Marchant family

Before M.L. Marchant

M.L. Marchant Sr., the first Marchant in the Greer area, came from a long lineage going back to early founding days of the colonies. Eight generations earlier, John Marchant III was born 1600 in Yoeville, Somerset, England. He came to the colonies, possibly via the Barbados, and was admitted as a freeman in Newport, Rhode Island on June 2, 1638. He went to Mt. Wollaston, Braintree, Massachusetts, and is mentioned living there in 1645, and made his way to Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, where he is chosen Constable of Yarmouth on June 7, 1648. The full 8-generation record can be found in the GHM Ancestry.com Marchant family tree; along the way, the family name was just as commonly "Merchant."

So where did John Marchant III come from? His parents were John Marchant II and Joan Surbridge, who were married in Oxted, Surrey, England July 14, 1566. Beyond that, reports are sketchy and unreliable. Many in the family were engaged in the maritime industry, and John is variously referred to as "Captain" and "Lieutenant." How he relates to the Captain John Marchant who sailed with Sir Francis Drake on his West Indian Voyage, 1586, and stopped over at Roanoke on June 26, 1586, is unknown — but many amateur genealogists are happy to claim the connection, regardless, and many believe John Marchant II to be this Captain. We have not yet seen sources for that claim.

M.L. Marchant's father, John Wesley Marchant, was born in North Carolina but moved to Edgefield, SC where M.L. was born.

Martin Luther Marchant Sr., 1832-1897: the patriarch

M.L. Marchant was born August 14, 1832 in Eutawville, S.C. — a small town roughly halfway between Columbia and Charleston.

In 1890, he was the top cotton producer in the county; he picked and ginned 24 bales from 25 acres with about a bale left to be done, raised with one mule; he also raised corn, wheat, oats, and meat. "He is a great believer in homemade manure and uses it almost exclusively." In 1889, he raised 48 bales on 52 acres.

• Dr. Robert Lee Marchant 1866-1933 [Emma Wham]
• Martin Luther, Jr. Marchant 1868-1936 [Sallie Leona Few]
• William Wesley Marchant 1873-1928 [Julie Agnes Wood]
• Nancy “Nannie” Marchant 1875-1919 [Benjamin Few Zimmerman]
• Thomas Mood Marchant 1880-1939 [Jessie P. Speed]
• Mary Bessie Marchant 1882-1898
• Mary Louise Lilyann Marchant 1885-1959 [Arthur Hallam Cottingham, Sr.]
• Kate L. Marchant 1886-
• Clara Marchant 1878-1927 [Malcolm Clifton “Cliff” Davenport]

Dr. Robert Lee Marchant and Emma Wham

• Hortense Marchant Stallworth
• Mary Lucille Marchant Shelb
• John Luther Marchant [Mildred Thompson]
• Fitzhugh Lee Marchant [Gertrude Thompson -Mildred and Gertrude were sisters]

Martin Luther, Jr. and Kathleen Morrah (and Sallie Few)

He married twice: Sallie Leona Few, 1870–1898; and Kathleen Morrah, 1890–1971. It amazes me that this man had two wives, one of which died in 1898 and the other in 1971. Kathleen was 22 years younger than him.

• Martin Luther Marchant, III, 1914-2005 (Josephine Owens)
• John Bradley Marchant, 1918-1979 (Anne)
• Mary Marchant, 1920-1999 (Edward Burdette)
• Francis Morrah Marchant (Sr.), 1921-2016 (Mary Cowan)

Benjamin and Nannie Zimmerman

• Marchant LeGrand Zimmerman
• Rosa Few Zimmerman

Arthur and Mary Cottingham

• Arthur Hallam Cottingham, Jr.
• Marchant Colin Cottingham
• Walter Lee Cottingham
• Mary L. Cottingham

Thomas Mood and Jessie Marchant

• Thomas Mood Marchant, Jr.
• Preston Speed Marchant

Cliff and Clara Davenport

• Constance Davenport 1901-1982 [Oscar Earle Dooly Jr]
• Malcolm Clifton Davenport Jr. 1903-1972 [Maude Givens]
• David D Davenport 1904-1906
• Luther Marchant "Pete" Davenport Sr. 1907-1987 [Dorothye Romaine Lincoln Barnes]
• Thomas West Davenport 1910-1911
• Martha Ann Davenport 1912-2003 [Robert S Edmund (Edward) Josephy]
• Daniel Denby Davenport 1914-1969 [Ruby Ellen Wiggins]

[category:People]