- Birth: January 25, 1846
- First Marriage: Henry Wilton – December 31, 1860
- Second Marriage: Charles Christenot – May 9, 1866
- Third Marriage: Benjamin Christenot – April 25, 1887
- Death: June 29, 1923
Early Life
Martha (Craig) Wilton Christenot lived a remarkable life which began before the Civil War, and ended after World War I. She was born in Quincy, Illinois, on January 28, 1846, and died in Whitehall, Montana, on June 26, 1923. Her parents were Linn Craig and Elizabeth “BeeDee” Darnal or possibly Donalson who were married in Wayne, Kentucky, in 1824.
First Marriage – Henry Wilton
Martha married Henry Wilton on December 31, 1860, in Macoupin, Illinois, at age 14. She was 17 when she gave birth to their daughter, Alice May Wilton, on April 23, 1863. Henry died at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Coincidentally, Charles Christenot, the man that she would next marry, suffered a heat stroke on this same day at the same battle.
Child of Henry & Martha Wilton
- Alice May Wilton Newbary (1863-1889)
Second Marriage – Charles Christenot
Martha married Charles Frederick Christenot, a veteran of the Battle of Atlanta, on May 9, 1866, in Carlyle, Illinois, when she was 20 years old. Charles was a widower with three children, Henry, Emma, and Mattie Christenot. They may have met when he travelled to Carlyle to reunite with his children who were being care for by relatives during the war. The older two children were raised by their mother Keziah’s brothers in Carlyle, Illinois. Mattie was raised by Charles’s sister, Anna (Christenot) Edwards, in Wisconsin.
This marked the end of their lives in the Midwest, as they began a journey to Montana Territory. Left behind were Charles and Keziah’s three children; Henry Chapman, age 6, Emma Susan, age 5, and Mattie, age 2. There is no record Charles ever again seeing his first three children. A letter from Emma to Charles of May 15, 1879, is the only correspondence found among them.
The Bozeman Trail to Montana
Charles, Martha and her 3-year-old daughter, Alice Wilton, traveled along the Bozeman Trail from June to October of 1866. They departed Nebraska City, Nebraska, in an oxen train under the management of Thomas A. Creigh. This train of 52 wagons and 235 yoke of cattle departed on June 20, 1866, with 81 tons of freight including gold crushing machinery purchased by the Montana Gold and Silver Mining Company intended for the Christenot Mill. Additional family on the train included Frederick Christenot and his second wife Margaret (Charles’s mother, Asenath, passed away on July 11, 1861), and his niece Amelia (Benjamin F. Christenot’s daughter with his first wife, Lucretia Mary O’Cain). Another woman traveling with the Christenot family was Miss Smith. She is likely Azubah R. Smith who married Benjamin on October 16, 1867. He did not travel with the train as he returned to Virginia City on August 4th, 1866, presumably to supervise the construction of the stone mill building at Union City.
After a six-month journey, the ox train arrived in Alder Gulch, Montana on October 12, 1866. They settled by the Christenot Mill in a small settlement which became known as Union City.
Children of Charles and Martha Christenot
- Hattie (Christenot) Kyle (1867-1936)
- Anna (Christenot) Swisher (1869-1950)
- Mary (Christenot) Patrick (1872-1919)
- Charles Christenot (1874-1875)
- Amelia “Mae” (Christenot) Pendarvis Jordan (1876-1959)
- George Christenot (1878-1934)
- Frank Christenot (1880-1956)
- Fred Christenot (1883-1961)
- Clemma (Christenot) Newton Briscoe (1885-1970)
Life in Madison County, Montana
Charles and Martha had nine children and all reached maturity except baby Charles. Hattie (Christenot) Kyle, their first child together, was born in Alder Gulch in 1867, when Martha was twenty-one. Their youngest child, Clemma (Christenot) Newton Briscoe, was born on October 1, 1885, when Martha was 39 years old.
The extended Christenot family lived and worked at Union City. Life there revolved around the operation of the Christenot Mill in 1867 and 1868. The pay was good, if you could collect, as Charles demonstrated with a mechanic’s lien that he filed in 1868 for $673.40 against the Montana Gold and Silver Mining Company. He stated that he had worked as a carpenter for 110 days at $5.00 per day making sleds, tubs for mines, desks and ore frames, and repairing buildings. The Madison County Supreme Court upheld judgment in his favor on December 31, 1868. He ended up receiving $398.30.
The family may have moved from Union City and lived in Virginia City, while Charles still worked at the Mill. But the Mill failed and was ordered sold at a Sheriff’s Sale in 1869. In June of 1869, the Montana Democrat listed eight Sheriff’s Sale notices for the Christenot Mill and Oro Cache properties to satisfy unpaid depts. Charles was listed as a creditor.
They lived in Brown’s Gulch and William’s Gulch, near Virginia City. The July 27, 1870, census shows Charles, age 35, miner, together with Martha (24), Alice (7), Hattie (3), and Anna (9 months). Finances were a problem for them. This may be attributed to the epilepsy suffered by Charles limiting his ability to work, and part to costs associated with their ever-growing family. Much of what is known about them comes from affidavits supporting many claims for military pensions. The claims included widow claims by Martha and her daughter, Alice, for her first husband, Henry, and Charles for his disability.
