Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/243

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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and he was a useful member of Trinity parish, and its missions at Ashevalle and other places in the locality. He was also a familiar figure in the diocesan and general conventions of the church. A feature of his Christian activity that gives perhaps a truer insight into the nature of the man than all that has gone before is the work he accom- plished through the establishment of mis- sions at the frontier posts in which he was quartered when in the Old Army, many of which have grown into churches with out- lying missions.

His life was eventful in the extreme, and into its fifty-nine confining years he crowded accomplishment of almost unbelievable magnitude and diversity. He followed duty constantly and faithfully, and in its pursuit found only honor, the regard of his fel- lows, and. it must be, the approval of his Master.

General James Green Martin married (first) at Newport, Rhode Island, July 12, 1844, ^lary Anne Murry Read, a great- granddaughter of George Read, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Dela- ware, and of General William Thompson, a brigadier-general in the revolutionary army ; (second) February 8, 1858, Hetty King, a sister of General Rufus King. United States army, a fellow student of General ^lartin at West Point, eldest daughter of Charles King, president of Columbia College, New York, and granddaughter of Rufus King, first American minister to the court of St. James. Children of General James Green Martin, all of his first marriage: William Bruce, of whom further ; Annie Hollings- wood ; Marianne Read and James Green (2).

Judge William Bruce Martin, son of Gen- eral James Green Martin and his first wife, IVIary Anne Slurry Read, was born in New Castle, Delaware. September 18, 1846. He attended the \"irginia Military Institute while that excellent institution was open during the civil war. and although a member of the cadet corps that fought with such distinction in the battle of New ]\Iarket, failed of participation in that battle because he was confined by illness to the hospital. He, however, served with the corps until the close of the war being a lieutenant in Company D. at the time of the evacuation of Richmond, where the cadets were among the last troops withdrawn from the trenches. After the war he worked on a farm, clerked

in a store, taught school and read law in the of^ce of Judge Bailey in Asheville, North Carolina. He became a licensed lawyer in North Carolina in 1867, and in the summer of 1868 establishing himself in legal practice in Norfolk, \'irginia. where he has since re- mained, havintr at different times been a member of the law firms of Duffield & ]\Iartin, and Starke & Martin, the latter a con- nection lasting until his elevation to the bench. This honor came in 1895, when the court of law and chancery was established in Norfolk for the relief of the corporation court, which previous to that time had heard all civil and criminal cases. Judge Martin was recommended by the bar of Norfolk to the legislature for election to the judgeship of this court by the decisive vote of fifty- six to twenty-eight, and has been contin- uously re-elected by the legislature since that date, having now completed his twen- tieth year upon the Norfolk bench. He was last year elected by the legislature for an- other term of eight years beginning Feb- ruary I, 191 5. Through his conspicuous ability Judge ]\Iartin has gained the public confidence and the respect and admiration of the members of the legal fraternity who plead before him. He is a jurist, exact, fearless and impartial, and his decisions bear the stamp of integrity, honor, and deep re- gard for right and justice. Flis court does an immense business, and it is but natural that some appeals should be taken, but his average of affirmances is one in which he may well take pride. To him has been fit- tingly applied the compliment originally paid a celeljrated English jurist : 'AMien the judi- cial ermine descended upon him it touched nothing less pure than itself." In the long term that he has held his seat upon the bench he has remained in the highest esti- mation of those who first found his worth as a lawyer, and the court over which he presides fulfills the worthy aim of its found- ing, for he is energetic and tireless in the performance of duty.

Judge Martin was for three terms city attorney of Norfolk, an office filled by popu- lar vote, and also served Norfolk as a mem- ber of the city council, in which body his strong influence was happily felt. To the legal profession at large he is best known as the author of an index-digest of Virginia decisions, a work that, upon its publication, gained the unanimous and hearty approval