rooneys-minnesota.com
man‎William Joseph Martin‏‎
Born ‎15 Apr 1838 Shanagolden, County Limerick, Ireland Event Description: the date is of his baptism, died ‎28 May 1910 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 72 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
William Martin and his wife "Kate" and two kids and his brother John, age 25, are in the 1870 census of Minneapolis (St. Anthony, Ward 2 : 550 618). He and his brother are working in a sawmill. Also living with them are Catherine's brothers Michael Rooney (age 23, b. Canada), James Rooney (age 21, b. Canada), and perhaps a cousin, Patrick Killeen (age 40, b. Ireland), all listed as laborers. Other records indicate that Patrick enlisted in the Civil War in 1965 and was in heavy artillery at Ft. Snelling, and that he was born in Galway.

William Martin moved from Minneapolis where his two oldest children were born to the Detroit Lakes area in 1870 to work for a "pinery" or lumber company. James and William were born here. In 1873 they moved to "Stearns" (Raymond Township) in about 1873, based on comments in letters from his brother James in Canada. There are a number of mentions of the "Record" newspaper in the Canada letters, from Detroit Lakes. In 1885 the family moved from Raymond Township to Bangor Township, about 12 miles to the southwest. They retired to a home in Sedan, owned by Charles.

In a letter shortly before their marriage, James Martin told Jennie Anderson that he had secured a traveling pass, a ticket from Kensington to "Detroit," so that as part of their honeymoon they could see Det oit where his life started.

8/23/15:
David Gaffaney looked up my great grandfather's baptismal record on the Irish parish website (http://registers.nli.ie/) - he is William Martin, who married Catherine Rooney. Lyle Martin had found him listed in the parish record at Shanagolden, Co. Limerick, Ireland when he made a trip there in the 1980s.
It was quite easy to find him. His is the last baptismal record of April 15, 1838. The Latin reads "Bap. Gulielmus filius leg. Ionnes Kilmartin & Catherine Connors (spon Patricius Sullivan & Juditha [?] Keating)". English: William, legitimate son of James Kilmartin & Catherine Connors, sponsors Patrick Sullivan and Judith [?] Keating". After the Kilmartin's arrived in the Gatineau area of Canada they changed their last name to Martin.

William Martin and Catherine Rooney were married at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in northeast Minneapolis on July 7, 1867. Witnesses were John J. Darcy and Mary Tracy. The priest was the Rev. Felix Tissot.
Two years later John Darcy married Catherine's younger sister Sarah at the same church. They had a son they named Felix.
Mary Tracy would have been Catherine's 24-year-old first cousin, daughter of her aunt Ann Rooney.
As of 2016, the St. Anthony parish records are at the Church of the Holy Cross in Minneapolis, about a mile north of St. Anthony of Padua (612-789-7238) on University Avenue.
Also, see http://www.lngplants.com/Basilica_of_Saint_Mary_Minneapolis_1955_JMR_PA.html

William Joseph Martin's naturalization record is at Pope County, dated March 10, 1886.

This a list of priests connected to St. Anthony of Padua parish in Minneapolis, some of whom had a connection with the Murphy/Rooney families:

Reverend John McDermott, born in Clifton, County Galway, Ireland, in 1816, and ordained in Little Rock, Arkansas, about 1840. He came to the Diocese of St. Paul in 1860 and assumed charge of St. Anthony parish. He was a pastor at St. Anthony of Padua church in Minneapolis before going out to Mower and then Wright County and from there to Meeker County just to the west. He died in 1887 in Darwin, Meeker County, Minnesota and is buried in St. John's Catholic Cemetery there. (He was injured getting off the train in Darwin that same year, which may or may not have any connection to his death.)

Rev. Felix Tissot, a French priest, succeeded Fr. McDermott in 1866 at St. Anthony in Minneapolis. The predominately Irish parishioners were chagrined that they had a French priest instead of one of their own. He was the priest who married Catherine Rooney and Will Martin in 1867 as well as also her younger sister Sarah Rooney and John Darcy in 1869. He was born in Lyon, France in 1835 and was first assigned to a Goodhue County mission in 1856, then to Cannon Falls, then Wabasha, then St. Anthony of Padua from 1866 until 1886. He died 18 November 1893 at the age of 58 and is buried in St. Anthony Cemetery in Minneapolis in the circle plot.

