1 It takes more than a good resume to get a government contract. Henry Bascom Martin (1833-1910) From: Weik s History of Putnam County, Indiana i, 1910. The distinction of being the oldest native of Cloverdale township now residing therein belongs to Capt. Henry B. Martin, an honored and revered resident of the attractive little town of Cloverdale. Not only has his private life been one of probity and integrity, but he has also a military record of which he has just reason to be proud, having given to his country several years of effective and appreciated service during the period of its greatest need. He, CAPT. HENRY B. MARTIN is now living in honorable retirement at Cloverdale, secure in the love and esteem of all who know him, and his friends are legion. Figure 1. Henry Bascom Martin. (From book, Weik's History of Putnam County, Indiana, 1910.) Henry Bascom Martin was born in Cloverdale township, Putnam County, Indiana, July 16, 1833, and is a son of Robert and Lucy (Routte) Martin. The paternal grandfather was William Martin, a Methodist preacher who was born and reared in Virginia, his birth having taken place during the war of the Revolution. His father, John Martin, was a soldier in that memorable struggle who served during nearly the whole period of the war, and near its close sent a son, also named John, as a substitute, the latter being present at the surrender of Cornwallis. The subject's mother was a daughter of George and Catherine (Hendricks) Routte. This family came from Virginia and located in Kentucky. Robert Martin was a native of Virginia and in his young boyhood the family removed to Bath County, Kentucky, and subsequently he there met and married Lucy Routte. He and his wife came to Cloverdale township, Putnam County, Indiana, about 1825, and entered a tract of government land two miles southwest of Cloverdale. He first entered two forty-acre tracts, the patents for which were signed by President John Ouincy Adams, and he afterwards acquired more land, so that his holdings amounted to two hundred and forty acres. He remained in that locality until 1853, when he moved to the state of Iowa, where he remained until about 1877, when his wife dying, he returned to Indiana, locating at Greencastle, where his death occurred in 1879. Robert Martin was twice married, his first wife dying in 1851. In about 1854 he married Mrs. Nancy Nosler, whose death occurred in 1877 in Iowa, as
2 above stated. Mr. Martin was the father of ten children, namely: Sally, who died in infancy, Catherine, John S., George R., Henry B., William S., Blethe, Byram, Marv and Robert. Henry B. Martin remained on the home farm near Cloverdale until about eighteen years old and in the meantime secured a fair education in the common schools of the locality, the school facilities of that day being somewhat meager as compared with the splendid system of the present day. Later the subject was a student in Cloverdale Seminary, but the major part of his education was received outside the school rooms, as after he had quit the educational institutions mentioned he pursued the study of Latin, Greek and higher mathematics, including surveying. He was employed as an assistant in the survey of the Monon railroad, and after the completion of that work he went to Ohio and used the transit in the preliminary survey of a part of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. In the spring of 1854 Mr. Martin went to Webster county (now Hamilton county), Iowa, and there followed surveying until the winter of 1859-60. Returning to Putnam County, Indiana, his patriotic spirit was soon stirred by the sounds of the oncoming conflict in the Southland, and when the President's call for volunteers was issued he promptly responded, becoming a member of Company A, Second Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. Prior to this he had organized a company at Cloverdale, but the state's quota had become filled and his company could not be accepted. He then went to Cincinnati with a few of his men and there enlisted. He was mustered into the service as a private, but was afterwards commissioned second lieutenant, the company to which he belonged being assigned to the Kentucky regiment. About July 9, 1861, the command was sent to West Virginia, and four days later they were engaged in the battle of Barboursville, where the subject was severely wounded in the right thigh. He was conveyed by an improvised ambulance and boat to the hospital at Gallipolis, where he nearly died from the wound. The hospital was first located in a seminary, and was then moved to a deserted school room, where the subject lay on one of the long desks. When convalescent he was sent home on sick leave and for some time went about on crutches. In the latter part of the following October he rejoined his regiment along the Kanawha river above Charleston. The next battle in which the Second Regiment participated was the great struggle at Shiloh. They arrived there on Sunday, as a part of Nelson's division, and were engaged all day Monday until the defeat of the enemy. Later they took part in the siege of Corinth and the many skirmishes incident to that campaign. In the spring of 1862, before the battle of Shiloh, Second Lieutenant Martin became a first lieutenant. After the siege of Corinth, the Second Regiment marched with the army through Mississippi and Alabama, under the command of General Buell. They then marched to Louisville, Kentucky, and chased the Confederate General Bragg away from there and followed him to Perryville, where there was a bloody fight. The regiment then went to Nashville, where they remained until midwinter. Then followed the terrific engagement at Stone River, where the soldiers endured severe privations, being compelled to sleep in the open air on the battlefield and for forty-eight hours they had nothing to eat but a few crackers. The army then occupied Murfreesborough, and were soon afterwards engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, where Lieutenant Martin was severely wounded, his wrist bone being shattered by a mine ball. Because of this wound he was disabled until the following November, and was stationed at Bridgeport, not
