David T. Martin (1854-1919)

MARTIN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/7/2023 at 12:31:18

David T. Martin
(September 5, 1854 – May 22, 1919)

From no professional man do we expect or exact so many of the cardinal virtues as from the physician. If the clergyman is austere we imagine that his mind is absorbed with the contemplation of things beyond our ken; if our lawyer is brusque and crabbed, it is the mark of genius; but in the physician we expect not only a superior mentality and comprehensive knowledge but sympathy as wide as the universe. Dr. Martin in large measure meets all of these requirements and is regarded by many as an ideal physician. Certainly if patronage is any criterion of ability he ranks high among the leading physicians and surgeons in Pomeroy, where he is now enjoying a large and lucrative practice. The Doctor is a native of McLeansboro, Illinois, born September 5, 1854. His father, M. M. Martin, was a Baptist minister, who was born in Virginia in 1833. He married Miss Dora Sarp, who was a native of Germany and died in 1861. For many years Rev. Martin devoted his life to the work of the ministry. He obtained his theological education in Tennessee and Virginia and is a man of scholarly attainments. He is now retired from his profession and lived at Marshall, Texas, for a time, having charge of the Doctor's ranch at that place, but now the land is leased and Rev. Martin makes his home in the Indian Territory. In his political views he is a Republican. Unto him and his wife were born four children. Dr. D. T. Martin being the eldest. Edgar S. Martin is a railroad conductor and is married and resides in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Grace is the wife of William Green, of Ardmore, Indian Territory. Charles R., the youngest of the family, is a railroad conductor, living in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Martin obtained collegiate educational privileges which he improved, thus laying a broad foundation on which to build the superstructure of professional knowledge, he is a graduate of the high school at Ashley, Illinois, and also pursued a normal course in the Southern Illinois University, at Carbondale, Illinois, where he remained as a student for two years. Subsequently he engaged in teaching and was a most capable instructor, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He taught school for four terms in Illinois before his marriage, and for two terms in Tolono, Champaign County, after his marriage. His college education was obtained entirely through his own efforts. It was his labor that enabled him to prepare for the profession, and without financial assistance he gained his knowledge of the science of medicine whereby he has advanced to a prominent position in the ranks of the medical fraternities. His preceptors were Dr. Pace, of Ashley, and Dr. Darrah, of Bloomington, Illinois. He also pursued post-graduate work in New York in 1888, and has done post-graduate work in the Rush Medical College of Chicago during the past six or seven years. He was graduated from that institution in February, 1882, but he did not consider his studies finished and throughout all the intervening years he has carried on his research and investigation, utilizing every means that would advance his knowledge and make his service more effective in the alleviation of human suffering. The Doctor began practice in Manson, in April, 1882, following his graduation from the Rush Medical College, and there remained for nine years. On the expiration of that period he came to Pomeroy, where he opened an office and also established a well-equipped drug store, known as the City Drug Store. There was only one physician here when he become identified with the medical fraternity in Pomeroy. His practice extends over a wide area and he is the family physician in many of the best households, not only in the town but in the surrounding country. His skill and ability are of a high order and he keeps in touch with the progress that is being made in the profession, through his membership in the Fort Dodge District Medical Society, the Sioux Valley District Society and the State Medical Society. He is medical examiner for twenty-three old-line insurance companies and is also pension examiner, belonging to the Manson board, in which he holds the office of treasurer.
The Doctor was married at Bowling Green, Kentucky, on the 21st of March, 1878, to Miss Susie M. Larmon, the daughter of Judge Isaac and Mary E. (Crosthwait) Larmon. She was born in Russellville, Kentucky. August 7, 1857. Her father was a native of Tennessee and her mother of the Blue Grass state. Mrs. Martin is the eldest in their family of eight children, the others being: Vivian, who is residing in Texas; Margaret, the wife of Dr. Burdett, of Omaha, Nebraska; Isaac; Edwin B.. who is the editor of the Pomeroy Herald; Joseph, a druggist of Donnellson, Iowa; Grace, who is a popular and capable teacher in Pipestone, Minnesota; and Orin, a merchant in Omaha, Nebraska. The Doctor and Mrs. Martin have but one child, Loran Marshall Martin. He was born in Tolono, Illinois, and was graduated in the high school of Pomeroy, Iowa, in the class of 1894. He is also a graduate of Cornell College, of this state, having completed the course in 1898, and at the present time he is a student in the Rush Medical College, pursuing a scientific and medical course. He has been most successful in his educational work, never missing a grade in either the high school or in his medical studies. He was married August 29, 1901, to Miss Jessie Shreves, who is a native of this state and a representative of one of its most prominent families. He is a young man of whom his parents have every reason to be proud, and his life will undoubtedly add a lustre to the untarnished family record. In the storm which swept over Pomeroy in 1893 the Doctor's home was so badly damaged that he had to rebuild it. The Martin household is noted for its hospitality. The Doctor is a very prominent Mason, connected with various branches of the fraternity. For several years he has been the treasurer of Solar Lodge, No. 475. F. & A. M., of Pomeroy; belongs to Manson Chapter, R. A. M., and the Commandery at Fort Dodge, and is identified with the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen Camp and to the Elks Society of Fort Dodge. For eleven years he has served as a member of the school board, acting as president throughout that period. The cause of education found in him a warm friend and he has done everything in his power to advance the cause of the schools. He was largely instrumental in building up the present high school, advancing to this step from the ungraded country schools, and now Pomeroy has one of the best high schools in the state. He presented to the school library a fine volume of encyclopedias. The Doctor is public spirited and progressive, withholding his co-operation from no movement or measure calculated to prove of general good. Politically he is a staunch Republican, and upholds the standard of his party without wavering. He belongs to the Methodist church and his wife is a member of the Baptist church but attends the services of the former denomination. In his profession he stands among the foremost in the county. He has a splendid library filled with volumes of the latest medical works, and his surgical cases are filled with the best instruments calculated to promote his efficiency in that line of practice. He is deeply interested in everything that tends to give to man the key to that complex problem which we call life, and the public and the press accord to him distinction in connection with the practice which he is making his life work. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S.J. Clarke, 1902, p.494]