Friday, July 14, 2017

My second great-grandfather John Frank Martin

I've been doing more research on my mother's side of the family lately because of the discovery of my 3rd-great-grandfather's true identity.  Because of this I haven't been able to type up more on the Weeks'.  Therefore, in my absence of a post, I'm going to tell you a little about my family until I get the Cate/Martin branch finished up.  I'm going to jump around a bit at times so please bear with me.

John Frank Martin was born on August 10, 1888 in Charleston, Bradley, Tennessee.  He married Clara Ethel Matlock on June 14, 1910.  At some point between 1911-1926 he left Tennessee for Alabama.  There he married Annie Lee Phillips.  He died on March 3, 1954 in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

The first record that I find of him is the 1900 census.  In this we find that John Frank Martin is able to both read and write.  In the 1910 census we discover that he is a laborer in the general farm industry.  It's most likely that he was working on his step-father, Elijah's, farm.  After this I was able to find a two records for his  marriage to Clara.  I was able to go back through records and find the military enlistments from 1798-1914 records.  In that I find that he enlisted in the year 1907.  In this record I learn that John had a ruddy complexion and was 5'5.  He was discharged March 10, 1910.  The next record that I found would be his WWI draft registration card.  In this he has his present trade as an electrician at Western Union Tel. Co.  He is employed by H. Pierce Florida.  It also says that he had three years experience as a trumpeter in the calvary.  I just discovered that this was during what is called the Indian Wars.   I also learned that he was of medium build with blue eyes and brown hair.  The date of registration for this was June 5, 1917.  The next record that I found was the 1930 census.  In this one he and his mother are both living in Alabama.  He is now married to Annie and they have a son and daughter.  It says that they rent their home, that he never attended school, and his occupation is telephone.  In 1940, we find that they are renting a farm, they have four children, that he did go to school until the third grade, he works an average of 45 hours a week for the Bell telephone company, and that his income is $2,080.  I also later discover that the work that he is doing at this time is considered private work.  My final document is the application for his headstone.  We see that it is a flat granite marker without an emblem.  It  says that he was a private in Company C 306th Field Signal Battalion in France during WWI.

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