George W. Martin
Encyclopedia
George Washington Martin, Jr. (25 June, 1876 - 21 November, 1948) was a prominent lawyer, jurist, and member of the Democratic Party
in Kings County, Brooklyn
, New York
. As a lawyer he defended many criminals at trial, and then later as a judge presided over a number of trials involving underworld figures associated with the Murder Inc. He was a controversial figure in the history of New York City
law in the 1930s when the judiciary and police force of Brooklyn were investigated for corrupt activities. In 1939 he was the subject of criminal charges of bribery and judicial corruption that he successfully defended at trial. In late 1939 impeachment
proceedings were taken against him through the New York state senate, but the charges were dismissed.
on February 2, 1745. Ephraim served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary War, and married Mary Burnham. He died in Vermont on August 8, 1833. Martin's great-grandfather, Ephraim Story Martin, Jr. (1777-1842), was born on June 10, 1777, and grew up in Lunenburg
, Massachusetts
where he married Nancy Haywood (1788-1862). She was born on February 25, 1788 and raised several children before she died in Springfield
, Vermont
. One of those children was Ephraim Dexter Martin (1809-?). He was born on May 13, 1809 and he married Charlotte Lee in Springfield, Vermont. Another one of those children, Jonas Amos Martin (1821-1862), grew up in Vermont, married Marion Betts (1829-1913), and worked as a ship's carpenter in Brooklyn. Jonas and Marion raised a son, George Washington Martin, Sr. (1847-1910), who was trained in engineering, rose to prominence in the commercial enterprise known as the Produce Exchange and served as Brooklyn's Superintendent of Street Repairs in the Department of City Works. In October 1869 he married Emma Frances De Revere (1853-1910). George and Emma lived for many years in her parents' home in Macdonough Street, Brooklyn. At that time Macdonough Street was designated as belonging to that exclusive part of Brooklyn known as Stuyvesant Heights, that featured brownstone
townhouses. They raised a daughter, Emma Frances Martin (1874-1921), and their son George Washington Martin, Jr. (1876-1948).
. He then studied the law at Yale University
and graduated with the LLB degree in 1897. He entered the legal profession and served for five and a half years in Kings County as an assistant District attorney
with John F. Clark. When that political appointment ended, he then became a partner in the law firm of Martin and Kesselman which was situated at 215 Montague Street, Brooklyn. Here he developed a high profile reputation throughout Kings County as a criminal trial lawyer.
Martin was married around 1900 to Susie L. Phillips and together they had a daughter Audrey born around 1904. However Martin's wife died prematurely. According to the 1910 US Federal Census, Martin and his daughter Audrey were living with his mother Emma, his sister Emma Rice (née Martin) and his brother-in-law John De Revere.
In the middle part of 1910 Martin remarried. His second wife was Maud Ainsworth (14 June 1892 - 28 February, 1966). She was born in Chicago
as the fourth child of Joseph Charles Ainsworth and Annie Young. However, she was adopted by her aunt Emma Young McIntyre and James McIntyre
. Her adoptive parents were both theatrical stars. Emma McIntyre was known on stage in the late Nineteenth century as "Maude Clifford" the dancer and balladeer. James McIntyre was one member of the famous Vaudevillian duo of Heath and McIntyre. The duo were the first stars of the stage to act as "black and white" minstrels, "black-face comedy", and were credited with introducing tap-dancing to Broadway
.
There were six children born to the second marriage: James McIntyre Martin (1912-2003), Peggy Martin (1915-1986) , Jean Martin (1916-2006), Betsy Martin (1919-2001), George Washington Martin III (1921-1985), and Walter Ralston Martin (1928-1989) of the Christian countercult movement
.
Audrey Martin, the daughter of his first marriage, grew up with her half-siblings and around 1928 married John Francis Oberry (1904-1979), however she died in 1929 in childbirth. That child, Audrey Martin Oberry (1929-1939), was then adopted by her grandparents Maud and George Martin, because her father was financially incapable of supporting her. His granddaughter suffered from heart disease owing to a streptococcus
infection at birth.
