Martha Jane Marley was the oldest of fourteen children of Elisha and Mary Josephine Marley. She was raised in Jack County, Texas near Jacksboro on the family farm located on Marley Road during the reconstruction years after the Civil War. At age 19 on November 15, 1896, she married Stephen Bennett Carroll from Dyer County, Tennessee. By 1902 the couple had four children, and in June 1903 Janie, as she was called, became a widow with the death of her husband from cancer.

The years that followed, found Janie and her four children moved to Borden County, Texas with her parents and siblings. In 1916 her Pioneer Spirit urged her farther into West Texas seeking a homestead in Ward County. It was there her daughters met and married Pittman Brothers Chappo and Cobb and the Pittman/Carroll Families became early settlers in Grandfalls and Ward County, where the Sixth Generation of Pittmans reside today.

In the 1930's Janie returned to farming in Crosby County with her sons Othello and Merrett. Daughter Ella left Ward County for El Paso and Stella took up her mothers Pioneer Spirit as an early settler in Anchorage, Alaska. During the 1940's and 1950's Martha Jane Carroll lived in Seminole, Gaines County, Texas, on a farm with William E. Sandlin. (no record of their marriage has been found, but she went by his name at the time of her death).

In writing her BIO, stating the facts are obvious, however, there was so much more to this Texas Pioneer Woman than can be told through dates and history. The pride in her family and the love of her brothers and sisters has come to light through her Photo Album from the late 1890's through the early 1900's.

Through the photos, family stories and research, it has been this writers honor to know, love and respect Martha Jane Marley Carroll, my Great Grandmother. Rest In Heavenly Peace Janie, and know that Your Name and Memory will always be regarded with enduring esteem, praise and renown.

In Honor and Memory...The Acts of this Life are the Destiny of the Next Generations.

If not for you, I wouldn't be me!
Great Granddaughter,
Sandra Sue Pittman

Photos from Martha Jane Marley Carroll's Photo Album. More photos can viewed on Tracks of My Texas Ancestors website...Link: Tracks of My Texas Ancestors