The Christenot family lived in many locations throughout Madison County. Charles was listed as a carpenter and as a miner in various census documents. He worked at a saw mill and managed to cut off two fingers while operating a shingle machine. According to an advertisement in the Madisonian, he was the Proprietor of the Nevada Hotel in Nevada City. Mary was born in 1872.
On May 4, 1874, Charles was granted a pension as Guardian of Alice Wilton, age eleven. Baby Charles was born in 1874 and died in 1875.
They lived at Puller Springs near the Ruby River, where Charles served as a constable and worked in construction and as a farmer/rancher. Amelia was born in 1875 and George in 1878. During 1875-1878, Charles thought he was in partnership with Curtis D. Newbary, the husband of Martha’s daughter, Alice. They had married on January 18, 1877. Charles brought suit against Curtis in 1878 seeking partnership assets, but he lost his case. The loss of his lawsuit in 1878 may be part of the reason why his daughter, Emma (Christenot) Hough wrote in her 1879 letter about his misfortune in losing everything”.
The family lived at Home Park and other places in the Upper Ruby Valley. Lew L. Callaway states in a 1909 affidavit that:
“I was well-acquainted with Charles F. Christenot during his lifetime. I knew him from 1880 until 1885 very well. I helped him survey ditches. He surveryed with an old-fashioned triangle and I drove the pegs. I also worked with him in the hay field, and, at times, rode the range with him. He was at that time living in the Upper Ruby Valley, in Madison County, Montana, where I resided during portions of the spring, summer and fall. I went to school in Virginia City in the winter time. I have been well-acquainted with Martha Christenot, wife of said Charles F. Christenot, and their children since the year 1880. The eldest girl lived at our house about a year in 1881 and 1882. I think she was then about 13 years old.” Also: “During the year 1881, the family lived on a ranch belonging to my father, which adjoined the ranch I was living on, and during the years 1882, 1883, and 1884 they lived within a mile of the ranch upon which I lived.” The “eldest girl” would have been Hattie.
Frank was born in 1880, Fred in 1883, and Clemma in 1885.
Death of Charles Christenot
The heat stroke suffered by Charles at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, was exacting its toll in the form of epileptic fits. Adriel B. Davis (the Vigilante of Virginia City who tied the knot for the hanging of George Ives) claimed in an affidavit that he had known Charles since 1866 and had seen many of his fits. These, he said, grew worse in length and frequency with age. Charles was sent to the Insane Asylum at Warm Springs, Montana, on March 18, 1886. He died there on May 23, 1886, for falling during his last fit. He was 51 years old.
When he died, Martha was 40 years old and without financial support, other than some Civil War pensions. The children still at home were Mary (14), Amelia (10), George (8), Frank (6), Fred (3), and Clemma (8 months old).
Third Marriage – Benjamin Christenot
After Charles’ death, Martha was left with a large family and little money. Martha married Charles’ brother Benjamin Franklin Christenot, on April 25, 1887. Daughter Mary Christenot, who was 15 and 3 months, married James Harvey Patrick on December 4, 1887.
Martha divorced Benjamin three years later, in 1890, at age 44, for desertion. She was able to get a small Army pension for the five youngest children based on Charles’ Civil War Service.
On August 7, 1890, Martha Christenot petitions the court to have John H. Davis of Virginia City, Montana, appointed as guardian for her minor children: Amelia, George, Frank, Frederick, and Clemma. They were all children of the deceased Charles F. Christenot. The judge gave five days for relatives of these children to appear to show cause why John H. Davis should not be appointed. Those required to appear were Hattie (Christenot) Kyle, Anna (Christenot) Swisher, and Mary (Christenot) Patrick who were the elder sisters of the minor children. Also required to appear was Curtis D. Newbary, the widower of Martha’s first daughter, Alice May (Wilton) Newbary.
Later Life
Martha lived with her children at various locations for the remainder of her life.
Martha Christenot passed suddenly at the home of her daughter, Hattie Christenot Kyle, in Whitehall, Montana on Saturday, June 30, 1923, at age 77.
During her life, Martha experienced the Civil War, western migration by ox train, living in a mining camp, and homesteading. She saw transportation change from draft animals to rail, autos and airplanes. She left behind 52 grandchildren, 46 great grandchildren, and 3 great great grandchildren.
Sources
Callaway, L. L. (1930, October 10). Tales of Alder Gulch. The Madisonian.
Creigh, T. (2000). Thomas Alfred Creigh Diary. In S. B. Doyle, Journeys to the Land of Gold (p. 688). Montana Historical Society Press.
Shrauger, N. (1998b). The Christenot Mill at Union City. Montana Ghost Town Quarterly.
Shrauger, N. (2001). Christenot Family. In L. Wostrel, Dreams Across the Divide (p. 112). Stoneydale Press Publishing Company.
Shrauger, Nick; Christenot Family History Chronology, Book 1; 2016.
Research
More information, photographs, and documents about Martha (Craig) Wilton Christenot are available and will be added over time. This research is based on the sources listed and the primary documents found on the Christenot Family Tree at Ancestry.com. Last updated – March 2022.
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