[p. 965] one of the best known citizens of North Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, is engaged in general farming and dairying. He was born near Edenburg, Mahoning Township, of this county, Jannary 10, 1842, and is a son of Alfred and Rachel (Blazier) Martin.
Alfred Martin, the father, was born in the State of Maine and when a young man moved to Pittsburg, Pa. He located on an island below the city and was there engaged in truck gardening for some time. He next moved to Mahoning Township, then in Beaver County, now Lawrence, and farmed there some years. About 1854 he moved to North Beaver Township, purchasing the farm now owned by Thomas Norwood, near Westfield Church, and lived there until 1864, when he sold out to John Norwood. He then purchased 180 acres, where our subject now lives, and resided there until his death in 1895. His widow survived him two years, dying in 1897. She was born and reared in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where she was living at the time of her marriage. They became the parents of the following children: Calvin, who served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil War, and died in the hospital as the result of exposure during the battle of Pittsburg Landing; Julia, deceased, who was the wife of Samuel Gibson; Harriet, wife of James A. Davidson; George Alonzo; Algernon L., who is in the department of the secretary of agriculture for the State of Pennsylvania, and who is known prominently throughout the State as a writer on agricultural subjects and a lecturer before farmers' institutes, of which he has charge for the State; Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of Milo Gibson; Alfred, who died at the age of nineteen years; Frank A., a painter, who lives in North Beaver Township, and Zelia, wife of David Bradford, of New Castle.
George Alonzo Martin, better known as "Lon" Martin, was reared on the farm and received a common school education. He has followed farming more or less all through life, and at the same time has worked at his trade as a painter. He sold out sixty acres, his share of the home farm, and for a time lived in Little Beaver Township, where he had purchased land. This he subsequently sold and went west to Kansas, where he purchased a tract of land, but never resided. He returned to the home place, where he now owns some sixty acres. His son, Calvin O. Martin owns a 100-acre farm adjoining on the west, and makes his home with his parents. Our subject follows diversified farming, but makes a specialty of dairying.
In 1871 Mr. Martin was united in marriage with Mary Kennedy, who was born and reared in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of David and Rachel Kennedy. They were married in North Beaver Township and have four children, as follows: Lillian, who married S. D. Fullerton and has four children, namely: Amy, Guy, Margaret and Esther; Calvin O., who is single and resides at home; Rachel, who also is at home, and Harry, who is in the passenger service of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad.
Mr. Martin saw service during the Civil War, enlisting August 23, 1864, as a member of Company B, Fifth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. He served until the close of the war, then returned home. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, whilst in religious attachment he is a member of the Petersburg Presbyterian Church.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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