Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 453] living near Volant in Washington township, Lawrence Co., Pa., belongs to the younger generation of men who have taken upon their shoulders the responsibility of caring for the broad acres of sunny hills and fertile dales, that their sires and their grandsires hewed out of the all-covering wilderness. Lawrence County has been developed at a rapid rate since the nineteenth century came into being, and all the ground that was once gained has been well held with never a backward step. Mr. Martin, the subject of this history, first saw the light of day in Wilmington township, Nov. 15, 1846. He attended the schools of his native place, and as soon as he arrived at suitable years, he began his chosen vocation of tilling the soil. He labored first in Wilmington township, and later on he partly bought and partly inherited his present estate, where he is to-day residing, a prosperous, careful and worthy representative of Nature's noblest calling.
Mr. Martin's grandfather came to this country in 1805, and settled on the farm, where his descendants now live and prosper, and departed this life there at the advanced age of eighty-two, having followed agricultural pursuits all of his life. The original farm comprised over 400 acres, and was splendidly situated. Our subject's grandfather made many marked improvements in the property, the large brick house being one of special note. He married a Miss Agnes Martin, and to them seven children were given: Mary; Elizabeth; Thomas; George; David; John; and James. Politically, Mr. Martin was a Democrat, and in religious matters was a Seceder.
James Martin, the father of William C., received a good education in the district schools, and when a young man inherited from his father the farm in Washington township of 126 acres. He held this place for five years, during which time he put it in first-class shape, and was able to realize handsomely from it, when he finally disposed of it to his son, William C. Throughout his life he was a prominent citizen, and took a live interest in all affairs of a public nature. On the question of human slavery, he was a pronounced Abolitionist, and his voice was ever raised in behalf of the black slave. He was a sincere Christian gentleman, and was for years an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. He left this world at the age of sixty. He married a daughter of John Mills of Mercer County. They had nine children, by name: William C., our subject; John M.; Mellisa; Amanda; Agnes; Elizabeth; Norman; Joseph; and Eva.
William C. Martin has followed through life the main pursuit of general agriculture, but his specialty, however, has been that of raising fine stock, and he is one of the men who has made Lawrence County famous on that score. His wife, Emma, is a daughter of Henry Humphrey of Mercer County, and she has made him a happy father by the births of seven children, all living, as follows: William O.; Harvey E.; Luella; John C.; James W.; Ada; and Thomas. Another daughter, Nettie, was taken from them at an early age.
Mr. Martin is in all matters of a progressive and liberal turn of mind. What he has to do he performs in a thorough and systematic manner. He is a strict adherent to the principles of the Republican party, and along the lines of religious activity favors the Presbyterian Church. He has never been found wanting in the elements that go to make up the most valuable kind of man and citizen.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 7 Jul 2001