Betsy Martin of St. George was the first wife of Jonathan Daggett by whom she had possibly eight children.  The exact number is not clear based on the following two books which contain some genealogy on this family.  The “History of the Town of Union, Maine” by Sibley, pages 444-445 and the “History and Genealogy of the Town of Morrill, Maine” by Robinson, Morse, and White, page 125.  Although Betsey Martin is the progenitor of many Waldo County families, Daggetts, Wings, etc. she is somewhat of an enigma.  The above books refer to her as simply Betsey Martin of St. George.  Her birth, ancestry and what happened to her are not known.  Since she is my great-great-great-great grandmother I undertook the task to see if I could find out more about her.

Fortunately I got in touch with Mr. John Falla of St. George who provided me with information on the St. George Martin’s.  His genealogical records indicate that Betsey may be the daughter of Richard Martin and Sarah Vickery.  Both of these families initially came to Maine from Marblehead, MA.  If we accept this as a possibility her ancestry would be as follows:

Much of this information was provided by John Falla.  Thank you, John.

Richard Martin, born about June 1756 in Marblehead, MA, died October 18, 1799 in St. George, Maine.  He married Sarah Vickery August 4, 1778 in Bristol, Maine.  She was born about November 1751 in Marblehead, daughter of Stephen Vickery and Hannah Dennis, and died June 24, 1790.

Richard was the son of Thomas Martin, born about 1721 and Sarah Goodwin, born February 27, 1749/50, both born in Marblehead, MA.

Thomas was the son of Thomas Martin and Eleanor Knott both of Marblehead.

If one accepts the above claims then the indirect arguments for Betsey Martin as the daughter of Richard Martin and Sarah Vickery are as follows:

·        Richard and Sarah were from Marblehead or of Marblehead descent

·        1790 Census records indicate they had 3 boys and 3 girls

·        Not all the girls’ names were known but it is believed that 2 of the boys were Thomas and Stephen.  Information provided by John Falla indicated that the names of four children were known, Thomas born in 1780, being one of them.  Unfortunately Betsey is not one of them.

·        In the Marblehead Vital Records to 1849 Richard and Sarah Martin had 2 children baptised on August 30, 1789: Thomas age 9, page 339, Betsey age 3, page 335.  Thomas’ gravestone indicates that he was born in 1780 and it agrees with his age at baptism.  There is no other Richard and Sarah Martin’s listed as married in Marblehead.  Even these two aren’t there.  They were married in Maine.

·        As to why these two were baptized in Marblehead John Falla suggested that  “It was very common for people along the coast of Maine at that time to go “back home”, for various reasons and baptisms or christenings was one of them.  Going “home” for the birth of a child was also a common practice.  That way, the “new mothers” would be home with their mothers or other family members for the midwife service and help with a newborn.  As far as only those two children, maybe they happened to be the only ones there at this particular time and the family put the pressure on to get them baptized while there, figuring they would get the others when they came to visit.”

·        This Betsey Martin would have been about 18 when Jonathan Daggett married in 1804.  She would have been quite young when her mother died and her father remarried.

·        The Martin, Weston, and Daggett families intermarried in the St. George/Maine area.

·        Richard Martin, Betsey’s father, had siblings who married into the Weston family.  His sister Sarah married Arunah Weston and they had a daughter Silvia Church Weston.

His sister Rachel married Timothy Weston

His sister Eleanor married Timothy Kimball and their daughter Sally/Sarah married Jonathan Daggett’s brother Brotherton.

·        Betsey Martin married Jonathan Daggett.  Two of their children were named Richard Martin Daggett and Sarah Daggett.  One of their children Silvia Weston Daggett, possibly named after Richard’s sister’s daughter Silvia Church Weston, married John N. Wing.

All above is indirect claim of proof.  I don’t have any direct claim unless the original baptism certificate still exists in Marblehead and gives a mother’s maiden name.

Although the above doesn’t definitively provide Betsey Martin’s lineage for those of us who are her descendants it provides some hope as to who she might have been.  Unfortunately Betsey Martin’s fate is still an unknown.  There are no known records indicating what might have happened to her.

Once again I would like to thank John Falla for his help and support on this project.  Thank you, John.