Rev. Hugh J. McDevitt was born in 1842 in Ireland and died in 1910 in Minneapolis and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul. He did mission work in Australia before coming to the U.S. He was the one listed with Margaret Murphy in the 1895 Minnesota census of Manannah, Meeker County, Minnesota. (Fr. McDermott had already died; he had organized the Church of Our Lady in Manannah in 1876 ). It looks like the faded name written in that census is Rev. John McDevitt, but the first name is either a mistake or it's his middle name and he went by John. And his age fits him. He was pastor of the Minnesota parishes of Darwin, Manannah, Rosemount and Shakopee, successively.

Rev. James McGolrick was born May 1, 1841, at Barrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland and came to Minneapolis in the autumn of 1867. He was soon transferred to Minneapolis as assistant to Father John McDermott of St. Anthony's church. To provide a place of worship for the Catholics of East Minneapolis, Father Mc-Golrick built an addition to the little frame structure erected some time previously by Father Tissot, the successor to Father McDermott at St. Anthony's parish. This was the first Church of the Immaculate Conception. Father McGolrick remained in charge of the congregation of the Immaculate Conception until December 27, 1889, when he was consecrated first Bishop of Duluth. He died in 1918 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Duluth.

Rev. James O'Reilly from County Cavan, Ireland, was pastor at St. Anthony of Padua in Minneapolis starting in 1886. He became bishop of Fargo in 1909.

Married ‎7 Jul 1867 Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, age 29 years (married 42 years) to:

womanCatherine Bridget Rooney‏, age by marriage 21 years, daughter of John Rooney and Mary McCool‏.
Born ‎14 Sep 1845 Wakefield Township, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, died ‎25 Jan 1911 Sedan, Pope County, Minnesota‎, age 65 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
William Martin and Catherine Rooney were married at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in what is today northeast Minneapolis on July 7, 1867. (The cities of St. Anthony east of the Mississippi and Minneapolis west of the Mississippi, merged into one, Minneapolis, in 1872.) Witnesses were John J. Darcy and Mary Tracy. The French priest, Rev. Felix Tissot, performed the ceremony. Fr Tissot is buried in the "circle" in St. Anthony Cemetery in Minneapolis
Two years later John Darcy married Catherine's younger sister Sarah at the same church with the same priest. They had a son they named Felix.
Mary Tracy would have been Catherine's 24-year-old first cousin, daughter of her aunt Ann Rooney.
As of 2016, the St. Anthony parish records are at the Church of the Holy Cross in Minneapolis, about a mile north of St. Anthony of Padua (612-789-7238) on University Avenue.
Also, see http://www.lngplants.com/Basilica_of_Saint_Mary_Minneapolis_1955_JMR_PA.html

Glenwood Herald
February 3, 1911

CALLED TO HEAVENLY HOME
_____________________________

Mrs. Catherine E. Martin of Sedan is called Home After Long and Useful Life.
_____________________________

At her home in Sedan, Minn. on Wednesday, January 25, Mrs. Catherine E. Martin passed away at the age of sixty five years. Death had been expected for some time for the doctors gave up hope long ago, and Death alone could furnish relief from a long term of pain and suffering which began several years ago [carcinoma of the rectum].
Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Father Sharer of Padua in the Catholic church at Sedan on Saturday at nine o'clock and interment was made in the cemetery at Padua, in the afternoon of the same day, and the body laid beside that of her husband William J. Martin who had died just eight months before.
Deceased whose maiden name was Catherine B. Rooney, was born in Canada September 14, 1845, and was therefore, at the time of her death in the 66th year of her age. In the early sixties she emigrated with her parents to Minnesota and settled in Minneapolis, which was then little more than a village. Here she was married to William Martin in 1866 [actually, July 7, 1867]. They moved to Stearns county in 1873, whe re they lived for 12 years engaged in farming till 1885 when they move d to Bangor, Pope county. In June 1908, they moved into town finding farm work some what strenuous for their advancing years and here she passed away as above noted surrounded by a number of sorrowing friends and relatives.
Six sons and four daughters live to mourn the loss of a kind and loving mother, also six brothers and one sister survive her. The sons are, John F. Martin, Frazee, Minn., James E. of Kensington, W. E. and Chas. H. of Sedan, T. C. of St. Paul and E. L. Martin of Windham, Mont. The daughters are, Mrs. James A. Gaffaney of Forada, Margaret Julia and Elizabeth of Sedan. The brothers are, Michael and John Rooney of Montana, James and W. E. Rooney of Padua, T. T. and Hugh M. Rooney, Brooten and a sister Mrs. Dennis Egan of Padua.
Kind and loving in disposition, a great friend of the children of all ages, her sympathies were always with the young. She will be greatly missed by a large circle of friends, and the loss to her home is irreparable, indeed.
The Herald joins in extending sincere sympathy to the friends and relatives of the deceased.

