|
 Robert Martin - Summit View Cemetery - Guthrie, OK Posted by:  Max and 99
N 35° 53.774 W 097° 24.205
14S E 644090 N 3973616
Secretary and Acting Governor of the Territory of Oklahoma
Waymark Code: WMFTAD
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 11/27/2012
Views: 6
The final resting place of Robert Martin is near the center of Guthrie's Summit View Cemetery. His is an upright, light gray marker with the following text:
Robert Martin 1833 - 1897
Secretary, Territory of Oklahoma 1890 - 1893
Acting Governor, Territory of Oklahoma 1891 - 1892
Mayor, City of Guthrie 1894 - 1896
Erected by Sooner Heritage Club
Guthrie Junior High School
Description:
From the Oklahoma Historical Society website:
Born at Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1833, Robert Martin, a territorial governor of Oklahoma, grew to manhood in Ohio. After graduating from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, he taught in Steubenville High School in Ohio, while reading law. His marriage to Ada S. Gilmore, of Marietta, Ohio, came in 1861; the union produced two daughters. The following year he entered law practice in Steubenville and later enlisted in the 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as an officer. Martin's Civil War service was cut short by illness, and he was discharged from the U.S. Army in November 1863. Reentering law practice, he briefly went into local Republican politics before moving to Kansas in 1887.
In company of a group of former soldiers, Robert Martin came to Oklahoma in April 1889, where he settled at Harrison. He immediately became involved in the movement for organizing the territory, serving in the convention that met in July 1889 in Guthrie. Soon after this he moved to El Reno, and when territorial government was established with the Organic Act of May 2, 1890, he was nominated territorial secretary.
During his tenure Martin became well known in Washington because of his careful attention to territorial finances. His accurate and timely reports to the Interior and Treasury departments drew favorable notice. He held the secretarial post until the October 1891 resignation of Territorial Governor George Washington Steele. On November, 8, 1891, Martin took office as acting governor. On February 1, 1892, he vacated the governor's office to Abraham Jefferson Seay and continued as territorial secretary until replaced by the Democratic administration that was installed by Pres. Grover Cleveland in May 1893.
Martin resided in Guthrie, and in April 1894 he successfully ran for the post of mayor, an office which he held until 1896. During his term he paid off a large portion of the city's debt and placed the community on a sound financial footing. Robert Martin died of heart failure March 2, 1897, in Guthrie.
Date of birth: 01/01/1833
Date of death: 03/02/1897
Area of notoriety: Politics
Marker Type: Headstone
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Sunrise to Sunset
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.
We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.
|