"That Equality May Prevail" (1829)

Amongst the diverse family papers left to me by my mother was a small, ordinary white envelope. Inside it was this letter, originally folded tightly and closed with sealing wax, written in 1829 by her great-great-great grandfather, Colonel Joseph Martin (1785-1857). I've had the letter restored (side 1, side 2) and am about to have it professionally framed with archival materials, so now is the time to photograph and blip it.

Col. Martin's father, also named Joseph Martin, was a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia during the American Revolutionary War and a member of the Virginia General Assembly. His namesake son commanded a militia regiment in the War of 1812. A lawyer and plantation owner living in southwest Virginia, he also served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate.

Col. Martin was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, during which time he wrote this letter to Peyton Graveley, a wealthy landowner. Among the delegates were former United States presidents James Madison and James Monroe, and John Tyler, Col. Martin's friend and future president.

Below is the text of the letter, followed by information about Col. Martin's wife, daughter, and granddaughter that I find more interesting than politics!

Richmond 28th Oct. 1829

Dear Sir,
I should have written to you before now, but I have been in bad health since my arrival here until a few days past, and nothing has occurred of importance that you have not seen in the news papers. I apprehend but little difficulty in adjusting [to] the various changes contemplated in our constitution, with the exception of the question of basing representation and I apprehend great fuss, if the people East of the ridge yield too much upon that subject. We shall ever afterwards have to regret, that we gave to those not having a common interest with us, and entirely irresponsible to us the whole power of the government: and of Taxation to an extent that might be fatal in its consequences to us. Power seems to be the sole object of the Northwestern Section.

I desire that representation shall be so based, that equality may prevail, and at the same time the prosperity of those paying the large proportion of the revenue of the State be protected. Please give me your views upon this subject as early as possible.

Accept my best wishes,
Jos. Martin

My respects to your father and family

Col. Martin and his wife, Sally Hughes Martin (1790-1882), had four sons and eight daughters, and were known for their hospitality at their plantation home, "Greenwood." One of their daughters, Susan Jane, married John Dupuy Watkins in 1836 and had her first child, Sallie Matilda, in February 1838.

Sallie Matilda died when she was 14 months old. Her mother was three months pregnant by then with a second child, who was born in October 1839, a daughter given the same name as her mother - Susan Jane.

Sadly, Susan Jane Martin Watkins died just 10 months after her namesake daughter was born. Her parents brought the motherless baby back to their capacious home and raised their granddaughter with her mother's siblings, the youngest of which was 14 at that time.

In the 1860 US Federal Census, Sally Hughes Martin, widowed in 1857, had a personal estate valued at $30,000 and real estate valued at $50,000, so her granddaughter, Susan Jane Watkins, now 19, had enjoyed a life of considerable comfort with her grandparents. I so wish I knew more about these two women, both of whom lived into their early 90s!