{"id":12396,"date":"2016-02-12T10:31:25","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T15:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=12396"},"modified":"2017-02-20T13:23:44","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T18:23:44","slug":"follow-every-genealogy-clue-it-might-surprise-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/follow-every-genealogy-clue-it-might-surprise-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Follow Every Genealogy Clue: It Might Surprise You!"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you have a genealogy record in front of you, track down every clue and see where it takes you.<\/p>\n

For example: I found the announcement of my cousin\u2019s wedding in 1767 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

\"wedding<\/a>
New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 28 August 1767, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are there more clues here?
\nLet\u2019s see where they take us.<\/p>\n

The groom is identified as: \u201cthe Honorable Martin Howard, Esq; Chief Judge of North-Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, he was the Chief Judge of North Carolina. Probably I can find more information about him in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>. Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an article.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Newport Mercury (Newport, Rhode Island), 1 October 1764, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, prior to his marriage to Miss Abigail Greenleaf in 1767, Martin Howard was married to Anne \u2013 who died Wednesday, 26 September 1764.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll add her to my family tree and look for more information on her.<\/p>\n

What else can I find about Chief Judge Martin Howard\u2019s life and family?
\nI also found this article.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
New-York Mercury (New York, New York), 9 September 1765, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s this?
\nA mob destroying his home?<\/p>\n

They were so angry that after they left, they returned and ransacked his home a second time.<\/p>\n

The article ends by saying:<\/p>\n

The ship Friendship, capt. Lindsey, sailed for England yesterday. Doctor Thomas Maffat, and Martin Howard, jun. Esq; of this town went [as] passengers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"article<\/a>
New-York Mercury (New York, New York), 9 September 1765, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was this all about?
\nWe learn more in this next article I found.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, Ohio), 30 July 1869, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So \u2013 Martin Howard was supporting the hated Stamp Act during Colonial times; his home was ransacked and he was forced to flee to England.<\/p>\n

By the next year he was appointed by the King as the new Chief Judge of North Carolina.<\/p>\n

The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography<\/em> quotes him as saying:<\/p>\n

I shall have no argument with the Sons of Liberty of Newport; it was they who made me Chief Justice of North Carolina, with a thousand pounds sterling a year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Digging deeper I found his portrait.<\/p>\n

\"Painting:<\/a>
Painting: Judge Martin Howard, by John Singleton Copley, 1767. Source: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was no small-time judge. He sat for this Copley portrait at the same time he married my cousin Abigail Greenleaf.<\/p>\n

Extraordinary.
\nI was not expecting to find this.<\/p>\n

Later, Howard was forced to flee the Colonies permanently, and he lived the rest of his life in obscurity in England.<\/p>\n

If I hadn\u2019t found his marriage notice in GenealogyBank<\/a> he would not have made it into our family tree.<\/p>\n

When I searched FamilySearch<\/a> and Ancestry<\/a>, he wasn\u2019t recorded on the family tree in either site \u2013 so I remedied that and added him to our family tree on both sites.<\/p>\n

I love it when the old newspapers in GenealogyBank help me to discover new members of the family. I find more every day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great day for genealogy!<\/p>\n

Related Genealogy Clues Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n