COL. JOHN A.

MARTIN: BIOGRAPHICAL ITEMS

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

Among the obituaries and tributes appearing after the death of Colonel John
Alexander Martin are many that are of interest. However, worth sharing are three printed
below. They appeared in the Atchison, Kansas, newspaper, The Champion, October 3,
1889. The year, 1889, had seen three deaths in Martin's immediate family. His mother,
Jane Montgomery (Crawford) Martin (born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, January 13,
1809), had died in Kansas City, April 18, 1889. His father, James C. Martin (born in
Brownsville, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1803), died in Atchison, May 28, 1889. Now with
John A. Martin's death a little over four months later, it was not just the family, but the
city of Atchison and the State of Kansas that mourned.

The first article below is a dense review of Martin's life. The second is a
poignant revelation of his personality, of his determination to forge ahead with the task at
hand despite his debilitating illness. The third note looks back to an instruction he gave
to his wife, Ida, concerning the publication of his paper, The Champion. His wife, Ida
(Challiss) Martin (born Morrestown, New Jersey, May 25, 1851), was to survive her
husband until November 2, 1932.

I. JOHN A. MARTIN: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

To summarize a very busy life in a few paragraphs no doubt was a challenge to

the author of the first article. Concentrating mostly upon the public career of Martin, the
paper merely touches the highlights, leaving many details aside. Yet, it is ably done, and
places his various activities within the overall sweep of his life.

Col. JOHN A. MARTIN was born March 10, 1839, at Brownsville, Penn.
In his fifteenth year he learned the printer's trade in the office of the
Brownsville Clipper. During the last year of his apprenticeship he was the
foreman and local editor of this paper. In his eighteenth year, in the spring
of 1857, he removed from Brownsville to Pittsburg [sic, Pittsburgh],
Penn., and was employed as a compositor in the office of the Commercial
Journal. In October of that same year he came to Kansas, located in
Atchison, and for a short time set type in the office of the Squatter
Sovereign, and subsequently worked in the office of the Crusader of
Freedom at Doniphan. In February, 1858, he purchased of OF. Short the
Squatter Sovereign, changed its name to Freedom's Champion and on the
20th of the same month, in the city of Atchison, began his long editorial
career in Kansas.
 i»

From the very beginning of his career in this State he was, first, last and
all the time a staunch and fearless Free State man, and an ardent, stalwart
Republican, being one of the organizers of the Republican party in
Kansas, and for 25 consecutive years the honored chairman of the
Atchison County Republican Central Committee. He was the Secretary of
the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention, and was elected State Senator
from the district comprised of Atchison and Brown counties before he had
reached his 21 st year. He was a delegate to the Territorial Convention of
Lawrence—April 11, 1860, and to the National Republican Convention
which followed shortly afterwards. He was Secretary of the State Railroad
Convention which met at Topeka in 1860, for the purpose of devising a
railway system for the State, and was a member of the first State Senate in
1861.

In the summer of 1861 he assisted in organizing the Eighth Kansas

Infantry, of which he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel. He served with
his regiment on the Missouri border during the fall and winter of 1861.
Early in 1862, he was appointed Provost Marshal of Leavenworth, and in
March of the same year was ordered, with his regiment to Corinth, Miss.,
and was brigaded with the division that formed a part of Gen. BUELL's
command in Tennessee.

During the whole war he served in the Army of the Cumberland. On the
1st of November, 1862, he was promoted to the Colonelcy [sic] of his
regiment, and was assigned to duty as Provost Marshal of Nashville,
Tenn., which place he filled with credit and distinction from December,
1862, to June, 1863.

He took part with his regiment in the battles of Perryville, Kentucky, and
Lancaster, Kentucky; in the famous campaign against Tullahoma and
Chattanooga; the battle of Chicamauga [sic.]; the siege of Chattanooga;
the storming of Mission Ridge; the campaign in East Tennessee, in the
winter of 1863-4; the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and the
subsequent pursuit of HOOD northward.

In the latter part of 1864, Col. MARTIN was placed in command of the
Third Brigade, First Division, 20th Army Corps, on the second day af
[sic] the battle of Chicamauga [sic] and during the siege of Chattanooga.
Subsequently he commanded the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourth
Army Corps, from August, 1864, until his muster out at Pulaski, Tenn.,
November 17, 1864.

Upon his return home, in January, 1865, he resumed control of THE

CHAMPION, and on the 22d of March succeeding he issued the first
number of THE DAILY CHAMPION.
 Col. MARTIN has filled numerous and important civil and political
positions. He has been Commander-in-Chief of the State Encampment of
the Grand Army of the Republic; a delegate from Kansas to the National
Republican conventions of 1860, 1868, 1872, and 1880; a member of the
National Republican Committee from 1868-1884, and from 1880-1881
Secretary of that committee. He was a member of the United States
Centennial Commission, and one of the Vice-Presidents of that body. He
was one of the incorporators of the Kansas Magazine; a member of the
Kansas State Historical Society, and the President for one term; was
President of the State Editorial and Publishers Association in 1878. In
1878 he was elected by both houses of Congress, one of the Board of
Managers of National Soldiers' Home; re-elected in 1882, and 1886, and
was at the time of his death the second Vice-President of that body.

He was elected Mayor of the city of Atchison in 1865; he was the third
post-master of this city, a position which he held for twelve years, and was
elected Governor of Kansas in 1884 and re-elected in 1886. At the close
of his Gubernatorial term of four years, he returned to this city and
resumed editorial control of THE CHAMPION, of which he was the sole
proprietor, and until eight weeks ago last Tuesday, was at his desk daily,
writing and supervising the affairs of his paper.

On June 1, 1871, he was married to Miss Ida Challiss, the eldest daughter
of Dr. and Mrs. W. L. Challiss, of this city, who, with her seven children,
RUTH, GRACE, ETHEL, EVAN, FAITH, PAUL and HARRIS, survive
him.

n. HIS LAST PARAGRAPH

The second item reveals something of the devotion of Martin to his work, and his
irrepressible hope despite his illness.

Among the very last things written by Col. JOHN A. MARTIN in

the office before he was forced by his illness to retire to his home was the
following which appeared in THE CHAMPION of August 4:

This page of THE CHAMPION has been prepared, for three days
past, by a man who probably ought to be in bed, but who isn't going to
surrender to a wracking cold and a debilitating fever unless he has to.
Except, between midnight and eight o'clock in the morning, the writer has
never had any use for a bed, and he hopes that pills and powders and a
pretty fair amount of will power will aid him in keeping out of it, at
unseemly hours, now.
 m. INSTRUCTIONS TO IDA CHALLISS MARTIN

The third brief excerpt also reveals his dedication to the newspaper that he edited
throughout his adult life. It is difficult to sense any premonition in this instruction,
however.

Some time ago, while in perfect health, Col. MARTIN said to Mrs.
MARTIN: "When I die I don't want THE CHAMPION suspended for a
single issue on that account." In obedience to the wish thus expressed
THE CHAMPION will continue to appear regularly, as heretofore.