VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
185
and he was a useful member of Trinity
parish, and its missions at Ashevalle and
other places in the locality. He was also
a familiar figure in the diocesan and general
conventions of the church. A feature of his
Christian activity that gives perhaps a truer
insight into the nature of the man than all
that has gone before is the work he accom-
plished through the establishment of mis-
sions at the frontier posts in which he was
quartered when in the Old Army, many of
which have grown into churches with out-
lying missions.
His life was eventful in the extreme, and into its fifty-nine confining years he crowded accomplishment of almost unbelievable magnitude and diversity. He followed duty constantly and faithfully, and in its pursuit found only honor, the regard of his fel- lows, and. it must be, the approval of his Master.
General James Green Martin married (first) at Newport, Rhode Island, July 12, 1844, ^lary Anne Murry Read, a great- granddaughter of George Read, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Dela- ware, and of General William Thompson, a brigadier-general in the revolutionary army ; (second) February 8, 1858, Hetty King, a sister of General Rufus King. United States army, a fellow student of General ^lartin at West Point, eldest daughter of Charles King, president of Columbia College, New York, and granddaughter of Rufus King, first American minister to the court of St. James. Children of General James Green Martin, all of his first marriage: William Bruce, of whom further ; Annie Hollings- wood ; Marianne Read and James Green (2).
Judge William Bruce Martin, son of Gen- eral James Green Martin and his first wife, IVIary Anne Slurry Read, was born in New Castle, Delaware. September 18, 1846. He attended the \"irginia Military Institute while that excellent institution was open during the civil war. and although a member of the cadet corps that fought with such distinction in the battle of New ]\Iarket, failed of participation in that battle because he was confined by illness to the hospital. He, however, served with the corps until the close of the war being a lieutenant in Company D. at the time of the evacuation of Richmond, where the cadets were among the last troops withdrawn from the trenches. After the war he worked on a farm, clerked
in a store, taught school and read law in the
of^ce of Judge Bailey in Asheville, North
Carolina. He became a licensed lawyer in
North Carolina in 1867, and in the summer
of 1868 establishing himself in legal practice
in Norfolk, \'irginia. where he has since re-
mained, havintr at different times been a
member of the law firms of Duffield & ]\Iartin,
and Starke & Martin, the latter a con-
nection lasting until his elevation to the
bench. This honor came in 1895, when the
court of law and chancery was established
in Norfolk for the relief of the corporation
court, which previous to that time had heard
all civil and criminal cases. Judge Martin
was recommended by the bar of Norfolk to
the legislature for election to the judgeship
of this court by the decisive vote of fifty-
six to twenty-eight, and has been contin-
uously re-elected by the legislature since
that date, having now completed his twen-
tieth year upon the Norfolk bench. He was
last year elected by the legislature for an-
other term of eight years beginning Feb-
ruary I, 191 5. Through his conspicuous
ability Judge ]\Iartin has gained the public
confidence and the respect and admiration
of the members of the legal fraternity who
plead before him. He is a jurist, exact,
fearless and impartial, and his decisions bear
the stamp of integrity, honor, and deep re-
gard for right and justice. Flis court does
an immense business, and it is but natural
that some appeals should be taken, but his
average of affirmances is one in which he
may well take pride. To him has been fit-
tingly applied the compliment originally paid
a celeljrated English jurist : 'AMien the judi-
cial ermine descended upon him it touched
nothing less pure than itself." In the long
term that he has held his seat upon the
bench he has remained in the highest esti-
mation of those who first found his worth
as a lawyer, and the court over which he
presides fulfills the worthy aim of its found-
ing, for he is energetic and tireless in the
performance of duty.
Judge Martin was for three terms city attorney of Norfolk, an office filled by popu- lar vote, and also served Norfolk as a mem- ber of the city council, in which body his strong influence was happily felt. To the legal profession at large he is best known as the author of an index-digest of Virginia decisions, a work that, upon its publication, gained the unanimous and hearty approval