The family lived from around 1910 until early 1930 in Macdonough Street, and then during 1930 relocated to Bainbridge Street, Brooklyn. Martin, his wife and younger children resided in Bainbridge Street for many years. Toward the end of his life Martin and his wife resided in Clinton Street, Brooklyn.
On September 12, 1918 Martin was conscripted for military service in the US Army. However he never saw active duty in World War I
as the Armistice was reached two months after his enlistment.
During his judicial service Martin presided over many criminal cases brought before the county court. Cases that were presented before him ranged from robbery, assaults and extortion perpetrated by young offenders through to major murder trials involving gangs. The trials he presided over were often reported on the New York Times and in other newspapers like the Syracuse Herald.
. Although he belonged to the Episcopalian church, Martin's second wife was a Roman Catholic. He had his youngest son Walter Martin baptized as an Episcopalian, but arranged for his school education in a Catholic school and then at the evangelical Stony Brook School. He maintained friendly relationships with many Catholics, and in 1922 was a guest speaker at the Brooklyn chapter of the Knights of Columbus
.
Martin employed various European immigrants as household servants in his Brooklyn home for many years. He also owned a summer vacation home in Water Mill, New York
, on Long Island
. Throughout much of Martin's life he wasted much of his salary in excessive spending, regularly gambled on horse races, and was often the victim of his own poor judgment in risky business investments.
In the 1920s he accepted a post on the board of directors of the Foreign Petroleum Corporation only to subsequently discover the company was a phony. He obtained stock in Filmland Incorporated and in the Bayside Amusement Company, and these two organizations had ostensibly earmarked property for the development of a theater complex on Long Island. He also held shares and a directorship in the Buckmoran Realty Corporation. These various business ventures failed leaving Martin with lost income and many accumulated debts. Martin's financial problems were further compounded by two household mortgages, general living expenses, and medical costs associated with the treatment of his granddaughter Audrey's heart disease. Martin himself also underwent regular hospital treatment for diabetes.
In 1930 the Federal grand jury for the Eastern District of New York conducted a three month investigation into Martin's business affairs. The grand jury did not find any grounds to warrant any indictments against Martin. However in May 1931 the Supreme Court Justice Faber directed that Martin and his business partner had to repay the sum of twenty-four thousand dollars to a defunct company.
to investigate corruption among both the Brooklyn police and judiciary. Amen was the son-in-law of the former President Grover Cleveland
and later in life served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg
trials of Nazi war criminals.
During that investigation into judicial corruption Amen examined the trial of Dr Louis Duke who was charged with practicing illegal abortions. Judge Martin had presided over the case and dismissed the charges. In April 1939 Amen gathered evidence of judicial bribes involving a number of people in the legal profession connected with Dr Duke, including Assistant District Attorney Francis A. Madden and Assistant District Attorney William F. Guinness.
Amen also had Martin indicted on bribery charges. The case against Martin proceeded to trial but the jury found no evidence to sustain the bribery charges and he was exonerated.
In July 1939 the New York state Governor Herbert H. Lehman
received formal complaints from both the New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and from Amen concerning the conduct of Judge Martin. Governor Lehman then ordered that a formal petition of impeachment be presented to the New York state senate. Under the provisions of Section 6, Article 9 of the New York state constitution the senate was empowered to remove a judicial officer after a two-third vote majority is obtained. This was the first time in seventy years that a request for the impeachment of a judicial officer had arisen in the history of New York.
The charges laid against Martin included that he had corruptly used his office to receive gifts of money from attorneys who appeared in cases before him, and that he had serious defects of character rendering him unfit to serve on the bench. The hearings proceeded before the state senate between September and November 1939. In the course of the proceedings Martin's business affairs and bad debts were examined for evidence of corruption. His personal relationships with court officers and lawyers who had been found guilty of bribery were also examined, as was his friendship with the notorious underworld "slot machine king" Leo P. Byk.
