Los Angeles County
Biographies
ROBERT MEAD MARTIN
MARTIN, ROBERT MEAD, Mining and Oil, Los Angeles, California, was born in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, May 26, 1868, the son of Robert Mead Martin and Cornelia (Sherman) Martin. He is a grandson of Colonel Richard B. Martin and of Henry Sherman, who built the first butter factory in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, gave the site where the famous Elgin Watch Company’s plant is located and was generally regarded as one of the prominent men of his day. Mr. Martin married Emma A. Brown at Red Cloud, Nebraska, September 2, 1892, and to them there have been born two children, Dorothy and Helen Martin.
Mr. Martin received his early training in the public schools of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and later attended school in Elgin, finishing in the academic department of Northwestern University. Upon the completion of his studies there he took a special course in banking at the Worthington Drew Business College.
Upon graduation from that institution, Mr. Martin moved with his family to Red Cloud, Nebraska, and there engaged in the mercantile business with his father. This was in the year 1886 and Mr. Martin remained with his father until 1894, when he went to Cripple Creek, Colorado, then the mecca of the fortune hunters of the land, and engaged in the mining business. He remained at Cripple Creek until after that camp had been visited by two great fires and he then migrated to California and Arizona, where he became associated with Governor Louis Wofley in the mining business. They were in partnership until the death of Mr. Wofley, in 1910, and during that time carried on various development enterprises. Together they developed the Climax Mine, eighteen miles west of Prescott, Arizona, the first gold quartz mine discovered north of the Gila River. He is the President and General Manager of the Climax Mining Company at the present time.
In 1901 Mr. Martin had established his home in Los Angeles and he there became interested in real estate and oil enterprises, the magnitude of which caused him, in 1903, to dispose of a considerable portion of his interests in Arizona. From that time down to date he has been engaged principally in the oil business and has acquired valuable holdings in various parts of the California oil fields, principally in Ventura County. In addition to the erection of two large oil refineries, Mr. Martin has been active in the drilling of wells and the production of oil.
In 1903 Mr. Martin financed the Granite Securities Company for the purpose of warranting corporation bonds. This company is now considered the largest guarantee company of its character in the United States, and Mr. Martin has been an active factor in the success of the concern. Two years after its organization he bought control of the company, and in 1909 assumed the Presidency and General Management of it, both of which positions he occupies at present. In addition to the duties of this company and his other enterprises, Mr. Martin has taken up a large development project with Colonel Robert Hunter of Washington, D.C.
In the Spring of 1911 they acquired 1,070,000 acres of land in Southwestern Arizona and are at the present time at work upon a plan of colonization which they expect to put into effect in 1915. This is one of the most important individual attempts at colonizing that part of the country that has ever been attempted.
Owing to the nature of his business interests, Mr. Martin has come to be regarded as one of the most practical developers and upbuilders the Southwest possesses.
Mr. Martin is a stanch supporter of the policies of the Republican party and also is actively engaged in the work of the Methodist Church. He belongs to the Masons, the Fraternal Brotherhood and the Ancient Order United Workmen.
Transcribed
12-2-10 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 555, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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