|
'Looking Back' Ray Alvin Martin Ray Alvin Martin was the second son of the well-known Noah Martin and his wife Tassie Hendrix. The Martins were highly talented, versatile, energetic people and Ray inherited most of their good qualities. Ray worked hard in the fields and also at his father’s saw mill, which was powered by a big, portable steam engine. It is recalled that sometimes, while cutting distant stands of timber, small temporary houses would be erected to accommodate the sawmill workers. Miss Dolly Mae Senn, a schoolteacher, owned one of the stands of timber cut, consisting of gigantic primeval, original pine trees. When Ray grew up he married a good neighbor, Miss Emma Dickert and could not have gotten a better wife. This couple was soon gifted with three charming daughters. During the Second World War Ray served with honor in the US Army, for a time stationed in Louisiana. Later he shifted to an engineer unit and was stationed near Tacoma Washington where it rained almost every day. Ray badly missed his wife Emma and she decided to join her husband. Emma was fortunate when making the long railway trip to Washington State. George Senn, a soldier on furlough, invited her to ride with him on the train. This was a much-appreciated factor to a young lady who had never traveled so far from home. At first, after Emma arrived at her destination, the rain fell continuously and an umbrella became a part of the daily outfit. Soon, however, Ray was transferred to Mazar in California. There he helped guard Japanese Americans who had been herded into concentration camps for the duration of the war. The situation of the prisoners was truly unfortunate. So many of them had been born in the US and were actually good citizens and loyal Americans. They were also highly talented and superbly good workers. But because of the Pearl Harbor incident the average American regarded these people with suspicion. During the time of confinement in the concentration camps, some of the young Japanese Americans volunteered for service in the US Army and were very useful as translators and interpreters. Ray Martin and his wife developed a deep respect for the imprisoned citizens. Independence California was a small town near the Mazar concentration camp and Emma got a job in one of the town restaurants. On one occasion a well-dressed gentleman dined at the restaurant she worked and gave her $20 for his meal telling her to keep the change as a gratuity. She later learned he was a well-known movie star. On February 20, 1945 Ray was discharged from service at Salt Lake City Utah and he and Emma returned home to South Carolina. Emma’s mother kept a large flock of geese, harvesting the feathers every year for stuffing pillows. Emma was not particular for the caring of geese but she worked a wonderful garden. Ray Martin purchased some Jersey cows and started a flourishing dairy farm. Later he experimented with sugar cane. For generations the people of Newberry had made molasses of sorghum cane. Ray proved that the soil near Beaverdam Creek would grow thick heavily jointed sugar cane successfully. He secured a sugar cane crushing machine powered by a mule walking in a circle. He later replaced the mule with a motor to power the crushing machine. The sugar cane juice was processed by cooking in a big vat over a fire. News of the new sugar cane syrup operation spread and visitors began to arrive. When guests came Emma would present them with a saucer filled with freshly cooked sugar cane syrup. The guests invariably liked this delicious syrup and they usually placed orders for it. Ray was steadily expanding his successful new business when his health began to fail. He was a victim of Alzheimer disease, so mysterious a disease that, even today, efforts to cure it defy modern science. Ray Alvin Martin lived a busy and very useful life. He and his good wife, Emma had reared three splendid daughters. Ray died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 69 years in June 21, 1978 and was buried at Trinity UME Church Cemetery.
|
|
|
|
This is a FREE website.
If you were directed here through a link for which you paid $ for, you can access much more FREE data via our Newberry County index page at http://genealogytrails.com/scar/newberry/index.htm
Also make sure to visit our main Genealogy Trails History Group website at http://genealogytrails.com for much more nationwide historical/genealogical data and access to our other state/county websites.