3xx1 (Letter from Lyman C. Draper to John C. Martin, son of Brigadier General Joseph Martin)

Forest Home,

near Pontotoc, Miss.

March 20^th 1842

John C. Martin, Esqr.

Dear Sir

Learning from my kind neighbor, Mr. Arthur Warren, late of your county, that you are a son of the late Gen. Joseph Martin, one of the Pioneers of the West, I am induced to write you on the subject. I am collecting materials of a biographical character with the design of publishing a work intended as "Sketches of the Pioneers", and let me assure you, I should feel highly gratified to include Gen. Martin among the number. And I now write you for the purpose of soliciting such facts respecting his life & services as you may be able to communicate. Tell me, if you please, when & where he was born, his ancestry, early education & employment, when he settled on the Long Island of the Holston, & under what circumstances, his civil & military services, leading traits of his character, & when & where he died. Add whatever else may occur to you. May I not hope to hear fro you at your earliest convenience?

I am very truly yours,

Lyman C. Draper