| Notes |
- This Martha Lincoln is a very illusive person. Her birth date is listed in an old Forte family bible. It does not give her place of birth or her parents. Her mother's initials are on 4 dessert spoons from Martha's mother as J.E.L. Thid be Martha's mother's first and middle initials or her husband's first and middle initials or a combination of both their first names with this last choice being the most likely. The spoons were last in the care of Hank and Ray Forte. Note that Martha Lincoln's first son was named Jairus Edwin Bunnell. Maybe his middle name came from the E. initial on these spoons. They also had several spoons belonging to Jairus and Martha Bunnell made in 1827 with the inscription of J.M.B. on them. The last teaspoon of interest is one that came from Martha Lincoln Bunnell's collection with the initials L.M. made in 1802. It is unknown whom it stood for. (F-4)
Jim's family tradition says that Martha was related to President Lincoln. Proving her relationship to President Lincoln has been unobtainable to this point, as even her parents have not been located. Furthermore, in recent years, it appears that President Lincoln's ancestry has been covered up by the government and that he wasn't actually a Lincoln at all. If this is the case, then Martha Lincoln is highly unlikely to be related to President Lincoln. In an extensive search so far, the only Martha Lincoln's of a similar birth year that have appeared are: Martha Lincoln, d. of Gideon and Martha Lincoln, born. 17 Aug. 1789 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Mass., and Martha, d. of Hezekiah and Eunice Lincoln in Cohasset, Norfolk, Mass. The later Martha Lincoln is not our Martha because she was in Massachusetts married and having other children at the same time as ours. (F-184)
The closest match to date was provided by Hans Weeber. There is a Martha Lincoln, b. 1790 to a John and Elizabeth O'Neal Lincoln someplace between Philadelphia Co., PA and Stokes Co., North Carolina. Her siblings were Mary Amelia (Millie) b. 1782, Elizabeth, b. 1782, Thomas b. 1787, Nancy Catherine b. 1792 and John Joseph b. 1793. (E) However, descendants of this line again know her spouse and children. They do not match our Martha Lincoln.
Libby and Hal Swenson of California have the Forte family bibles including her name. One of their family pedigree charts lists her birth place as Vermont. The source of this information was likely their gr..andfther, Edward Forte, grandson of Martha Lincoln. Her death place is listed as having been Harlem or Mount Vernon, New York. There is no death record for her in Harlem. No birth record exists for her in Vermont either, according to a vital records clerk and a double check by another Lincoln through the entire Vermont vital records collection. (L-15)
As far as her birth place, upon checking the names of Lincoln families that lived in Vermont in the 1790 census, the following families appear as possible parents to our Martha Lincoln: Benjamin Lincoln of Rutland Co., Poultney Town; Charles of Rutland Co., Castle town; Daniel of Rutland Co, Shrewsbury Town (this is not him as he had a different daughter named Pede born in 1790); James and Nehemiah of Windsor Co., Windsor Town; Hezekiah of Windsor Co., Hartford; John of Bennington Co., Shaftsbury Town; Jonah of Windham Co., Wilmington Town; or two Samuel's of Orange Co., Chelsea Town. (F-379, 380, 584) Of course, when compared to the initials on the spoons, only John of Bennighton and Jonah of Windham would be possible matches.
I have been corresponding with an Edward Lincoln whose ancestors lived in Vermont at one point and who knows how he is related to President Lincoln as presented in the traditional ancestry of the President. His Charles Fisher Lincoln, (1819-1876) lived in Woodstock, Vermont when his son was born in 1849. (L-12) It is not known if his father Tisadale (1780-1861) lived there. They descended from a line going back to Thomas, the Miller, who first immigrated to Hingham, Mass. from England. The first ancestor he has in common with the traditional published lineage of President Lincoln is Robert Lincoln, Jr. (-1556) from Hingham, Co. Norfolk, England. (L-1) It should be noted however that there is serious reason to doubt that President Lincoln was a Lincoln at all. Another correspondent to Edward, has an ancestor named James Lincoln who was born in 1803 in Vermont. His parents were Joseph and Lucy Benson Lincoln. Several of James's children were born in Dorset, Bennington, Vermont starting in 1831 (James Holbrook Lincoln). (L-14)
Another lead as to Martha's lineage comes from a scrap book in the possession of Libby and Hal Swenson. On the page that has articles relating to Martha Lincoln, there are also newspaper clippings about a Henry A. Lincoln who was married to a Sophia Fenn residing at 51 Lincoln St., New Haven, Conn. Henry was a section master on the Share Line Railroad. The year of the clipping was1898. It was in reference to Henry A. Lincoln being the administrator for Sophia Fenn Lincoln's estate. (F-321) According to IGI records Henry A. and Sophia Fenn married on Dec. 6, 1840 in Connecticut. It's his father whom I believe could be a brother to our Martha Lincoln. (F-230, 474)
Major sources that have been checked include all of the 1988 I.G.I. files for the Eastern, Midwestern and Southern states, and all Lincoln Surname books at the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, The Family History Library in Utah, and all libraries in Columbus, Ohio.
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Ancestrees
1790 - 1872 (82 years)
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