On November 16, 1939 the senate voted 28 to 19 to retain Judge Martin on the bench thus clearing him of the charges for impeachment. The entire proceedings of the senate hearings, together with the written evidences presented against Martin, amounted to over 1,700 pages which were subsequently bound in book form in 1959 and deposited on file in the law library of Yale University.
In April 1940 Martin resumed his position on the bench until his term expired in 1941. By that time the Democrats had evidently come to regard Martin as a political liability, and so they dropped Martin from their county election ticket in August 1941.
on Long Island.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in Kings County, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. As a lawyer he defended many criminals at trial, and then later as a judge presided over a number of trials involving underworld figures associated with the Murder Inc. He was a controversial figure in the history of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
law in the 1930s when the judiciary and police force of Brooklyn were investigated for corrupt activities. In 1939 he was the subject of criminal charges of bribery and judicial corruption that he successfully defended at trial. In late 1939 impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
proceedings were taken against him through the New York state senate, but the charges were dismissed.
Ancestry
Martin's great-great-grandfather, Ephraim Story Martin, Sr. (1745-1833) was born in Lunenburg, MassachusettsLunenburg, Massachusetts
Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,086 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Lunenburg, please see the article Lunenburg , Massachusetts....
on February 2, 1745. Ephraim served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary War, and married Mary Burnham. He died in Vermont on August 8, 1833. Martin's great-grandfather, Ephraim Story Martin, Jr. (1777-1842), was born on June 10, 1777, and grew up in Lunenburg
Lunenburg, Massachusetts
Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,086 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Lunenburg, please see the article Lunenburg , Massachusetts....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
where he married Nancy Haywood (1788-1862). She was born on February 25, 1788 and raised several children before she died in Springfield
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. One of those children was Ephraim Dexter Martin (1809-?). He was born on May 13, 1809 and he married Charlotte Lee in Springfield, Vermont. Another one of those children, Jonas Amos Martin (1821-1862), grew up in Vermont, married Marion Betts (1829-1913), and worked as a ship's carpenter in Brooklyn. Jonas and Marion raised a son, George Washington Martin, Sr. (1847-1910), who was trained in engineering, rose to prominence in the commercial enterprise known as the Produce Exchange and served as Brooklyn's Superintendent of Street Repairs in the Department of City Works. In October 1869 he married Emma Frances De Revere (1853-1910). George and Emma lived for many years in her parents' home in Macdonough Street, Brooklyn. At that time Macdonough Street was designated as belonging to that exclusive part of Brooklyn known as Stuyvesant Heights, that featured brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
townhouses. They raised a daughter, Emma Frances Martin (1874-1921), and their son George Washington Martin, Jr. (1876-1948).
Education, early life and marriages
Martin was educated at the Mohegan Lake School in Peekskill, New YorkPeekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point.This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products...
. He then studied the law at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and graduated with the LLB degree in 1897. He entered the legal profession and served for five and a half years in Kings County as an assistant District attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
with John F. Clark. When that political appointment ended, he then became a partner in the law firm of Martin and Kesselman which was situated at 215 Montague Street, Brooklyn. Here he developed a high profile reputation throughout Kings County as a criminal trial lawyer.
Martin was married around 1900 to Susie L. Phillips and together they had a daughter Audrey born around 1904. However Martin's wife died prematurely. According to the 1910 US Federal Census, Martin and his daughter Audrey were living with his mother Emma, his sister Emma Rice (née Martin) and his brother-in-law John De Revere.
In the middle part of 1910 Martin remarried. His second wife was Maud Ainsworth (14 June 1892 - 28 February, 1966). She was born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
as the fourth child of Joseph Charles Ainsworth and Annie Young. However, she was adopted by her aunt Emma Young McIntyre and James McIntyre
James McIntyre (theatrical actor)
James McIntyre , minstrel performer, vaudeville and theatrical actor, and a partner in the famous blackface tramp comedy duo act McIntyre and Heath.- Family and early career :...
