John Frank Martin
was born on August 10, 1888 in Charleston, Bradley, Tennessee. He married Clara Ethel Matlock on June 14,
1910. At some point between 1911-1926 he
left Tennessee for Alabama. There he
married Annie Lee Phillips. He died on March 3, 1954
in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
The first record
that I find of him is the 1900 census.
In this we find that John Frank Martin is able to both read and
write. In the 1910 census we discover
that he is a laborer in the general farm industry. It's most likely that he was working on his
step-father, Elijah's, farm. After this
I was able to find a two records for his marriage to Clara. I was able to go back through records and
find the military enlistments from 1798-1914 records. In that I find that he enlisted in the year
1907. In this record I learn that John had a
ruddy complexion and was 5'5. He was
discharged March 10, 1910. The next
record that I found would be his WWI draft registration card. In this he has his present trade as an
electrician at Western Union Tel. Co. He
is employed by H. Pierce Florida. It
also says that he had three years experience as a trumpeter in the
calvary. I just discovered that this was
during what is called the Indian Wars.
I also learned that he was of medium build with blue eyes and brown
hair. The date of registration for this
was June 5, 1917. The next record that I
found was the 1930 census. In this one
he and his mother are both living in Alabama.
He is now married to Annie and they have a son and daughter. It says that they rent their home, that he
never attended school, and his occupation is telephone. In 1940, we find that they are renting a
farm, they have four children, that he did go to school until the third grade,
he works an average of 45 hours a week for the Bell telephone company, and that
his income is $2,080. I also later
discover that the work that he is doing at this time is considered private
work. My final document is the
application for his headstone. We see
that it is a flat granite marker without an emblem. It
says that he was a private in Company C 306th Field Signal Battalion in
France during WWI.
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