Michael Martin has been recognized as a descendent of original Warren County settlers.
Martin recently received his Pioneer Family Certification after it was verified he is the great-great-grandson of Rock Martin and his wife, Jennie.
Rock and Jennie were original settlers of Warren County in the early 1800s, having moved to this area from North Carolina. According to Warren County government, the county was established Nov. 26, 1807 by the Tennessee General Assembly and organized as a county Feb. 1, 1808.
According to published accounts, Rock Martin came to Tennessee from North Carolina around 1797. He established a ferry at the mouth of Rocky River on the Caney Fork River at what is now called Rock Island.
Jennie settled in this area a few years later with her family, also from North Carolina, and married Rock. The couple was said to be extremely hard working and purchased a great deal of property in the northeast section of Warren County. One tract of land was said to be over 1,000 acres. It is said Rock Island was named after Rock Martin for all the property he owned in the area.
One of the crowning achievements of the Martins was the home they built around seven miles from McMinnville called the Rock Martin House. It was built circa 1820 and is enormous in relation to other homes constructed in that era.
The Rock Martin House is still standing and is currently owned by descendent Raleigh Miller. The home only contains four rooms and has a fireplace in each room. It originally had a two-story wooden front porch, which has been removed, but the brick structure remains intact.
Famous people said to have stayed at the Rock Martin House include President Andrew Jackson and Confederate Army Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Rock Martin died in June 1866. Following his death, Jennie’s children tried to persuade her to leave the massive home and live with them, but she remained there with a few servants.
According to legend, Jennie saved over $1,000 in gold for each of her children and buried it somewhere on the Rock Martin House property. However, after burying the gold, she was found unconscious in front of her parlor fireplace and died before regaining consciousness, having never revealed the secret of where she reportedly buried the treasure.
Over the years, there have been numerous efforts to find this gold, if it was in fact buried, but those efforts have been fruitless.