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Martin Family History - The Mission Ranch
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THE MARTINS OF THE MISSION RANCH — CARMEL, CALIFORNIA
- An excerpt from the book, “The Martins and Hattons” by Marcia De Voe, 1979
Have you ever wondered, as you walk along the beach at the mouth of the Carmel River, or peer through the pines and cypress trees, at the magnificent vistas from the hills of the Carmel Valley, who settled this land?
We've heard the stories over and over again of how the Spanish came in and built Missions, in order to convert the Indians to Catholicism, but who made the land livable; who raised their families here?
With the wedding of Anna Mary Hatton and William E. Martin (3) in 1903, two of the largest and most industrious families who were the pioneer settlers in the Carmel Valley, were united! The first Hattons and Martins had been here long before this union of the two families and had owned or worked the good dairy, orchard, and pasture land from the mouth of the Carmel River at the Mission Ranch, all the way to what is now the entrance to Quail Lodge and beyond. Descendents continued raising animals, feed, fruit and vegetables until only recently. Great, great, great grandchildren of these hardy people still live in the valley. Here is their story that starts as early as 1856 with the Martin family.
AGNES AND WILLIAM MARTIN (1)*
Agnes was born in the County of Lanark, Scotland in 1796 [Lanarkshire] and died in Carmel in 1878, living 82 very fruitful years! We don't know too much about her husband, William (1)*, but he must have been an adventurous, far sighted man to emigrate in 1842, first to Canada from Strahaven, Scotland, with his wife and their six children: John (1), who was born in 1827, William (2J-1832, James (lj-1834, Robert-1836, Thomas-1838, and Mary, born in 1840. They settled in the vicinity of St. Thomas, Glengarrie County (Ontario area), Canada and farmed there for fourteen years.
FIRST IN CALIFORNIA
News of the gold rush in California encouraged William Martin, now in his sixties, to sell out his holdings and in 1856, he and his wife, five sons, and one daughter, once again headed for a strange new land, that had been a United States territory only ten years. They took a boat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans; another ship across to Central America; by land then, across the Isthmus and still another boat up the Pacific Coast. They were on "Captain Jossel-yn's Schooner", in the month of March, 1856 when it stopped in Monterey for a half day, to unload some cargo. The Martins went ashore, past the adobe buildings that comprised the village of Monterey, up the hill, and spread a picnic lunch under the oaks and the pines. They felt the power of the "circle of enchantment", and they liked the land. They stayed!
William (1), with his sons, leased, and then finally bought the rich productive land areas at the mouths of the Carmel, Pajaro, and Salinas Rivers.
*I am designating some persons by number, as there are so many with the same name, that in tracking the family history, it becomes confusing, without some identification.
GOLD IN THE EARTH
They began raising potatoes, later called "Salinas Burbank Potatoes". These were in great need in the gold fields of the Sierra, and the Martins began shipping them to the foothills. As most supplies and foodstuffs, up until that time, had come from the East Coast after a costly boat trip around South America, the Martins literally found their gold in the fertile brown earth.
Sons Robert and Thomas farmed the Pajaro area. Daughter Mary, married John Jefferson and they eventually bought part of the old land granted Estrada ranch in Salinas. William (1), with sons William (2), James (1) and John (1), developed the Salinas farm at "Neponset" (mouth of the Salinas River—near Castroville) and also the Mission Ranch in Carmel. They also bought property in Monterey. Lots on Martin Street, the land where the Bank of America and where the old First Theater building is and the House of the Four Winds were among their holdings. John Martin and his brothers first lived on property in an area now known as Martin Canyon. A pine sawmill is in operation there at present, owned by the Commings brothers. Through some irregularity in the deed, the $3,000 which John and his brothers had invested in this land was lost. John, who was the oldest son, went back to Canada in 1871 to get a wife, with whom he lived out his life at the Mission Ranch.
