JOHN H. MARTIN.
One of the most venerable of the old pioneers yet living in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, is John H. Martin, whose post-office address is South Raub. His father, David Martin, was born in Pennsylvania and early in life emigrated from that state to Ohio, then called the Western Reserve, and settled near Circleville, where he engaged in farming. He married Sarah Monohan, daughter of Peter and Silence Monohan, and they became the parents of the following named children: Cynthia, Joseph, John H., Owen, David, Samuel, Mary, Sally, Abby and Margaret. The family home continued to be near Circleville until after seven of the children were born, when, in 1829, it was exchanged for one further west. That year David Martin, accompanied by his wife and children, came to Indiana and settled in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of timber and prairie land and devoted his energies to the work of making a farm. He prospered from the first and became one of the most respected pioneers of this locality. As he was able he purchased more land, thus adding to his farm until he had about three hundred acres, well improved. He died on his farm when near the age of seventy years. Politically, he was a Democrat.
John H. Martin, the third born in the above named family, and the direct subject of this review, dates his birth near Circleville, Ohio, February 23, 1816. He was about thirteen years old when his father moved to Indiana and can well remember the journey from Ohio to this state, which was made with ox teams and which consumed fifteen days, the nights being spent in camp by the roadside. For a few winters after coming to Tippecanoe county he attended school, held on the subscription plan, in a log school-house with a stick-and-mud chimney, big fire-place, and with a greased paper for window in the north side, while the south side could boast of a four-light window. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, and at about the age of twenty- five years was married, in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, to Patience Burroughs, their marriage being consummated October 3, 1837. Mrs. Martin was born September 30, 1822, in Meigs county, Ohio, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Pierce) Burroughs, natives of New Jersey. Josiah Burroughs was a son of Jacob Burroughs and Silence, his wife. After marriage Josiah and Hannah Burroughs settled in Meigs county, Ohio, to which place he had gone and entered land a short time previously and where he provided a rude frontier home for the bride he brought from New Jersey. There he farmed and worked at his trade, that of cooper, and found a market for his barrels on the Ohio river. He was an industrious and intelligent man and acquired a good education, attending school after he was twenty-one years of age; and in connection with the other occupations above referred to he also taught school and did some surveying. In September, 1824, he moved to Indiana and took up his abode in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, where he made a comfortable home. He taught two terms of school in this county when he was an old man. Politically, he was an old-line Whig, and his religious faith was that of the Friends or Quakers. His children were Hester, Job, Elizabeth, Nancy, Edward, Hannah, Patience, Abby and Josiah.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martin settled on the farm where they now live, at first renting of his father. He inherited a portion of the homestead, subsequently bought adjoining land, from time to time adding to his holdings until his landed estate comprised five hundred acres, but he has since divided with his children, now retaining for himself two hundred and twenty acres, one of the best farms in the vicinity. Industry and good management have characterized his efforts and contributed to the success he has attained, and besides accumulating a competency he has, aided by his faithful wife, reared a large family of children to occupy useful and honored positions in life. Their children are as follows: Martha, born December 18, 1842;. Josiah, September 10, 1844; William, January 18, 1846; Ellen, November 27, 1849; Benjamin, January 10, 1851; Caroline, March 3, 1853; Melissa, August 29, 1855; Sarah, January 5, 1857; David W., March 8, 1860; John, February 25, 1862; Hettie, March 15, 1864; and Albert, February 5, 1865.
Mr. Martin is, politically, a Democrat and is an advocate of " free silver."' Of him it may truthfully be said that his word is as good as his bond.
From Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren, and Pulaski Counties, Indiana. Vol. 1. 1899. Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago.