LESTER, Martha ^{3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17}

  General Notes:

Martha's surname is usually published as Lester but she was also stated to be a Scarr in some sources suggesting that she had a previous husband. The New Jersey Colonial Records dispell both. When she marries Moses in 1740, she is simply listed as Martha Lester with no indication of being a widow or having the name Scarr. Her husband's name is simply Moses Coppock and her father is listed as Peter Lester, yeoman. They were both listed as of Richland Twp., Bucks Co., PA in the NJ colonial marriage records found in the New Jersey Archives, Marriage Licenses, Set 2, Reel 8, p. 57 1/2 (C-683, 2220, 2298)

From the above record we know that Martha is the daughter of Peter, but which Peter, Sr. or Jr.? They both lived in Richland Twp., Bucks Co., Pennsylvania Martha's parents are invariably listed in second hand sources as Peter and Mary Lester with her birth date being given as 1704 or 1719 respectively. Let's attack this problem from Martha's age. The only thing we know for certain on her age at this point, is that she was born before 1721, because she would have been at least 18 when she and Mary Lester were witnesses signing consecutively at a Quaker marriage of Wm & Martha (Foulke) Edwards in 8mo 24, 1738. (C-2222) If she had been born in 1704 she would have been four years older than her husband. She also would have been only 12 in 1716 when her parents changed their monthly meeting location to Gwynedd and would have been included as moving with her parents and sister Elizabeth in her families monthly meeting transfer. She was not included. If she was born in 1719, she would have been 33 years older than Peter Lester's wife's first child, making it an extremely unusual stretch of time for one mother to be having children. She basically would have been born after her siblings had all grown and moved away. (C-613) It should also be noted that she is not listed as the child of Peter and Mary Lester in "Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks" or in the Griffith Genealogy in Wales and North America. (C-247, 1875) Lastly, in 1740 when Martha marries, her father is listed as a Yeoman (farmer). It is much more likely that her father the farmer was Peter Lester Jr. who was in his 40's than the Peter Lester, Sr. who was about 80 years old. Taking her age, her father's location and profession into account as well as the other points above, we can now feel much more comfortable that her father was Peter Lester (Jr.) who was the son of the original Peter and Mary Duncalf Lester.

Martha and her husband lived in Granville Co., NC from 1754 through at least May of 1763 when Moses signed a petition and was on tax lists and militia rolls for that county. By Dec. of 1767, Moses likely died (in an Indian raid?) when Martha and son-in-law, Marmaduke Coate had moved to Newberry Co., South Carolina. Both were listed on Tuesday, the (1st) of Dec, 1767) with "The following Petitions for Warrants of Survey to prolong Warrants and Certifying Platts were presented and Read." She was listed as Martha Coppock (her husband wasn't mentioned) requesting 300 acres on Bush River. Her likely son-in-law, Marmaduke requested 200 acres on the waters of Bush River at the same time. The number of acres petitioned reflected the number of persons in one's household. Martha would account for 100 or her acres and then 4 other persons would account for the rest requested at 50 acres per head. She had 2 married daughters at this point in time that probably got their own land suggesting that her other 4 children still lived at home. This last statement is theory. (C-2289) On 12/30/1771 she witnessed her daughter Martha's Quaker wedding ceremony in the Bush River Meeting, NC.

Martha is listed in some sources as having been killed by Indians, but this is a confusion with her husband. A William Mendenhall sometime in the mid 1900's passed down his family's tradition about her this way, " Martha (Lester) Coppock ..."had to go to a Wedding with in the city, leaving at home, Mary, her brother and her husband, who were killed along with 15 others of the city with one exception Mary ......." then along came Marmaduke to provide ransom, marry her indian fashion, then return her to her home.)" (E)

Though the William Mendenhall's tradition has yet to be verified, Martha's will does let us know that she was not the person killed by Indians. Martha's will written Nov. 13, 1794, was probated on Feb. 28, 1797 in Book B, p. 82-83. Important points included that she lived in Newberry in common health. She gave each of her daughters 2 pounds: Rebekah Evans, Mary Coats, Phebe Pugh and Martha Tomlinson. To son James, she gave the 300 acres she was currently living on and her personal estate. Her executors were son, James Coppock, and son-in-law, Marmaduke Coate. (C-683) The original will is apparently missing from the Probate records, but a will book copy is still available. Witnesses were Mercer Babb, Wright Coates, Rhoda Babb and Jas. Weeks. (C-2082) ^{18 19 20}

  Noted events in her life were:

• Will, Nov 13, 1794, , Newberry, SC, USA. ^{3 21}

• Probate, Feb 28, 1797, , Newberry, SC, USA. ³

• birth2 (conflicting), Feb 5, 1706/07. ²²

Martha married Moses COPPOCK, son of Bartholomew COPPOCK III and Rebecca MINSHALL (Mendenhall), on Sep 22, 1740 in , , NJ, USA.^{1 2} (Moses COPPOCK was born on May 2, 1708 in Middle, Dauphin, Chester, PA and died before Dec 1, 1767.)