Children:

1.
manJohn Francis Martin‏
Born ‎15 Apr 1868 Saint Anthony, Hennepin County, Minnesota, died ‎5 Dec 1940 Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon Event Description: Greenwood Cemetery‎, age 72 years
Modified narrative by Rena Martin Jensen, granddaughter of John F. Martin:

John Francis Martin was born in St. Anthony Village [or St. Anthony Falls - actually, Minneapolis] on April 15, 1868, his father's 30th birthday. He was the first-born child of William Joseph Martin and Catherine Rooney. He was baptized in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church in northeast Minneapolis on April 16, 1868.

"Johnny Martin married Mary Brown and Mary Martin married Johnny Brown."

John F. Martin and Mary Brown we're married on November 16, 1892, presumably at Padua, Stearns County, but no verification has been made. Their siblings, John Brown and Mary Ann Martin, were also presumed to have been married there on the same day in a double wedding ceremony.

John Martin's wife Mary Brown was born in Ireland, perhaps at Derryheagh, County Mayo in 1866. [Today – 2015 - Derryheah is perhaps a small area near the town of Newport, County Mayo. There's a Killeen Cemetery 6 miles west of town overlooking Clew Bay in which one couple's gravestone says they're from Derryheagh.] Mary's brother John was also probably born there in 1868. The 1900 census indicates that she was born in Ireland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1879, at which time she would have been 13.

John Martin farmed near Sedan, Bangor Township, Pope County, for several years – possibly adjoining or nearby land owned by his parents. His name has appeared on the plat book of Stearns County on a tract of land that was tenanted by his parents during somewhat earlier years. This was the tract owned by his uncle Mike Rooney in sections 26 and 35 of the Raymond Township. Most of their six children were born while they lived in Bangor Township: Francis Clements (Frank), Ann, Walter Joseph (Joseph Walter), Mary Irene, John Henry, and Robert Irvin (Irwin). Their daughter Ann died in infancy in 1898 in Bangor Township.

After the family left the Sedan– Bangor area it appears they lived in Mandan, North Dakota briefly before moving to Frazee, Minnesota. Mary, John's wife, died of leukemia 1914 and is buried at Frazee. Joseph Walter died in 1918 during World War I while in the service of natural causes in New York. Robert Irwin died tragic death on 7 May 1920 when he was 13. He and another boy we're playing near a cave that they had dug into the riverbank of the Otter Tail River. Just as they ran into the cave it came down on top of them and smothered them to death.

John is listed in the 16 January 1920 census of Burlington, Becker County, Minnesota as a widower and a sawmill worker. His only child with him then is Irwin, age 13. John married Hattie Maxwell in 1920 – presumably while they were still living at Frazee. John F Martin worked in the sawmill at Frazee and drove a four or 64 steam in the woods hauling logs to the mill. When lumbering declined in Minnesota, the company moved to Idaho and the family followed in 1920 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Margie Evelyn Martin was born to John and Hattie on May 1, 1821 in Coeur d'Alene. Later John F. Martin and Hattie were divorced. Can't find him in the 1930 or 1940 census. In May, 1936, John moved to Kirkland, Washington and lived with his brother-in-law (both ways), John Brown. Joe Wirtzfeld, son-in-law of John Brown, later bought a house and acreage in Kirkland and John lived there until he moved to Bend, Oregon 1939. John died there of a stroke on December 5, 1940 and is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery.

Ed L. Martin is buried in the Kirkland Cemetery next to Peter J. Brown, a brother of his sister Mary's husband John J. Brown. Peter had bought 20 acres of land in Kirkland and John J. Brown lived there until he died; John J. Brown is also buried in this cemetery. John Henry Martin is also buried here.
Frank C. Martin and John Francis Martin are buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Bend, Oregon.
Mayme Wolfe Martin and Elmer H. Jensen are buried in Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Bellevue, Washington.

2.
womanMary Ann "Maggie" Martin‏
Born ‎24 Dec 1869 Saint Anthony, Hennepin County, Minnesota, died ‎12 Oct 1898 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: Padua Cemetery, Stearns, Minnesota‎, age 28 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota
Mary Ann Martin was baptized at St. Anthony of Padua Church in northeast Minneapolis on Christmas day, 1869, the day after her birthday. She is 5/12 years old in the July 1, 1870 census of St. Anthony, Minnesota.

