Notes for: Jane Marlatt
Her name may be spelled "Marlott" or "Merlatt." I have also seen a birth year of 1767, but no source was given. Info from Stan Ball says that she died in Warren County, Ohio. I'm not sure what the source for that is. Her daughter, Elizabeth, was mentioned in Jane's father's will. He referred to her as Jane's "natural daughter." The meaning of this is not clear, but she doesn't appear to have been a daughter of John and Jane. During the colonial period, a "natural daughter" may have been used of a child born out of wedlock.
Here is some information that Janet Mackey-Bodine sent me that she had received from a Sally Nield on the Marlatts. I will copy some portions of it here:
According to family tradition (later confirmed), Abraham Marlatt purchased what was known thereafter as the "Home Place" of some 300 acres, lying between North Mountain and what was described as the "Big Bend of the Potomac," and bordering on that river. On a visit to this section in 1915, the location of this tract was found, and the site of the home located by the "Spring" - the residence having burned long before. The portion of the estate which had not been sold during Abraham Marlatt's lifetime, was found to be still in the possession of a descendant of his daughter, Jane Bodine - namely, Mrs. Charles Wolfes (nee Fanny Bodine), then - (1915) living in the little town of Hedgesville, but later (1935) in Martinsburg, W. Va., near the underpass of the B. & O. Railway. The will granting the above property to Jane Bodine, and sundry sales of portions of it, are recorded in the Court House at Martinsburg.
Note from Dave: This property was later known as the Bodine Farm (at least in 1927).
The date of the movement to Virginia has not been found. The only indication we have is the statement made in 1872 of Abraham Marlatt, Jr.'s grandson, Abraham (son of Thomas), then in his 80th year. This statement indicates that the movement took place "about 1765," and that the son (Abraham [Jr.]) was then eight years old! This traditional date must be advanced two years to 1767 to agree with the fixed date - 1783 - when his son, the Revolutionary soldier, at the age of 24 was discharged from the Army. As later noted, he must have brought considerable property to Virginia, as indicated by his purchase of the Keywood Tract in 1771, at a cost of 225 pounds.
Note from Dave: Information later on in these same documents said Abraham Marlatt, Jr.'s grandson wrote the above in a letter dated Dec. 18, 1872 and he said that the Marlatts moved from "New Jersey or the Jerseys to Virgina about 1765." The grandson was 83 at the time. The tract they acquired in Virginia as the "Home Place" was a few miles north of the present town of Hedgesville, West Virginia.
A search in Richmond, Va. (1936), for the record of the "Home Place" yielded the following information:
We were advised in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Richmond, that their records had relation only to original grants, either by Lord Fairfax or the Commonwealth, and that they had no records of secondary transfers or sales of portions or all of such original grants. As to such secondary sales, many of them could be traces only through old survey records in the surveyors' books, and that these records were accepted and held in lieu of deeds. This seems to explain the absence of deed of record in relation to the "Home Place" of Abraham Marlatt, Senior, as he was designated in tax records and land sales. We were told to make search for such survey books in the county seats of the series of counties related to Berkeley County. (See Bulletin Virginia State Library, sub-title, Virginia Counties, 1916).
The original tract by Lord Fairfax to Moses Keywood of 300 acres of land was found at Richmond, and a certified copy of it secured.
1771 Purchase by Abraham Marlatt of the Keywood Tract of 300 acres opposite Martinsburg, lying on the east bank of the Opequon Creek. The Indentures (2) pertaining to the this purchase were found May 11, 1935, in the Frederick County Court House, Winchester (certified copies of these deeds were obtained dated August 5 and August 6, 1771). The following description of the property is given:
"Tract of land containing 300 acres orginally granted by Lord Fairfax to Moses Keywood by deed bearing the date the 30th of August, 1766, and by him conveyed to said Marlatt by deed of lease and release bearing the date the 5th and 6th days of August, 1771, situate and lying and being in said county of Berkeley on the drains on the east side of Opequon Creek and bounded..." etc.
*Notes from Dave Bodine in [ ].