Myron B. Martin

As printed in 1906

MYRON B. MARTIN.

Myron B. Martin, actively interested in general farming in Wayne township, was born in Geauga county, Ohio, October 25, 1845, and is descended from New England ancestry. His paternal grandparents, Isaac Mitchell and Philena (Guernsey) Martin, were natives of Woodbury county, Connecticut. Their son, Bennett Martin, was born in Litchfield, Woodbury county, and when ten years of age went with his parents to Schoharie county, New York, where he remained for about five years. The family then drove to Ohio and he began chopping wood in the midst of the forest. When he had reached adult age he was married to Miss Asenath Smith, whose birth occurred in Warren county. New

York, and her parents were Elijah and Asenath (Woodworth) Smith, the former a native of Massachusetts and the mother of the Empire state. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bennett Martin came by wagon to Henry county, Iowa, starting on the 6th of April about the time the ground was breaking up and the roads were very muddy. This made travel very difficult and they passed through the main street of Chicago when it was like a mortar bed. They reached Wayne township on the 21st of May and entered from the government a tract of land, which he developed, comprising the southeast quarter of section 9. He remained there three years and built a house and stable of logs, and in 1852 some land sharks, taking advantage of him, he lost the place and afterward bought eighty acres on the northwest quarter of section 9, Wayne township, purchasing the same from the government at one dollar and a quarter per acre. There was not a fence upon the place nor stick of wood of any description, nor had a furrow been turned. He built a frame house and stable, fenced the land and further continued the cultivation, development, and improvement of the property up to the time of his death, which occurred on the loth of May, 1876. His wife long survived him, dying upon the old homestead on the 8th of July, 1891. Myron B. Martin was the youngest of four children, two sons and two daughters. Philena, the eldest, lived upon the old home place until her death, November 15, 1904, at the age of seventy years. Eliza Ann died at the age of six years. Sheridan S. Martin remained at home until December, 1863, when he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company G, Eleventh Iowa Infantry. The regiment was sent to the south, where he was engaged in active duty and on the 226. of July, 1864, in the siege of Atlanta he was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville, where he died on the 19th of September, being buried there.

Since brought to his present farm in his boyhood days Myron B. martin has resided continuously upon this place, having here a good tract of land of forty acres which responds readily to the care and labor he bestow upon it, the fields annually yielding good harvests. He was married on the 9th of January, 1889, to Miss Hattie H. Smith, who was born in Lake county, Ohio, a daughter of Loring W. and Caroline (Gardner) Smith. Her father was a native of 'warren county. New York. Mr. and Mrs. Martin now have three children, Loring B., Edith L. and Harmon E, all at home. The parents are de\'0ted members of the Congregational church, in which Mr. Martin has served for fifteen years as clerk and for three years as trustee. Almost his entire life has been passed in this locality, for he was less than a year old when brought from Ohio to Henry county. In the sixty years which have since come and gone he has witnessed many changes as the wild, unimproved country has been reclaimed and the work of development has been carried forward. There erenow splendidly improved farms with here and there a church and schoolhouse to indicate the intellectual and moral development of the community. Towns and villages have sprung up and these are imbued with the commercial and industrial life that leads to rapid advancement. Mr. Martin has concentrated his energies upon his business affairs with good results and is classed with the enterprising agriculturists in Henry county.

As printed in Biographical review of Henry County, Iowa, containing biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of to-day and also of the past .. (1906). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.