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family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · Lieut. John Martin
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationLieut. John Martin
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
- Sources
- 4
Research status
Research status: PROBABLE — accepted by Earl 28 September 2026 pending more evidence. DAR Lineage Book no. 141325 (Mrs. Electra Helm Withers) descends from “Lieut. John Martin”: “Francis Bush m. 2d Rachel Martin (1767–1860) …
John Martin m. Rachel Pierce”, and says he “served as 2d lieutenant in the Fluvanna County, Virginia militia. He was born in Fluvanna County, Va.; died in Clark County, Ky.”
S500. The 1915 SAR supplemental on no. 27139 names Rachel's parents as John Martin (1746–1830) and Rachel Pierce
S764. A FamilySearch index of Virginia christenings has a
Rachel Martin born 22 August 1768 and christened 15 October 1768 in St James Northam Parish, Goochland County, daughter of
John Martin and Rachel Pace S857. What is weak: the books are compiled and the christening is an index with no image; no will, deed or register names our Rachel as John's daughter; the 1768 child matches her only by name, parish and date; and the books call the mother Pierce where the christening says Pace.
Evidence: DAR Lineage Book no. 141325 and the 1915 SAR supplemental on no. 27139 name John Martin as Rachel Martin Bush's father, and a FamilySearch christening index has a Rachel Martin born 1768 in St James Northam, Goochland, to John Martin and Rachel Pace. Weak or missing: All compiled or index-only; no will, deed or register names Rachel as his daughter, the 1768 christening matches her only by name, place and date, and the mother is Pierce in the books but Pace in the index. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →
Life in the order the records give it
Record1746
The SAR supplemental gives him as born in Virginia in 1746, a private in Capt. Samuel Hawes's company of the 2nd Virginia Regiment from 16 September 1775, settled in Clark County, Kentucky, and pensioned in 1820
S764; the DAR book makes him a 2nd lieutenant of the Fluvanna County militia
S500. Both are compiled sources
Death—
Not shown to be the same man as
John Martin, father of Peter Hines Martin. The birth date and place, middle name and death date that online trees give him are not in any record read
Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
Probable
Probable father of
Rachel Martin Bush, and so grandfather of
Lucy Bush; probable husband of
Rachel Pace (or Pierce). A John Martin married Rachel Peace or Pace in St James Northam Parish, Goochland, on 3 January 1757, by an index of a printed register
S858In the record
Generation 9 — Earl's earliest known
- S500DAR Lineage Book, p. 101, no. 141325: Mrs. Electra Helm Withers. Ancestry record 3600439. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Probable Descent through Joyce Duncan Quisenberry (1828–1911), wife of Joseph H. Withers, from Colby Burris Quisenberry and Lucy Bush; Francis Bush married second Rachel Martin (1767–1860), daughter of Lieut. John Martin and Rachel Pierce. It gives Jane Burris's birth as 1739, where the SAR application (S498) says 1759. Both are recorded.
- S764U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications — national no. 27139, James Marvin Hinkle, supplemental application, 1915. Ancestry record 315493. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable A supplemental on the same national number as S498, approved 11 May 1915, carrying Hinkle's line one generation further: through Emily Alice Quisenberry, James Francis Quisenberry, Colby Burris Quisenberry and Lucy Bush, and Francis Bush and Rachel Martin (1767–1860), to her parents John Martin (1746–1830) and Rachel Pierce. John Martin, born in Virginia in 1746, a private in Capt. Samuel Hawes's company, 2nd Virginia Regiment, Continental Line, enlisted 16 September 1775 for three years, on the pay roll to August 1779, settled in Clark County, Kentucky, and was granted a pension in 1820. A compiled lineage claim, not a record; the service comes from War Department files. A Pace family book (S749) names Rachel's mother Rachel Pace; this application and DAR no. 141325 (S500) say Rachel Pierce. Both are kept.
- S857FamilySearch index, Virginia, Births and Christenings, 1584–1917 — Rachel Martin, 1768. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:VRRC-WSZ. Index only; no image read (checked 28 September 2026). Probable Rachel Martin, born 22 August 1768, christened 15 October 1768, St James Northam Parish, Goochland County, Virginia; parents John Martin and Rachel Pace. Independent of the SAR and DAR lineages, but an index with no image; it matches Rachel Martin Bush by name, parish and date only (the DAR gives 1767). A search for Rachel Bush, wife of Francis Bush, found nothing relevant.
- S858Virginia, Select Marriages (index) — John Martin and Rachel Peace or Pace, 3 January 1757. Indexed from a printed source, FHL 975.5 V2D. Index only; no image read (checked 28 September 2026). Probable John Martin married Rachel Peace (or Pace), 3 January 1757, St James Northam Parish, Goochland County, Virginia. An index of a printed register; the page itself has not been read.