S. Ross Martin, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of S. Ross Martin
S. ROSS MARTIN.
Crawford County, Pennsylvania, is the place where on the 16th of April, 1853, S. Ross Martin came into the world to make a record for integrity and uprightness which will be remembered in years to come. He is now one of the representative young men of the county, and the most efficient clerk of Valparaiso. His father, James Martin, was a native of the Emerald Isle, born in County Donegal, and was but two years of age when he was brought to America by his parents, who settled in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The grandfather, Robert Martin, purchased a farm, and after his death, this- passed into the hands of James Martin, and is still owned by the Martin family. The father of our subject grew to man's estate on this farm, and was married in that county to Miss Euphana McArthur, a native of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Like his father, he tilled the soil, and passed his last, days on the old farm in that county. His wife also died there. Ten children were given this worthy couple, five of whom are living: Mary, wife of J. J. Picker, of Crawford County; Margaret, wife of Ira A. Frizzle, of Warren County, Pennsylvania; Nelson, of Jamestown, Pennsylvania, an ex-member of the Pennsylvania Legislature; James S., who resides on the old homestead in Pennsylvania, and S. Ross, our subject, who is the youngest of the family. In addition to a common school education, our subject attended the Jamestown Seminary and the Meadville Business College, graduating from the latter institution in 1871. He remained on the farm until eighteen years of age when cabbages, turnips and heavy-weight stock lost their interest, and he went to Jamestown, where he was employed as clerk, book-keeper and Assistant Postmaster for some time. After this he was connected with general merchandising until 1885, and then in the fall of the year he took Greeley's advice, and came West. For a short time he stopped in Pleasant Township, Porter County, where he followed farming, and later he was employed as a clerk in the postoffice, where he remained for four years. During this time in 1890, he was elected City Clerk, and filled that position in so satisfactory a manner, that he was re-elected in 1892. Mr. Martin has been the architect of his own fortune, and is one of Valparaiso's most estimable young men. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic Fraternity. In the year 1880 he was married to Miss Lottie Anderson, a niece of Gen. Biggert, who was one of the early settlers of Porter County. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Martin: Iva, twelve years of age, and Ethel five years old. Mr. and Mrs. Martin hold membership in the Presbyterian Church.
Source: Goodspeed Brothers. 1894. Pictorial and Biographical Record of La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Indiana. Chicago, Illinois: Goodspeed Brothers. 569 p.
Page(s) in Source: 513-514
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