"Johnny Martin married Mary Brown and Mary Martin married Johnny Brown."

John Brown was born in Derryheagh, County Mayo, Ireland in 1868 and was 11 years old when the family came to the U.S. [Today – 2015 - Derryheagh is perhaps a small area near the town of Newport, County Mayo. There's a Killeen Cemetery 6 miles west of town overlooking Clew Bay in which one couple's gravestone says they're from Derryheagh.]

Mary Ann Martin and John Brown met in Sedan and were married in Villard (or in a double-wedding ceremony with their siblings, John F. Martin and Mary Brown, on November 16, 1892 in Padua). Afterwards they made their home in Hammer, South Dakota for a while, then Massachusetts. Two of the "Canada" letters included letters from Mary Martin Brown to her sister Katie Martin in Brooten, Minnesota. In the first in 1894, from South Bridge, Massachusetts she talks of dancing with her son "Petie." In the second in April 1898 from Clinton, Massachusetts, Mary talks of her baby (Maggie) having two teeth now. "Petie is now going to school(!), and the house is quiet since he has gone."

Maggie and Frankie were born in Massachusetts. In 1898, the family and their three children were returning to Minnesota by train, and on that journey they were exposed to typhoid fever. Soon after their arrival in Minnesota, Mary and her young son Frankie died of the disease. After Mary died, Maggie was raised by her grandmother, Catherine Rooney, at their home in Sedan. Julia Rooney was about the same age. Ambrose Gaffaney knew Maggie because he and his brother Harold hitched a ride on a freight train up to Standish, North Dakota to see the Wirtzfelds, and the Wirtzfelds used to come down and visit.

I believe Mary's gravestone says her day of death was the 18th, though a number of family trees have the 12th and another sources says the 17th. Rena Martin Jensen says, "Ann [daughter of John Francis Martin] died in 1898 same time as Mary [Ann Martin] Brown and Franklin Brown of typhoid fever." I don't know who Franklin Brown is.

[Catherine E. Martin ( Jr.) from sister Mary Martin Brown]
South Bridge [Massachusetts]
Jan 15, 1894
Miss Katie Martin
Dear Sister
I received your letter, was very glad to here from you. I am told you are going to school at Uncle Hughes this winter. How long a term is it? How do you like the teacher? Did "Dulie Egan" get a school last fall?
I suppose I will soon here that you will be looking for a school.
Is Maggie home this winter? Was aunt Ellie's folks up to see her this winter? Was Aunt Mary Ann in Bangor [Township] this winter? How is Aunt Eliza & the little ones? Tell Lillie she is the best little girl in Bangor, she wrote me two letters. You said you would like to see Petie now. Well I wish I could show him to you he is a great big boy now. I do play with him mostly all the time. I do dance with him and I used [to] with Lill. He does laugh very hearty sometimes. I have the piece of lace you started for him nearly made. I made a piece of narrow lace for shirt for him. I got a calico and a gingham dress for myself this winter.
We have very nice weather down here. there was only two or three cold days.
Write soon and often. No more this time from Your sis
Mary A. Brown

[Catherine E. Martin (Jr.) from sister Mary Martin]
Clinton, Massachusetts
April 3, 1898
Miss Katie Martin
Dear Katie:
I received your letter some time ago, and was glad to here [sic] from you. We have had a siege of the grip since I got your letter, are better now. When I saw the grip coming I thought I would be ready for it, so these are a few of the medicines I had, two qts. Flaxseed &c., one bottle of cough syrup, one bottle whiskey, bot pills, bottle Hoods sarsaparilla, bottle of borax and Honey, sugar and butter, white of egg and vinegar and I don't know what I didn't have. Oh it was the goose oil! I did not have that, but I guess I drank so much of the goose oil when I had the grip at home that I did not need any this time.
The baby has two teeth. The grip went hard with him. You wish I would tell you all about the kids, well if I told you the half about them when they were sick you would not want to here [sic] it twice. They are as bold as pet pigs and that is putting it mild. Petie is going to school! We have a quiet house since he started. They are out on vacation now until after Easter.
You wanted to know who they looked like, and the color of their eyes and hair. Well, Petie looks like Charley when Charley was his age and Maggie looks like Tommy. John O'Malley always calls Maggie Tommy Martin. I will send you a wisp of their hair. As for the baby he looks like Maggie only he is bald headed. Petie's eyes are about as big as Charley's only they seem darker. Maggie's are [?]. Petie's curl is the long one. They used to be yellow but they will soon be black.
I suppose your home now anyway. I will send this letter to Brooten and you will get it some time. How are Pa and Ma and all the rest of the folks. Write as soon as you get around and I will answer some time. Give my love to all. No more this time from Your sister,
Mary,      address as before

3.
manJames Elmer Martin‏
Born ‎11 Dec 1871 Lakeville Township, Becker County, Minnesota, died ‎14 May 1953 Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Peter's Cemetery, Eden Valley MN‎, age 81 years
Baptismal sponsors: Hugh Rooney, Anna Egan.

