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James Andrew Martin
Born Nov 10, 1863 Sandy Ridge, Stokes Co. NC
Died Aug 10, 1921 Hickory NC

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Father
Mother
SPOUSE CHILDREN
Mary Clark "Mamie" Blount

m. Nov 23, 1887
Wilson NC
b. Jan 3, 1864
Wilson NC
d. Jan 29, 1939
Hickory NC
Pauline Blount

b. May 19, 1889
Hickory NC
d. Nov 26, 1894
Hickory NC
Sallie Egerton

b. Aug 14, 1892
Hickory NC
d. Dec 29, 1973
Greenville SC
Frank (girl)

b. Jul 8, 1895
Hickory NC
d. Sep 12, 1928
Rose Gertrude

b. May 15, 1898
Hickory NC
d. Apr 8, 1972
Charlotte NC
Mary Blount

b. Dec 3, 1903
Hickory NC
d. Apr 27, 1972
Greenville SC
James and his brother John Calhoun Martin lived with their maternal grandmother, who was a Martin by birth, Mildred Martin (1811-1875), after their mother died when they were very young.
In 1880 Census for Catawba Co., James is listed as 17 years old and working in a tobacco factory. The family is listed as follows:
Nicholas, age 45, married, tobacco manufacturer
L. Kate, age 36, wife, keeps house
John C, age 19, huckster
James A, age 17, works in tobacco factory
Charlie H, age 12, works in tobacco factory
Victoria, age 7
Rosa, age 5
Wesley L, age 2
James moved to Hickory NC after he was married and helped build several businesses in the city, including Piedmont Wagon, Hickory Chair, and Hickory Telephone. In 1902, he founded Martin Furniture, one of the first furniture making plants in Hickory.
Daughters Pauline and Sallie are pictured in a Photograph of a studio portrait taken in 1893/4. The other grandchild of George W. Blount in the picture is the son of his daughter Pauline, George Wiley Simms (1887-1947).
Photograph of a small professional studio portrait of daughters (l. to r.) Frank, Sallie and Rose Martin.
Photograph of a professional studio portrait taken in Hickory NC in the summer of 1901. From top to bottom:
1) Sallie Egerton Martin at 10 years old.
2) Frank Martin at age 6.
3) Rose Gertrude Martin at age 3.
4) Charles Blount McLean at 6 months old, visiting with Mrs. J. R. McLean (Gertie Blount, sister of Mamie Blount and the aunt of the girls in the photograph).
Photograph of daughter Sallie Martin as a young girl.
James Andrew Martin and Mary Clark Blount (Mamie)
Photo of Mamie in front of their house. Photo of this house in Hickory NC which was built on the same lot as their smaller house at the corner of 3rd Av NE and 4th St. NW.
James A. Martin's residence in Hickory was on the eventual site of the Elbert Ivey Memorial Library. The lot was willed to Mary Blount Martin; she sold it to Mr. George Ivey who gave it to the city of Hickory for the library.
Rose Gertrude Martin at the Blowing Rock in NC 1918.
1919 Photograph of James and Mamie Martin with grandson E. Rowell Holt Jr., while they were visiting the Holts in Montgomery AL.
Daughter Sallie married Edward Rowell Holt, Sr. (1889-1947). Their son, Lt. Comdr. Edward Rowell Holt, Jr., was James' first grandson and was born in his home. He was the Commanding Officer of the submarine U.S.S. Bullhead when it was lost in the Java Sea off the coast of Bali on Aug 6, 1945, the same day as the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The sub was the last ship lost to enemy fire in World War II. James' second grandson, George Martin Holloway also served in the Pacific in WWII.
Rose Gertrude Martin with sisters and little Rowell Holt, Jr. in a 1918 Nash automobile.
Daughter Frank was named for her great-uncle Dr. Benjamin Franklin Whiteside, husband of Aunt Minnie (Mary Ida) Egerton, daughter of Charles Jackson Egerton. Dr. Whiteside delivered daughter Rose at home.
In the 1930 Catawba Co. NC Census, "Mamie B. Martin" is listed as a 66 year old widowed head of household with one other adult, "Mary B. Martin", daughter, aged 26.
Sources:
1930 U.S. Census, Catawba Co. NC, ancestry.com, website.
Catawba Co. 1880 Census, Hickory NC, microfilm, Federal Archives, Phila. PA.
Freeze, Gary R., The Catawbans: Crafters of a North Carolina County, 1747-1900, Catawba Co. Hist. Assn., Newton NC, 1995, p. 364.
Hickory Daily Record, "Biography, James A Martin", 1957.
Holloway, Lisabeth M., comp., "Martin Ancestry," from ms of Mrs. Wm Lauten, Sr., Madison NC, for Walter Wootten.
Holloway, Rose Martin, comp., "Martin Connections," 1955.
Holloway, Rose Martin, personal scrapbook, in possession of George Martin Holloway.
Sheridan, Martin, Overdue and Presumed Lost; The Story of the U.S.S. Bullhead, Marshall Jones Company, Francestown NH, 1947.
Tombstones, Oakwood Cemetery, Hickory, NC.