The May-Martin Connection

MAY / MARTIN MARRIAGES

The Wedding That Almost Wasn't Possible May/Martin Feud?

       There was a scandal in the story of the marriage of Frederick May and his wife Lovice Wright. They were the parents of Elizabeth Ann May (Aug 1835 - Aug 1898) who married William Thamel Martin.

        Old Bible and other family records show Lovice Wright was born in Aug 1818. These sources showed her first child was born before April 13, 1834.  Lovice was pregnant with her first child in August 1833 making her 15 or under at this time.

        The letter included below implies that Frederick and Lovice were not legally married until after September 19, 1833. The year at the bottom of the page is hard to read. When I was given this copy I was told the year was actually 1833 you can see there was a change made. If the year was 1836 Elizabeth Ann was born out of legal wedlock.

        The letter also implies there was a problem with their wanting to get married. The bottom of the letter seems to imply that if Lovice left the county where they were married in the license would be null and void. I have also included a transcript of the letter I made.

       An old story I heard was that Henry Martin, William Thanel's father, did not want him to marry Elizabeth Ann May.

      I heard some of the Martins speak about a Martin? May feud in the early 1800's Marvin Hardiman, son of Nancy Rose Martin, spoke of a feud between Frederick May and Henry Martin.

Possible reasons for the feud and why Henry was against the marriage.

·        The story of the parents of Elizabeth Ann May was not kept secret. At that time being pregnant out of wedlock was not accepted and any girl born out of wedlock carried the reputation of her mother. The scandal of their relationship did not sit well with the Martin family and Henry did not want it to enter the family. 

·        It was well know that the Martin and May families moonshined together for many tears, even before the Civil War and there were times when  problems over stills caused trouble between the families.

·        I was told by some older May cousins that Frederick May had a bad reputation for being involved in some questionable activities before and after the Civil war.

There is no way of really knowing just what happened at that time. I thought these rumors might interest you.

ANNIE Laura May Married George Daniel Martin

Annie was the daughter of Frederick May  [MAY 103] and his wife Lovice Wright. George was the son of William Thanel Martin and Elizabeth Ann May.

Daniel was the son of Daniel May [MAY 102] and Mary Elizabeth Puckett.