Martha A. (Atkinson) (Heaton) Dennis was the daughter of John Atkinson (1760-1830 and Elizabeth Lipponcott Murry (1760-1830) of New Jersey.
On September 8, 1819 in Sussex, New Jersey, she married Joseph Heaton (1792-1832), son of Benjamin Heaton (1726-1789) and Rebecca Doan (1723-1792).
They had 3 known children:
Euphemia (Heaton) Dennis 1821-1860
Caleb Stacy Heaton 1824-1863
Martha Ann Heaton 1833-1911
On October 12, 1832, Joseph Heaton died at the relatively young age of 40 in Warren County, New Jersey.
In about 1840, rumor has it that Martha became pregnant with a child by widower John Dennis (1787-1873), and then they married. Five years later, Martha's daughter, Euphemia, married her step-brother, Lewis Dennis, son of John Dennis. John Dennis decided to move west to seek better fortunes. He organized a wagon train in about 1850 which included his new wife Martha and her children Caleb and Martha Ann Heaton, his 17-year-old son Amos Dennis, his son Lewis Dennis and his wife Euphemia and their children, and perhaps other sons of John Dennis, the neighbors Phillip and Sarah Knoff and their children, and it is unknown how many others.
Martha's children had received an inheritance from their paternal aunt, Rebecca (Heaton) Lundy, which helped them make this journey. Her son Caleb was 21 and he accepted an offer to ride as "shotgun" carrier for the Phillip and Sarah Knoff family. It is unknown if they had a specific destination in mind, but it has been reported that Lewis Dennis had a land claim in Oregon. However, they never made it that far. They stopped in Stark County, Illinois where most of them are known to have settled. It is believed that some of the Dennis brothers did go on to Oregon. Legend has it that one of the brothers assumed Lewis Dennis' identity and claimed the Oregon land, making it look like the Lewis Dennis in Illinois had married again in Oregon and died there.
Martha died in 1857 in this new Illinois location and is buried in the West Jersey Methodist Church Cemetery in Stark County, Illinois, where three years later her daughter, Euphemia, would be laid to rest beside her, a victim of lung fever.
In 1862, Caleb married the oldest daughter of the Knoffs, but was trampled to death by a horse the next year. Family tradition says that Mary was so distraught over his death that a year later she too "pined to death" leaving their only child, Emmor Phillip Heaton, to be raised by his grandparents, Phillip and Sarah Knoff.
Note: Most of this story comes from Margery (Heaton) Clarke, Lady Lake, Florida.
On September 8, 1819 in Sussex, New Jersey, she married Joseph Heaton (1792-1832), son of Benjamin Heaton (1726-1789) and Rebecca Doan (1723-1792).
They had 3 known children:
Euphemia (Heaton) Dennis 1821-1860
Caleb Stacy Heaton 1824-1863
Martha Ann Heaton 1833-1911
On October 12, 1832, Joseph Heaton died at the relatively young age of 40 in Warren County, New Jersey.
In about 1840, rumor has it that Martha became pregnant with a child by widower John Dennis (1787-1873), and then they married. Five years later, Martha's daughter, Euphemia, married her step-brother, Lewis Dennis, son of John Dennis. John Dennis decided to move west to seek better fortunes. He organized a wagon train in about 1850 which included his new wife Martha and her children Caleb and Martha Ann Heaton, his 17-year-old son Amos Dennis, his son Lewis Dennis and his wife Euphemia and their children, and perhaps other sons of John Dennis, the neighbors Phillip and Sarah Knoff and their children, and it is unknown how many others.
Martha's children had received an inheritance from their paternal aunt, Rebecca (Heaton) Lundy, which helped them make this journey. Her son Caleb was 21 and he accepted an offer to ride as "shotgun" carrier for the Phillip and Sarah Knoff family. It is unknown if they had a specific destination in mind, but it has been reported that Lewis Dennis had a land claim in Oregon. However, they never made it that far. They stopped in Stark County, Illinois where most of them are known to have settled. It is believed that some of the Dennis brothers did go on to Oregon. Legend has it that one of the brothers assumed Lewis Dennis' identity and claimed the Oregon land, making it look like the Lewis Dennis in Illinois had married again in Oregon and died there.
Martha died in 1857 in this new Illinois location and is buried in the West Jersey Methodist Church Cemetery in Stark County, Illinois, where three years later her daughter, Euphemia, would be laid to rest beside her, a victim of lung fever.
In 1862, Caleb married the oldest daughter of the Knoffs, but was trampled to death by a horse the next year. Family tradition says that Mary was so distraught over his death that a year later she too "pined to death" leaving their only child, Emmor Phillip Heaton, to be raised by his grandparents, Phillip and Sarah Knoff.
Note: Most of this story comes from Margery (Heaton) Clarke, Lady Lake, Florida.
