With my Great x 4 Grandmother, Martha Carr, I am hitting some real brick walls. I have little more than second and third hand information about her. Almost everything I can say about Martha should be taken with a grain of salt, as nothing is definitive. Originally, all I had was a copy of a family group sheet prepared by my Great Aunt Fon in the early 1980s. I really haven’t got much more.
Martha was born in 1797 in Muff, Donegal, Ireland. She married John Joseph there around 1810. I don’t really accept that date, as it would mean that Martha was 13 years old when she married John. It’s likely they married closer in time to when their daughter Elizabeth (my Great x3 Grandmother) was born, 1818.
In addition to Elizabeth, Martha may have had at least two other children. However, I’m not satisfied that I can place much weight on the scant evidence supporting that conclusion.
Martha died on May 7, 1865. Someone on FamilySearch relied on a search at IrishGenealogy for “Martha Joseph” for deaths from 1864 to 1865. However, the search result provides no information for that person’s surname at death or whether she was married. A broader search for “Martha Carr” for Donegal provides no results.
The only mention I can find in an otherwise reliable record is a cemetery burial record for Martha’s daughter, Elizabeth, as it names both of Elizabeth’s parents. However, while the record can be taken as being fairly reliable for the details of Elizabeth’s death, the same cannot be said about Elizabeth’s parents. The record was prepared almost 40 years after Martha died, in a different country, by an unidentified person. It is doubtful the record was prepared by anyone who knew Martha.
A Deck of Ancestors 