Virgil A. Martin (October 15, 1874 – January 9, 1941) was a business executive and member of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

between 1927 and 1931.

Biography

Martin was born October 15, 1874, in

Tecumseh, Nebraska Tecumseh is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,677 at the 2010 census. History Tecumseh was originally called Frances, and under the latter name was established in 1856. The label o ...

, the son of Judson W. Martin and Ennis C. Smith. He was taken to

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, when he was one year old, where he attended elementary, high school and Troy College, from which he earned an engineering degree in 1891. He was married to Lilly F. Ward of

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, that same year. He moved to Los Angeles in 1906 as a representative of the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company. Later he was a mechanical engineer, sales engineer and then district manager of the B. F. Goodrich Company. He was in charge of government relations for the company during World War I, including overseeing its

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

schools and shipyards. He left Goodrich in 1925. He joined the West Adams Methodist Episcopal Church when he moved to Los Angeles. After his retirement, Martin was chairman of the board of the Union Rescue Mission. He died of a heart attack January 9, 1941, in his home at 2934 S. Hobart Boulevard, between West Adams and West Jefferson Boulevards and was survived by his wife and a sister, Gertrude Martin."Virgil A. Martin Funeral Set," ''Los Angeles Times,'' January 11, 1941, page 7
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Public service

Martin ran for the

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

City Council seat in 1927 as an anti- Cryer candidate and trounced the incumbent, Robert Stewart Sparks, by a vote of 7,843 to 2,889. He was reelected in 1929 over S. DeVier Ely but lost in 1931 to Roy L. Donley. By November 1930, Martin was "generally recognized as spokesman for Mayor ohn C.Porter in the Council chambers." Martin also was a chairman of the Police and Fire commissions and a member of the Public Works and Harbor commissions. In January 1930, Martin and seven other council members who had voted in favor of granting a rock-crushing permit in the Santa Monica Mountains were unsuccessfully targeted for recall on the grounds that the eight

have conspired with . . .
Alphonzo Bell Alphonzo Edward Bell Sr. (September 29, 1875 – December 27, 1947) was an American oil multi-millionaire, real estate developer, philanthropist, and champion tennis player. The westside Los Angeles residential community of Bel Air is na ...
, Samuel Traylor and Chapin A. Day, all multi-millionaires, to grant this group a special spot zoning permit to crush and ship . . . from the high-class residential section of Santa Monica, limestone and rock for cement."Movement for Recall Lists Eight," ''Los Angeles Times,'' February 6, 1930, page A-5
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References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links may require the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Virgil A. Los Angeles City Council members 1874 births 1941 deaths People from Tecumseh, Nebraska