name Letitia Martin Wade SAR Membership 20752 Role Ancestor Application Date 13 Feb 1909 Father Abram Martin Mother Elizabeth Marshall Martin Spouse Charles Edwards Children Mary Ann Hankins Edwards

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GEDCOM Note

Killed by Indians North GA while surveying for George Washington