Click here for the John Martin Family home page. 3rd Generation - Sarah Martin 

Sarah Melissa (Martin) Worrall, the second child of Ambrose and Phebe (Stewart) Martin, was born 1 February 1834 in Athens Co., Ohio.  When Sarah was 2˝ years old, her family moved to the area of Camargo, Illinois, which was then Coles County but is now in Douglas County.  There Sarah grew to adulthood.  On 8 February 1854, she married James P. Worrall in Coles County.  He had been born 24 Feb 1830 in Clark County, Indiana, the son of Thomas and Hannah Elizabeth (Canfield) Worrall.  Various censuses list James’s occupation is as a wagon maker (1860), a farmer (1870, 1875, 1880, 1885), and a gardener (1900).

On 15 August 1862, with the Civil War raging, James enlisted in the Illinois 79th Infantry, Company E.  On 10 January 1865, James was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, a military reserve organization created to allow infirm or partially disabled soldiers to perform light duty.  Available records do not specify why that transfer was made.

The 1860 census shows James and Sarah along with their two oldest children in Township 15 N Range 9 E, Douglas County, Illinois.  This is the township that includes Camargo.  About 1868–69, the Worralls reportedly moved to Jackson County, Kansas, although I have not found documentation to confirm this.  Subsequently, though, they are shown in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas by the 1870 census; in Toledo Township of Chase County, Kansas by both the Kansas state census of 1875 and the 1880 U.S. census; in Agnes City, Lyon County, Kansas, by the state census of 1885; and then in Council Grove, Morris County, Kansas by the 1900 Federal census.  That seems like a lot of moving about, but these last three locations are all about 50 miles southwest of Topeka and within 20 miles of each other.

Sarah passed away in Council Grove 28 April 1901, and James followed on 24 May 1909.  Both are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Council Grove.

James and Sarah had three children:

  • Annie Phebe Worrall, 1855–1916 (married Dyson Samuel Jackson).
  • Ambrose William Worrall, 1859–1936 (married (1) Mattie D. Rhoades and (2) Nancy Ann Jackson).
  • Mary Jane Worrall, 1873–1937 (married Henry George Wiechman)

If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about James and Sarah Worrall or their descendants, please contact me at the address shown in the image below:

P L Martin C O at G mail dot com

Thanks,      
     —Pete Martin

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