Contents
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Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · Mary Jane Martin
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationMary Jane 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.
Person · Mary Jane Martin
Skip to sources ↧- Born
- 8 September 1868
- Parents
- Joseph Daniel Martin & Nannie Chenault
- Married
- Philip Harsh Rutherford
- Sources
- 13
Research status
Research status: CONFIRMED — added 24 September 2026 from a record that names the parents; entered in the family tree the same day.
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1868
Born
8 September 1868, Sumner County, Tennessee; Mary, 1, in the 1870 census and Mary, 11, in 1880
S202S207Census1860
🆕 Philip Harsh Rutherford's parents were probably
C. C. Rutherford and
Lydia Rutherford, probably née Harsh
Probable confirm or correct →: the 1860 census of the 5th District, Davidson County, Tennessee (post office Nashville), read from the image, lists
P. H. Rutherford, 2, directly after C. C. Rutherford, 27, a farmer, and Lydia Rutherford, 25, with Griffith Rutherford, 1, in the household of Nathan Harsh, which fits a Harsh-born mother and Philip's middle name
S880. What is weak: the 1860 census states no relationships; no document read names Philip's parents, gives Lydia's maiden name or spells out C. C. (Cheselton Cathey in family trees), and the birth and death dates offered for both are unsourced. Accepted by Earl on 28 September 2026 pending more evidence. added 28 September 2026.
Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Marriage1858
🆕 Married
Philip Harsh Rutherford (1858–1914) about 1890; the family history gives her birth as 8 September 1868 and her father as Joseph Martin of Sumner County, and lists eight children
S408. In 1900 they farmed in the 10th Civil District of Sumner County with son Homer
S409; the two eldest children were born in Texas. Their daughter Nannie Bell died at Nashville on 20 August 1906, aged 12; her death certificate names her mother as Mary Martin
S410. In 1910 they owned a farm on
Long Hollow Pike S411. By January 1920 she was a widow running a dairy farm near Cordell, Washita County, Oklahoma
S412, and she stayed in Cordell with her youngest children Martin and Mary Bell through 1930, 1940 and 1950
S413S414S415. The records call her husband P. H. or Philip H.; the “Mrs. T. H. Rutherford” on the back of her childhood photograph is taken to be a misread P. The licence was issued on 31 December 1890
S572; her death is not yet sourced. added 24 September 2026.
Marriage1890
🆕 The Sumner County licence for P. H. Rutherford and Mary Martin was issued on
31 December 1890 S572. In 1940 her son
Martin Rutherford, born at Gallatin on 2 April 1908, gave her, Mrs. P. H. Rutherford, as his contact on his draft card; they lived at
417 West 11th, Cordell S568. added 25 September 2026.
In the record
Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings
- S2021870 U.S. Federal Census — Joseph D. Martin household, District 12, Sumner County, Tennessee (P.O. Gallatin). Ancestry record 14376304. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Joseph D. Martin, 37, farmer; Nannie, 26; Louisa, 3; Mary, 1. 🔑 Louisa is Louise Bell (Martin) Harsh [S191] [S204]; Mary (c.1869) is new. ⚠ His age of 37 agrees with the 1832 headstone; the card's dates are under review.
- S2071880 U.S. Federal Census — Martin household, 10th Civil District, Sumner County, Tennessee. Ancestry record 16828687; ED 214, page 32. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Martin [given name left blank], 47, farming; Nannie, 36, parents both born Kentucky; children Luisa B. 13, Mary 11, Emma 10, Kate 7, Mattie 5, Joe 3 and Nannie 1. 🔑 Two children not otherwise on this record: Kate (c.1873) and a son Joe (c.1877). Mattie is Martha Martin McConnell [S203]; Nannie, 1, is Nancy Louise (Martin) Timberman.
- S408Gen. Griffith Rutherford and Allied Families (Harsh), page 141 — Philip Harsh Rutherford and Mary Martin. Ancestry record 4295225622. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed “Philip Harsh Rutherford b. Mch. 15, 1858 d. Dec. 5, 1914 at Geiger, Ala. M'd Mary Martin b. Sept. 8, 1868 m'd 1890. Was dtr. of Mr. Joseph Martin of Sumner Co., Tenn. … Mrs. Martin was a member of the Chenault family”; eight children with birth dates: Homer Harding (1892), Nannie Bell (1894, d. Nashville 1906), Emma Louise (1896), Amanda Catherine (1899), Philip Horace (1902), Joseph Cheselton (1904), Martin (1908) and Mary Bell (1911). The same book as S204 (page 175). A published genealogy, not a primary record; its 1890 marriage year agrees with the 1910 census (S411) but not with 1900 (S409).
