Résumé

Designer, A.C. Martin and Company, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1917. On 06/05/1917, the A.C. Martin firm had an office in the Higgins Building, Room #431. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Los Angeles Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 01/05/2025.)

Principal, Emmett G. Martin, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1925.

College

Coursework, Throop Polytechnic Institute and Manual Training School, Pasadena, CA, c. 1910.

B.S., Architectural Engineering, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, 1913.

Relocation

Born at La Salle, IL, on 10/09/1889, Martin resided in that city with his parents John and Margaret, five siblings and a servant, Minnie Cusick (born c. 07/1882 in NY). In 1900, the Martins owned a dwelling at 810 Gooding Street in La Salle, IL, in a middle-class neighborhood composed of native-born and first-generation English-, Irish-, German- and Polish-American families. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: La Salle Ward 6, Lasalle, Illinois; Roll: 316; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0060, accessed 01/06/2025.) La Salle had risen to prominence as the western terminus of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed in 1848. The city became a key commercial transition point between Chicago and ship traffic on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. (The Illinois River merged with the Mississippin at Grafton, IL, about 223 miles to the southwest.) Later, La Salle, became a town known for its coal mining, zinc-mining and manufacturing. The town also served as a stop on the Rock Island and Illinois Central Railroads by 1853 and 1854, respectively.

John and Margaret Martin relocated to Los Angeles, CA, by 1905, although some of their family remained in La Salle, residing at 1471 La Harpe Street likely with an uncle and his wife. According to McCoy's La Salle, Illinois, City Directory, 1905,Emmet's brothers Matthew worked in a zinc mine, while John operated his father's store, and his sisters Margaret, Mary and a relation named "Tessie" lived in the residence on La Harpe. (See McCoy's La Salle, Illinois, City Directory, 1905, p. 117.) Emmet's elder brother architect Albert Carey Martin resided in Los Angeles by at least 1905, and worked for the architect A.F. Rosenheim. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1905, p. 970.)

By 1910, eight members of Emmet's family had moved to Los Angeles, where they lived at 2301 4th Avenue.

He came to California to attend classes at the work for his brother, the established Los Angeles practitioner, A.C. Martin, Sr., after 1917.

During 1916 and 1917, Emmet Martin continued to reside at 2301 4th Avenue in Los Angeles, CA. (See University of Illinois Directory, Vergil V. Phelps, ed., [Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois, 1916], p. 439 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Los Angeles Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 01/05/2025.)

Parents

His father John Joseph Martin (born 07/09/1853 in County Longford, Ireland-d. 10/04/1930 in Los Angeles, CA) worked as a furniture dealer in La Salle in 1900. As per the 1900 US Census, he migrated to the US in 1865 and had been naturalized by that time. In 1905, John Martin's store was managed by his son Frank E. Martin and sold furniture, carpets, stoves and pianos at 805-811 1st Street in La Salle.

John wed Emmet's mother Margaret A. Carey (born 04/1854 in NY-d. 01/12/1925 in Los Angeles, CA) in 1873 in La Salle, IL. They had nine children together, six of whom lived at home, as indicated in the 1900 census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: La Salle Ward 6, Lasalle, Illinois; Roll: 316; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0060, accessed 01/06/2025.)

His eight brothers and sisters included Vincent Matthew Martin (born c. 04/1874 in La Salle, IL), John Joseph Martin (born 05/25/1877 in La Salle, IL-d. 01/06/1957 in Wellston, MO), Albert Carey Martin, Sr., (born 09/16/1879 in La Salle, IL-d. 04/09/1960 in Los Angeles, CA), Frank Edward "Frank" Martin (born 11/15/1871 in La Salle, IL-d. 10/19/1970 in Tarzana, Los Angeles, CA), Estelle Maria "Stella" Martin Vaughey (born 01/20/1883 in La Salle, IL-d. 01/18/1973 in Marin County, CA), Margaret Mary Martin Ganahi (born 06/05/1886 in La Salle, IL-d. 12/05/1970 in Los Angeles County, CA), Virginia L. Martin McNamee (born 02/09/1891 in La Salle, IL-d. 03/29/1973 in Los Angeles, CA) and Mary Virginia Martin Lesher (born 11/27/1893 in La Salle, IL-d. 12/05/1973 in Los Angeles, CA). (The CA Death Index had a birth date of 12/02/1894 for Mary Martin Lesher, not 11/27/1893.)

Biographical Notes

His World War I draft registration card listed Martin as being Caucasian, with brown eyes and brown hair. It described him as being short and slender. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Registration State: California; Registration County: Los Angeles Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005, accessed 01/05/2025.)

• La Salle, IL (Architect's Birth)
  La Salle, IL

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