Southern-Style

Houston County, Alabama, Heritage

James P. and Mary Frances Stewart Folkes

Martin Lake
Panama City News Herald
Sunday, January 18, 2009
P. B 2

Martin Lake
 by Marlene Womack
 

    Martin Lake first was a bayou occupied by J.P. Folkes, a founder of Dothan, Alabama.  Folkes came to the bay from Coffee County, Alabama, to make salt in 1862 and remained here for a number of years.  Folkes lived on the bayou until about 1872.  When his children became of school age, he relocated to Jackson County where they remained here for two years.  Folkes' last move was to Poplar Head, now Dothan, where he went on to own most of the land in the downtown section and became the town's first mayor.

    Folkes Bayou was renamed Martin Bayou (now Martin Lake) for John D. Martin, a plantation owner from Holly Springs, Mississippi, and his mother, Sarah Dickens Martin.  Both Martins obtained homesteads along this bayou in the land rush of the 1880s. 

    The wooden bridge across Martin Bayou was the scene of several accidents because of its shakiness and decay.  A mule pulling a wagon fell through the rotted bridge.  Eventually, the bayou was closed off and the name of the body of water was changed to Martin Lake. 

Descendants of J. P. Folkes

1-J. P. Folkes b. 22 Sep 1837, d. 26 May 1921
 +Mary Frances Stewart b. 12 Feb 1839, d. 1 Aug 1921
|--2-Mary Josephine Folkes b. 9 Dec 1860, Parker, Florida, d. 6 Oct 1930
|   +W. J. Baxley 
|  |--3-Keener Baxley 
|  |   +Lemma Rountree 
|  |  |--4-William Baxley 
|  |  |--4-Wade Baxley 
|  |      +Joan 
|  |     |--5-Hamp Baxley 
|  |     |   +Emily Carmichael , par. Unknown and Donna Gayle Martin
|  |     |--5-Keener Baxley 
|  |--3-Grover Baxley 
|  |--3-Owen Baxley 
|  |--3-Emma Baxley 
|  |--3-Minnie Baxley 
|  |--3-Lillie Baxley 
|--2-Martha Folkes 
|   +T. Jasper "Buddy" Herring 
|  |--3-Essie Herring 
|      +Casey 
|--2-James Walter Folkes 
|   +Theodosia Forrester b. 28 Jan 1868, Smyrna Church Community, d. 24 Sep 
|    1940, bur. Cowarts Cemetery
|--2-William Charles Folkes 
|--2-Angus Milton Folkes b. 16 Apr 1880, d. 17 Apr 1917
|   +Eunice Jolly 
|  |--3-Clara Folkes 
|      +Maurice John Steensland 
|     |--4-John Steensland b. 1950
|     |--4-Ron Steensland b. 1947
|--2-Sam Folkes 
|--2-Walter Folkes 

Copyright 1996  These are my own working genealogy files that I share with you.  The errors are my own.  But, perhaps they will give you a starting point.  All original writing is copyrighted.  Webmaster