Rawley, Monongalia County, VA early 1800s
I would like to share some ideas about a Rawley Martin of Monongalia County, which was in Virginia in the first half of the 1800s but became West Virginia at the time of the Civil War.If anyone has additional data, different interpretations of the data, or some ideas to add, please contact me directly at [email protected].
1.In 1779, a Rawley Martin, orphan age about 14, was before the court and placed in the care of Henry Martin.
2.About 1781, this same Rawley Martin (age 16 on April 1), was again before the court complaining of mistreatment, and was placed in the care of Jacob Reager.
Continuing with a secondary source, a book entitled "Monongalia County, (West) Virginia, Records of the District, Superior . . . Courts", compiled by Melba Pender Zinn, I have found the following items (taken from "primary" historical sources) which MIGHT all be about this man, as follows.
3.A Rawley Martin was on an 1802 Tax List in Monongalia with 1 (one) white male over 16 (females and younger males were not enumerated), and 2 horses/mules).
4.Rawley Martin was summoned and testified (in 1809 and 1810) before a Grand Jury in the matter of an alleged criminal assault on October 14, 1809 on Charles Boyles by William Goddard.
5.From Heritage Quest, in the 1810 census, Rawley Martin had statistics of 4-1-1-1-0;0-1-0-0-0.I suspect there might be census error, however.
6.On May 31, 1810, Rawley Martin, as a county government clerk, possibly clerk of courts (??) signed/certified a Personal Property Tax List for Monongalia County.
7.In 1816, Rawley Martin was sued by John W. Patterson for non-payment of debt.
8.In a book entitled "The Brand family of Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia)", I found the following quote.
“The following order is copied from the order book of the County Court, under date of April 28, 1818:‘Ordered that Jefferson Morris, an orphan child, aged about 8 years, be bound unto John Brand until he arrive at the age of 21 years, and that Rawley Martin, one of the overseers of the poor of the county, perfect the indentures.’”
9.From Heritage Quest, in the 1820 census, Rawley Martin (mis-indexed as "Howley" Martin, had statistics of 1-0-1-1-0-1;0-1-0-1-0.
10.In 1822, Rawley Martin was sued by John Stealey for debt on an account.Rawley summoned as witnesses a John D. Martin and a Henry Martin.
TENTATIVE conclusions.
From the 1810 census, assuming Rawley, as head of the household, was the oldest male in the household, he was reported as age 26 to 45, so born between 1765 and 1784.From the 1820 census, again assuming Rawley, as head of the household, was the oldest male, he was reported as 45 or over, so born in or before 1775.Further assuming that the Rawley of 1810 is the same man as the Rawley of 1820, then he was most likely born between 1765 and 1775 (inclusive).
From the censuses, Rawley seems to have been married and had several children.While there might have been sons born before 1800, there were almost certainly several children born between 1800 and 1820.I do not have access to the 1830 or 1840 censuses, so I do not know if there were more children born after 1820.
On the Latter Day Saints website (www.familysearch.org), there are submissions by various people who assert that Rawley Martin married an Elizabeth Dent (born about December 1781, daughter of John and Margaret (Evans) Dent) and that they had sons Henry, George, Rawley, Dudley and Frank, and daughters Nancy, Gilly and Eliza(beth).Some researchers report that Rawley was born about 1782.Some researchers report that Rawley migrated from Monongalia County to Ripley County, Indiana about 1830.
In the 1850 census for Ripley County, Indiana, there was a Rawley Martin with wife Elizabeth who MIGHT be this same couple.In 1850, Rawley was reported as age 75 and born in Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth was reported as age 68 and born in Virginia.Assuming the 1850 census was accurately reported, and that the "informant" for the census taker was knowledgeable and of good memory, then this Rawley was born circa 1775.Some researchers report that Rawley Martin died in Ripley County in 1857.In the 1860 census for Ripley County, there was no Rawley Martin, but there was an Elizabeth Martin, age 81 and born in Virginia, living with a young couple, Eli and Mary Scott (ages 21 and 23, respectively, with Mary (maiden name unknown) born in Indiana (circa 1837)).Was this Elizabeth the widow of Rawley?Could this Mary have been a granddaughter of Rawley and Elizabeth Martin?
The name "Rawley" (or Rawleigh or Raleigh and other spelling variations) also belonged to some other Martins in Monongalia.There was a Rawley Martin who was a soldier in the Militia at the time of Lord Dunmore's War (circa 1774-1775) in the Company of Lt. Francis McClure and/or Captain David McClure.Assuming this Rawley was at least 16 to be a soldier, he was born in/before 1759.At a website, http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/virginia-courts/virginia-courts-gri/page-28-virginia-courts-gri.shtmlhttp://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/virginia-courts/virginia-courts-gri/page-28-virginia-courts-gri.shtml, which reports "Annals of the Carnegie Museum", there is mention of a Rawley Martin who was a sergeant in the Militia company of Captain David Scott (and I believe this was during the Revolution, so in 1776 or later).There was a dedimus writ (or order) issued by the court to take this Rawley's deposition to preserve evidence for a lawsuit, because, being a soldier, this Rawley had to be absent.Is it possible that this sergeant Rawley Martin was killed in action sometime before 1779, and was the father of the orphan Rawley Martin of 1779???If this proves true, then Sergeant Rawley Martin would likely have been born in?/before 1745 (to be old enough to be the father of orphan Rawley born in 1765).Was this Rawley Martin (possibly born in/before 1745) a brother of Charles Martin (born ca. 1735)???
The name "Rawley" also belonged to a man born circa 1805-1816, son of Henry and Mary or Sarah (Morgan) Martin.There was also a Rawley Martin born in 1822 to Spencer Martin (son of Charles Martin) and Spencer's second wife, Margaret (Sturm) Martin.
In addition, the name "Rawley" also appeared in the Evans family (or families??) of the Monongalia area, and there seem to be multiple Evans-Martin-Dent connections.
So, does anyone have firm evidence on the year of birth of the Rawley Martin who married Elizabeth Dent?Was he the same Rawley Martin as was an orphan in 1779?Was he possibly the son of the Rawley Martin who was a soldier?
Any ideas welcome.