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A. OSCAR MARTIN

A. OSCAR MARTIN, architect, of Doylestown, was born at Dublin , Bucks county, September 8,  1873 , and is a son of Jonas and Mary Catharine (Crouthamel) Martin.  Jonas Martin, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Bucks county, and of German descent, his ancestors having been among the earliest German settlers in upper Bucks.  He was a veteran of the civil war, having enlisted in Company D, Captain Jacob Swartzlander, in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel W. W. H. Davis, on September 17, 1861 , being commissioned sergeant of the company.  He served the full term of his enlistment, three years, and re-enlisted in the same company for the war.  After his re-enlistment, with a number of other members of the company stationed at Philadelphia, while the company was being recruited, he paid several visits to his family.  In January, 1865, they were ordered to the front and proceeded to Point of Rocks, Virginia, where Sergeant Martin was attacked with acute diarrhoea, and died January 24, 1865, and is buried in the National Cemetery at City Point, Virginia, in Section F, Division 1, No. 138.  His widow, who was Hannah Hill, of Bedminster, is still living at Durham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, aged eight-eight years.

     Jonas Martin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on a farm near Dublin , in Bedminster township,  in 1850.  He lived on the farm until his eighteenth year, when he was apprenticed to the carpenter trade, and has followed that occupation ever since.  He has been a resident of Doylestown for the past thirty years, where he has been a prominent contractor and builder.  He married Mary Catharine Crouthamel, who was born in Bedminster township, Bucks county in 1851, the daughter of Michael and Barbara Crouthamel, both of German descent.  They were the parents of thirteen children, twelve of whom survive:  Ida, wife of George Freas, a carpenter of Philadelphia; Ezra, a builder and contractor in Philadelphia; A. Oscar, the subject of this sketch; Elmira, wife of Warren Lewis, a painter, residence Philadelphia; Barbara, residing at home; Frank, a carpenter residing in Philadelphia; Laura, Raymond, Emma, Hannah and Howard residing at home.

    A. Oscar Martin, the subject of this sketch, was an infant when his parents removed to Doylestown, and his education was acquired at Doylestown high school.  He learned the carpenter trade with his father, but at the age of seventeen years began the study of architectural drawing, and in 1892 entered Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, where he took up a special course for the study of architectural work.  He early displayed special talent for this branch of work, and prior to his college course designed numerous buildings.  After his graduation he spent nearly three years in the offices of prominent architects in New York city, Philadelphia and Buffalo, New York, thereby gaining the necessary experience to equip him for a successful career in his chosen profession.  He then located in Doylestown, where he is doing a fine business.  The German Reformed and Methodist churches were designed by Mr. Martin, as well as numerous prominent buildings in other parts of the country.  His plans for the development of the grounds and location of building the Bucks County Historical Society were accepted by the building committee, and he drew the second prize in the competition.  Politically Mr. Martin is a Republican.  He is a member of Aquetong Lodge, No. 193, I. O. O. F.  Religiously he is a member of the German Reformed church.

    He was married in January, 1896, to Miss Minerva Fretz, of Bedminster, and they are the parents of three children:  Marian Cathryn, died April 30, 1905 ; Margaret F., and Fred F.

Text taken from pages 482-483 of:

Davis, William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed February 2004 by Thera Schwenk-Hammond; tsh@harborside.com; http:// www..rootsweb.com/~schwenk as part of the Bucks Co., Pa. , Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published April 2004 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/

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