Morgan Lewis Martin was one of at least 8 children born to
Walter Martin (1764–1834) and his first wife Sarah ('''' Turner; 1770–1815). Walter Martin was a prominent politician in northern New York, he was the founder and namesake of
Martinsburg, New York. He also served as a state senator in the 1810s and brigadier general in the New York militia during the
War of 1812. Morgan Lewis Martin was a first cousin to Wisconsin Territory governor
James Duane Doty; Doty's mother was a sister of Martin's father. The entomologist and historian
Asa Fitch is also a first cousin. The Martin family were descended from the colonist Thomas Martin Sr., who emigrated from England to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid-1600s. Morgan Lewis Martin was named for former New York governor
Morgan Lewis, who was also the namesake of
Lewis County, New York, where he was born. Morgan Lewis Martin married Elizabeth Smith in the summer of 1837. Elizabeth was also the daughter of a prominent family of Northern New York. They had at least six children together, though one child died in infancy. Martin's eldest son, Leonard Smith Martin, graduated from the
United States Military Academy and served as a lieutenant in the
5th U.S. Artillery Regiment during the American Civil War. Toward the end of the war, he was commissioned as colonel of the
51st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Martin has a school named after him in Green Bay, Morgan L. Martin Elementary School. His home, known as
Hazelwood, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. A
Westside neighborhood in Milwaukee is also named after him. ==References==