. Her adoptive parents were both theatrical stars. Emma McIntyre was known on stage in the late Nineteenth century as "Maude Clifford" the dancer and balladeer. James McIntyre was one member of the famous Vaudevillian duo of Heath and McIntyre. The duo were the first stars of the stage to act as "black and white" minstrels, "black-face comedy", and were credited with introducing tap-dancing to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
There were six children born to the second marriage: James McIntyre Martin (1912-2003), Peggy Martin (1915-1986) , Jean Martin (1916-2006), Betsy Martin (1919-2001), George Washington Martin III (1921-1985), and Walter Ralston Martin (1928-1989) of the Christian countercult movement
Christian countercult movement
The Christian countercult movement is a social movement of Christian ministries and individual Christian countercult activists who oppose religious sects thought to either partially abide or do not at all abide by the teachings that are written within the Bible. These religious sects are also known...
.
Audrey Martin, the daughter of his first marriage, grew up with her half-siblings and around 1928 married John Francis Oberry (1904-1979), however she died in 1929 in childbirth. That child, Audrey Martin Oberry (1929-1939), was then adopted by her grandparents Maud and George Martin, because her father was financially incapable of supporting her. His granddaughter suffered from heart disease owing to a streptococcus
Streptococcus
Streptococcus is a genus of spherical Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes and the lactic acid bacteria group. Cellular division occurs along a single axis in these bacteria, and thus they grow in chains or pairs, hence the name — from Greek στρεπτος streptos, meaning...
infection at birth.
The family lived from around 1910 until early 1930 in Macdonough Street, and then during 1930 relocated to Bainbridge Street, Brooklyn. Martin, his wife and younger children resided in Bainbridge Street for many years. Toward the end of his life Martin and his wife resided in Clinton Street, Brooklyn.
On September 12, 1918 Martin was conscripted for military service in the US Army. However he never saw active duty in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as the Armistice was reached two months after his enlistment.
County judge
Martin was an active member of the Democratic party in Brooklyn and sought election for a judicial post on its Kings County ticket. In 1920 the New York state governor Alfred E. Smith appointed Martin to a vacant position on the Kings County bench. In November 1921 he was successful in his election bid and was appointed to a six year term of office as a county judge. In 1927 he was elected again and on this occasion was appointed to a term of fourteen years in office.During his judicial service Martin presided over many criminal cases brought before the county court. Cases that were presented before him ranged from robbery, assaults and extortion perpetrated by young offenders through to major murder trials involving gangs. The trials he presided over were often reported on the New York Times and in other newspapers like the Syracuse Herald.
Lifestyle
As a prominent member of Brooklyn society and the judiciary, and as a Democratic party member, Martin was acquainted with notable contemporaries of his such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Brooklyn banker Herbert Losee, and the Long Island oyster farmer and entrepreneur Royal Toner. Martin was a member of the Episcopalian church, and was related to the Methodist Episcopal minister Reverend Dr. William Wallace Martin of Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Although he belonged to the Episcopalian church, Martin's second wife was a Roman Catholic. He had his youngest son Walter Martin baptized as an Episcopalian, but arranged for his school education in a Catholic school and then at the evangelical Stony Brook School. He maintained friendly relationships with many Catholics, and in 1922 was a guest speaker at the Brooklyn chapter of the Knights of Columbus
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
.
Martin employed various European immigrants as household servants in his Brooklyn home for many years. He also owned a summer vacation home in Water Mill, New York
Water Mill, New York
Water Mill is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, USA, and a hamlet of the Town of Southampton. The population was 1,724 at the 2000 census. Water Mill is the correct name per local government and the United States Postal Service...
, on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Throughout much of Martin's life he wasted much of his salary in excessive spending, regularly gambled on horse races, and was often the victim of his own poor judgment in risky business investments.
