Paternal Ancestors

genealogy pertaining to McGrew and McGraw, Martin, Johnson, Jacobs, Vanbibber, Hill, Elswick, Withrow, Skaggs, and so many others.

Martha A. McGraw: wife of John Hedrick

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I have Martha A. McGraw and John Hedrick’s marriage as having occurred in 1843 Kanawha County, WV. To my dismay, I’ve yet to discover a marriage record for the two in Fayette, Kanawha, Putnam, or Mason County. So I’ve had to scratch my head and wonder why/where I came up with those conclusions.

  1. Martha A. is living in the household of John Hedrick in the 1850 Putnam Census, aged 31, with four year old son, William P;
  2. Martha’s presumed father is Martin McGraw Jr who came to the Putnam area (while it was still Kanawha County) about 1843;
  3. This puts the marriage in the 1843-1845 time frame since son William P would have been born about 1846.

But, I believe the presumption that Martha A. McGraw was the daughter of Martin McGraw Jr was made by my genealogical predecessor, Gloria McGrew Thomas. I took her word for it and put Martha in my tree without evidence or documentation. Going through the Censuses up through 1880, I comprehend Aunt Glor’s reasoning and agree with her conclusions. Let me lay it out for you.

  1. Martha A. McGraw would have been the daughter of Martin McGraw, Jr., and his first wife Nancy Wood and born about 1818 in what was then Nicholas County. The 1820, 1830, and 1840 Censuses “jive” for a female of Martha’s age. There are only two men living in the vicinity (Kanawha/Putnam) of the proper age to have a daughter named Martha. Thomas McGraw was 19 years old in 1818 and wasn’t married until 1820. That leaves Martin McGraw, Jr;
  2. When Nancy Wood passed, Martin remarried a woman named Sarah Jane Johnson in Gauley Bridge; their first daughter was, from what I can tell, Lucretia McGraw born about 1837. Lucretia married David Smith 17 Feb 1864 in Mason County, WV. Although the Clerk that wrote up the Marriage License very nearly repeated David Smith’s father’s name in the space provided for Lucretia’s parents, it appears he quickly scribbled some info that ended with “McGraw.” That aside, Lucretia’s birthplace is plainly written “Fayette County.” Could Lucretia have been the daughter of Thomas McGraw & Caty Withrow? I don’t think so:
    1. Lucretia is in the household of Martin and Sarah in the 1850 Putnam Census;
    2. Thomas McGraw is last listed in the Fayette Tax List in 1835 then subsequently in Kanawha Tax List 1840 (in the Buffalo/Midway area);
  3. Back to Martha A. McGraw: in the 1870 Putnam Census, there are a few interesting individuals in the household of Martha A and John Hedrick:
    1. Three Fielders: Harriet, 35, Martha A, 4, and Elvia J, 11
    2. Lucretia Smith, aged 11
    3. and Alonzo McGrew, aged 8.
    4. Martha and John Hedrick’s son William P. Hedrick is in the very next household in the census.
  4. Interestingly, both Lucretia and Alonzo are in Martha and John Hedrick’s household in the 1880 Putnam Census along with several others, all of whom are listed as boarders. I wonder if both Lucretia and Alonzo were children of Lucretia McGraw, Alonzo of course being born before Lucretia married David Smith?

I’ve no clue yet as to the identity or parentage of Alonzo McGrew but he is no doubt a cousin’s child. The Fielders: I should point out that John “O” McGrew, son of Thomas McGraw and Caty Withrow, married Zipporah Fielder, presenting ties between the McGrew and Fielder families. But most interesting is Lucretia Smith, aged 11.

I’ve got quite a bit of leg work to do, figuring out who these individuals are and how they tie into the family tree, but I wonder if Lucretia was born before her folks “tied the knot” OR if this was actually Lucretia McGraw Smith marked with the wrong age. Admittedly, I cannot locate either Lucretia nor David Smith in the 1860 and 1870 Censuses. I’m off to FamilySearch.org to scour the 1860 Census.

But there you have what I believe is the evidence, albeit circumstantial, that led to the conclusion that Martha A. McGraw was the daughter of Martin McGraw Jr and Nancy Wood. By the way, you’ve read that my great-grandparents were fourth cousins: Homer H. McGrew (via Thomas McGraw) and Nora Bell Jacobs (via Martin McGraw Jr). But what I haven’t mentioned is that after Homer’s death, Nora Bell married a second time to James Marion Hedrick, the son of William P. Hedrick (who was the son of Martha A. McGraw, the subject of this post) and wife Alice Luella Hayes, daughter of William. H. Hayes and Mary L. McGrew (daughter of Thomas McGraw and Caty Withrow).