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RICHARD DAVANT MARTIN
Vol. 3, p. 1003

South Carolina has given Oklahoma a goodly number of her foremost
citizens, and one of them is Richard Davant MARTIN, who was born in
that State, in Barnwell County, the son of an old and highly esteemed
family of the commonwealth. John Vincent and Mary (BOSTICK) Martin
were his parents, both natives of South Carolina.

John Vincent Martin was a prominent cotton planter and the son of
Hon. William D. Martin, a congressman, and at the time of his death
circuit judge at Charleston, South Carolina. John V. Martin died when
his son, Richard D., of this review, was nine years of age, and Mrs.
Martin died in 1903.

At the age of fourteeen young Martin went from his native state and
the home of his boyhood to reside with relatives in Washington, D. C.
He received a fair education in private schools in South Carolina and
this training was furthered by careful study in schools in Washington
and Baltimore. In 1886 he came from Washington to the Indian
Territory, in company with the present United States Senator Robert
L. OWENS. For four years thereafter he was in the Federal service in
connection with the Indian agency at Muskogee. In 1890 Mr. Martin
began his banking career when he became bookkeeper in the First
National Bank of Muskogee and later assistant cashier in this
institution. In May, 1898, the First National Bank of Checotah was
organized with a capital stock of $50,000, fully paid, and Mr. Martin
became its first cashier. With this institution he has since
continued. The first president of the bank was J. S. TODD, who was
succeeded by Mr. J. W. PERRY, and he in turn was succeeded in 1910 by
Mr. Martin, who is now holding that position. The First National Bank
of Checotah is the oldest national bank in McIntosh County. It has
always been under local management, all its stockholders being
Checotah men. Its financial statement, issued in June, 1915, shows it
to have a capital, surplus and profits aggregating $90,000, with
resources in the sum of $500,000. It ranks among the strongest banks
of Oklahoma, and it is generally conceded that much of its growth and
strength is due to the able management of Mr. Martin.

Mr. Martin though a staunch democrat, has never sought political
honors of any sort though he has always been keenly interested in
civic affairs and has contributed largely to the development and
progress of the sturdy little town of Checotah. Aside from his
banking interests, Mr. Martin has extensive farm lands in the county,
and as a result his influence has been felt throughout the county,
not alone as a banker but as a farmer.

Mr. Martin is a Mason, and a member of the Episcopal Church. He was
married in 1903 to Miss Ida AUGUSTINE, a native of the state of
Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have one child, Mary Davant Martin, ten
years of age.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Dorothy Marie Tenaza, Dec. 12, 1998.