Los
Angeles County
Biographies
GEORGE CUSHING MARTIN
Versatile and accomplished, George
Cushing Martin has won prominence as a writer, inventor and businessman and his
executive force is manifested as president of the Martin Iron Works, located at
1222 East Twenty-eighth Street, Los Angeles.
He was born in Minonk, Illinois, December 10, 1875, a son of Euclid and
Luella (Cushing) Martin, and is descended from one of the most notable of the
old families of Virginia. The father was
one of Nebraska’s foremost citizens, having been identified with practically
every important project undertaken for the benefit of that commonwealth. He was chairman of the Democratic state
central committee, president of the Omaha Board of Trade, and the Omaha
Business Men’s Association, postmaster of Omaha, and a member of the executive
committee of the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago.
Liberal education advantages were
accorded George C. Martin, who attended the public schools of Omaha, Nebraska,
and Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, afterward going to Germany for
the purpose of taking a course in Heidelberg University. Following his graduation from the University
of Wisconsin in 1899 he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Omaha,
Nebraska, for six years, coming to Los Angeles at the end of that time in
1905. Endowed with creative power, he
has gained distinction as an inventor and author. His writings have been of a scientific
nature, consisting principally of articles for the technical press. Among his inventions the most important is
the Martin pipe machine, made by the Martin Iron Works of Los Angeles, the
affairs of which business he is successfully administering in the capacity of president. The plant was started about forty years ago
by the firm of Keller & Thomason, predecessors of the Martin Iron Works,
whose irrigation appliances are shipped to every semi-tropical part of the
world, including Palestine, where citrus fruits are now successfully grown. The University of California, Berkeley, is
more advanced in matters relating to irrigation than any institution in the
world. Mr. Martin works in cooperation
with this department of this institution.
The Martin plant has been visited by scientists and government officials
from the Mediterranean districts and other semi-tropical countries, who have
been instructed in the use of the products that conserve water and who have
placed orders.
On November 3, 1903, Mr. Martin was
married in Los Angeles to Miss Helen Smith, by whom he has four children: Adelaide Helen, Gaylord Georgia, Euclid (II)
and Virginia Rose.
Like his father, Mr. Martin has a
predilection for politics and was formerly a member of the Los Angeles county
central democratic committee. He belongs
to the California Club and to the Psi Upsilon and Phi Delta Phi college
fraternities. He is widely known by
reason of his important achievements, and what he has accomplished represents
the fit utilization of his innate capacities and powers.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 141-142, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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