- S4091900 U.S. Federal Census — P. H. Rutherford household, 10th Civil District, Sumner Co., Tennessee (ED 118, sheet 15A, lines 48–50). Ancestry record 61310653. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed P. H. Rutherford, head, born March 1858, 42, farming; wife M. M., born September 1868, 31, married 9 years, mother of 4 children, 4 living; son H. H., born July 1892. The rest of the household (three daughters and a servant, per the index) is on sheet 15B, not yet examined. Married 9 years here points to c.1891; 1910 says 20 years (c.1890).
- S410City of Nashville, Tennessee, death certificate no. 1106 — Nannie Bell Rutherford, 20 August 1906. Ancestry record 22516515. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Nannie Bell Rutherford, schoolgirl, born 14 February 1894 in Texas, died 20 August 1906 at Douglas Infirmary, Nashville, of peritonitis following appendicitis; father P. H. Rutherford, informant, of Gallatin R.F.D. 3; mother's maiden name Mary Martin; buried at Gallatin. The father gave his own initials as P. H. The reverse of Mary's childhood carte de visite reads “Mrs. T. H. Rutherford”; every record here says P., so the T is taken as a misread P.
- S4111910 U.S. Federal Census — Philip H. Rutherford household, Long Hollow Pike, Civil District No. 4, Sumner Co., Tennessee (ED 134, sheet 8A, lines 12–19). Ancestry record 129787485. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Philip H. Rutherford, 52, farmer and employer, owning his farm free; wife Mary M., 42, married 20 years, mother of 7 children, 6 living; Homer H., 17, and Emma L., 14, both born Texas; Amanda, 11, Philip H. Jr., 8, Joseph E., 5, and Martin, 2, born Tennessee; street written in the margin as Long Hollow Pike. The two eldest children's Texas birthplaces place the family in Texas about 1892–96.
- S4121920 U.S. Federal Census — Mary M. Rutherford household, Cordell Township, Washita Co., Oklahoma (ED 187, sheet 1B, lines 72–79). Ancestry record 49525031. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Mary M. Rutherford, head, 51, widowed, farmer on a dairy farm, employer, owning the farm free; children Homer, 27, farmer (born Texas), Louise, 23, rural-school teacher (born Texas), Amanda, 20, Horace, 17, Joseph, 15, Martin, 11, and Mary Bell, 8; enumerated January 1920.
- S4131930 U.S. Federal Census — Mary A. Rutherford household, College Street, Cordell, Washita Co., Oklahoma. Ancestry record 95451856. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Mary A. Rutherford, 61, widowed, head, owning a $1,000 house, born Tennessee, first married at 22; sons Joseph, 25, and Martin, 22, and daughter Mary B., 18, all single and born Tennessee; a lodger. Written as Mary A. here; M. or M. M. on every other sheet. Married at 22 fits 1890–91.
- S4141940 U.S. Federal Census — Mary Rutherford household, Cordell City, Washita Co., Oklahoma (ED 75-5A, sheet 2A, lines 34–36). Ancestry record 93015860. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Mary Rutherford, head and informant, 71, widow, born Tennessee, owning her house ($1,000), living in the same house in 1935; son Martin, 32, and daughter Mary Bell, 28, both single. Ancestry's index reads “Martue”; the image reads Martin.
- S4151950 U.S. Federal Census — Mary M. Rutherford household, 319 W 4th, Cordell, Washita Co., Oklahoma (ED 76-5, sheet 4, lines 14–16). Ancestry record 57486505. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed Mary M. Rutherford, head, 81, widow, born Tennessee; son Martin, 42, and daughter Mary B., 38, both never married. The latest dated record of her alive. A death year of 1955 on an unsourced member photo is not used. Ancestry's index reads “Marcy M”.
- S568U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card — Martin Rutherford, Cordell, Oklahoma, 1940. Ancestry record 1214071803. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Martin Rutherford, 32, born 2 April 1908 at Gallatin, Tennessee, of 417 West 11th, Cordell; the person who will always know his address is his mother, Mrs. P. H. Rutherford, at the same address. Only the front of the card was fetched.
- S572Tennessee marriage licence, Sumner County, 31 December 1890. Ancestry record 5597708. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Licence for P. H. Rutherford and Mary Martin, given at the clerk's office 31 December 1890 by Harris Brown, county court clerk. Only the licence half is on the image; the return of the marriage is not.
- S8801860 U.S. Federal Census — Nathan Harsh household, 5th District, Davidson County, Tennessee, post office Nashville (page 59, dwelling/family 425, lines 11–21). Ancestry record 19036980 (image 4296186_00059). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Confirmed Nathan Harsh, 35, farmer; Mary J. Harsh, 29; Sarah E., Sophia R., Lena and Harry Harsh; William Harsh, 27, grocer; C. C. Rutherford, 27, farmer; Lydia Rutherford, 25; P. H. Rutherford, 2; Griffith Rutherford, 1. The 1860 census has no relationship column; the birthplace column was not read.
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