In the 1920s he accepted a post on the board of directors of the Foreign Petroleum Corporation only to subsequently discover the company was a phony. He obtained stock in Filmland Incorporated and in the Bayside Amusement Company, and these two organizations had ostensibly earmarked property for the development of a theater complex on Long Island. He also held shares and a directorship in the Buckmoran Realty Corporation. These various business ventures failed leaving Martin with lost income and many accumulated debts. Martin's financial problems were further compounded by two household mortgages, general living expenses, and medical costs associated with the treatment of his granddaughter Audrey's heart disease. Martin himself also underwent regular hospital treatment for diabetes.
In 1930 the Federal grand jury for the Eastern District of New York conducted a three month investigation into Martin's business affairs. The grand jury did not find any grounds to warrant any indictments against Martin. However in May 1931 the Supreme Court Justice Faber directed that Martin and his business partner had to repay the sum of twenty-four thousand dollars to a defunct company.
Attempted impeachment
In the late 1930s John Harlan Amen was appointed as a special assistant Attorney GeneralAttorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
to investigate corruption among both the Brooklyn police and judiciary. Amen was the son-in-law of the former President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
and later in life served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
trials of Nazi war criminals.
During that investigation into judicial corruption Amen examined the trial of Dr Louis Duke who was charged with practicing illegal abortions. Judge Martin had presided over the case and dismissed the charges. In April 1939 Amen gathered evidence of judicial bribes involving a number of people in the legal profession connected with Dr Duke, including Assistant District Attorney Francis A. Madden and Assistant District Attorney William F. Guinness.
Amen also had Martin indicted on bribery charges. The case against Martin proceeded to trial but the jury found no evidence to sustain the bribery charges and he was exonerated.
In July 1939 the New York state Governor Herbert H. Lehman
Herbert H. Lehman
Herbert Henry Lehman was a Democratic Party politician from New York. He was the 45th Governor of New York from 1933 to 1942, and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1950 to 1957.-Lehman Brothers:...
received formal complaints from both the New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and from Amen concerning the conduct of Judge Martin. Governor Lehman then ordered that a formal petition of impeachment be presented to the New York state senate. Under the provisions of Section 6, Article 9 of the New York state constitution the senate was empowered to remove a judicial officer after a two-third vote majority is obtained. This was the first time in seventy years that a request for the impeachment of a judicial officer had arisen in the history of New York.
The charges laid against Martin included that he had corruptly used his office to receive gifts of money from attorneys who appeared in cases before him, and that he had serious defects of character rendering him unfit to serve on the bench. The hearings proceeded before the state senate between September and November 1939. In the course of the proceedings Martin's business affairs and bad debts were examined for evidence of corruption. His personal relationships with court officers and lawyers who had been found guilty of bribery were also examined, as was his friendship with the notorious underworld "slot machine king" Leo P. Byk.
On November 16, 1939 the senate voted 28 to 19 to retain Judge Martin on the bench thus clearing him of the charges for impeachment. The entire proceedings of the senate hearings, together with the written evidences presented against Martin, amounted to over 1,700 pages which were subsequently bound in book form in 1959 and deposited on file in the law library of Yale University.
In April 1940 Martin resumed his position on the bench until his term expired in 1941. By that time the Democrats had evidently come to regard Martin as a political liability, and so they dropped Martin from their county election ticket in August 1941.
Death
Martin then resumed his private law practice until his death in 1948. He was survived by his wife and six children, and was buried in Southampton CemeterySouthampton Cemetery
Southampton Cemetery is located in Southampton, New York. Southampton has 47 public and private cemeteries.-Notable burials:*Roone Pinckney Arledge *Carl Andrew Capasso *Jack Dempsey *Patricia Kennedy Lawford...
on Long Island.
External links
- George Washington Martin, Jr. at Findagrave
- George Washington Martin, Jr. at Wikia genealogy