A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA
R. R. Martin
R. R. MARTIN.—Next under review comes an old settler of Iowa and a representative farmer of Warren town ship, Lucas county, a man in whose history is incorporated an honorable war record, and one who is in every way worthy of I consideration, on these pages—R. R. Martin.
Mr. Martin was born in Putnam county, Indiana, April 4, 1839, and is descended from early settlers of the Old Dominion, both his father and grandfather having been born in Virginia. His father, James Martin, was, however, reared in Kentucky, and was there married to Miss Rachel Moore, like himself, born in Virginia and reared in Kentucky. After their marriage they removed to Putnam county, Indiana, and settled on a frontier farm, and from there, in 1842, came out west to what was then the Territory of Iowa and located in what is now Henry county, this State. At that time Indians and wild animals were the chief inhabitants here. For many years these venerable pioneers, James and Rachel Martin, resided on the farm on which they then settled. She died in Lucas county, in 1880, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Troxel; his death occurred May 28, 1880, when he was aged eighty-four years; and both are buried at Ottumwa, Iowa. In politics, he was first a Whig and later a Republican, and his religious creed was that of the “close-communion " Baptists. He and his wife were the parents of twelve children besides the subject of our sketch, their names in order of birth being as follows: William, Polly Ann, John, Thomas, America Jane, Luther, Va Ellen, Fannie, Therse Ann, James, George, R. R. and Sarah. All are de ceased except four, Mrs. Va Ellen Vestel, of Oregon; James, who served in the late war as a member of the Thirty-sixth Iowa regiment and who is now a resident of Oklahoma; Sa rah, wife of W. B. Wycoff, of Ottumwa, Iowa; and R. R.
R. R. Martin was a small boy when he came with his parents to Iowa, and on their frontier farm he was reared, and received his education in the log schoolhouse near his home. In 1862 he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry, and at once went to the front, where he participated in a number of engagements, and did valiant service. While in the army he had the measles and suffered a relapse, and the disease left him in such a condition that he was disabled for further duty. He was then honorably discharged, and returned home. 1877 he was engaged in farming in Wapello county. That year he removed to Lucas county, and in 1882 settled on his present farm, which was for years known as the William S. Holmes farm.
Mr. Martin has 'been twice married. At the age of twenty he was married in Wapello county to Miss Mary Davis, a native of Illinois, a daughter of A. and Electa Davis. Her mother's maiden name was Stearns. This union resulted in the birth of seven children,— A. A., Amanda E. Hodgkinson, Emery J., H., America, Belle, and Curtis. Five of this number are still living. Mrs. Mary Martin died about twenty-three years ago. February 20, 1879, Mr. Martin was united in marriage to his present companion, Kalista Holmes, daughter of William S. Holmes. William S. Holmes was a native of North Carolina, and was married in Jackson county, Indiana, to Elizabeth Iseminger, a native of Ohio, and in 1854, they removed from Indiana to Iowa, and settled on the farm on which Mr. and Mrs. Martin now reside. At the time of their coming here Mrs. Martin was quite small. Mr. Holmes was a well-known and influential man, and was for many years an Elder in the Christian Church. He was born in 1806, and died September 4, 1890, at the age of eighty-four years; his wife, born March 2, 1807, died March 26, 1885, aged seventy-eight. They were the parents of seven children,---Mary Agnes, Daniel, Margaret Ann, Martha, George F., Kalista, and W. S. By his present wife Mr. Martin has three children,—Ina May, Lizzie B., and Pearl A.
Politically, Mr. Martin isa supporter of the Republican party, with which he has co-operated since he cast his first presidential vote for Mr. Lincoln. He is a member of Iseminger Post, No. 18, G. A. R. In religion he is a Baptist, while his wife is identified with the Christian Church.
From A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Volume I, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1896, pp. 369-370. Transcribed July, 2015 by Conni McDaniel Hall.