Sometimes I find that plugging in information which isn't substantiated by facts/documents, will bring me to something that either a. proves it full of hogwash, or b. proves it to be true, or c. leaves me with egg on my face for even supposing such a thing!
So today I'm going to suppose Martha Kennon Clack could have married Austin Hightower. And when I look at how many different dates are given for the siblings of Spencer Clack, she has some Ancestry trees giving her date of birth as 1741 to 1745 and as late as 1751. The only catch to these earlier dates is that her mother, Mary Kennon Clack, was born 1n 1728, and got married in 1743. That would put Martha's birth until her mother was at least 15 years old.
One set of trees uses Richmond, Wise County VA as her birth place, while another set says Brunswick County, VA. Since all the other Clacks of her generation were born in Brunswick, that would be my first preference.
There is one record which lists Austin Hightower as marrying Martha (no maiden name) in 1861. Austin was born in 1698 on this one record that a exists for Martha.
Austin has records of a marriage to Jane Oldham, in 1744. And they had 3 children.
So I'm fortunately visiting the Chatham County seat in Pittsboro NC, and today (the 23rd) will go to the library and talk to a genealogist. Since Martha Hightower, as well as Auston, has been listed as dying in Chatham County NC, maybe I can find out where their graves would have been located.
And I did find a bit more information about the son of Auston Hightower, named Henry. He was part of the American Revolution, but on the Tory side, and was hung for having "murdered" a patriot.
I saw the original will of Auston Hightower (and he signed his name spelling it that way. So I've changed my records to reflect that spelling (though of course nobody else will probably.)
And since my guess is that Martha is a sister of Spencer Clack, then she's only my aunt six times great.
Research for 3 branches of my family: Rogers, Booth and Swasey
The genealogist at the library in Pittsboro, NC was most helpful. Martha and I looked at some of their books, and Reese (volunteer genealogist) gave me a page printout which agrees with my supposition about Martha Clack Hightower.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am hoping that you could share with me the info you received about Martha. I am a member of the DAR, and have been trying to do a supplement on Austin Hightower. I have been going around in circles trying to find more documentation on Martha, and proof of the name of her Clack father, because the Clacks connects to Robert Bolling. Of course, descending from Robert Bolling makes you eligible to join the Jamestown Society. I feel that it is birthdates that is not adding up on this line. The DAR has Austin’s birthdate as 1730 which is wrong because if first born child, Oldham Hightower was born in 1744. We believe that Martha married Austin c. 1760. She is listed on deeds with Austin and his will. I descend from their first born son, Sterling Hightower. The name of Sterling has been used for several generations afterwards. This leads me to suspect that Martha’s mother was Mary Sterling. There is no accurate death date for Martha. I have used p 1793 because it is the last document with her name. She was in Georgia at that time. My Sterling Hightower was a Georgia State Senator when it first became a state. He later moved to TN. Thanks for reading this and I hope to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your interesting comment. I did ask at the library in Pittsboro, Chatham County, NC if they had any information about Auston or Martha Hightower. No luck. I couldn't even find out where the oldest cemetery might be. I think I needed a Historical Society. The volunteer at the library said he mainly worked with people just starting out. But he did give me some directions to try to look in. So as of now, what I wrote on my blog is about it. Are you on Ancestry.com? I have a tree there, and frequently get more hints about some ancestors. I don't think the Martha who died in Georgia was the same one. I have the advantage of being descended from Spencer, Martha's brother. I'm not particularly interested in the DAR. Good luck on your searching, and stay in touch!
DeleteI've encountered the same conundrum with Martha Clack so this post has reinvigorated my search. I believe there is an older Austin Augustine Hightower and a younger Austin Hightower in the same tree which may be skewing dates?
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