Dr. Harry Charles Martin

Harry Charles Martin was a prominent physician in Longmeadow in the early twentieth century who lived a fascinating, albeit relatively short life. He was born in Milford, Massachusetts on December 1, 1877 and graduated from Dartmouth Medical College in 1898. Soon after graduation, he opened his general medical practice in Springfield.  Harry married Emma Putnam from Sutton, Massachusetts in April 1899. The couple, who never had children, initially lived in Springfield but moved to a newly constructed home at 20 Woodlawn Place in Longmeadow along with Emma’s mother. 

His early 20th century career was interesting and varied. Dr. Martin cared for the residents of the nearby Doane Orphanage in Longmeadow after it opened in 1902. The orphanage was in very close proximity to his home. Starting in 1906, Dr. Martin was the personal physician for Everett Barney, whose clip-on ice-skate patent earned him the fortune that funded his estate in nearby Forest Park. Eventually, Martin also became the physician for the Hampden County Jail.  

Aside from his professional work, Dr. Martin was an early automobile enthusiast and one of the original members of the Automobile Club of Springfield.

Harry Martin joined the Massachusetts National Guard in 1909 as a Lieutenant and served as a battalion quartermaster. He transferred to the medical corps in 1913 and was influential in inoculating soldiers against Typhoid Fever. He served during the Mexican Border War.

During World War I, Dr. Martin served 19 months in France as a surgeon for the 101st Infantry and earned the rank of Major. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for bravery in action July 24, 1918.

In an article in The Springfield Republican on June 26, 1918, Dr. Martin described his position in the field with “shells bursting 300 yards away.” As a regimental surgeon he was at the front far from a base hospital, with intimate knowledge of “what a trench looks like along with a heap of dead Germans, living with rats and cooties.” His quarantining efforts in 1919 while still in France helped to reduce deaths from the dreaded Spanish influenza. 

After WWI, he was instrumental in establishing the Longmeadow branch of the American Legion, the Albert T. Wood Post No. 175. Dr Martin resumed his medical practice at 374 Main Street in Springfield on June 2, 1919.

In 1927, Dr Martin and Congressman Henry Bowles traveled to France to visit the battlefields at Verdun and Belleau Wood. On the voyage back home off of Nantucket their ocean liner Veendam rammed into and sank the freighter Sagaland. He and Congressman Bowles were uninjured. 

It was said that his war service “broke his health” and he subsequently suffered from “heart trouble.” His wife Emma died in January 1927, and later that year Harry C. Martin died suddenly on September 12, 1927 at 51 years old. His death was a shock to the war veterans he served with and the patients he cared for. The Martins are buried in Longmeadow Cemetery.

-Contributed by Lenny Shaker, Longmeadow Historical Society

Sources:

The Springfield Republican

Springfield Union

Ancestry.com