IN SEARCH OF MRS. MARTHA ROBERTSON ARNOLD

Birth and Family

Estimate of Birth Date - About 1801 to 1807:
LDS Family Search Ancestral File™ (q.v.)
Martha Eliza GOODLOE (AFN:HCCW-L7)
Born: 1801 Place: NC
Died: 1881 Place:

Maury County Tenn. Wills & Minutes, Vol. 1, Book B, 1810-1825:
1-Dec-1816
Last will & test. of John M. Goodloe, pp. 29-31
Goodloe emancipated his "woman of color, Rachel", but distributed his other slaves. His property (land, household, and slaves) was divided approximately equally between his wife, Mary Hunt Goodloe, and his daughter, Martha Eliza Goodloe.

Martha (unnamed) is also present in the 1830 Census for Madison County, Tennessee (p. 84):
Males:
1 (0-5); b. abt 1820-1825
1 (15-20); b. abt 1810-1825 (a nephew or visitor?)
1 (30-40); b. abt 1790-1800 (= William ARNOLD, b. abt 1795)
Females:
1 (5-10); b. abt 1820-1825 (= Mary Elizabeth Robertson; q.v.)
1 (20-330); b. abt 1800-1810 (= second wife, Mrs. Martha Eliza Robertson; q.v.).

The Arnold family is recorded in Stephen F. Austin's "Register of Families" (page 30):
William Arnold, 38 years of age (b. abt 1795)
Martha Eliza, his wife, 26 years of age (b. abt 1807)
2 female children
From the state of Tennessee and just arrived
Took the oath and entered in Coast Colony
(Note: this entry appears to be made in early 1833, before the death of William Arnold)

One of the (unidentified) female children may be the child enumerated in the 1830 Census for Madison County, Tenn. (b. 1820-1825), who would have been about 8 to 13 years of age in 1833. The other female child (not listed in the 1830 Census) may have been aged 3 years or less, and would thus be the daughter of William and Martha Eliza. Nothing more is known about the youngest children, and perhaps she died in the cholera epidemic that killed William Arnold. (See entries below: the eldest child, Mary Elizabeth Robertson, was born 23-Aug-1824. By 1843 she married Dr. John Martin Taylor, and she died about 25-Feb-1868). Their mother, Martha, survived the epidemic, but appears to have left Texas, perhaps later remarrying ("Martha Arnold" is absent from the Republic in an 1837 Court hearing (q.v.) and she is not found in the 1840 Texas Census, nor is "Martha Arnold" found in the 1840 Census for Tennessee). (But see later entry from the LDS: Martha had remarried again by this time, and would have been listed in the cited time interval as "Martha RIVES").

 

Martha's First Marriage

Sistler, Early Tennessee Marriages:
Robertson, F., to Martha E. Goodlove (sic), 9-30-1823

Compare to data recorded by:
S. F. Kelley (1973), Children of Nashville — Lineages of James Robertson, Blue & Gray Press
Re: Martha Goodloe, p. 170:
"Benjamin Franklin Robertson married Martha Goodloe of Maury County, Tennessee, and moved to Union County, Kentucky. A daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1824 to the couple. Shortly thereafter Frank died, leaving a widow and fatherless child. The mother remarried sometime later. Mary Eliza was educated at St. Vincent's Convent in western Kentucky. By 1843 she married Dr. John Martin Taylor, a graduate of Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Taylor was the son of Samuel Mitchell Taylor, who was kin to the distinguished family of Taylors which produced two presidents of the United States. In later years, the family of Dr. John M. Taylor lived at "Mauvilla," a plantation in Oldham County, Kentucky, near Westport. A second home was located on Bayou Bartholomew in Arkansas. It was called the 'Hollywood' plantation."

An archived web page on Rootsweb gives additional information:
http//archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ ROBERTSON/1999-01/0916447581
ROBERTSON-L: Robertson Report Vol. 15 Gen. James Robertson Part 4, No 16:
Benjamin Franklin Robertson, s/o Jonathan Friar Robertson and Ciddy Davis mar Martha Goodloe, d/o John M. Goodloe and Elizabeth Jelks of Maury Co, Tn
100 Mary Elizabeth Robertson b 23 Aug 1824; d 25 Feb 1868

Benjamin Franklin Robertson was born ca 1798 to Jonathan and Ciddy (Kitty) Davis Robertson, who had married about 1791 (Kelley, 1973, pp. 38, 54). Jonathan (b. 13-Jun-1769) was the son of James Robertson, co-founder of the city of Nashboro (later, Nashville, which would become the administrative center for Davidson County, and Capital for the State of Tennessee), and Charlotte Reeves. The Craigheads were kinsmen, and married into the Robertson family (Ibid., pp. 99-100). (Note: David Craighead was bondsman for the marriage of Martha E. Robertson to William Arnold in Nashville, Tennessee in 1826). If this attribution is correct, then William Arnold would have had another link to famous Tennessee pioneers, by helping to raise the granddaughter of General James Robertson (1742-1814).

LDS FamilySearch™ Ancestral File entries support this attribution. They list Martha Eliza Goodloe (1801-1881), AFN: HCCW-L7, as being the daughter of John Minor GOODLOE (1771-1816) and Elizabeth JELKS (b. abt. 1778), who settled in Maury County, Tennessee. These ancestral files attribute the following marriages for Martha:
1. Benjamin F. ROBERTSON (AFN: HCCW-PQ), marriage 1823.
2. William ARNOLD (AFN: HCCW-R3), marriage 5-Nov-1826.
3. Peter G. RIVES (AFN: HCCW-TF), marriage 14-Feb-1836. (Peter Rives would die in Crittenden County, Arkansas, in 1852).
4. James B. HARRIS (AFN: HCCW-TF), marriage 29-Sep-1852

 

Remarriage in 1826

In 1826, the widowed William remarried, to Mrs. Martha Eliza Robertson, in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee.

