The Martin Family in Scotland Book – Peter Smith & Ellen Varden Martin

This full-color children’s book contains the story of the Martin family in Scotland. Beginning with Peter S. Martin’s parents, it tells what happened to each of his siblings and their children. If you would like a copy, contact Toni Thomas at tonistarrythomas@gmail.com.

How It Came About

Peter Smith Martin was an amazing man. He came to America as a penniless miner and accomplished much: he prospected and developed numerous mining ventures, he owned a large working ranch, and he served as County Commissioner for Beaver County, Utah for a decade. He was styled by the Salt Lake Tribune as “the sage of Milford.” His descendants have admired his accomplishments, but have wanted to know more.

Where did he come from? Who were his parents? Did he have any family besides his brother William? Only a few facts were known about Peter Martin’s beginnings. He was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland—or was he? His birth date was March 14, 1839—or was it? His parents were William Martin and Jane Smith—or were they? None of the facts we thought we knew were verifiable by records.

In the summer of 2014, a team of cousins assembled to solve the mystery. Robert Allen (son of Katherine Elizabeth Martin), Lorna Lowder (daughter of Ellen Harriet Martin), and Toni Thomas (daughter of Florence Angie Martin) pooled information, and asked each other hard questions. The game was afoot.

We searched old newspapers and documents, dug up dusty mining records, formed theories and disproved them with DNA, and corresponded internationally with researchers, librarians, and other family historians. We learned an awful lot about Peter and William Martin’s lives in Utah. They lived in Frisco, and belonged to its Masonic Lodge. There in Frisco, Peter Martin and Ellen Orwin were married by the Justice of the Peace in 1844. The brothers were well known in mining circles across the state. William Martin attended the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. (That was shortly after he was sued for $25,000 for breach of promise to marry Mary LaFitte. Fortunately, the case was thrown out of court.)

As interesting and delightful were our finds, we gained no further insights on the origins of the family in Scotland. After a year of combined efforts, a breakthrough came one day through email correspondence with Allan MacKenzie, historian at the North Lanarkshire Archives. He had searched an alternate census database and sent us information we had not been able to find in our own searches due to very poor transcriptions.

With this initial breakthrough, information began to flow although some questions remain unanswered. Peter’s mother was not Jane Smith; Jane Smith was his grandmother, and he carried her surname as a middle name. His mother was Jane Rosanna Brack, who typically went by Rosanna. Different census years give different origins: he may not have been born in Scotland, but rather Ireland. We believe he could possibly have fabricated the Scotland birthplace to avoid the real prejudice that the Irish faced in those days.

Peter and William had four sisters (one died as an infant) and probably another brother, Edward. That may explain why Peter named his sons Peter, William, and Edward Harry, matching the names and order of birth of male children in Peter’s own generation.

There are still plenty of questions to be answered: who were Father William Martin’s parents? Where in Ireland did William and Rosanna immigrate from? Where exactly was Peter born? What happened to Rosanna and her children, Margaret and Edward, after the 1851 census?

This volume was compiled to share some of the wonderful information we have found, and, most especially, to teach the child descendants of Peter Martin the great role in history their ancestors played.

We invite you to enjoy our findings and hope that you also will be inspired by their adventures, their struggles and triumphs, and—despite all—the accomplishments of the Martin family.

The Cousin Team
Toni Thomas, Robert Allen, Lorna Lowder, Guinevere Woolstenhulme