FlemingtonMartins.com

This is very out of date! But you can check out the facebook page for Midway Church and Society.

June 3 , 2003 O.C. Martin story on the net

Memories will never fade for veteran O.C. Martin
By:January Holmes , Staff writer 05/28/2003

O.C. Martin realizes the generation of soldiers he served with during World War II is fading away.

Martin served in the U.S. Army's 94th Division in the European campaign. Now, at age 94, he still remembers many of the things from World War II. But the number of World War II vets left is dwindling rapidly.

"Two of my officers died in the last six months," Martin said, sitting in his wheelchair at Coastal Manor, a nursing home in Ludowici. "My executive officer of the battalion is still alive. We are the only two of my battalion that we know of who are living."

According to Shannon Hanson, editorial assistant of Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, about 1,849 veterans are dying each day.

"Eleven hundred of those are from World War II," Hanson said.

Martin would not discuss how he felt being one of few left who served during that era or what it was like to lose some of his comrades in the war.

He did say he was wounded in battle, hit by a German artillery round in 1945. He was back on his feet two and half months later, just in time for the field day competitions the division had in Germany on May 30, Memorial Day.

On Monday, communities all over the nation will celebrate Memorial Day, remembering the soldiers who died in past wars.

This practice began after the end of the Civil War and was known as Decoration Day, because the graves of the fallen soldiers were decorated with flowers.

The holiday was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, a commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, on May 5, 1868. It was first observed May 30 of the same year.

In 1968 Congress changed the day to the last Monday in May. The government asked for a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers at 3 p.m. on this day.

Martin was 7 years old when he attended his first Memorial Day service in 1915. The service, which took place at the historic Midway Cemetery, drew a crowd of people.

"They were dedicating the tall monument in the cemetery," he said. "A bunch of military representatives from the National Guard units were there."

The monument was erected in honor of Daniel Stewart and James Screven, two Revolutionary War heroes.

President Woodrow Wilson was invited to speak at the service, but was not able to attend. He sent a member from his cabinet in his place, Martin recalled.

Little did Martin know at the time that years later, he would be fighting in World War II.

©Hinesville Coastal Courier 2003

April 9, 2003
Everyone should be getting information via regular mail about the plans for the 2004 250th anniversary celebration.

The 30-minute video is being prepared with the hope of getting it on Georgia Public Television (and others perhaps). Naturally, this video will focus on the relatively brief (100+ years) the Midway Church was active, but it will be framed by information about the origins of Congregationalism, the migration to New England, then South Carolina, etc., then brought up to date with the idea of preservation--both of the physical church(es) and the emotional and spiritual body of the society. The DVD, which will be published soon after the 2004 Midway Meeting, will have much more information and will hopefully satisfy the needs of all of us to know more about our history with photographs, lists, biographical information, and such.

If anyone has suggestions about any of this, please contact me (email below). This will be a one-shot deal for my lifetime, anyway, so we really want to gather as much material as possible. We need photographs, paintings, engravings--anything to shed more light on the history. Within each of our families is a wealth of information sometimes scattered through the generations. This project will help to gather it in one place for future access and reference. Pass the word.

From Van Jones Martin -- goldencoast@earthlink.net

April 3, 2003

Midway Sunday is on April 27, 2003! If you are planning to be there, email me and I'll post it on the Midway Sunday page. Or just let me know what's going on in your family and I'll post that on this page. Send your email to:

Elizabeth Martin-- elizmartin@WomensLaw.org.

December 20 , 2002
Charles Hugh Brown, daughter of LaDona Martin, daughter of Charlie McDowell Martin, son of Daniel Leonidas Martin, son of Angus Graham Martin, son of Martin Martin, son of Governor (?) John Martin, has just published his first novel, Master Jones Goes to Washington, with a brief fictionalized account of the Martins of Taylor's Creek. (The Mortons). It will be available at www.1stbooks.com around January 1st, under pen name, Hugh Brown. His next book will be Confessions of An American Tory, based on the life of Hugh Brown I of Craven County, SC during the Revolutionary War. Thanks for the great work done on the Flemingtons. It was very helpful to my research. Happy holidays!

Hugh Brown

April 18, 2002
The grandchildren of Marion Fleming Martin recently held a First Cousins Reunion at Riceboro. Harold Martin, Jr. of Washington State attended Flemington Church the next morning, and he and Van Martin and wives went to lunch with our family after church. Janet and I were visiting Dad that week end.

Lee Martin

February 20, 2002
The grandchildren of O. C. Martin, Sr. are having a first cousins reunion at Jekyll Saturday. 13 of 14 are living, and we hope all will attend. As many as possible will go to church Sunday at Flemington and have lunch with Dad and Fraser afterwards.

Lee Martin