CIVIL WAR CONFEDERATE VMI CADET JIM CROW RACIST SENATOR VA MARTIN LETTER SIGNED!

Description

Here’s a Letter Signed by
THOMAS STAPLES MARTIN
(1847 - 1919)
CIVIL WAR
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
CONFEDERATE CADET INFANTRY FIGHTING IN THE VALLEY CAMPAIGNS OF 1864
and IN DEFENDING THE CONFEDERATE CAPITOL AT RICHMOND,
POWERFUL US DEMOCRATIC PARTY “
JIM CROW
” SENATOR FROM ALBERMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA and SENATE MAJORITY LEADER 1895-1919
&
AN ARCHITECT OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY MACHINE THAT DURING HIS TIME WAS KNOWN AS THE “
MARTIN ORGANIZATION.
”
Accused by his critics of bribery and corruption, Senator Martin stayed in power and managed to rise to the position of US Senate Majority Leader at least in part because of his pragmatic willingness to forge coalitions between the competing conservative and progressive wings of the Democratic Party.
Sen. Martin was the second-to-last veteran of the Confederate Army to serve in the United States Senate, only being passed by Colorado Senator
Charles Spalding Thomas
. Thomas Staples Martin’s political machine in Virginia, called the “
Martin Organization
” was continued after his death by Senator
Harry F. Byrd Sr.
(and eventually was called the “
Byrd Organization
”), and controlled Virginia politics until the civil rights upheavals of the 1960s ousted the long-time machine
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HERE’S A CIRCA 1898 AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY MARTIN ON “
UNITED STATES SENATE
” LETTERHEAD, 1p., DATED AT WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 7
th
1898, INSTRUCTING THE RECIPIENT THAT,
“On and after this date please forward my letters to me at Scottsville, Va.”
The document measures 5” x 7½” and is in very good
condition, save for a mounting strip remnant on the verso
.
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE HONORABLE
THOM. S. MARTIN
Thomas Staples Martin
(July 29, 1847 – November 12, 1919) was an
American
lawyer and
Democratic Party
politician from
Albemarle County, Virginia
, who founded a political organization that held power in Virginia for decades (later becoming known as the
Byrd Organization
) and who personally became a U.S. Senator who served for nearly a quarter century and rose to become the Majority Leader (and later Minority Leader) before dying in office.
Early life, education and Confederate career
Born in
Scottsville
, then the largest town on the upper
James River
to the former Martha Ann Staples (1819-1906), and her husband John Samuel Martin (1815-1867), Thomas Martin was their firstborn son. His father moved from
Fluvanna
to work in Thomas Staples's store, where he met his wife and eventually became partner. Thomas had two elder sisters and one younger sister in the 1850 census. In 1853, the growing family moved to "Fairview" a farm outside Scottsville. Thomas would ultimately have eight siblings, including brothers Reuben (b. 1849), Samuel (b. 1851), Leslie (b. 1854) and John (1858-1933). His father also became a local justice of the peace and managed a local woolen mill, before dying on his farm shortly after the American Civil War ended. Young Thomas was educated at home and at local private schools, as was customary for men of his class.
Thomas Martin began attending
Virginia Military Institute
in March, 1864. When the cadet corps was called into Confederate service shortly before the
Battle of New Market
on May 15, 1864 (in which 10 cadets died), Martin was ill and missed the fight. He recovered and when Union troops burned VMI later in the year, joined his fellow cadets in skirmishes around
Lynchburg
(a main railroad hub and hospital center where VMI initially relocated) during the
Valley Campaigns of 1864
and in defending the Confederate capitol at Richmond.
After General Lee's surrender at
Appomattox Court House
, Martin returned home, but that fall began studies at the
University of Virginia
. He became a member of the
Phi Kappa Sigma
fraternity, but withdrew after two years because his father's death forced him to take charge of the store and mill and support the family. Martin would later remain connected with the university and served a term on UVa's Board of Visitors, but in the short run read law at night.
Career
Martin was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1869 and built a successful practice in Scottsville (once the Albemarle County seat) and surrounding counties. He became known for his expertise with land records, as well as ability to settle problems out of court. In the early 1880s, he became the district counsel for the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
, which had bought several of the railroads destroyed in the Civil War, and which were being rebuilt.
Martin became a protege of
John S. Barbour Jr.
, a veteran lawyer who had been president of the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad
before the war and a politician and U.S. Congressman like his father (
John S. Barbour
). Barbour had become affiliated with the C&O Railroad after it bought the Orange and Alexandria after the war. As well as expanding the C&O, he (with Martin's behind the scenes help) also orchestrated the rise of the state's Democratic Party at the expense of the
Readjuster Party
, a coalition of
Republicans
and African Americans. In 1885, Martin secured a spot on the state Democratic state central committee, the year that the Democrats secured election of former Confederate general
Fitzhugh Lee
as governor. Two years later, Martin successfully promoted the Senate candidacy of
John W. Daniel
of
Lynchburg
, to replace
Readjuster
William Mahone
(another former Confederate general), although Barbour wanted the seat. In 1889, when the
Readjuster Party
's other leader, Senator
Harrison H. Riddleberger
chose not to run for re-election (he would die the following year), Barbour won the seat and became a U.S. Senator. Democrats again controlled both Virginia Senate seats, as well as the governorship, as they had before the war. When Barbour died in office in 1892, after just 3 years as a U.S. Senator, the organization that he and Martin had nurtured initially allowed former CSA General (and Virginia lawyer and Congressman)
Eppa Hunton
to succeed him. However, Hunton became embroiled in scandal, and the
Panic of 1893
led to a recession.
