Milton Martin Sr.

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Biography

MILTON TRUSSELL MARTIN, Sr. (THOMAS 1, THOMAS 2, MATTHEW 3, ROGER 4, THOMAS 5, THOMAS 6, WILLIAM 7, THOMAS 8, WILLIAM 9, WILLIAM 10, WILLIAM EDWARD 11)

b. 25 Oct. 1913 Revere, MA

m. 10 Oct. 1936 Revere, MA, MARY EDITH WHITTAKER (b. 24 Jan. 1915 Chelsea, MA, d. 11 Sept. 1999 York, ME, bur. 14 Sept. 1999 First Parish Cemetery, York, ME)

d. 1 Nov. 2000 York, ME

bur. 4 Nov., First Parish Cemetery, York

This photo of Dad was taken c.1918. Nana was very proud of this snowsuit she made herself. Unfortunately, the Martins were not much interested in photography so there are few pictures of anybody in the family prior to the 1930’s when both Uncle Elmer and my father started taking photos.

It’s interesting how some folks continue to write to older kids as if they were in kindergarten! Dad was 11 years old at the time. Aunt Edith, Uncle John and their children Maxine and Lloyd ran a guest house in Brunswick in the summer and for several years went to St. Pete in the winter. Aunt Mattie had been a snow bird for quite a few years. I’m not sure who Uncle Ed and Aunt Georgia are, however, my dad stated that many of the family’s close friends were referred to by the younger generation as “aunt” or “uncle” and were not related at all. Dad never said much about Uncle Charles, I gathered that when Aunt Mattie would come to visit Uncle Charles would stay home or perhaps he had passed on by this time.

Dad always talked about going to camp for a week or two in the summer and how he enjoyed it. The Baptist church had camps all over New England, however, Dad seemed to have gone to Camp Couchiching in Rhode Island most often. As noted before, the family often hosted missionaries that were staying in the Boston area, this time he had been doing work in India. Also, very typical of Nana was to make sure that Dad let her know if any of the boys weren’t getting any mail and she would make sure to send them a card as well.

Too bad we don’t have any of the letters that Dad wrote back home.

Dad was very involved with DeMolay (a Masonic order for young people) when in High School, however, his father didn’t belong to the Masons and chose the Knights of Pythias as his fraternal organization to be involved with. As I remember the story there were more people from the Baptist church involved in the K of P than in the Masons and that’s why Will chose that path. DeMolay was just getting started in 1930 when dad joined making him one of the first members.

Dad graduated from Revere High School in 1932. He always stated that he was not a good student, however, never expressed any sentiment as to not liking school. He did particularly well in math/science and always struggled with English and had NO aptitude for languages (he always said he had a hard enough time with English, let alone trying to speak another language). Dad was always involved in sports, particularly baseball, and remained physically fit for most of his life (except for a time when he sat too much behind a desk when in the printing business!).

Following are Dad's graduation photos from Revere High School in 1932. “Mip” was a nickname given him by a boyscout troop leader and stuck with him throughout high school.

After graduation Dad worked for Wilson Co. Meat Packers in Springfield, MA where he worked as a bookkeeper before learning the printing trade from his brother Harold. He and Uncle Harold worked on installing printing equipment in Vermont as well as Concord, NH.

Nana wrote the following letter while dad was was working in one of the above places. Sounds like Nana was trying to instill some of her hypochondriasis into my father! Fortunately, it didn’t work as he never complained about anything (even when he should have!). It’s interesting too to notice the fixation that generation had on how one’s bowels were working! Even when I started in practice in the 1980’s the old folks I took care of would go on forever about their bowels… well… enough of that.

Ma and Dad met through church and on their first date they went to a dance in Boston. After Dad died I found an old blue dress carefully put away. I asked my brother Paul about it and he said Dad had told him that it was the dress our mother wore on their first date. She evidently never wore it again and it has been carefully preserved all these years.

Working in Concord and having a sweetheart in Chelsea was a bit of a strain and Dad said he spent a lot of time riding back and forth on the train for several years!

