Orlando L. Martin Explained

Orlando L. Martin
Office1:Assistant Judge of Washington County, Vermont
Term Start1:1939
Term End1:1951
Predecessor1:George M. Martin
Successor1:T. Earle Doty
Alongside1:Wilmer H. Vaughn (1939)
John K. Stone (1941)
J. Willsie Brisbin (1949)
Office2:Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
Term Start2:1923
Term End2:1925
Predecessor2:Franklin S. Billings
Successor2:Roswell M. Austin
Office3:Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
Term Start3:1923
Term End3:1925
Predecessor3:Walter H. Martin
Successor3:Elroy F. Leavitt
Constituency3:Plainfield
Term Start4:1908
Term End4:1910
Predecessor4:Harrison C. Cutting
Successor4:Clement P. Kellogg
Constituency4:Plainfield
Office5:Member of the Vermont Senate
Term Start5:1915
Term End5:1917
Predecessor5:Elber B. House, Fred L. Laird, George W. Wallace
Successor5:Frank C. Bancroft, Bertrand R. Demeritt, Fred E. Steele
Alongside5:Heber C. Cady, J. Ward Carver
Constituency5:Washington County
Birth Date:28 April 1872
Birth Place:Plainfield, Vermont, U.S.
Death Place:Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Resting Place:Plainmont Cemetery, North Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Party:Republican
Spouse:Alice Glee Kent (m. 1895)
Children:1
Education:Goddard Seminary
Occupation:School principal
Insurance executive

Orlando L. Martin (April 28, 1872 – May 2, 1951) was a Vermont farmer, teacher and politician who served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.

Biography

Orlando Lewis Martin was born in Plainfield, Vermont on April 28, 1872.[1] He graduated from Goddard Seminary and became a teacher and principal in Plainfield.[2] He was superintendent of schools for several years as well as town meeting moderator, auditor and lister.

A Republican, Martin was a longtime member of the Vermont State Fair Commission. From 1908 to 1910 he served in the Vermont House of Representatives.[3] [4]

After his House term Martin served as Vermont's Commissioner of Agriculture.[5]

From 1915 to 1917 Martin served in the Vermont Senate.[6] [7]

In 1923 Martin returned to the Vermont House and was elected Speaker, serving until 1925.[8] On April 9, 1923, Martin was with the Vermont Secretary of State, Harry A. Black when Black was killed at the train station in Wells River.[9] Black had been ill in the month before his train trip to Montpelier, and according to Martin and other witnesses, Black appeared to faint as he was walking across several tracks to change trains. He fell on one track, and was struck by a moving train. Martin was among those who observed the accident and were unable to render aid to Black before he was killed; Martin was not injured himself.

In 1939 Martin was appointed Washington County Assistant Judge, and he served until his death.[10]

Martin also served as Master of the National Grange and President of the National Grange Fire Insurance Company of Keene, New Hampshire.[11] [12]

In 1895, he married Alice Glee Kent of Calais, Vermont. They had one daughter, Fanny.[13]

Martin was a Universalist.[13]

Judge Martin died in Montpelier, Vermont on May 2, 1951.[14] He was buried at Plainmont Cemetery in North Montpelier.

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=sB5BAAAAIAAJ&q=%22orlando+l+martin%22 History of the Grange in Vermont
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=tt2_3hTQxFMC&dq=%22martin%2C+orlando%22+vermont&pg=PA262-IA1 Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=I4weAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22orlando+l+martin%22&pg=PA116 Magazine article, "Let Us Get Acquainted"
  4. Vermont Legislative Directory, published by Vermont Secretary of State, 1908, page 141
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNFAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22orlando+l+martin%22+vermont+agriculture&pg=PA134 Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=K2JHAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22orlando+l+martin%22+vermont+senate+washington+county&pg=PA3 Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont
  7. American Legislative Leaders in the Northeast, 1911–1994, by James Roger Sharp and Nancy Weatherly Sharp, 2000, page 163
  8. Vermont Year Book, Formerly Walton's Register, by E. P. & G. S. Walton (Montpelier), 1925, page 371
  9. News: April 10, 1923 . Secretary of State H. A. Black Killed at Wells River . Burlington Free Press . Burlington, VT . 1–2 . subscription . .
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20120415001447/http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/Officials/pdf/speakersHouse.pdf Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives since 1870
  11. Cyclopedia of Insurance in the United States, 1952, page 957
  12. Best's Insurance Reports, by A.M. Best Company, 1951, page 382
  13. Prentiss Cutler Dodge (1912) Vermont Biography, Ullery Publishing Company, Burlington, Vermont
  14. Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, record for Orlando Lewis Martin, accessed on Ancestry.com, February 15, 2012