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Martha Johnson
b.Est 1720
Facts and Events
Disputed Maiden Name
Most online trees identify her as Martha Winifred Graves, on the basis that a William Graves of Chesterfield County, Virginia mentioned his daughter Martha Winfrey in his 1776 will. However, that person appears to be someone born in 1756 who married a different Winfrey.
References
- Chesterfield Will Books, Vol 4, 1785-1795, in Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900
pp. 465-69.
Will of Valentine Winfree of the County of Chesterfield, written 21 Jul 1795 and proved 14 Sep 1795 (see page 469).
He mentions his wife Martha, to whom he leaves 200 acres of land on which they live, as well as the means to make a living (use of his blacksmith tools, water grist, mill, etc.).
- ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. (New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., c1915)
p. 463.
'Valentine Winfree, who died July 22, 1796, was a resident of Chesterfield county, Virginia, where he was a planter and landholder. He married Martha Johnson, who bore him four sons: Valentine, Reuben, Major, James.'
Note: The source of information is not identified, so it is unclear how much was known and how much was conjecture. The information is presented as background for the article about their great grandson Major Christopher Valentine Winfree, and presumably came, at least to some extent, from "family records". Note that only 4 sons are mentioned, whereas Valentine named 7 sons in his will. (The order they are listed in the will doesn't suggest that he had 2 wives with Martha being the mother of only the younger sons, although that could have been the case.) Their son Valentine named a daughter Martha Johnson Winfree, assumed to be after her grandmother, so the maiden name of Valentine Sr.'s wife rings true.
- ↑ Birth year estimated based on the birth years of her children Mary Ann and Valentine (assuming she was the mother of all the children), and the fact that her husband granted her the right to the use of blacksmith tools, water grist, mill, etc. when he wrote his will in 1795, suggesting she wasn't completely reliant on her children by then.
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