Jasper Martin, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Jasper Martin
JASPER MARTIN. It is safe to say that the German agriculturist has done more in the improvement and development of the great middle west than any other national element concerned in its history. Jasper Martin, the gentleman whose name heads this review, is a native of the Fatherland, his birth having occurred in Holstein, Germany, October 11, 1851. He is the eldest of three children born to Dutleff Martin, and the only survivor of that number, two older children having died in childhood in Germany. When Mr. Martin was but five years of age he had the misfortune to lose his mother by death, this lamentable affair occurring before the little family made its exodus to America. Shortly afterward he came with his father across the Atlantic, landing in New York and proceeding thence to Chicago, his father finally settling in Lyons, Illinois. Dutleff Martin had parted from his native land with little more than his passage money, for he was a laboring man who had never earned more than an honest living. His life in the new land was destined to lie of short duration, for while he was working in Lyons he suffered injuries which resulted in his death in 1857, only a little more than a year after his arrival.
There had preceded them to America the subject's uncle, Carl Smoke, who also resided in Lyons, Illinois, and the homeless little orphan boy went to live with him and in his household remained until his twenty-first year. He received his education in the common schools and when a youth took up the trade of carpenter and joiner in association with his cousin Christian. They worked together and were staunch friends as well as co-workers. When young Jasper was twenty years of age he had accumulated one hundred dollars, and it is a pleasant commentary upon the happy relations existing among these good people that Jasper presented the entire sum to his uncle with a heart full of gratitude for his goodness to him, and his uncle promptly handed it back to him. And this hundred dollars was the nucleus of the subject's present ample fortune and fine success. After setting forth in the world the young man went to Iowa, where he worked for seven years and at the end of that period he came to Valparaiso, Indiana. There he spent one year engaged in his trade.
About this time Mr. Martin laid one of the most important stones in the foundation of his success by his marriage to Miss Lena Lubke, their union being celebrated on December 6, 1878. To this union were born five children, a son and four daughters. The eldest daughter Ella L., is a successful modiste in Valparaiso and associated with her are her two sisters, Louise B. and Matilda Emma. The two latter are graduates of the high school and Ella and Louise B. are members of the German Lutheran church. The fourth member of the family is Herman F., who is a practical agriculturist, engaged in this work with his father. He was educated in the public schools and is one of the staunch young Democrats of his locality. The youngest daughter, Irene Anna, is yet a school girl, being a member of the sophomore class of the Valparaiso high school. She is also a student of music, having considerable talent in that direction.
Mr. Martin's estimable wife was born in New Buffalo, Michigan, March 2, 1857, and is the fourth in a family of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, born to Louis and Lena Lubke. Ten of this number are living and two are residents of Porter county, Mrs. Martin's sister, Bertha, wife of Christian Smoke, residing in Morgan township. All the rest of Mrs. Martin's brothers and sisters reside in LaPorte county. Louis Lubke was born November 14, 1825, and died at an advanced age, on January 14, 1911. He was a German by birth and was educated in the German schools and was a wagon maker and carpenter by trade. He was a member of the German army and had frequently seen General Moltke and Prince Bismarck. He married before he left the Fatherland and he and his young bride came to America on a sailing-vessel, the voyage consuming six weeks. They came at once to New Buffalo, Michigan, where he secured work at his trade. He remained in that place until his death and was one of the leading members of the German Evangelical church, his connection with the same covering a half century. The remains of this good man are interred in New Buffalo. His wife was born in Germany, January 18, 1834, and she survives, her years numbering seventy-eight. Mrs. Martin was reared in her native county and educated in its schools.
In 1887, Mr. Martin purchased his present fine farm of ninety-one and it half acres, just south of Valparaiso. Their circumstances were such at that time that it was necessary to go in debt, but they have since made many improvements, Mr. Martin finding his wife a true helpmeet. They now have a most valuable and attractive estate, which is known far and wide as "The Glendale Farm."
Mr. Martin is a Democrat, but not an office-seeker. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church of Valparaiso and are generous supporters of the same. They are recognized as public spirited and representative citizens.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 531-533
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook