There is a sigificant conflict between two sources of information cocerning the first wife of Dr. Chistian Martin. Maththews and Hungerford have the wife as Miss Schwartz, mother of six. The papers read before the Lehigh County Historical Socitety have the wife as Rosina Barbara Schlertin. he latter is use here; the following is from the former.

A remarkable example of the heredity of inclination and pursuit is afforded by the Martin family, in which there have been five successive generations of physicians, counting from Christian Frederick Martin, who was one of the very earliest practitioners in Lehigh County.

Christian Frederick Martin, the progenitor of the family in America, was born in Prussia, Dec. 22, 1727, and was the son of a Lutheran clergyman, who was a man of eminence outside of the ministry, and at one time a member of the higher courts or cabinet. He received collegiate and medical education in Berlin, and very soon after graduating from the University of Medicine, he came to America with the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and others, and settled at the Trappe, in Montgomery County, previously, however, traveling over Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. He married at the Trappe a Miss Schwartz, the daughter of a clergyman, and entered upon the practice of his profession. His wife died after she had become the mother of six children, — Frederick, John, Samuel, Elizabeth, Ellen, and Mary. The eldest son removed to Otsego County, N. Y., and died there, and other two sons passed the whole of their lives in Montgomery County. Elizabeth married a Mr. Egner, and Ellen a Mr. Hartzell, while Mary became the wife of a Mr. Dickenshied, and was the mother of Dr. Charles F. Dickenshied. Dr. Martin married as his second wife Mary Miller, the daughter of a tavern- keeper at the Trappe. Soon after this marriage Mr. Miller, learning of a tract of land in Macungie township which was to he offered at public sale, advised his daughter to purchase it. She rode on horseback to the farm (near Emaus) on the day appointed, and made the purchase. To this place Dr. Martin and his wife moved about 1702, and there all of their children were born. These were Andrew, Jacob, George, Charles H., Peter, and Anna (who married Peter Bright). Four of the sons became physicians, and we shall presently have more to say of them. Dr. Christian F. Martin practiced medicine in Macungie and the surrounding country until near the close of his life, his "ride" covering Lehigh County, and extending far into Montgomery, Bucks, Northampton, and what is now Carbon County, he educated his sons in medicine by lectures on anatomy, illustrated by Eustache's plates, and others on surgery, obstetrics, practice, materia medica, and botany. He was a finished scholar, owned a large library, and was fond of teaching and demonstrating. He died on the 13th of June, 1812, aged eighty-four years, and was buried in the graveyard of the Little Lehigh Church, beyond Millerstown (now Macungie). The inscription upon the tablet at his tomb reads thus, —
"Hier 'Ruht' in Gott
Doc Christian Frederic Martin
er wurde geboorn dem
22ten Decbt 1727
und ist im Herrn entaclofen
dem 13ten Junius 1812
er bracht sein alter zu
84 yahr 5 M. 22 Taga."

Mrs. Martin long survived her husband. She removed to Allentown, and lived with her sons until her death, in 1835, at the age of ninety-three years.




Dr. Christian Frederick Martin, the founder of the family in America was the son of a Lutheran clergyman. He acquired a classical and medical education in Berlin, and soon after his graduation at the University of Medicine he came to America in company with the Rev. Henry J. Melchoir Muhlenberg and others, and settled at Trappe, in Montgomery county. He married a Miss Schwatz, the daughter of a clergyman, and entered upon the practice of his profession.
Moved to Macungie after 2nd marriage.

He served as surgeon in the Revolution in 1781 and 1782 in the
First Battalion of Northampton County Militia, commanded by
Lieut. Col. Stephen Balliet.

Name given as Charles Frederick Martin

DOB given as 12/22/1737