James was working for the railroad in Wisconsin when he was 17. He learned to telegraph using the Morse code, and when the railroad was built through North Dakota he worked ahead of the crew. When the wires were first extended he got the orders from the dispatcher and delivered them to the workers. He stayed out west at least one year, about 1890, for which there is a record of him attending the Christian Brothers school in Seattle. He had a friend there, Maury Foley, with whom he considered going to the Alaskan goldfields. Maury Foley did go.

James had several stations throughout North Dakota, like Braddock and Nicholson, where the work of the Station agent– telegrapher did not consume all this time. He learned the trade of a barber and one village he had a barbershop in station. He had several inventions for which he obtained letters patents; he worked them out in those small villages where only two or three trains stopped daily.

After James return to Minnesota, he secured the position of station agent for the Soo Line Railroad at Kensington in Douglas County. His mother and father still lived there, as did younger brothers and sisters. James bought a house here and they lived here until 1919 after which they moved to Eden Valley, having secured the station agent position through a bid. He retired here in 1942.

James took a trip to North Dakota when his sister Margaret died in 1921, but no others very far until he retired. Then he and Jennie took the train to the west coast, down through California and across to Ft. Worth, visiting with sister and brothers, nieces and nephew and grandchildren.

The school, through eighth grade, was across the street from where they lived in Eden Valley.

James Martin and Jenny Anderson were married in Wilmer, August 20, 1904. Father O'Malloy, pastor at St. Mary's Church, officiated. At that time Father O'Malloy serving the mission church in Raymond Minnesota as well. Jenny had taught school at Raymond for the 1903-04 year. Previously she had taught at Kensington where James was stationed and where they went to live after their honeymoon.

In a letter shortly before their marriage, James Martin told Jennie Anderson that he had secured a traveling pass, a ticket from Kensington to "Detroit," so that as part of their honeymoon they could see Detroit where his life started.

James was the last of my (Pete Tintes) grandparents to die in May of 1953. He was a Junior in High School and was playing baseball in Brooten when the hearse brought his body from Fergus Falls State hospital where he had died.

James retired in 1940 at the age of 69 and wrote a couple of articles about his career as a Depot Agent for the Soo Line railroad, which were published in the Eden Valley Journal. Pete was only 4 at the time but can remember visiting him at the depot and especially being fascinated with the telegraph machine. The candy he gave Pete won a few points too.
He loved to read and Pete has a number of his books including a history set on the United States published around 1900. He invented a number of gadgets and being a terrible driver he built a roundtable to turn his car around near the garage so he could drive in and out. He made fly killers with a rubber band attached to a gun like stick, which worked well in the garage where he spent a lot of time and had pictures of his relatives on the walls. Many of these pictures were a bit damaged and few were labeled.
After Jenny died in 1945 he lived alone for a few years and would buy more ice cream than he would eat so when Edna went to clean house for him she often brought some home. Mr. and Mrs. Hubert, Pete's Agriculture teacher, lived with him and cared for him for some years. As dementia set in he would start little fires in the oil burner and paint trees white as far up as he could reach.
Living for a while in a rest home in South Haven didn't work as it was close to the tracks and when trains came by he knew he was on the wrong side of the track and would start walking for Eden Valley.
After he retired in 1940 most of the livestock shipping was done by truck so he dismantled the stock yards and hauled the 3"x12"s home two blocks on a wheel barrow and cut them up by hand to burn. At that time he had a wood burning stove.