Assisted by campaign contributions from the C&O and other railroads (made more important because of the economic recession, as would be revealed during the 1911 campaign), and with the assistance of Congressmen
Henry D. Flood
and
Claude Swanson
(who later became Governor) as well as elected officials in many of Virginia's counties, Martin secured 66 votes in the Democratic legislative caucus (compared to 55 votes for Fitzhugh Lee, who gave speeches throughout the Commonwealth but proved lethargic in securing legislative support).
Thus, despite relatively poor oratorical skills, Martin upset the favorite in December 1893, and the following year formally secured election to the U.S. Senate, helped by his new marriage.
Re-elected several times (first through the legislature and later by voters after the seat became subject to direct election), Martin represented
Virginia
in the
United States Senate
for nearly twenty-five years. In 1899, Martin faced Governor
James Hoge Tyler
(a fellow Democrat whom he had supported as Lieutenant Governor and Governor in 1897), but retained his seat. In 1905, Democrats shifted from the caucus system to a primary, and Governor
Andrew J. Montague
opposed Martin, as an Independent running on an anti-machine platform, but Martin won anyway, having greatly improved as a public speaker in the intervening years, and reinforcing his political organization by disenfranchising blacks and poor whites by the legislative adoption of the new state constitution in 1902. In 1910, Senator Daniel died, and Martin's ally Claude Swanson succeeded him. In 1911, Martin and Claude Swanson faced an internal Democratic Party challenge from Congressman
William A. Jones
, the main leader of
Progressive
Democrats, and
Carter Glass
, but retained their seats by a 2-to-1 margin. Senator Martin ran unopposed for re-election to the Senate in 1918.
Martin and his organization worked to defeat various
Progressive
forces in their own Democratic party, as well as defeat Progressive Republicans (including President
Theodore Roosevelt
, who kept a camp in Virginia and noted his Confederate-sympathizing mother and her ancestors). They also worked disenfranchise African-Americans in the state, especially at the
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1902
. As shown by the multiple internal challenges, they were less cohesive than the Byrd Organization would be for decades after Martin's death.
Nonetheless, Martin was also pragmatic, which assisted his rise in the Senate Democratic hierarchy. Before the 1911 election, fellow Senate Democrats elected him Minority Leader. He withdrew as a candidate for re-election to that post in 1913, and in 1915 spent most of the campaign season in Albemarle County, since his wife's tuberculosis had worsened (and she died by year's end). Martin first opposed
Woodrow Wilson
, a former Virginian and Progressive Democrat, but when Wilson was elected (and re-elected), Martin eventually supported parts of Wilson's agenda.
After his wife's death in 1915, Martin devoted himself to Senate business, becoming Majority leader in 1917, and securing the declaration which supported American entry into
World War I
. However, Republicans regained control of the Senate in 1918, so he became Minority leader. The following year, Martin's health worsened. While he continued with some Senate business and hoped to return to Washington by the fall, he was unable to help Wilson during the peace treaty process.
Personal life
In 1894, the long-time bachelor Martin married Lucy Chambliss Day (1875-1915), daughter of Col. C. Fenton Day (1846-1915), former mayor of
Smithfield
and an important businessman in the
Isle of Wight
area (owner of one of four peanut factories as well as part owner of the cement factory). The Day family was prominent before the war, her grandfather
William Henry Day
(1802-1867) having served in the Virginia Senate immediately before the war). Lucy Day was a much admired belle of
Southside Virginia
, as well as at the various watering places where her family spent the summers. Possessing decided literary talent, as well as being an accomplished swimmer and equestrian, she had numerous published poems and prose articles, many admired for their beauty of thought and expression. Mrs. Martin and her sister, Grace Radcliffe Day (who married businessman Henry Gould Ralston in 1910) were society belles in Washington D.C. The Martins had a son, Thomas Martin Jr. () and a daughter, Lucy Day Martin (1897-1927). Lucy Day Martin survived both parents, but like her mother, died of
tuberculosis
.
Death and legacy
The widower Martin did not remarry and died while in office, at his home in Charlottesville. He is buried with his wife and daughter (who died of tuberculosis unmarried) in the
University of Virginia Cemetery
at that location. Fellow Democrat
Carter Glass
succeeded to Martin's senate seat; Colorado Senator
Charles Spalding Thomas
would become the last Confederate veteran in the U.S. Senate.
Martin's home,
Faulkner House
, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
in 1984.
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Soldier, U.S. senator, Greenville Male Academy, the Edgefield Hussars, Hampton Legion, received a presidential pardon, “Black Codes,”, “Edgefield Plan”, major general of volunteers in the Spanish-American War,