Category Archives: Martin Family

Family History Friday: Did They Serve Together?

Posted on by
Reply

My Great Great Grandpa Albert Fairbanks fought in the Civil War. His ancestry is Native American, English, Canadian, and French. He was born in what would become the state of Minnesota, in White Earth. He was part of a group of Native Americans and half breeds to join the Union Army to fight during the Civil War. He was a Corporal when he joined and a Sergeant when the war ended and he returned home.

My Great Great Grandpa Andrew Hanson fought in the Civil War. His ancestry is Norwegian. He came to America in 1857 with his wife and family. They put down roots in Fillmore County, Minnesota. He must have already loved the country because he joined the Union Army and fought during the Civil War. He served till the war was over and sent a letter home to his brother saying he needed a hat and boots to get home. The army gave them a ride home on the train, as far as it would go, then they’d have to walk the rest of the way.

As far as I’ve been able to tell, they were both in the Minnesota Infantry.

And they were both in “Company G”.

It does seem they were each in a different Regiment.

Andrew -2nd Regiment and Albert 9th Regiment.

After some searching, I’ve found that each Regiment comes from a different geographical location. So even though they both were in a “Company G”, they did not serve in the same Regiment.

I was thinking while I researched how neat it would be if they knew each other.

How wonderful it would be if they fought shoulder to shoulder.

It does appear as though they didn’t serve together, and that’s ok!

In 1864 the 2nd Regiment took part in the Atlanta Campaign and marched with Sherman to the sea. Wow!

The 9th Regiment spent part of their time protecting General Sherman’s railroad supply line from confederate raiders. Neat!

I am super excited to know for sure that they fought in the same conflict, and that they fought for the Union. I am so happy to know more about my Great Great Grandpa’s!  What hard working, service oriented people they were. Oh, and very patriotic! Family History is so fun!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Grandma Blanche!

Posted on by
Reply

Blanche

Did you ever love someone that you couldn’t spent much time with?

That is how I felt about my Grandma Blanche.

She is my dad’s mom. She was an amazing woman. She was the mother of 8 children. She was a very talented seamstress. She worked with my Grandpa sewing men’s suits at their tailor shop. She was always a hard worker, an example of industry. I wish I had been able to ask her how she did it all?

The family lived in Spokane, Washington. When my dad was a young adult, he left home to work in California. He never went back. Opportunities came and he met and married my mom, and they moved to Utah. At the time, the main mode of communication was letters. You could call, but it was expensive, and most people didn’t use it much, unless there was an emergency. I felt at times that I wish I could see my Grandma more, or at least visit with her. She did send me a birthday card every year.

I know she loved me.

I saw my Grandma Blanche about 5 times in my life. She passed away just before my second child was born. I remember being sad that I didn’t get to know her very well, and I didn’t have the opportunity to spend more time with her. She died in the spring, and when my birthday came in November I knew that I wouldn’t receive a card in the mail from her ever again.

I miss her.

I do believe that I will see her again someday.

I will get to spend time getting to know her better and loving her. I will be able to tell her how happy I am that she is my grandma, and I am very happy about that.

Family History Friday: Joseph Martin

Posted on by
Reply

Joseph Martin was my second great grandpa. He was born about 1829 in the Michigan Territory. He was a Civil War veteran who is listed in the Becker County list of pensioners. It says that he lost an eye. He received $18 a month allotment. He is one that I have been trying to find more info on.

I will be looking for more information about him. Please let me know if you know something.

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Louis Seymour Martin

Posted on by
Reply

I never knew my Great-Grandpa Martin. He died when my dad was a little boy. He was the first dead person my dad ever saw. He was in a coffin in the parlor at home. My dad remembers him having a large white handlebar mustache, that had yellowed from using tobacco. He was a blacksmith, and owned his own shop. This picture is of him in his shop. Not the best quality, but I love it. My dad also told me that Great Grandpa was a bootlegger. I don’t know any more about that, but I bet he was one of many. He also drove a stage coach from Ponsford to Calloway, Minnesota. He hauled trees to the lumber mill during the winter months, putting the logs on a big old sled, and crossing a frozen lake. He lost a toe from frost bite, doing that job.

It sounds to me like he was a colorful character. I admire him for taking different jobs. I’ve had to do the same myself. I’m sure he must have had a lot of stamina to do some of the jobs he did, pounding iron sounds like it would be exhausting. I have loved hearing about him. I bet he was a great guy.