Martha A. (Atkinson) (Heaton) Dennis was the daughter of John Atkinson (1760-1830 and Elizabeth Lipponcott Murry (1760-1830) of New Jersey.
On September 8, 1819 in Sussex, New Jersey, she married Joseph Heaton (1792-1832), son of Benjamin Heaton (1726-1789) and Rebecca Doan (1723-1792).
They had 3 known children:
Euphemia (Heaton) Dennis 1821-1860
Caleb Stacy Heaton 1824-1863
Martha Ann Heaton 1833-1911
On October 12, 1832, Joseph Heaton died at the relatively young age of 40 in Warren County, New Jersey.
In about 1840, rumor has it that Martha became pregnant with a child by widower John Dennis (1787-1873), and then they married. Five years later, Martha's daughter, Euphemia, married her step-brother, Lewis Dennis, son of John Dennis. John Dennis decided to move west to seek better fortunes. He organized a wagon train in about 1850 which included his new wife Martha and her children Caleb and Martha Ann Heaton, his 17-year-old son Amos Dennis, his son Lewis Dennis and his wife Euphemia and their children, and perhaps other sons of John Dennis, the neighbors Phillip and Sarah Knoff and their children, and it is unknown how many others.
Martha's children had received an inheritance from their paternal aunt, Rebecca (Heaton) Lundy, which helped them make this journey. Her son Caleb was 21 and he accepted an offer to ride as "shotgun" carrier for the Phillip and Sarah Knoff family. It is unknown if they had a specific destination in mind, but it has been reported that Lewis Dennis had a land claim in Oregon. However, they never made it that far. They stopped in Stark County, Illinois where most of them are known to have settled. It is believed that some of the Dennis brothers did go on to Oregon. Legend has it that one of the brothers assumed Lewis Dennis' identity and claimed the Oregon land, making it look like the Lewis Dennis in Illinois had married again in Oregon and died there.
Martha died in 1857 in this new Illinois location and is buried in the West Jersey Methodist Church Cemetery in Stark County, Illinois, where three years later her daughter, Euphemia, would be laid to rest beside her, a victim of lung fever.
In 1862, Caleb married the oldest daughter of the Knoffs, but was trampled to death by a horse the next year. Family tradition says that Mary was so distraught over his death that a year later she too "pined to death" leaving their only child, Emmor Phillip Heaton, to be raised by his grandparents, Phillip and Sarah Knoff.
Note: Most of this story comes from Margery (Heaton) Clarke, Lady Lake, Florida.
On September 8, 1819 in Sussex, New Jersey, she married Joseph Heaton (1792-1832), son of Benjamin Heaton (1726-1789) and Rebecca Doan (1723-1792).
They had 3 known children:
Euphemia (Heaton) Dennis 1821-1860
Caleb Stacy Heaton 1824-1863
Martha Ann Heaton 1833-1911
On October 12, 1832, Joseph Heaton died at the relatively young age of 40 in Warren County, New Jersey.
In about 1840, rumor has it that Martha became pregnant with a child by widower John Dennis (1787-1873), and then they married. Five years later, Martha's daughter, Euphemia, married her step-brother, Lewis Dennis, son of John Dennis. John Dennis decided to move west to seek better fortunes. He organized a wagon train in about 1850 which included his new wife Martha and her children Caleb and Martha Ann Heaton, his 17-year-old son Amos Dennis, his son Lewis Dennis and his wife Euphemia and their children, and perhaps other sons of John Dennis, the neighbors Phillip and Sarah Knoff and their children, and it is unknown how many others.
Martha's children had received an inheritance from their paternal aunt, Rebecca (Heaton) Lundy, which helped them make this journey. Her son Caleb was 21 and he accepted an offer to ride as "shotgun" carrier for the Phillip and Sarah Knoff family. It is unknown if they had a specific destination in mind, but it has been reported that Lewis Dennis had a land claim in Oregon. However, they never made it that far. They stopped in Stark County, Illinois where most of them are known to have settled. It is believed that some of the Dennis brothers did go on to Oregon. Legend has it that one of the brothers assumed Lewis Dennis' identity and claimed the Oregon land, making it look like the Lewis Dennis in Illinois had married again in Oregon and died there.
Martha died in 1857 in this new Illinois location and is buried in the West Jersey Methodist Church Cemetery in Stark County, Illinois, where three years later her daughter, Euphemia, would be laid to rest beside her, a victim of lung fever.
In 1862, Caleb married the oldest daughter of the Knoffs, but was trampled to death by a horse the next year. Family tradition says that Mary was so distraught over his death that a year later she too "pined to death" leaving their only child, Emmor Phillip Heaton, to be raised by his grandparents, Phillip and Sarah Knoff.
Note: Most of this story comes from Margery (Heaton) Clarke, Lady Lake, Florida.
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