In memoriam Franklin H. Martin, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Date:
[1935]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: In memoriam Franklin H. Martin, M.D., F.A.C.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    franklin ft. Martin OUT of the hardy pioneer spirit of two families, the Martins of Canada and the Carlins of Pennsylvania, each coming west by caravans in the late 1840’s and settling on adjacent farms in Wisconsin, grew the friend¬ ship and marriage of Edmond Martin and Josephine Carlin, to whom a son, Franklin, was born in 1857. Franklin Martin’s childhood was a happy one, in spite of the sacrifices of his pioneer forebears, the loss of his father in the Civil War, and the remarriage of his mother and the uniting of two families of children, the Martins and the Mungers. Under moral and religious influences, Franklin developed into a ruddy, sturdy, industrious lad, receiving his elementary education by the sweat of his brow. Aunt Mary and Uncle Addison Carlin were a dominating influence for good in his life. He worked as farm hand, brickmaker, carpenter, janitor, and, later, as school teacher. In 1872 he left home for Minneapolis to study. In 1874 he returned to Wisconsin and entered Elroy Seminary. And then he decided to become a doctor. His first professional hero was Dr. McLaren Miller, of Oconomowoc, and, later, Dr. William Spalding, of Watertown, in whose office he first worked as janitor, in his spare moments reading a book on anatomy, which he memorized. In 1877 he came to Chicago with just enough money for carfare and tuition, and at the suggestion of Nicholas Senn, who signed his certificate of matricula¬ tion, he entered the Chicago Medical College, which is now the medical depart¬ ment of Northwestern University. It was here that he met as instructors Nathan S. Davis, Sr., William E. Quine, William Byford, Ralph Isham, John H. Hol¬ lister, and Edmund Andrews, all of whom were a great influence in his medical career. He loved the fire and enthusiasm of Quine, Davis, and Andrews, but he also loved the rockbound stability of John Hamilcar Hollister, who later became his father-in-law and who was a stabilizing and stimulating influence throughout his entire medical life. His first domicile as a bachelor with young Frederick Parkhurst was at 1133 South State Street, where they cooked their own meals. During vacations of these years he returned to Wisconsin and again worked as brickmaker, school¬ master, and carpenter, earning his own tuition and living expenses. His first meeting with John B. Murphy and Lewis Linn McArthur was at the time they were taking the Cook County Hospital competitive examinations.