Riverside
County
Biographies
HUGH RALPH MARTIN, M. D.
Dr. Hugh Ralph Martin, one of
California’s leading surgeons, had been successfully engaged in practice at
Riverside for more than a quarter of a century when death closed his busy and
useful career on the 22nd of January, 1929. Born in Bement,
Piatt County, Illinois, July 17, 1875, he was a son of Hudson and Camilla T.
(Purvis) Martin. The father, a merchant,
was born near Louisville, Kentucky, in 1835, and accompanied his parents on
their removal to Sullivan, Illinois, where he formed the acquaintance of the
lady who became his wife in 1859.
Thirteen years following their marriage, in 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson
Martin settled at Bement, Illinois, the birthplace of
Dr. Martin. The family numbered five
sons and one daughter, and the wife and mother passed away in 1897.
Hugh Ralph Martin acquired his
common school education in his home community and later entered the medical
department of the University of Illinois, from which he graduated with honors
in the class of 1901. His medical career
had already begun, however, for while visiting Riverside, California, in 1898,
he enlisted in Company M, Seventh Regiment, National Guard of California, and
when ready to embark at San Francisco for duty in the Philippines, he was
transferred to the hospital corps. He
spent fifteen months in the medical service both in the Philippines and Hawaii,
writing home of his varied experiences in a very entertaining manner. Following is an excerpt from a letter written
to his father from the Second Reserve Hospital at Malate,
Manila, Philippine Islands, February 14, 1899:
“You will no doubt be looking at the
list of killed and wounded for my name.
So far I have been spared, but there is no safety for an American
soldier in the Philippines now. The
insurrection started on February 4, at the outpost. The insurgents attempted to push our sentries
inward and the sentry killed three insurgents and retreated. Presently the cannon gave the ‘call to arms’
and the whole Eighth Army Corps was in readiness in about twenty minutes. Gatling guns and artillery were soon in
action. The trouble started about 9:00
P. M., February 4, and of course Dewey could do but little damage before
day. Our troops held them at bay till
morning when the terrible shells from Dewey’s guns surprised the Negroes. Dewey was signaled to set fire to a certain
blockhouse. His first shell left two
sticks standing. They shoot
accurate. They had the finest entrenchments
possible and it is remarkable how our boys charged them. Our boys would give a rousing cheer and away
they would go right into awful fire. The
natives were very stubborn and laid down their lives fighting to the last. Hundreds of their wounded are taken to our
hospitals and cared for. While they lost
thousands, our number killed and wounded to date is about three hundred and
fifty (sixty killed). Realizing that it
is impossible for me to give a full detail of the battles you must read that in
the papers. It is awful to see our
comrades ‘all shot to pieces’ in reality.
The natives use poisoned bullets and that is all the worse…Several shots
were fired into the hospital and the hospital corps were fired on and killed
while carrying the wounded…Every regiment here did excellent fighting and
advanced nearly every charge. The enemy
is now several miles in the country and the supposition is that we have but one
or two more heavy battles to fight.
Their strongest forts are at Malolos, where
Aguinaldo is supposed to be. If the
shells from the boats can reach back that far the city will not last long…The
fighting lasted almost one week, the worst of which was on Sunday, February
5. The insurgents wrecked the waterworks
but the city was out of water but one day.
Pieces of the machinery were found in the coal pile and were quickly
replaced. As a whole and individually,
the movements were perfect. Our forces
of fifteen thousand were outnumbered probably one hundred thousand. Some of the natives are fair shots, but they
can’t hit their mark like our boys, as is plainly shown by the contest now
partly over.”
Dr. Martin was mustered out at
Manila, July 21, 1899, and upon returning to the United States completed his
medical studies at the University of Illinois and came directly to Riverside to
begin practice. This city remained the
scene of his professional labors until his untimely death at the age of
fifty-three. For several years he was
associated with Dr. W. B. Sawyer and later had as a partner, Dr. C. R. Geith. As a man of
high ethical principles and worthy ambitions, recognized among his colleagues
as a surgeon of pronounced skill, he was eminently successful in the work of
his chosen profession. For two decades
prior to his death he was chief surgeon of the Riverside Portland Cement
Company and for ten years he served his city as a member of the board of
health. Dr. Martin had membership in the
Riverside County Medical Society, the California State Medical Association and
the American Medical Association. He also
figured in financial affairs as a director of the Citizens National Bank of
Riverside and enjoyed high standing among the citizens of the community.
In January, 1905, Dr. Martin was
married at the Riverside Episcopal Church to Miss Annetta Miller, a native of
Winnipeg, Manitoba, and a daughter of James and Lindy Miller. Miss Miller was a graduate of the Vancouver
General Hospital and a trained nurse by profession. By her marriage she became the mother of
three sons: Hugh Hudson, Hugh Ralph,
Jr., and Worthington Lee Martin.
Dr. Martin was chosen the
organization president of the Riverside Lions Club. A worthy exemplar of the teachings and
purposes of the Masonic fraternity, he had membership in Evergreen Lodge, No.
259, F. & A. M.; Riverside Commandery, K. T.; Long Beach Consistory, A. A.
S. R.; and Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He was a life member of Riverside Lodge, No.
1643, B. P. O. E., and also belonged to Riverside Lodge No. 282, I. O. O. F.,
and Riverside Aerie, No. 997, F. O. E.
The following tribute to the memory
of Dr. Martin is from the pen of a member of the Riverside Medical
Society: “Dr. Hugh Ralph Martin was one
of God’s great noblemen. As a son he was
thoughtful, industrious and obedient; as a father he was sympathetic, loving
and kind, and as a physician and surgeon he possessed those rare attributes
which immediately inspired confidence and disarmed all criticism as to the
‘modus operandi’ in any critical case.