Rights conducted for James E Martin
May 21, 1953, Eden Valley Journal

Funeral services were conducted Monday, May 18, by Father A. R. Filbin at the Church of St. Peter for James E. Martin, who died Thursday evening, May 14th.
Mr. Martin was born December 11th, 1871, at Detroit Lakes, to William and Catherine Rooney Martin. At the time of his retirement in 1941 he had worked almost 50 years for the railroad, serving station agent at Eden Valley for 22 years.
In August, 1904, he married Jenny Anderson of New London. She preceded him and death, as did one son and one daughter. Surviving him are a sister, Mrs. John Shaw, Ft. Worth, Tex.; and one brother, Thomas of St. Paul; three children: Mrs. Jack Sattler (Gervaise) of Minneapolis, Elmo of St. Cloud and Mrs. Tom Tintes of Eden Valley; also 18 grand children and two great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers were Leo Lorenz, Lloyd Bischof, Lawrence Rothstein, Richard and Joseph Bischof and George Rome.
Relatives from a distance to attend the funeral included Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Martin and Mabel Gaffney of Alexandria, Mrs. Joseph Wirtzfeld of Underwood, N. D.; Mr. and Mrs. James Gaffney of Glenwood; Robert Martin and Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Egan of Minneapolis.

4.
manWilliam Ethan "William Joseph" Martin‏
Born ‎20 Sep 1874 Lakeville Township, Becker County, Minnesota, died ‎15 Jun 1927 Sedan, Pope County, Minnesota‎, age 52 years
Baptismal Sponsors: Pat Rooney, M A Collier. William E. Martin died o f ALS.

The 1880 census lists this son of William Joseph Martin as also "William Joseph," and there are letters to him from his Canadian relatives addressed to "William Joseph." By the 1900 census, and still living at home, he is listed as "William E."

And there are two certificates of second grade achievement for a "William J. Martin" (but dated 1887, which would make him born in about 1880 if he attended at modern ages).

Lyle Martin's memories of his parents:

In 1922 or 1923 when Dad was operating his hardware store in Villard he carried on a game of checkers with a friend in nearby Westport or somewhere nearby – they informed one another of their moves by penny postcard.

I recall during the time we were in Villard, Dad had to replace a store front window of a drug store because I had playfully pushed an older boy who was leaning against the building and the window broke. Dad never did scold me about that at all.

Also at Villard, I recall that the family received two Airedales (Biddy & Buddy) from someone. The dogs were supposed to be related to dogs that President. Harding or Coolidge had in the White House. Buddy remained a part of the Martin family for about 14 years.

I'm quite sure that Dad served on the federal grand jury at St. Paul at one time – maybe 1924 or 1925.

In about 1931 – after Dad's death, an old schoolmate of his told me that dad was "a whiz in mathematics" – that he didn't need to pencil.

There is another incident in my memory that I've never been able to pinpoint very much – it is an occasion when at least dad and I went to Glenwood – and very likely the whole family was along. I recall there was a large crowd in the center of downtown - there to see some famous personage. Dad put me on his shoulders so that I could see him – so it must've been somewhere around 1919 to 1921. I would like to know who the fella was – maybe a political candidate.

After Dad died, Mother had the heavy responsibility of running the family General store at Sedan and finishing the rearing of the four Martin boys. She had to work long and hard hours for the rest of her life. Struggling through the depths of the Depression in Sedan was a real test for her. The Farmers & Merchants State Bank at Sedan closed it's doors forever in the fall of 1931 (?), taking with it a substantial checking account of the Martin store.

In the years went Mother operated the general store, with the help of Lule, Robert and Richard, she did almost everything that had to be done – she was buyer, credit manager, saleslady, home maker, cook, laundress, nurse and many more things all at the same time. Sedan was a village with an official population 147 during most of those years. The big business days were Monday, Wednesday and Fridays when the Sedan creamery bought cream from the farmers.


Obituary:

Deep sorrow prevailed throughout the village of Sedan and the surrounding community when it was learned that W. E. Martin had departed from this life Wednesday evening, June 15th, after a short illness at his home in Sedan.

William E. Martin was born at Detroit Lakes, Minn., 1874. At the time of his death he was fifty-three years of age.

With his parents he moved to Bangor where he grew to manhood. As a young man he made teaching his chief profession having taught in the rural schools of Pope County. Later he took charge of the school in Sedan for several years.

During the past twenty years he has been engaged in the mercantile business with the exception of one year when he was manager of the Sedan farmers elevator.

In 1920 he and his family moved to Villard where he operated a hardware store. Having spent about two years in Villard, he returned to Sedan where he resumed his old business.

On Jan. 8, 1902 he was united in marriage to Miss Grace Wamsley. Four sons, Melvin who is attending the University of Minnesota, Lyle, Robert and Richard who are at home with the bereaved wife, are left to mourn the loss of a kind and devoted father. Two daughters, Mildred and Dorothy died in their infancy.

