Bandits in Disguise

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. (1853). Elisabeth Grace and Rachel Martin. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/965e7df4-d4d5-d510-e040-e00a180671b7

Sometimes when I hit a brick wall in researching, I simply pick another line and see how far I can take it. Today that method payed off in a big way. I ended up looking at the Martin line on my mother's maternal side and was able to click through the family on Wikitree all the way back to 800 AD! Granted, I haven't personally verified this research but anything that old is usually well documented. It was fun to click through all the generations but for this post I want to focus on Elizabeth "Betty" Marshall Martin. Elizabeth was born in Virginia in 1727. She married Abram Martin in 1744 and together they had 8 sons and 1 daughter. 

During the Revolutionary War, Betty's husband, Abram, and all eight of their sons fought for freedom. The wives of the two eldest sons stayed with their mother-in-law at the family's farm in Edgefield County, South Carolina while their husbands were on the front. Betty would have been in her early 40s and the girls only in their 20s.

One evening they were alerted that a British courier with two guards would be passing by transporting important dispatches. All of the men were fighting so there was no one to stop them. The women hatched a plan. Rachel and Grace dressed in their husbands' clothes and loaded their pistols. According to sources, the British soldiers were so completely surprised that they never even drew their weapons. they surrendered their dispatches and rode off at a gallop, probably glad to escape with their lives!

Rachel and Grace delivered the dispatches to a trusted courier who delivered them to Major Greene. They went back home to the farm and changed clothes in the barn. When they entered the house, who was there but the same soldiers they themselves had attacked just hours before! The three British soldiers had gone to Betty's home and asked for lodging for the night. Of course they didn't recognize Rachel and Grace as the "men" who had attacked them. 

On it on this is an exciting and amazing story but to top it off in 1853, artist F.O.C. Darley did a depiction of the event. That is the image that I have included at the top of this post. 

This story has been told over and over by better writers and storytellers than myself. A simple search for "Elizabeth, Rachel, and Grace Martin"  will reveal pages and pages written about their story. There is even a video series! I am so proud to have these women in my family. Elizabeth "Betty" Marshall Martin is my 8th great grandmother. Her son George Martin - Anne E Martin - Rachel Clay Finch - Edward Scruggs - Henry Scruggs - Beulah Scruggs - Sula Plunkett, my great grandmother. 

Martin

Settlement of Abram and Elizabeth Marshall Martin

About 1769

Near This Spot Their Daughters In Law

Sally Grace and Rachel

During American Revolution

Captured Important Dispatches From

British Soldiers on Their Way From

Augusta to Ninety Six

Erected By Martin Descendants

1953

Sons of
Abram and Elizabeth Marshall
Martin
Who were soldiers in the American
Army of the War of the RevolutionWilliam
James
John
George
Barclay
Edmund
Marshall
Matthew

Sources:

• Logan, Mrs. John A., (1912). The Part was Taken by Women in American History. Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware.
• Elizabeth, Grace and Rachel Martin, AmericanRevolution.org

Also, there is a video series produced by Idella Bodie's South Carolina Women hosted on knowitall.org. It is made for 3rd-8th graders but we can all learn from it.