Moritz was about six and a half months old when the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city on October 9, 1871. It left the family, along with 100,000 other Chicagoans, homeless. They lost most of their possessions, their home, and Henry's musical instrument manufacturing business. As with many Chicago residents, Henry resumed his business and the family remained in Chicago until 1878. Henry heard about a company that was hiring experienced old-world craftsmen for his band instrument manufacturing company. Henry moved his family to Elkhart, Indiana, and became the sixth employee of C. G. Conn.
Moritz grew up in Elkhart, and lived most of his life there, with the exception of a couple of short periods. In his late teens or early twenties, as a talented pianist, he studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music and played piano for the Chicago Opera House orchestra. It appears that this may have been around 1890, about the time he met and married Maudie S. on February 22, 1891. While researching in SLC, I discovered this marriage, but wasn't sure it was my Moritz. A few month later I heard the story about Moritz marrying a dance hall girl from Chicago and that his father had the marriage annulled. Although my mother was not aware of this marriage, two other independent family sources remembered and passed on the story. A dance hall girl? Who wouldn't want a dance hall girl in her family history?
Nearly four years later, on November 29, 1894, Moritz married Clarissa Ellen (Carrie) VanTilburg. She was the daughter of Irvin G. and Margaret (Hunter) VanTilburg. Moritz and Carrie may have been childhood friends, or at least acquaintances, as the Martins and VanTilburgs were neighbors for many years.
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| Carrie VanTilburg |
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| Moritz Augustus Martin |
Their first child, Irvin Henry Martin, was born in 1895, in Penn Yan, New York. Their daughter, Florence, was born in either 1897 or 1898. Sources differ about the year and I have not yet obtained her birth certificate. Her evasiveness over the years about her actual age presented a dilemma when she applied for Social Security.
In 1907, Martin Band Instruments was incorporated. Although Moritz, along with his siblings, was a shareholder in the company, he was a carpenter by trade. It is unclear what part he played in the company, but may have built the cases for the band instruments. During the early 1900s he worked at various positions in carriage factories and the Crow-Elkhart Motor Company.
He was a carpenter at Elkhart Brass for many years, until his retirement in May 1943. His surviving grandchildren still have fond memories of attending his company picnics; especially the ride in his Model T, and later in his Model A. On one of these occasions, another car ran into theirs, tipping it on its side. Although my mother's arm was caught under the car, no major injuries ensued. However, we paid the price, as she was always yelling at us not to stick our arms out the window because if the car rolled over they would be trapped beneath it.
Just a few months after his retirement, Moritz died at the home of his daughter on September 23, 1943, from a cerebral hemorrhage.
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| Carrie and Moritz Martin |
