• Pomona, Cal., May 22, 1905.
I think I occupy a place of distinction in the Martin tribe as I am the only grandchild named after the founder of our illustrious family. I am thirty-four years old and still have but twelve ribs with no little hand on my shoulder, but it is my desire to prove myself worthy of the name of
John Martin.1013

• MARTIN BROS. LEMON GROVE SHOWING RESERVOIR IN FRONT; SNOW CAPPED MOUNTAINS IN BACKGROUND
OLDEST LEMON GROVE A SPLENDID PRODUCER
Owned by Martin Brothers Who Will Ship This Season Over 6,000 Boxes of Lemons
When you ask any of the old timers in this section of the valley, who owns the oldest and best producing lemon grove, nine times out of ten you will be told the Martin Brothers, and then if you care to inquire further you will also learn that E. C. and J. J. Martin are counted among the oldest settlers in the Foot Hill district.
They are native sons of Illinois, but soon after finishing school there they came to Sunny California and located here. In the fall of 1893 they bought the thirty acres of land which today is spoken of as the oldest and best lemon grove in the valley. That year ten acres was cleared and prepared for planting and the following year was set to lemons, and was followed later by setting to navel and Valencia oranges. For the first few years it took continual hard work and the development was anything but easy sailing. But they finally began to get things in shape and bought additional land which they planted to oranges and lemons. These trees, however, are not all in full bearing, but the orange grove promises to be as fine a producer as has been the lemon grove, and of an excellent variety of navel and Valencia oranges.
The Martin Brothers’ Ranch now comprises fifty acres located approximately seven miles from the Pomona City Hall, on the Base Line road, in the Foot Hill district. It is well improved and in a high state of cultivation. They have a perfect irrigation system and own their own pumping station, which furnishes an abundance of water for their own use and a surplus which is sold to neighboring ranchers. The fact that they have one of the best producing groves in the entire valley is self-evident that their selection of land and the careful development of some has not been in vain. Hundreds of others throughout this valley have had equally good success, but it takes lots of work, good judgment and the scientific handling of the fruit to be able to market a yield as great as does the Martin Brothers groves. This year they have already shipped over 5000 boxes and will ship for the season over 8000 boxes of citrus fruits.
In line with other substantial improvements they have made on their place, their home is a conspicuous part. They recently erected a handsome two-story residence, containing seven rooms and with every modern convenience to be found in the best city homes. It is located close to the Base Line thoroughfare, with the San Gabriel mountains in the rear, as will be seen by the picture above with Old Baldy just peaking above the range, showing its snow-capped crown, the year ‘round, making a magnificent background to a landscape already beautiful.1018

• POMONA MEN IN REAL BLIZZARDS
Encountering two blizzards in which they feared they might freeze to death, four Pomona men have just returned from a trip to Palmdale and Little Rock, in the mountain resorts on the north side of Old Baldy. Members of the party were Harold C. Dewey, M. M. Dewey, A. M. Lichty and John Martin.1020

• Would not marry until Flora died.
Source: Doris Martin Atwell, 11 Nov 1991, as related to Gretchen Martin Mills.

• Pomona’s ‘Christmas Card’ Home [excerpts]
There’s a house in Pomona that’s the perfect setting for having an old-fashioned Christmas. It belongs to John Martin and his family.
Entering the vestibule you spy a marble top walnut table that Martin said was brought by his family by rail from Rockford, Ill., in 1887.
Swaying gently in a rocker, Martin said “My father, my brothers Elias and Walter and I built the house. It didn’t take us long. Sometimes we were held up by bad weather. My mother died in 1926 and my father in 1934 - both of them in this house. Then the house became mine.”
It was his brother Walter, now living in Pasadena, who grooved the elaborate redwood wall paneling that’s found in the house. Martin, who was a Pomona Valley rancher until he retired in 1954, remembers splitting wood that was used in the building of the house, putting on the shingles, nailing down the floor, and finally helping to paint it.1030

• Citrus holdings sold in 1954.1295

• Grave marker says birth year is 1871.1036

• 1880 Census: Rockford, Winnebago, Illinois. Age 9, b IL. Father b IL; mother b NY. Listed as Johnnie.1709
• 1900 Census: Pomona, Los Angeles, California. Age 28, b Apr 1872, IL. Farmer. Father b IL; mother b NY.1749
• 1910 Census: La Verne, Los Angeles, California. Age 39, b IL. Single. Father b IL; mother b NY. Living next door to brother, Elias.1775
• 1920 Census: Pomona, Los Angeles, California. Age 48, b IL. Farmer. Father b IL; mother b NY. Living with parents.1786
• 1930 Census: Pomona, Los Angeles, California. Age 58, b IL. Rancher. Father b IL; mother b NY. Age 58 at 1st marriage.3621
• 1950 Census: Pomona, Los Angeles, California. Age 78, b IL.7827

• Pomona City Directories
1896-7: horticulturist, 659 N Town ave.1017
1898: rancher, r 659 N. Town.1017

• [excerpts]
At a quiet ceremony yesterday afternoon at 3 o’clock in the Presbyterian church at Colton, Mrs. E. B. McClain became the bride of John J. Martin.
The ceremony was followed by a wedding supper at the home of the bride’s father, W. Kelly, 359 Randolph street.
Guests at the wedding ceremony included W. Kelly and Miss Gertrude Kelly, father and sister of the bride; Miss Margaret McClain, daughter of the bride, and P. S. Martin, father of the bridegroom.1295