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Below is a family biography included in The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Jesse Martin, farmer and real estate dealer of Mansfield Sebastian Co., Ark., was born in the “Blue Grass State” in 1819, and is a son of Jesse and Jane (Hunter) Martin, who were born in the “Old Dominion,” and whose ancestors were among the “F. F. V.’s. Jesse Martin, the father, was born in 1777, and died in Tennessee in 1840. At an early day he removed to Kentucky, and afterward to Tennessee, where he was engaged in farming, and spent the remainder of his days. His wife was born in 1782, and died in 1882, having borne a family of ten sons and four daughters. The paternal grandfather, John Martin, was born in Virginia, and lived to be one hundred and four years old. He was in the War of 1812, and served two years under Gen. Jackson. His father, James Martin, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was on the staff of Gen. Washington. He also lived to be one hundred and four years old. Jesse Martin spent his boyhood days in Tennessee, and received a fair English education, and at the age of twenty-one years began working for himself. In 1866 he removed to Arkansas and settled in Ashley County, removing to Montreal, Sebastian County, in 1869. Here he resided until the winter of 1887-88, when he came to Mansfield. He is real estate agent for the ‘Frisco Railroad Company, and for forty-four years has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Martin Van Buren. In 1841 he was married to Miss Martha Jane McDaniel, who was born in Tennessee in 1824, and is a daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Cox) McDaniel , who were born in North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The father was a mechanic and farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Martin were born nine children: Jane, (deceased), John, a daughter (Mrs. L. P. Powell), Samuel B., James J., Thomas F., Louisa, Wiley O. and Margaret E. In 1861 Mr. Martin enlisted in Company I, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, and served with Gens. Bragg, Johnson and Hood, and with them participated in the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Rocky Fall, Resaca, Marietta, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta. He was discharged in 1865, after Johnson’s surrender.

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This family biography is one of 217 biographies included in The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Sebastian County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Sebastian County, Arkansas family biographies here: Sebastian County, Arkansas

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