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Native American Research!

Posted on by
Reply

-Chief Hole in the Day-
You know how you hear stories about your ancestors, while growing up in your family? Have you heard a story about being related to a Native American? 
I heard those stories, too! 
It wasn’t until I was in my teens, that the story became more concrete. If you have heard this story, some things you will want to know in order to do research are: 

  • Do you have a name?
  • Do you know when and where they lived? (a location will help you identify a tribe)
  • Who was it in your family that said you had a Native American ancestor? Can you go talk to them and find out more?


If you don’t have much information and can’t ask for more information, you will just have to work you way back, starting with you, until you find them. 

Sometimes it is just a story.

  • Another important piece of information would be to know the tribe or nation the ancestor belonged. 


There are 100’s of tribes. My ancestor came from the Great Lakes Region. Most of the records for my ancestor were found at the tribal agency. 

If your ancestor was a member of what they call the 
“Five Civilized Tribes”,
Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, they ended up in Oklahoma. All tribes where not relocated and my be close to their original location. Even though my ancestors tribe was placed on a reservation, they remained in Minnesota. If your ancestor was in Oklahoma, there are some very helpful Federal records called the “Dawes Roles”. They are a good source for information. You can read about them here!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Pictures and Shagonaushequay

Posted on by
2

One of my ancestors was named Mary Sayer, or at least that was her Christian name. Her Ojibwe name was Shagonaushequay.
The Ojibwe are a Native American tribe that lived, at the time she was born, near the Great Lakes area. Her mother was a full blood Ojibwe named Bwanequay. Her father, John Sayer, was a fur trader from England. It wasn’t uncommon for the fur traders to marry a native woman. First, the native women made great companions. Second, it was helpful in the fur trade, because they could communicate with the trappers, most of which were Ojibwe in that area. Shagonaushequay was married to a man named John H. Fairbanks, also an Englishman. He is a descendant of the Fairbanks who settled in Boston area of Massachusetts, back in the 1600’s. My mom and dad were trying to find the birth and death date for Mary or Shagonaushequay. They weren’t even sure where she was buried. They knew she and her husband lived in a small comminuty called Crow Wing, and they looked in the local archives for any histories of Crow Wing and found a history called “Old Crow Wing”. As they looked through the papers they found some pictures. One of the pictures was an old headstone with the name Mary Sayer written on it. They were able to get her birthday and date of death off the picture. They also found out that she was buried with a daughter. They both died at the same time from TB or something. They had already visited Crow Wing and this head stone was no longer at Crow Wing. We felt like it was a miracle that they found this picture of the head stone that no longer exists. Pictures can be helpful even when we can’t find the information at the location. Happy Family History Friday!
Love, Joy

Family History Friday

Posted on by
1

I’ve decided to have every Friday be a Family History post. Those who know me, know that I love Family History. Some people don’t know what Family History is. Well, it’s like genealogy, learning about your roots, but more about the history of our ancestors. I love these people, because I know them. I know life is better because of them. I enjoy getting to know them by reading their histories, and learning about how life was in the places they lived. So what I plan to do is talk about one of my ancestors or a Family History topic every Friday. Have an open mind and you may be bit by the Family History bug, too!!
I thought I would tell you my favorite way to keep my Family History organized. I am a visual person. One of my objectives in organizing my Family History is, first, so I can find the information I’m looking for when I’m researching, but also, anyone can find the information. So, here it is- I color code my ancestors. I know it’s not a new thing, but it works for me! To start out with, I use only the primary colors, plus green. Green in not technically a primary color. So, I have four grand parents. Most of us do. Some may have more if they have blended families. Then I pick a color of out of the primary colors plus green that reminds me of my grandparent or of the place they are from. So, my paternal grandfather is blue, they came from Norway. It is a country surrounded by the ocean and is very cold. My paternal grandmother is green. They are Native American, and came from the Great Lakes area. They were Woodland Indians. My maternal grandfather is red. They came from Wales and England. They were miners and life was very hard. My maternal grandmother is yellow. They are also from England and the Channel Islands, in the English Channel. They were pioneers. They joined the LDS church and came across the American plains, sacrificing much, sometimes everything. In doing my organizing in this way, I know at a glance which family names belong together. If you’d like, pick a color for your grandparents. Use this color by putting it somewhere on each piece of paper or document that pertains to that family. Good luck! Happy Family History Friday!!!