Jackson Martin Family
Fulton Journal: September 7, 1977

Southwest corner of 10th Avenue and 5th St.
Fulton, Illinois

An Old Home
Sale of the Andrews property to Fulton State Bank brings memories of the Martin House.  On June 12, 1862, Constantine Langenberg transferred title of the real estate to Jackson F. Martin.  The consideration was $800, so there must have been a house on it.  For about the next 75 years, the place was occupied by Martins.
The house was a homey cottage of Victorian styling in early days. It was remodeled, perhaps after the death of Charles V. Martin, into two small apartments.  Two closed-in porches were built at the rear.  A large front porch was added, then or perhaps earlier.
Jackson F. Martin (usually called Jack) was an interesting person.  He was born in 1834, came to Fulton in 1857 and died in 1893.  It could be written truthfully that his great love was for horses.  He exhibited some of his stable at the Morrison Fair in 1861.  He received a prize of eight dollars for the best matched team and three dollars for the second-best single carriage horse.  He had race-horses.  He ran them frequently and won on occasion.  One animal, Dunlap, was a local favorite.  In 1877, he put on the market Jack Martin's Horse Powders.  They were manufactured by the druggist, Leslie Williams. 
Mr Martin operated a livery-stable for a few years and then dealt in livestock.  He was a public-spirited man and did things for the good of the community.  People were dependent on sleighs for transportation in the winter.  There was an obstacle to free-going sometimes.  Uses of the vehicles could travel along swifly until they reached the Cattail Bridge.  Too often, the snow had been blown from it.  He solved the problem by hauling snow into the crude wooden structure.  In 1887, when much of the business center of Fulton was threatened by fire, he rode throughout the city sounding the alarm.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin had five sons, three of whom lived to maturity.  They were Harry, Luther and Charles V.  The last named inherited his father's love for horses.  He drove them in numerous races and ran a livery-stable until the horseless carriages caused its closing.
Mrs. Charles Martin (Tina Johnson) had a great love for flowers.  Her neighbor to the west, Mrs. A.W. Bastian, was equally enthusiastic.   The bought rare lilacs, roses, irises, and spring-flowering bulbs.  The area behind the two homes and Journal office was a beautiful flower-garden during the growing season.  That was long ago but there are still a few lilacs and rose bushes left of the greatly admired planting.