Mrs. Eliza Robertson married General William Arnold, of Jackson, in Nashville, Nov. 5, 1826" [this from the Jackson Gazette, 16-Nov-1826, as abstracted by J. K. T. Smith (1996), A Genealogy Miscellany III. Madison County, Tennessee, p. 18]. This reference suggests that Eliza was a young widow, being about 20 years of age at the time of the marriage to General Arnold (as estimated from the survey recorded by Stephen F. Austin, q.v.).

Davidson County Marriage Record Book 1:
Arnold, William to Martha E. Robertson, sol. Nov-5-1826 by Robt. Paine, M.G.

 

Reference to Check:

http://www.seark.net/~rdea/bayou/NamesIndex.html

"Bartholow's Song: A Bayoo History," by Rebecca DeArmond-Huskey (>600 pages), © 2001
These are (apparently) page numbers in the book (need p. 51 & 509):

ARNOLD, Martha 51 Martha Eliza 509 Martha Goodloe Robertson 51 William 509

Author: rdea@seark.net
Rebecca DeArmond-Huskey
1054 Ozment Bluff
Wilmar, AR 71675

Subj: Re: Martha Goodloe Robertson Arnold
Date: 10/18/2003 4:52:26 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: rdea@seark.net
To: WDBostick@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

No, she's not related to me. This family [Martha & Peter Rives] were very early settlers in Drew county; Peter was here by 1818; her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Robertson m Dr. John Martin Taylor; they moved to Drew County in 1844 and established a very large plantation on the bayou. The book has a great amount of info , family history and other, on this prominent family, photo of the house, etc. The house, built in 1844, still stands. The Drew County Museum has a large collection of their fine china, furniture, etc.
        The book has Mary Elizabeths bd, parents, their m date, her m date to Robertson, his bd, parents, their m date, their parents. General James Robertson was known as the "father of Nashville."
        Also Martha Eliza Goodloe's bd, her parents, their m date, their parents with dates and marriages, her m to Gen. William Arnold [5 Nov 1826]; he d 1 Jun 1833; m 3rd Peter Rives 17 Mar 1836; by 1836 she and Peter were living in Crittenden County ; he d in 1852; Martha d there 4 Jan 1881.
        Martha Eliza was called "a wealthy" widow " by a family member.
Hope some help,
Rebecca

I had written:
In "surfing," I came across this entry by you under "Bartholomew's Song _ Name Index"
ARNOLD, Martha 51 Martha Eliza 509 Martha Goodloe Robertson 51 William 509
        Can you help me interpret this reference? Is Martha related to you?
        General William Arnold was a distant relation of mine; he married Mrs. Martha Eliza Goodloe Robertson in 1826:
        "Mrs. Eliza Robertson married General William Arnold, of Jackson, in Nashville, Nov. 5, 1826" [this from the Jackson Gazette, 16-Nov-1826, as abstracted by J. K. T. Smith (1996), "A Genealogy Miscellany III. Madison County, TN," p. 18].
        I would be very interested if you have additional info on Martha, and I would be glad to share info on Gen. Arnold, her 2nd husband.
        (The LDS suggests that she was remarried several additional times thereafter:
LDS FamilySearch™ Ancestral File entries support this attribution. They list Martha Eliza Goodloe (1801-1881), AFN:HCCW-L7, as being the daughter of John Minor GOODLOE (1771-1816) and Elizabeth JELKS (b. abt. 1778), who settled in Maury County, Tennessee. These ancestral files attribute the following marriages for Martha:
1. Benjamin F. ROBERTSON (AFN: HCCW-PQ), marriage 1823.
2. William ARNOLD (AFN: HCCW-R3), marriage 5-Nov-1826.
3. Peter G. RIVES (AFN: HCCW-TF), marriage 14-Feb-1836.
4. James B. HARRIS (AFN: HCCW-TF), marriage 29-Sep-1852
        Can you confirm any of the latter marriages?

Thanks!
Bill Bostick
Oak Ridge, TN 37830

R. DeArmond (1980), "Old Times Not Forgotten, A History of Drew County" (Arkansas), Rose Publ., Little Rock, AK, p. 21:
"Peter Gilam Rives, who came from Virginia in 1818-19 to survey land in Arkansas County (later to become Drew and Crittenden), bought a parcel of land in 1820 that was known as "the Rives tract." Rives lived in a one-room log cabin [possibly the one illustrated on p. 8 of Ms DeArmond's book] on the west bank of Bayou Bartholomew near the old Indian Trace crossing. In 1836 he married Martha Eliza Googloe Arnold in Nashville, Tennessee, and soon after came to live in Crittenden County. Her daughter by a previous marriage, Mary Elizabeth Robertson, married Dr. John Martin Taylor of Winchester, Kentucky. In 1844, Dr. Taylor bought the Rives plantation from his father-in-law and built a large log house, which he named "Hollywood Plantation," after the holly trees which grew there. He also owned a plantation and a magnificent house, "Mauville," near West Port, Kentucky. His wife died in 1868, and Dr. Taylor established a home in Monticello for his young children. He continued to commute to Hollywood Plantation and upon his death in 1884 was buried there. His sons Henry, Ben, and Rives continued to manage the plantation under the name of The Valley Planting Company, moving the headquarters to Winchester in 1901."

 

Go to (General) William Arnold