He is an ex-member of Congress from Delaware and one of the most prominent peach-growers of the region. He was the youngest son in the family of ten children, of whom Captain Hugh and Sophia (Willis) Martin were the parents, and was born at Seaford, Sussex County, March 29, 1837. His first education, beyond that obtained in the schools of the neighborhood, was received at the Newark Academy, where he spent the year 1850. He then attended Delaware College and the academy of Anthony Bolmar in West Chester, Pennsylvania, after which, with thorough preparation, he entered the University of Virginia, from the Law Department of which he graduated in 1859. He continued his legal studies with Hon. Daniel M. Bates, in Wilmington.