He possessed a skill that placed him in the forefront of the surgeons of
the Pacific coast. His ability and
endurance have been the marvel of all who have known the magnitude of his
labors. . . . . Dr. Martin was a most generous man, giving of his time, ability
and wealth in countless ways of which the public will never know, except when
recipients of his generosity mention his noble traits. Especially was he considerate of the poor and
unfortunate. For years he went
regularly, on Tuesdays, to the hospital at Arlington and operated without
compensation upon those who were unable to pay a fee at the Community
Hospital. I never knew of his turning a
deaf ear to anyone in distress. Dr.
Martin’s most strenuous life made it imperative that he take much needed rest
from his labors. Frequently he returned
east for the surgical clinics. He was
likewise very fond of travel. On one
occasion he went to Tahiti. Five years
ago, in 1924, he spent six weeks in Alaska, recuperating and enjoying the
marvels of our northern wonderland. In
1927 he took his family and went to Yellowstone National Park; again we find
him a passenger on the President Monroe Dollar liner going around the world;
later he blazed the trail for Herbert Hoover on a trip to the Canal Zone and
skirting South America. As a traveling
companion he was most delightful. His
stock of experiences was replete with wit and entertainment. He possessed the faculty of getting under the
surface and of learning the hidden mysteries of life. He made friends easily and never missed an
opportunity to place the welfare of others ahead of his physical
limitations. He loved his profession and
never was so happy as when he was restoring his
patients to health and happiness.”
The Riverside Daily Press of January
28, 1929, printed the following tribute by Anne Cameron: “Hugh Ralph Martin, friend and doctor, is at
rest. All too often of later years he
had been worn with the effort to cram into each day more than its measure of
service, and he is gone before his time.
It is significant that in speaking of him even the scores of men who
were his close friends always said, ‘Doctor Martin,’ instead of using his given
name, so integrated with his personality was his life work. The steady, appraising blue eyes behind the
rimmed glasses, the strong, slim, sentient fingers, the quick, accurate
movements marked the born surgeon; but the well-spring of his success was his
deep, inarticulate love of humanity. He
was a doer, little given to fine words, but the sympathy of the man enriched
the skill of the surgeon. His patients
were to him first of all human beings, brothers in distress, and he gave his
deft hands and his fine mind unstintingly to their relief. Hurried and often brusque in ordinary
intercourse, with the sick he was infinitely gentle. How many people survive him better equipped
for living because he labored among us with simple integrity and high ability!”
We also quote from another review of
the career of Dr. Martin published under the date of January 23, 1929: “One of California’s foremost surgeons and a
citizen who was known and beloved for his kindliness and sympathetic service to
mankind, was taken yesterday as death claimed Dr. Hugh R. Martin at the end of
a futile three-year fight to regain failing health. Dr. Martin had returned only a short time ago
from a hopeful trip to the famous Mayo brothers at Rochester, Minnesota, but
the journey availed him but little, as he already had sacrificed his body to
the welfare of others. The break in
health came after a most strenuous life in which he had devoted his remarkable
surgical and medical skill to relieving the sufferings of hundreds here. . .
Dr. Martin’s skill was recognized throughout the state and his services were in
constant demand. Fellow physicians here
attest to his wonderful benevolent spirit.
They declare it will never be known to what length he has gone countless
times to relieve suffering of the poor without compensation.”
The Riverside Daily Press on January
26, 1929, said: “Funeral rites for the
late Dr. Hugh R. Martin, whose death has cast a shadow over the city, were
conducted this afternoon at the home on Rubidoux Drive and at the M. H. Simons
Funeral Chapel. The service at 1:30
o’clock at the home, where the body lay in state, was for members of the family,
members of the medical profession and their wives, and Riverside nurses. The Episcopal Church funeral ritual was read
by Dr. Henry Clark Smith of All Saints Episcopal Church, assisted by Rev. C. L.
Waite, pastor of the First Christian Church.
Following the service at the home the body was removed to the M. H.
Simons & Company chapel, where it was prepared for burial in full Knights
Templar regalia. The beautiful and
impressive Knights Templar burial ritual was read by Sir Knight Commander Henry
W. Coil and Sir Knight Prelate J. P. Robeson, at the chapel. Lieutenant Governor H. L. Carnahan, a close
personal friend of the deceased for many years, paid a beautiful tribute to the
deceased. Miss Guillarmina
Furlong, harpist, played two numbers, ‘The Vacant Chair’ and ‘Lead Kindly
Light,’ while the vocal numbers were by H. Norman Spohr,
who sang ‘Abide With Me’ and ‘Beautiful Isle of
Somewhere.’ At the grave the burial
ritual of the Knights Templar was continued by Sir Knight Commander Henry W.
Coil and Sir Knight Prelate J. P. Robeson, with the benediction following by
Dr. Henry Clark Smith. Then from the
distance came the sweet notes of ‘Abide With Me,’
played by Gustav Hilverkus on the cornet, with ‘taps’
following. As the sun was sinking over
the cross on historic Mount Rubidoux, casting a shadow over the last resting
place of a much loved member of the medical profession, there came the purr of an airplane motor. Piloted by Lieutenant James Cumberpatch, the plane slowly approached the city of the
dead, and a member of the March Field medical staff dropped beautiful blooms
upon the grave as a tribute of love and esteem which the medical staff and
officers and men of the post held for the deceased. It was a very impressive moment, causing
sorrowing hearts to beat just a little faster.”
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
65-71, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE BIOGRAPIES