| John Martin | |
| Birth Date: | 18 August 1820 |
| Birth Place: | Peacham, Vermont, United States |
| Death Place: | Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States |
| Occupation: | Steamboat captain, businessperson, lumberman, miller philanthropist |
| Children: | Jean Martin Brown |
| Signature: | Signature of Minnesota businessman John Martin (1820–1905).png |
John Martin (August 18, 1820 – May 25, 1905) of Peacham, Vermont, was an American steamboat captain and businessman in Minneapolis, Minnesota involved in lumber and flour milling.[1] In 1891, Martin led a merger of six mills to create Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company, at the time the world's second largest flour milling company after Pillsbury-Washburn.
John Martin went with his brothers during the California Gold Rush and mined successfully for one year.[2] In 1855, in the Minnesota Territorial town of St. Anthony, John Martin was standard-bearer and leader on horseback of the ceremonial opening of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, the first major permanent bridge across the Mississippi River.[3]
He became President of the First National Bank, he owned the largest lumber mill in the area until it burned in 1887,[4] and he was founding officer of Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad.[5] [6] In 1903, with his financial support to Children's Home Society of Minnesota, the Jean Martin Brown Receiving Home was built to provide a place where children could stay until they were adopted.[7]
John Martin was married in 1849 to Jane B. Gilfillan[8] [9] sister of Minnesota Representative John Bachop Gilfillan, also from Peacham, Vermont. They had one surviving child, Jean Martin Brown (1850-1901). Her son, and sole direct descendant, was Earle Brown,[10] noted Hennepin County Sheriff (1920), founder of the Minnesota State Patrol (1929), and Republican gubernatorial candidate for Minnesota (1932).[11]
John Martin died at his home in Hennepin County on May 25, 1905.[9] He and his family members are buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.