NORTHWESTERN IOWA ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION VOLUME II 1804-1926 J. E. MARTIN Among the leading department stores of Sioux City is that of the T. S. Martin Company, which was established by the father of J. Earle Martin in 1890, has enjoyed a steady and substantial growth through the years, and is now, with the magnificent building which houses it, one of the landmarks of the city. J. Earle Martin, now president of T. S. Martin Company, has literally grown up in the business and has gained a place in the front rank of the progressive and enterprising business men of the community. He was born in Sioux City on the 27th of August, 1884, and is a son of Thomas Samuel Martin, ow whom an extended sketch appears elsewhere in this work. After completing his preliminary education in the public schools of this city, he attended Christian Brothers College, at St. Louis, and then took a commercial course in the Sioux City Business College. From the age of twelve years he had spent his vacations and other leisure time in his father's store and at the age of eighteen he formally began an apprenticeship in merchandising under the wise direction of his father, the ensuing seven years being spent in learning every detail of the business, from the ground up. In 1909 he was taken into partnership and shortly thereafter the business was incorporated as T. S. Martin Company, prior to which time it had been operated under the firm name of T. S. Martin & Company. In 1911 he was elected a director and treasurer of the company, serving in that capacity until January, 1915, when he was made vice president, while at the same time his brother, Jules T. Martin, was made a director and elected secretary-treasurer. On the reorganization of the company, August 19, 1915, caused by the death of the father, J. Earle Martin, was made president of the corporation, Jules T. became vice president, and another brother, Howard V. Martin, became a director and secretary-treasurer, which respective positions they still hold. On January 1, 1925, the T. S. Martin Realty Company (formerly the T. S. Martin Estate) was incorporated for a million dollars, with the same officers as the T. S. Martin Company. In 1918 the T. S. Martin Estate built the Orpheum theater and in 1919 the new T. S. Martin store building was erected, at an approximate cost of one million dollars. The building itself is a model of architecture as well as efficiency, containing a every convenience known to the most modern stores. It is absolutely fireproof, with an automatic sprinkler system, and has attracted wide attention, architects and builders from distant parts of the country coming to see it. It is built of buff brick, trimmed in white, is six stories high, with full basement, and is said to be the finest equipped department store west of Chicago. Over six hundred employees attend to the needs of the buying public and everything required in any home can be bought here. Sioux City is justifiably proud of this great store and of the men who are so ably managing it. On August 9, 1910, J. Earle Martin was united in marriage to Miss Helen Ross, daughter of Dr. Grant J. Ross, one of Sioux City's eminent physicians, and they are the parents of three children, Mariette, J. Earle, Jr., and Thomas Ross. Mr. Martin is a member of Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of the Sioux City Country Club, the Sioux City Commercial Club and the Knights of Columbus. He and his family are communicants of the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Martin's marked success in the business world has been gained by close attention to the interests entrusted to him, and by an honorable and consistent course he has long held an enviable place among the representative business men of the community. He has always maintained a deep interest in whatever has tended to promote the prosperity and welfare of his city and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/