Five brothers and three sisters survive the deceased, namely: James, Eden Valley; Thomas, St. Paul; Ed, Kenwood, Calif.; John, Cour de Lane, Idadho; Mrs. J. Shaw, Forth Worth, Texas; Mrs. D. Chamberlaine, Taconite, Minn; and Mrs. James Gaffaney of Forada, Minn.

Requiem mass was sung for the deceased Saturday morning and on Sunday, June 19, at two o'clock the ...equies were conducted by Rev. ...ach at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Sedan, Minn. ...e the great assembly of friends and relatives listened to an eloquent and impressive sermon on death. An almost endless procession headed by the Modern Woodman escorted the remains to the Catholic cemetery near the little village he called his home.

The pallbearers were: A. J. Phillips, Herman Pilotte, C. B. Wesse..ng, Joe Egan, Frank Landweir and P. J. Rooney.

The floral offerings were many and beautiful and bespoke a testimony of love and esteem for a departed friend and sympathy for the sorrowing ones left behind.

W. E. Martin will be remembered by everyone as a man staunch and upright in business, a kind friend and neighbor and one who had the courage of his conviction and dared to do right. His counsel and advise were sought by many as he was known to be a man of words, intelligence and sound judgement.

Sedan lost a most distinguished and respected citizen in his death. Everyone has lost a friend and our hearts go out to the bereaved ones in their hour of sorrow.

Those who attended the funeral from a distance were: Mrs. J. Wirtzfald, Martin, N. D.; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Martin, St. Paul; Mr. and Mrs. James Martin, Eden Valley; Mr. and Mrs. James Egan, Donnybrook, N. D.; Mr. James Hart, Waubon, Minn.; Mr. Chas. Keilty, Mahnomen, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Freixe, Clara City, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cosgrove and daughter, St. Cloud; Mrs. Geisen, St. Cloud; Mr. Giles Wamsley, Minneapolis; Mrs. James Gaffaney, Forada, Minn.

5.
man‎Charles H ""Chips the Wood Butcher"" Martin‏‎
Born ‎13 Jun 1877 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: Sect. 35, died ‎20 Aug 1942 El Paso County, Texas Event Description: Greenwood Cemetery, Ft. Worth, Texas‎, age 65 years, buried Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Charles remained single.

He was too old for the draft during World War I, but enlisted and was sent to France. He like army life and continued to enlist afterwards. His principal station was Hawaii. He presumable followed his carpentry and cement worker trade in the Army.

6.
manThomas Christopher Martin‏
Born ‎24 Dec 1878 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: Sect. 35, died ‎1 May 1955 Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota‎, age 76 years

7.
womanCatherine Elenora "(null)" Martin‏
Born ‎29 Jul 1880 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: Section 35, died ‎21 Feb 1953 Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota Event Description: Calvary Cemetery, Villard, Minnesota‎, age 72 years, buried Villard, Pope County, Minnesota

8.
manEdward L "Michael Edward" Martin‏
Born ‎20 May 1882 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: possibly 26 June, died ‎23 Aug 1947 Seattle, King County, Washington Event Description: Kirkland Cemetery, Kirkland, WA‎, age 65 years
Ed and Mayme were married in Windham, Montana where he was probably a railroad station agent for the Southern Pacific. Later they moved to California. Mayme worked as a hairdresser and with wigs in San Francisco, but in 1935 Ed moved to Seattle and lived in a rooming house. Peter Brown and Rena Jensen visited him there. Mayme followed in 1940 and they lived in a house in Kirkland that was owned by Joe Wirtzfeld for a while. They later moved to a small house on Lake Washington Boulevard.
Ed had a stroke in 1943 and didn't get around too well after that. He is buried in the Kirkland Cemetery next to Peter J. Brown, a brother of his sister Mary's husband John J. Brown. Peter had bought 20 acres of land in Kirkland and John J. Brown lived there until he died; John J. Brown is also buried in this cemetery. John Henry Martin is als o buried here.
Frank C. Martin and John Francis Martin are buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Bend, Oregon.
Mayme Wolfe Martin and Elmer H. Jensen are buried in Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Bellevue, Washington.

We have a photograph taken of Ed and Mayne sitting at desks in a railway station office. There's a calendar on the wall from the Moccasin State Bank in Moccasin, Montana (near Windham), dated Thursday, January 23rd. Lyle Matin says the 23rd happened on Thursday only four times between 1900 and 1920 (1902, 1908, 1913, 1919). Since Mayme and Ed were married in 1909 and they were living in Helena, Montana in 1919, the picture must have been taken in 1913.

