Introduction

Welcome to Southern Roots, this website is dedicated to the research of the family history of my grandchildren. I am researching not only the genealogy lineage, but the historical events surrounding various family members.

The site contains a lot of information in three subject areas: Family History, Genealogy, and Military History/Genealogy. I distinguish between Family History and Genealogy in the following: Family History is the research of historical circumstances surrounding family events, while Genealogy is the research and documentation of family lineage.

In order to make the site as navigatible as possible, you will find many links between pages. There are two indexes, one is the Graphical Index. I have spent a lot of time developing graphics and this is to show them off, so if you like to use the graphical features of your browser, go for it. The other is the Graphics Free Index (at least almost graphics free). This is the place to go if content is your major interest. It is organized by subject matter and is user friendly.

Please have fun and enjoy the site. If you find something of interest, let me know. If you have suggestions, please leave them on the Comments site. If you are a cousin, let me know. Since establishment, I have been able to make contact with about 25 'cousins' and we continue to share our research information with each other.

I started the site in January 1996, with the hopes of establishing a gathering place for Martin's searching for other Martin's. Since that time, through the contacts established by this site and others, I have significantly increased my knowledge of my family's history and lineage. I now am focusing on the lineage of my grandchildren, combining information about my ancestors, along with assisting the spouses of my children in researching their lineage. Hopefully, some information here will assist you in your search. The Internet is a wonderful place for gathering family information. My research has been greatly enhanced and quickened by those visiting this site and making a link to the surnames listed here.

Ours is truly a diverse family. If America is the "melting pot" we are a great example. My father's family is of Scots-Irish ancestry, migrating to America prior to the Revolutionary War. Finally settling in North Carolina. There they married with descendants of Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans from the Palatine Region) and Native Americans (probably Cherokee). My mother's family comes from England and Ireland, emigrating to America (Virginia) prior to the Revolutionary War, and then migrating to Tennessee and eventually Arkansas. My Parish line is also rumored to have some Cherokee blood in it. My great grandmother Rebecca Parish was thought to be one quarter Cherokee. My wife's family is from England, even including some links to English royalty. Emigrating to Virginia prior to the Revolutionary War, then on to Tennessee and finally Arkansas, after the Civil War. My children have married persons of African-American, Hispanic, and Vietnamese ancestry. As you can see our family is truly diverse.

Much of what is written here is nothing more that an oral history put onto paper. I am grateful to my cousin Cleta Stuart-Porterfield for having the foresight and determination to pull together most of this information and published it as the Martin Family Stories. I have noted any additions or deletions to her original work so as not to detract from its quality. Each story has links to the people referenced and to other genealogy related web sites.

The Martin's