Martin Genealogy

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. After a generation or two, is it any wonder that family histo ries and old traditions were forgotten? I use the word carve advisedly: when the Martin boys, after walking two hundred and fifty miles from Woodbury, Ct., with gun and axe, and each carrying a pack, arrived in the dense hardwood forest, where the town of Peacham is now Situated, their first business was to cut down a few of the smaller trees and make a lean to, covered with brush, to protect themselves from the weather; a fire was built, and kept burning all night, to keep off the wild beasts; sometimes the fire was extinguished, and, while one slept, the other kept watch with the old flint lock, for possible prowling Indians. Soon a shanty followed the lean to, then all set to work, with a hearty good will, to make their first clearing. When supplies were needed, one of their number would follow the mountain brook to the river, and down its bank to the nearest settlement, twenty miles away. Thus they worked until the cold weather came, then they concealed their worldly belongings in the ground, and walked home to Woodbury, where they spent the winter.