David J. Martin

page 176

One of the ablest and most prosperous men of Monroe county to-day is D.J. Martin, who resides two and three-quarters miles northwest of Melrose, on the place known as the Walnut Grove farm, where he is extensively engaged in breeding thoroughbred shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. He started in life without any particular advantages which would of themselves boost him to the top round of the ladder of success, but he has by the wise use of the talents that were vouchsafed to him and by the exercise of the determination and energy that were in him risen to a place where he may be called one of the leaders in the business and social life of his community.

M.D. Martin, his father, was born in Ohio and came to Illinois when quite a young man, and from there went to Iowa, where he located in Wayne county, and a few years later located in Wayne township, Monroe county. His wife, Elizabeth S. Prather, was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1828, and there passed her early life. She came to Iowa in 1848 and located in Van Buren county, but in the same year her father, D.J. Prather, settled in Monroe county, and she remained at home there until her marriage.

The marriage occurred in 1853, and one child was born, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Martin marred a Miss Sackett for his second wife, and they became the parents of three children. Mr. Martin died in South Dakota in 1891 and was buried near Rochester, Minnesota, where his second wife now lives. The mother of our subject lived on the home farm until 1884, when she went to Eugene, Oregon, where her death occurred January 30, 1901.

D.J. Martin is a native son of Monroe county, his birth having occurred August 8, 1854. He received his preliminary education in the town of Melrose, and at the age of seventeen entered Howes Academy at Mount Pleasant, where he was a student for two years, and he then spent one year at the Iowa Wesleyan University. For the next seven years he devoted himself to teaching school in the winter and to farming in the summer seasons.

On March 5, 1885, he was married to Miss Sarah Brandon, who was born in Monroe county, and whose father we shall mention further on in this article. She attended the common schools of her native county until her seventeenth year, and afterward received a complete business training at the Bloomfield and Shenandoah business colleges. After returning from school she opened the first set of books in her father’s newly established bank at Melrose, and for four years preceding her marriage acted as cashier in this bank, she having been among the first, or perhaps the first lady bank cashier in the state of Iowa. Her sister then accepted the position and served in that capacity until her marriage, at which time Mr. and Mrs. Martin took charge of the bank, Mr. Martin being cashier and his wife assistant.

This arrangement was continued for about seven years, and during the last four years Mr. Martin was the owner of a one-third interest in the bank. After retiring from the bank he returned to his farm, where he now lives. He has about four hundred acres of excellent land, and his place shows the evidences of good management and thrift, which are largely responsible for his success. He also owns land in Oregon, while his wife has eighty acres in this county and one hundred and sixty acres in Texas.

In political belief Mr. Martin adheres to the Republican party and is chairman of the central committee of Wayne township. In religious affairs both he and his wife have been reared in the faith of the Methodist church and are active workers in the cause. They are well known and highly respected in all circles. Mr. and Mrs. Martin became the parents of six children, five sons and one daughter: Randall, who died in infancy; Elbert C., Sterling B., Thomas, David B., Mildred L.; all are natives of Monroe county.

Thomas Brandon, the father of Mrs. Martin, is a pioneer settler of Monroe county. He was born in Crouchtown, Tennessee, August 27, 1826, and remained there until sixteen years of age. He came to Iowa in 1845 and took up a homestead claim in Franklin township, Monroe county. He has since bought a great deal of land in this county and at one time owned about fourteen hundred acres, a large part of which he has since given to his children.

He was the founder of the first bank in Melrose, and perhaps has done more to develop the material resources of the county than any other one man. Forty-one years ago he nearly suffered the loss of his eyesight, and his daughter, Mrs. Martin, assisted him in organizing his bank at Melrose, and to her he owes much to his success. He is now seventy-six years old and spends his winters on a large plantation in Texas and San Diego, California. Mr. Brandon is well known over the entire county and is everywhere shown the honor due to an old age following a life of useful and successful effort.