3 participating with his regiment in the protection of the lines of communication. He then started with Sherman on the celebrated march to Atlanta, but before the end of that campaign his period of service expired. After the battle of Stone River, the subject had been promoted to a captaincy and commanded his company at the battle of Chickamauga. After being mustered out at Cincinnati, Captain Martin was appointed a captain in the Veteran Reserve Corps and was located at Giesboro, near the city of Washington. At this time the death of his father-in-law made it necessary for him to return to his home at Cloverdale. The county was then in a turmoil and the family needed his protection, he having left a wife and infant son when he entered the army. It should be here noted that while residing in Iowa in the winters of 1857-58 and 1858-59 the subject was a member of the state troops, having been mustered in to assist in protecting the northern part of the state against a threatened massacre of the Indians, who had a short time previously committed terrible depredations among the settlers in that part of the state. The subject was chosen captain of his company and commanded it throughout the campaign. After his return from the army, Captain Martin was busily employed at farming, the practice of law and surveying, in all of which he gave evidence of his versatile ability. Eventually he moved to Greencastle in order to give his children superior educational advantages. In 1892 Captain Martin and his son Charles established the Greencastle Democrat, one of the strong and influential newspapers of Putnam County. About 1885 he was appointed an examiner of surveys for the United States government, his duties being to examine the land surveys in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. He served in this capacity until the summer of 1889, the latter part of his service being in New Mexico, where he was engaged in examining the boundary lines of Indian reservations. During a part of this time he was alone with the Indians, among whom were the bloodthirsty Apaches. In 1893 he received a request from the commissioner of the general land office of Washington to go to California as special examiner of the Benson fraudulent land surveys, which he accepted, and was thus engaged, and in general government surveys, until 1895 when he resigned on account of ill health. The appointment came to him wholly unsolicited, and was an exceptional honor, as the Benson fraudulent surveys were of National interest. His services gave eminent satisfaction to the government and he could have continued in the office indefinitely, but ill health compelled him to resign. Captain Martin continued the publication of the Demoerat until June, 1897, when it was sold to Hamrick & Ader, after which the Captain went to San Bernardino, California, and, with the assistance of his sons Ernest and Edwin and eldest daughter Winifred, established a Democratic newspaper. This enterprise was successful, but the Captain disposed of his interests four years later and returned to Cloverdale, where he is now residing. While residing in Iowa, Captain Martin became the owner of one thousand acres of splendid farming land, but this was afterwards sold, and he and his wife now own considerable land in Putnam County, near Cloverdale.
4 Figure 2. Henry B. Martin tombstone in Cloverdale Cemetery, Cloverdale, Indianna. (Photo from Find A Grave website.) Figure 3. Henry B. Martin tombstone in Cloverdale Cemetery, Cloverdale, Indianna. (Photo from Find A Grave website.) On the 21st of October, 1858, Captain Martin was united in marriage with Sydney Victoria Ellen Hart, a daughter of William L. Hart, one of the early and well known settlers of Cloverdale township. To this union have been born nine children, namely: Niles H., who resides on a farm near Cloverdale, married Margaret Young; Charles Lee, who was interested with his father in the Greencastle Democrat, died near the close of the year 1895; Lucy died at the age of two years and three months; William died in infancy; Winifred, who has traveled extensively in Europe, Mexico and Hawaii, is successfully engaged in newspaper work at San Bernardino, California; Margarita is the wife of Merton Brimmer, of Rialto, California, and they have one child, Elizabeth Ellen; Ernest, who is engaged in newspaper work in San Bernardino, California, and is also a writer for the Hearst papers, married Dorothy Cooley, the daughter of a prominent citizen there; Edwin is a printer and resides at Merced, California; Henry B.., who is the publisher and editor of the Cloverdale Graphic, married Anna Steinbach, and they have one son, Charles Lee. Politically Captain Martin is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in the success of his party. In 1871 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature and rendered effective service in that body. Fraternally he has been a member of the Masonic order for forty-six years and has served a number of terms as worshipful master of his lodge. He has taken a number of degrees above those of the blue lodge, including those of Knight Templar, being a member of Greencastle Commandery, No. 11. Few men in his section of the county are as widely and favorably known and none stand higher than does he in the confidence and esteem of the public, and in view of his active and eminently creditable career and the influence he has always exercised on the right side of every moral question, it is proper to class him with the representative men of his day and generation in the community honored by his citizenship. Copyright 2008 Jerry Olson June 30, 2009
5 i Weik, Jesse W., Weik s History of Putnam County, Indiana., B. F. Bowen Co., Publishers, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1910.