Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/296

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MARTlfT


MARTIN


in South Carolina, changing his name to Martin ; and was of Huguenot, Scotch and German ances- try. He studied under the Rev. Isaac Anderson of Maryvilie, Tenn., removed to Alabama, and practised law at Athens. He was a representative in the state legislature in 1823 ; state solicitor, and later a circuit judge and chancellor of the middle division of the state. He was a Demo- cratic representative in the 24th and 25th con- gresses, 1885-39. and governor of the state, 1845- 47. His son, John M. Martin, was a lawyer, mem- ber of the 8tat«' legislature 15 years, speaker of the senate, a representative in the 49th congress 1885-89, married Lucy C, daughter of Judge E. W. Peck, and their son, Wolsey Randal Martin, practised law with his father at Tuscaloosa and removed to Fort Smith, Ark., in 1885. Governor Martin died in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Nov. 2, 1856.

MARTIN, Lillian Jane, psychologist, was born in Olean, N.Y., July 7, 1851 ; daughter of Russell and Lydia (Hawes) Martin, granddaughter of Frederick S. Martin and of Newton Hawes. She was graduated from Vassar in 1880, and was teach- er of sciences at the Indianapolis high-school, 1880-89, devoting her summer vacations to the study of botany and chemistry at Harvard, Cornell and elsewhere. For original research in these lines she was made a fellow of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science. She was also made a member of the National Council of Education. She was vice-principal and head of the de|)artment of science in the girls' high-school, San Francisco, Cal., 1889-94, and then entered the department of psychology in Gottingen uni- rersity , Germany, the first woman to be accepted as a student in that department. While in Got- tingen she collaborated with Prof. G. E. Muller in preparing a book for advanced scientists en- titled : A Contribution to the Analysis oftlieSensi- bility to Difference (1899). In 1899 she returned to San Francisco. The same year she was ap- pointed assistant professor of psychology in Le- land Stanford Jr. university and during the absence of Dr. Frank Angell on leave of absence in Europe she carried on the work of the depart- ment of psychology.

MARTIN, Luther, lawyer, was born in New Brunswick, N.J., Feb. 9, 1744 ; son of Benjamin and Hannah, grandson of Benjamin and Philerale (Slater), great-grandson of Benjamin and Mar- garet Reynolds and greats-grandson of John and Esther Martin, the immigrants. Benjamin 2d removed from Dover, N.H., to Pisc-ataqua, N.J. Luther was the third of nine children. He entered the grammar school connecteil with the College of New Jersey in 1761, and was graduated with the highest honors in a class that included Waightstill Owen, Oliver Ellsworth, and David Howell : A.B., 1766, A.M., 1769. He taught a


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country school at Queenstown, Md., 1766-71, in order to pay his tuition in law. He lived in pen- ury and was arrested for debt no less than five times, but finally managed to settle all his ac- counts. In 1771 Chancellor Wythe used his.

influence in his be-

half, and on Septem- ber 1 he was admitted to the bar at Wil- liamsburg, Va., by the chancellor and John Randolph, upon examination, and practised in Accom- ack county, Va. He soon became a fam- ous lawyer and in a few years his profes- sional income was $5,000 per annum, a large sum for a law- yer at that time. In 1774 he was appointed one of a committee on* the part of Virginia to oppose the unjust claims, of Great Britain, and also a member of the con- vention lield at Annapolis to resist the usurpa- tions of the British crown. Tliese occupations- endangered his liberty, but he entered upon them with unflinching zeal and courage. He made himself especially obnoxious to the royal authority by writing a powerful answer to Lord Howe's proclamation calling upon the people to uphold the crown, and his answer, published in the Maryland Gazette, was received by the people of the peninsula with enthusiasm. He was ap- pointed attorney-general of Maryland in 1778, through the influence of Samuel Chase, and he was chosen a delegate to the convention that framed the Federal constitution, but left the convention rather than sign the instrument. He was engaged as counsel for the defence in th& impeachment trial of Judge Samuel Chase, ac- cused of malfeasance in office. The trial began Feb. 4< 1804, and lasted till March 1,1804, when after a powerful argument by Mr. Martin, Judge- Chase was acquitted. He also defended Aaron Burr in his trial at Richmond, Va., in 1807, with so much zeal and energy as to cause President Jefferson to ask the prosecuting attorney if the government should '* move to commit Luther Martin as jxirticeps criminis of Burr," and the President denounced him as " an unprincipled and impudent Federal bulldog." At the close of the trial, which resulted in the acquittal of Burr, Mr. Martin entertained both Burr and Blennerhassett at his residence in Baltimore. He was chief judge of the court of oyer and ter- miner in Baltimore, 1814-16, and attorney-gen- eral of Maryland, 1818-20. In 1820 a stroke of