Martin Family Legacy

The Martin family was one of the earliest families of Olean. The story of the Martin Family is picturesque, beginning with the virgin forest and progressing through farm lands to commercial institutions and finally transformation of extensive real estate holdings into other forms.

Some History on the Martin Family
Frederick Stanley Martin was one of Olean's outstanding Pioneers. He erected a beautiful home for his daughter in 1852. In 1932, that home was known as the City Club. In 2000, it became the business of Proto and Laskey Accountants.

About the time the City Club was built, a granddaughter of that Pioneer was born in another Olean landmark, the old Strong property on Laurens Street. Another tribute to the industry and spirit of progress displayed by that family is the Olean House, which although rebuilt, was first erected by the local family sire, Frederick S. Martin.

The daughter, who was born in the Strong house, was Dr. Lillien Martin, exponent of youthful old age, psychologist, author, and philosopher. When she retired at the age of sixty-five, Dr. Martin set out to prove that she was not through. She did prove that fact conclusively when she drove her own automobile from the West Coast to New York City.

Mr. Martin built the City Club around 1850 as a residence for his daughter, Mrs. Comstock. At the time it was built, the home was the finest in this section, having been designed to meet every requirement for convenience and of liberal proportions. George Van Campen was the next owner of the property, and he in turn, sold it to M. B. Bennie, at one time one of Olean's leading merchants. The building was sold to the City Club in 1895 when that institution was organized with the election of N. V. V. Franchot as president, a position that he held for many years.

Dr. Lillien J. Martin, who in 1932, was eighty-two years of age, and was the daughter of Russell Martin and Lydia Hawes Martin. Her refusal to admit defeat when confronted by it she inherited from her grandfather, Frederick Stanley Martin.

Frederick Stanley Martin was born in Rutland, Vermont on April 25, 1794, shortly after the birth of the United States of America and came to Olean in 1818,(or 188 years ago). He was one of the first men to raft logs from the virgin forests of this section to Cincinnati, Ohio. Misfortune overtook him after he had achieved this first success, but he refused to admit defeat and staged a comeback, which was even more striking than was his first success. His assets were in the form of a stock of dry goods and groceries, which he bargained for lumber and then rafted down the Allegany and Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati. After two years of lumber trading, Mr. Martin found himself on the way to a comfortable fortune when, in 1820, river conditions caused his rafts to be delayed in reaching Cincinnati. The market was flooded when his rafts arrived and Mr. Martin was forced to accept prices below the cost of delivery. The result was that when he had settled for the year, he was $2,000 in debt. Mr. Martin asked no favors of his creditors other than that he be given time to meet his obligations.

An old Holland Land Company map of Olean and its environs showed that Mr. Martin owned six lots of Section 4, District 1 Olean. The tract began at the Olean Creek and Allegany River, extending eastward a mile and three-quarters and northward a mile, comprising a section and three-quarters, or considerable more than one thousand acres.

Records in the office of the County Clerk at Little Valley show that Frederick S. Martin sold twelve parcels of land between November 1819 and November 1843.

Another section of the map which showed the Eleventh Ward tract owned by Frederick S. Martin showed that four Holland Land Company lots to the south of Olean, comprising about a section of 640 acres, owned by the Martin Brothers, apparently sons of Frederick S. Martin, but records indicated that the original Martin homestead was on East State Street several hundred feet beyond Front Street on the south side of the street.

Another Residence in that vicinity was designated as the "Mrs. Martin Home". Two other Martin homes are shown near the intersection of Front and East State Streets on the northeast corner.

Five years after Mr. Martin leased the Coffee House of Frederick A. Norton in 1821, he sold his farm, this transaction apparently was one of the largest of his sales, for $26,000. For his day, Mr. Martin was then a rich man. He continued his mercantile career until 1851, building the Olean House in 1842.

In 1830, Mr. Martin became postmaster and entered the field of politics ten years later when Governor Seward appointed him Judge of the County Court of Cattaraugus County. He was the only Whig to receive that appointment. He held that post five years. Seven years later, Mr. Martin was nominated to the State Senate as a Whig. He was elected and became a prominent member of the Canal Committee. He entered for a second term against his wishes; Mr. Martin was defeated by "political manipulation".

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