On this date in 1854, my 3rd great-grandfather, Benjamin Burgin Hemphill, obtained a marriage bond in McDowell County, North Carolina to celebrate his marriage to Martha E. Lytle. I have looked high and low for this piece of evidence and finally found it on microfilm a few weeks ago.
The bondsman was G. W. Lytle, probably Martha’s brother, George Watson. The bride’s name was originally penned as Elizabeth M., but this was struck out and Martha E. was written in. This leads me to believe that she went by Elizabeth; however, I’ve always thought of her as Martha.
I have no evidence of Ben and Martha’s actual wedding date, but I assume it was soon after the bond was issued. They were living as husband and wife on the 1860 census in Murray County, Georgia, along with two daughters, enumerated as Mary (age 4) and Elizabeth (age 2 weeks).
