John Andrew Martin

Who was John Andrew Martin?

John Andrew Martin was an American journalist, attorney, soldier, and politician, who represented Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, a son of Hugh and Ann Martin, native of Ballinakill, parish of Duniry, County Galway, Ireland. Hugh Martin is thought to have descended from the Martyn family, one of The Tribes of Galway.

Andrew's father was a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting for active duty with the Union army, and was assigned to service on a gunboat on the Mississippi River. His brother Hugh Martin Jr. was the first sheriff of Woods County, Oklahoma after statehood.

John A. Martin was the eldest in a family of five sons and one daughter. He acquired a public school education in Mexico and in Fulton, Missouri.

He came to Colorado in 1887, worked on the construction of the Colorado Midland Railroad, and became publisher of the La Junta Times. He studied law in the offices of Fred A. Sabin and Dan B. Carey, and was admitted to the bar in 1896.

On September 6, 1892, he married Rose M. Chitwood.

He became active in Colorado Democratic politics. He was elected to the Colorado general assembly in 1900, and served in the U.S. Congress in 1909-13 and 1933-39.