Hon. Louis Mayo Martin, continuously identified with the legal profession in Oneida county during the past thirty-five years, has been justice of the supreme court at Utica since January 1, 1922. He was born in Madison county, New York, on the 26th of November, 1863, his parents being Marshall William and Lizzie Lorinda (Hankins) Martin, the former a native of Kirkland, Oneida county, and the latter of Madison, Madison county, this state. The family has been represented in Oneida county since about 1840, when John L. Martin, grandfather of Justice Martin, took up his abode here. His son, Marshall W. Martin, passed away in March, 1908.
The elementary education of Louis Mayo Martin was obtained in the district schools of his native county, following which he attended the high school of Hamilton and the grammar school of Clinton. After his graduation from the Clinton Preparatory School in 1885 he turned his attention to the profession of teaching. This claimed his time until 1890, during which period he also studied law in the office of Charles R. Carruth of Clinton. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1889 and immediately established an office in Clinton but for a year thereafter discharged the duties of principal of the village school, in addition to his work as a practicing attorney. In 1890, however, he left the schoolroom and has since devoted his attention exclusively to the legal profession. A merited honor came to him in his election as supreme court justice, taking office on the 1st of January, 1922.
In August, 1890, in Clinton, Justice Martin was united in marriage to Miss Marie Louise Foucher of New York city, daughter of Victor and Mary Elizabeth (Burlingame) Foucher, the former a native of France. Mrs. Foucher, who was born in Clinton, New York, is a direct descendant of Albert and John Burlingame, who settled in Connecticut in 1784. Justice and Mrs. Martin have one daughter, Alice Lucile.
Justice Martin has participated in political activities as a stanch supporter of the republican party. He has been president of the village of Clinton, served as president of the board of trustees of the Clinton high school for many years and had been justice of the peace in the town of Kirkland for eight years, when he resigned, owing to the fact that he had been elected member of the assembly from the second Oneida district. He served in the state legislature altogether for nine years and made a most commendable record in that connection. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1915 and was chairman of the judiciary committee of the assembly for four years, serving in the latter capacity during the winter-long trial of the socialists in Albany. In the years 1901, 1902, 1905 and 1906 he was deputy attorney-general of the state of New York under John C. Davies and Julius M. Mayer. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Utica, the Shenandoah Club of Clinton, New York, and with the Masons, belonging to Clinton Lodge No. 169, F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Clinton Hook and Ladder Company, of which he was president for several years. Oneida county has long numbered him among her most influential and highly respected citizens, and the legal profession accords him high rank as a jurist.