Burnham Martin Explained

Burnham Martin
Office:22nd Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
Term Start:1858
Term End:1860
Predecessor:James M. Slade
Successor:Levi Underwood
Office2:Member of the Vermont Senate from Orange County
Term Start2:1866
Term End2:1868
Predecessor2:John B. Hutchinson, Samuel C. Clement
Successor2:Roswell Farnham, James Hutchinson Jr.
Alongside2:Hiram Barrett
Office3:Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Chelsea
Term Start3:1876
Term End3:1878
Predecessor3:Asa A. Goodwin
Successor3:Alvah Whitney
Term Start4:1857
Term End4:1858
Predecessor4:Harry Lincoln
Successor4:William Hebard
Office5:Member of the Ohio Senate from Greene, Fayette, and Clinton Counties
Term Start5:1845
Term End5:1847
Predecessor5:John M. Barrere
Successor5:Franklin Corwin
Office6:Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Adams, Highland, and Fayette Counties
Term Start6:1843
Term End6:1844
Predecessor6:Abraham A. Lowman, John A. Smith
Successor6:Robert Dobbins
Alongside6:Hugh Means
Birth Name:Ebenezer Burnham Martin
Birth Date:10 August 1811
Birth Place:Williamstown, Vermont, U.S.
Death Place:Chelsea, Vermont, U.S.
Resting Place:West Hill Cemetery, Williamstown, Vermont, U.S.
Party:Republican
Otherparty:Whig (before 1854)
Spouse:Christina Ann Brotts (m. 1834)
Sally Ann "Anna" (Smith) Bishop
Children:1
Profession:Attorney

Burnham Martin (August 10, 1811  - November 17, 1882) was a Vermont lawyer, farmer and politician who served as the 22nd lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1858 to 1860.

Early life

Burnham Martin was born in Williamstown, Vermont on August 10, 1811.[1] He was trained as a saddler and worked in Saratoga Springs, New York and Fayette County, Ohio in the 1830s and 1840s, also teaching school and studying law. After attaining admission to the bar, Martin joined the Whigs and served as Fayette County State's Attorney from 1841 to 1843. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845, and he served in the Ohio Senate from 1845 to 1847.[2] [3]

Martin subsequently returned to Vermont. He settled in Chelsea, where he practiced law and farmed, also serving in local offices for most of his life, including Chelsea Justice of the Peace, Orange County State's Attorney from 1849 to 1850 and 1853, and County Clerk from 1857 to 1858.[4] [5]

Political career

In 1857 Martin represented Chelsea in the Vermont House of Representatives.[6]

He was elected Lieutenant Governor as a Republican and served from 1858 to 1860.[7] [8] [9]

Martin served in the Vermont Senate from 1866 to 1868.[10]

From 1872 until his death he served as Chelsea's Town Clerk.[11] From 1876 to 1878, Martin served again in the Vermont House of Representatives.

Later life

Martin was a member of the Bennington Battle Monument Commission and was active in the Orange County Agricultural Society, serving as its Secretary.[12] [13]

Death and burial

Burnham Martin died in Chelsea on November 17, 1882.[14] [15] [16] He was buried in Williamstown's West Hill Cemetery.

Other

In 1867 at a speech at the agricultural fair in Tunbridge, Vermont, Martin described the event as a "little World's Fair". This name was soon adopted as the official name of the annual fair that is still held to this day. This event is recorded on a historical marker on the edge of the fairgrounds in Tunbridge.[17] [18]

Martin's first name appears variously as "Burnham" or "Burnam." It is spelled "Burnham" on his gravestone.

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=7FcSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA266 One Thousand Men
  2. https://archive.org/stream/gazetteeroforang00chil#page/n111/mode/2up Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=k2g1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA302 The Biographical Annals of Ohio, 1904-1905
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=9jUTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA284 Journal of the House of the State of Vermont
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=8JAVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA244 The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=eJUbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA873 The Vermont Historical Gazetteer
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=UnYUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA465 Vermont: The Green Mountain State
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15 Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont
  9. http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/elect/results1/pdf/stoff2ltgov.pdf General Election results, Vermont Lieutenant Governor, 1813-2011
  10. https://books.google.com/books?id=_zhFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA336 Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont
  11. https://books.google.com/books?id=Rt4GAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA68 Vermont Year Book
  12. https://books.google.com/books?id=swouAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83 The Centennial History of the Battle of Bennington
  13. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ev4OAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA127 Magazine article, Officers of Agricultural Societies
  14. https://books.google.com/books?id=9GkUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA62 Star Almanac for 1882
  15. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1882/11/18/102930532.pdf Death notice, Burnham Martin
  16. http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2012/Corning%20NY%20Journal/Corning%20NY%20Journal%201881-1882%20Grayscale/Corning%20NY%20Journal%201881-1882%20Grayscale%20-%200401.pdf Death notice, Burnham Martin
  17. Vermont Life magazine, by Vermont Agency of Development and Community Affairs, Volumes 29-30, 1974, page 6
  18. https://books.google.com/books?id=cttfCycN_BoC&pg=PA7 The Tunbridge World's Fair