The letter is postmarked 20 Mar. 1936 and was addressed to my Dad at 9 Bradley St., Concord, NH. I’m not too sure what Ma and Gram were expecting to win in Boston, however, they did get to see Ralf Bellamy make his favorite stew! The baby she mentions is Aunt Ruth’s daughter Nancy Weeks. Uncle Lester evidently bought a new car… he was always known for having an expensive automobile as was Ma’s sister Harriette! Sounds like the famous “double wedding” hadn’t been planned as of yet. Monopoly was a new game in the depression, and obviously was a hit with Ma! Also this letter was written towards the end of the Flood of 1936 when over a foot of rain fell from Mar. 11th to 21st and combined with the snow melt led to the worst flooding in the history of New England and over 200 people were killed. One of the worst areas hit was Concord, NH where Dad was working at the time.

After getting married Dad started working for Rust Craft Greeting Card in Boston. Ma and Dad purchased their first home on 29 Clifton Ave. in Saugus in 1939.

After leaving Rust Craft he worked for General Electric in the Blueprint Division throughout World War II.

In 1947 he began his own lithography business on Lincoln Ave. in Saugus, MA under the name of Milton T. Martin Co., Lithographers.

During this time the family lived in Cliftondale in Saugus at 4 Lincoln Court, prior to moving to Melrose where they built at home at, what is now, 120 Whitman Ave. The family then moved to the house at 27 Lincoln St. in Melrose.

In 1962 the family moved to 32 Lockwood Lane in Topsfield and then built a home on land they owned next door at 34 Lockwood Lane in 1967.

In 1966 Dad sold the lithography business to Milton Jr. and purchased a resort hotel in York Beach, ME and Ma named it the Sea Latch Motor Inn. He retired in 1977.

Prior to buying the cottages on Long Beach in York in the 1950's, they had a camp on Little Neck in Ipswich which they had purchased for $1,000. They moved to York Beach as they couldn't take the green head flies in Ipswich!

Ma and Dad loved to travel, whether it was across the US, Canada and the UK in a motor home, or on various tours throughout the world. At last count I think they had visited 39 countries. They were up for doing anything and going anywhere, although Ma would sometimes balk at some of the food she was served in some of the more exotic places! Unfortunately, at this point I don’t have any photos to share from the early 60’s onward as that was the era of taking slides and projecting them on the wall for all to see… perhaps I'll get the proper scanner to scan all those slides… as well as the 8 mm movies.

As I got older and became interested in mineralogy and got involved in lapidary work and silversmithing, Ma & Dad also got involved in “rock hunting” and Dad in particular enjoyed lapidary work and silversmithing. I can remember taking a trip in the motor home across the country and were so overloaded with rocks we were overheating the engine!

Dad's obit written by "Sandy" (Milton T. Martin, Jr.):

"Milton T. Martin, 87, of Long Beach Ave., York on Nov. 1st 2000 at York Hospital after a brief period of illness. Resided in Melrose and Topsfield, Mass., and in Winston-Salem and Greenville, N.C., retiring to Maine in 1978.

Mr. Martin helped his father bind textbooks for the school system during the Depression. He had been employed in the accounting department at Wilson Meatpacking in Springfield, Mass. He and his brother worked in the printing trades and they installed the first offset printing presses in Vermont at the Burlington Free Press and at Capitol Offset in Concord. He later took a position with Rust Craft Greeting Cards of Dedham, Mass.

During World War II he received top-secret clearance managing the blueprint department for General Electric Co.

After the war Mr. Martin established the Milton T. Martin Co. of Saugus Mass., which he operated from 1945 until 1966 when he purchased the Sea Latch Motel in York Beach. He had owned and operated seasonal rental properties on Long Sands Beach since 1953. He was a former member of the Rotary Club of Saugus.

He enjoyed traveling and had visited five continents and traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada.

He was an avid sports fan, especially of college basketball and the Boston Red Sox.

The widower of Mary (Whittaker) Martin, his wife of 63 years who died in 1999, he is survived by three sons and two daughters-in-law, Milton T. "Sandy" and Edda Martin of Durham, Paul J. Martin of Derry and Dr. Jeffrey E. and Pam Martin of Windham, Maine; 10 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by two brothers and three sisters." (copy provided by "Sandy")

CHILDREN

• I. Milton Trussell Jr.-

• II. Paul James-

• III. Jeffrey Edwin-

Sources

• Personal knowledge.
• Photos/documents in possession of the author.