My Genealogy Hound

S. N. Martin, M. D., physician and surgeon, of Newport, Barton County, Mo., has been a resident of this county since 1870. He was born in Gallia County, Ohio, June 27, 1845, and is the son of Presley and Lucinda (Halley) Martin, natives of Halifax County, Va., and Ohio, respectively. The father was a successful tiller of the soil, and this occupation continued the principal part of his life. Dr. S. N. Martin remained on his father’s farm until sixteen years of age, as a boy being a very diligent student, and often, in the absence of candles, carrying pine knots to make a light by which he might study. March 9, 1862, he enlisted in the Union Army, Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company C, as a private, and served until November 10, 1862. In September of the same year he participated in the battle of Harper’s Ferry, where he was taken prisoner in the surrender of the post, under Col. Miles, to Gens. “Stonewall” Jackson and A. P. Hill, September 15, 1862. By a fortunate parole on the field the prisoners escaped the tortures of a Southern prison and consequent horror. In November he returned to his home in Mercerville, Ohio, where he attended school one year. In the fall of 1863 he commenced teaching school, in which profession he continued until 1875, but in the meantime studied medicine under Drs. H. Halley and W. K. Patton, of Mercerville. He then attended the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons. Previous to this, in 1870, he came with his parents to Barton County, Mo., where the father rented a farm, and there resided until 1877, when he moved to Cedarville, near which town Dr. Martin had purchased a few acres. The Doctor followed teaching and stock-raising from 1871 to 1875, and the last named year began the practice of his profession at Round Prairie (though physically very feeble, from the effects of war service), where he continued until 1878, when he returned to Cedarville and practiced at that place two years. He then came to Newport, where he has continued ever since, and by industry and strict attention to business is the owner of several thousand dollars1 worth of property. He was first married in 1874, to Miss Frances J. Higgins, of Benton County, Ark., and the daughter of Bryant Higgins. She was born January 19, 1855, and died June 25, 1880. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and a devoted Christian. Their family consisted of three children: Eva A., aged fourteen; Lee, aged twelve, and Freddie, aged ten, all at home. The Doctor was married again in 1882, to Miss Berthena E. Polley, a native of Mercer County, Mo., and the daughter of Lafayette Polley, who was born in Indiana, and who came to Mercer County in 1865. By this last marriage Dr. Martin became the father of two children: Nannie L., aged five, and Norman P., one year old. The Doctor is a member of the Baptist Church, and his wife is a member of the United Brethren Church. He has held various township offices, and is at present township treasurer and township trustee for the second term. He is a Democrat in his political views. His father, Presley Martin, lives with him, and is sixty-six years of age. The mother died April 23, 1886, of paralysis, at the age of sixty-two years; both members of the Baptist Church. In their family were ten children, seven now living. Dr. Martin commenced life a poor boy, educated himself and assisted in supporting his father’s family. He is universally respected, is a successful practitioner, and, aside from his practice, is interested in a general mercantile store at Newport. He takes an active part in public affairs, and assists in all laudable enterprises. The maiden name of the Doctor’s mother was Halley, and she was a great-niece of Gen. George Washington. She is a descendant of Col. Fielding Lewis, who married Elizabeth Washington, only sister of Gen. Washington. Her children were named as follows: S. N.; James M., now in Idaho; Elizabeth J., wife of J. C. Day, a stock-dealer at Leavenworth, Kan.; Fannie, wife of Orris A. Morehouse, who is a son of Judge Morehouse, of Barton County; Presley S., a farmer and school teacher of Newport Township; Emily D., wife of Joshua Bayes, of Cedarville, Mo.; Sarah C., wife of C. J. Higgins, who is a farmer and school teacher, of Milford Township, Barton County, Mo.; and Mary L., wife of T. M. Gaddy. She died in Arkansas, in 1879. There were five school teachers in the family. Dr. Martin’s paternal grandfather, Obediah Martin, was born, reared and lived all his life in Halifax County, Va. Fourteen children were in his family. He died at the age of sixty-six; was of Irish descent, as was also his wife, formerly Tabitha Self, who, with eight of her children, moved to Gallia County, Ohio, in 1838, and there died when eighty-eight years old. The maternal grandfather, Samuel Halley, a Virginian by birth, was an early settler of Gallia County, Ohio, where he reared fifteen children. He died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, formerly Letty Thomas, was sixty-two years old at her death. Presley Martin and family moved to Leavenworth, Kan., in 1865, but, owing to sickness, returned to Ohio about one year after. S. N. then engaged in lumbering, but lost the small sum he had saved, and upon arriving in Barton County, Mo., was pecuniarily “down,” and his father but a little better off. However, he soon secured a school at forty dollars per month, and thus helped the family at a time when assistance was appreciated.