Joseph Martin (general)

Joseph Martin was a brigadier general in the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War. Martin was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, and later had an estate called Scuffle Hill near the Smith River in Henry County, Virginia, not from the 10,000-acre Leatherwood plantation of his friend Patrick Henry, who had appointed him Virginia's agent to the Cherokee nation in 1777. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=bCudj3UTRJ8C&pg=PA332&lpg=PA332&dq=%22sarah+lucas%22+%22orange+county%22+virginia&source=web&ots=ctyv8YBWsf&sig=enP46inxPzHwFcD9wCghHcPx9TQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA332,M1 History of the Lost State of Franklin, Samuel Cole Williams, 1933] ]

The son of planter Joseph Martin Sr. and his wife Susannah Chiles, a descendant of Colonel John Page, Martin was raised in a proper Virginia household in Albemarle County [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=hWtVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127&dq=%22joseph+martin%22+albemarle+brice+bristol&source=web&ots=Ho3oih9gIf&sig=6GziGDiZMn3cj0JaTj8gWFsiN2A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA124,M1 Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Lyon Gardiner Tyler (ed.), New York, 1915] ] . But Martin was never cut out for the life of a gentleman planter. Instead, he lit out for the rigors of the frontier, where he dressed in buckskin and was an early real estate speculator and trader with the Indians. Martin first married Sarah Lucas in Orange County, Virginia. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=hBwLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%22sarah+lucas%22+%22orange+county%22+virginia&source=web&ots=FY9TCgYTYZ&sig=AZUvUyGa8SF_p01sKHucaCz90Mc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA4,M1 Major John Redd's Sketch of General Joseph Martin, Publications of the Southern History Association, Southern History Association, Washington, D.C., 1903] ] After her death in Henry County, Martin married Susannah Graves, a descendant of Captain Thomas Graves of Jamestown, Virginia. Martin is also believed to have had at least one Cherokee Indian wife as well.

The city of Martinsville, Virginia is named after this early soldier, planter, pioneer and real estate speculator.

Recent Monument

On June 27-29, 2008, 200 descendants of General Joseph Martin gathered in the city named for him to unveil a monument in his honor at the Gen. Joseph Martin Bicentennial Celebration. [ [http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=14469 Monument placed in Martin's honor, The Martinsville Bulletin, June 29, 2008, martinsvillebulletin.com] ]

References

* [http://www.danielboonetrail.com/historicalsites.php?id=89 "General Joseph Martin"]