9.
womanMargaret Loretta "Maggie; or Margaret Sarah" Martin‏
Born ‎17 Nov 1884 Raymond Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Event Description: Sect. 35, died ‎25 Jul 1921 Helena, Lewis And Clark County, Montana Event Description: Resurrection Cemetery, Helena, Montana‎, age 36 years
Margaret and her sister Julia were home with their parents until they died. At the time they were all living in Sedan. In 1913 or 1914, they moved into the hotel building in Sedan, owned by William E. Martin, and ran it for two or three years. "The Martin girls," as they were referred to locally, then went off to be trained as Red Cross nurses in Helena, Montana. In 1920 they returned to Sedan for a vacation and homecoming.

Shortly after they returned to Montana Margaret married Chris Miller, a farmer from nearby Townsend. However, Margaret died within a year or two. Many of the brothers and sisters went to attend the funeral by train. Margaret is buried in Townsend, Montana. There were no children.

10.
womanJulia Agnes Martin‏
Born ‎11 Jul 1886 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎29 Nov 1969 Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas‎, age 83 years
Julia was their first child to be born in Bangor Township.

Margaret and her sister Julia were home with their parents until they died. At the time they were all living in Sedan. In 1913 or 1914, they moved into the hotel building in Sedan, owned by William E. Martin, and ran it for two or three years. "The Martin girls," as they were referred to locally, then went off to be trained as Red Cross nurses in Helena, Montana. Julia was a Red Cross nurse during WWI. In 1920 they returned to Sedan for a vacation and homecoming. In June of that year Margaret married Chris Miller, a farmer, in Townsend, Montana.

After the "team" broke up with Margaret's marriage, Julia went to Chicago to work, and then to Ft. Worth, Texas to follow her nursing profession. It was there that she met John Shaw, whom she married in 1921. John was born in Montgomery, Indiana in 1877, but when they met he was a dairy farmer in Texas. He continue at that while she operated a rest home. They had three daughters, only one of whom married and had children. Millie assisted her mother in the rest home and Lillian worked as a bookkeeper for commercial employers until her untimely death from a stroke ("CVA") in 1974.

MRS. J. M. SHAW

During World War No. 1, Mrs. J. M. Shaw, manager of the Shaw sanitarium, 3132 Frazier was a nurse in the Letterman Military Hospital, San Fr ancisco. When the Armistice was signed Mrs. Shaw had her passport and overseas equipment ready to leave for Europe. She was glad becaus e the war came suddenly to a close but was disappointed that she could not make the trip abroad. Eight nurses, all graduates from St. John s, Helena, Montana had volunteered for overseas service and some of them where abroad when the armistice was signed.
Mrs. Shaw, whose maiden name was Julia E. Martin was married to J. M. Shaw in 1921. They are the parents of three charming daughters, Misses Nora Mae, a pre-medical student in O. L. V., Lillian, and Mildred, both in O. L. V. high school and both planning to train for registered nurses when they graduate.
The Shaw Sanitarium, like many other institutions, was planned around a family need. After her husband became ill and was a convalescent patient for three years, Mrs. Shaw was so busy with his care that she could not enter the business or professional world to supplement the family income which had become necessary at this time. Putting her nursing practice into profitable business was the solution to her problem. The Shaw Sanitarium designed to give proper care and nursing to invalids was established in 1935. Beginning in her home Mrs. Shaw now has five cottages equipped to take care of men and women whose children are so busy in their business and professional careers that they do not have time to give their parents proper care. The cottages situated on adjoining lots constitute a little community where the patients who are not confined to their beds may visit each other.
Mrs. Shaw employs a good cook. She personally supervises the planning and serving of well balanced meals. The bedrooms are neat and orderly at all times.
The buildings are equipped with furnace heat, all fire hazards removed .
Mr. and Mrs. Shaw own a farm where they raise chickens and where a flock of hens produce eggs for the Sanitarium and a surplus for the market.
Mr. Shaw's health has improved so much that he is able to assist his wife with flowers and to grow fresh vegetables for use of the sanitarium.
Passersby are attracted to the happy little group who play games on the lawns during the summer months.

11.
womanElizabeth Lily Martin‏
Born ‎28 Apr 1889 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota, died ‎10 Mar 1952 Taconite, Itasca County, Minnesota Event Description: Lakeview Cemetery‎, age 62 years
Baptismal sponsors: Bernard Kilian, Bary Kilian.

Elizabeth Martin has by far more descendants than any of her siblings. An interesting observation: Many of the women married younger men.