ELIZABETH AND JOHN MARTIN (1)
John Martin (1) was born Dec. 11, 1827 in Strathmore, Scotland and died Feb. 28, 1893 at age 66, in Carmel. Elizabeth Stewart Martin was born in Scotland, Aug. 8, 1840 and died at age 76, Nov. 25, 1916 at the ranch in Carmel. As Elizabeth Stewart, she had immigrated to Canada in 1863, with her first husband and three sons, John, Andrew, and Joe Stewart. John Martin, upon a visit to Canada, finding Elizabeth a widow, and even though he was 13 years her senior, convinced her to marry him and come to California. He assured her that even in this rugged frontier, there was a "Wee Kirk" just adjacent to the ranch. Little did she know, until after she arrived, that the Kirk was a run down old Spanish Mission. In addition to her three sons by Stewart, she and John Martin had five sons and one daughter, all born at the Mission Ranch: James (2) in 1871, William (3)-1873, Robert-1875, Roy-1882, Isabel-1884, and Carmel-in 1889, when his mother was 49 years old. With the exception of Carmel, who became an attorney, all the boys carried on the tradition of working the good earth. Isabel married Robert Leidig, who had come to Carmel from Illinois in 1904, with his widowed mother and his brothers, Robert, Fred, Lawrence, and Ben. They opened the first grocery store in the city of Carmel and later owned property throughout the village. All of these children of John and Elizabeth (who were the 3rd generation in Carmel) attended the little red school house on the bay — "Bay School". They would walk across the river and go to school, but if the river was too high to cross, school was "called on account of high water".
EARLY FISHING EXPERIENCES
Fishing at the Carmel River mouth was often done with spears that were sometimes made of "worked over" pitchforks. The tines would be reduced from 12" to 4" and the ends turned and barbed with copper. John Martin turned out many metal masterpieces at his ranch forge, using Willow coke in the process.
"Sordo", (the Spanish equivalent for deaf) was an old Indian who worked for ranchers in the valley. They tell how he would take his dog fishing with him. The dog would be his ears and let him know when a fish was within striking distance and then old "Sordo", with keen eyesight, would spear his fish. In one winter alone the Martin boys speared over 1300 steelhead in the river, averaging 10 lbs. each. They frequently caught others that weighed 16-19 lbs. In the ocean, they caught salmon that ran on an average of 25 lbs. These fish were taken by wagon to Monterey, and then shipped by sea or rail with other sea life to San Francisco markets. Undoubtedly much of it graced the tables of the large ranch families as well. There were no bulldozers to clear out the sand at the mouth of the river in those days, so that the fish could swim upstream to spawn. This was a labor of love (or love for fishing] that the young husky farm boys and their shovels completed many times. Following the death of John Martin in 1893, at age 66, his wife and later her son Andrew Stewart, maintained the dairy herd and grew grain and feed on the 216 remaining acres. The original ranch had included what is now known as Stewart's cove and the property where Robinson Jeffers' studio stands. The property adjacent to this was sold by John and became the southern part of the City of Carmel. Mrs. Willis Walker in 1926, acquired the open land near the lagoon which was subdivided and called the Walker Tract. The old ranch house and surrounding buildings are used now as a motel, restaurant, and racquet club! River Elementary School now covers land that once produced corn, alfalfa and rye grain, as well as beautiful lupine and poppies in the spring.
The second son of Elizabeth and John, — William (3) married Anna Hatton on July 19, 1903. Her father — William Hatton (1) had emigrated from Ireland, via South Carolina, to Carmel, arriving in 1870 and was to start the other half of this story. Now remember — only the marriage of "Will" and Anna united these two great Valley families.
UNITING THE TWO FAMILIES
ANNA HATTON AND WILLIAM E. MARTIN (3)
Anna Hatton was born August 26, 1876 at the Los Laureles ranch where her father, William Hatton (1) was the overseer for 15 years. He worked for the Pacific Improvement Co., later to become the Del Monte Properties Co. She died April 24, 1939 at White Rock in the upper Carmel Valley at age 63. William E. Martin (3), called "Will", was born Feb. 13, 1873 at the Mission Ranch and died on Sept. 10, 1959 in the valley at age 86. He and his brothers — James (3), Robert, Roy, Carmel, and Va brothers, John, Andrew, and Joseph Stewart all bought property of their own in Carmel Valley and Monterey. His sister Isabel Martin Leidig and her husband invested in property in the city of Carmel. "Will" worked as a chief deputy in Monterey County clerk's office for about seven years and he and Anna lived in Salinas when they were first married in 1903. In 1908, the call of the earth brought them back to a farm in Carmel Valley that had been a part of the Meadows land grant estate.
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