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Eliza Ann Martin, usually known as Anna, was born 7 June 1869 at Hawleyville in Page County, Iowa. She was one of a pair of twins born to Elza L. Martin and his third wife, Eliza Ann (Holland) Martin. The twins came into a family that included six older half-siblings (four from Elza’s second marriage and two from Eliza Ann’s first marriage). When the twins were just 5 months old (November 1869), the family moved about 60 miles down to Falls City Precinct, Richardson County, Nebraska. Fifteen months later, Anna’s twin brother, Elza Asbury Martin, contracted scarlet fever and died on 15 February 1871.
Anna grew to maturity there in Falls City Precinct, and began a career in teaching at the age of 16. In fact, the Nebraska State Census of 1885 shows 16-year-old Anna still living at home with her parents and younger brother, and lists her occupation as “Teacher.” She devoted her life to that pursuit and never married. The details of her life presented below have been gleaned mostly from local newspapers from Falls City and Nebraska City, Nebraska, and also from Coweta, Oklahoma. Anna’s first teaching assignment was at the Falls Schoolhouse, south of Falls City, the same school from which she had recently graduated. She was still teaching there in 1887, but in 1888 she went off to Holton, Kansas, to pursue college-level studies at Campbell University. In the spring of 1890, she and her younger brother George were both studying at Holton. By the following fall, though, Anna was back in Falls City where she was the assistant principal of the high school (at the age of 21). Sometime in the late 1890s, she began teaching at Dawson, Nebraska, 13 miles west of Falls City. The 1900 census, however, shows her (“Annie Martain”) still living in Falls City with her parents (“Ellis and Elizie Martain”). There was, at that time, direct rail service between Falls City and Dawson, which made it feasible to commute. By 1902, Anna was in charge of the “grammar grades” at Dawson, and her brother George was principal of the high school. Anna abruptly resigned her position at Dawson in February 1904 in order to care for her mother, who was critically ill. A month later, 23 March 1904, her mother died. The following fall, Anna went down to Coweta, in “the Indian Territory” (now known as Oklahoma) for a brief visit with her uncle Joseph Martin, who had recently assumed pastoral duties at the local Methodist church. She must have liked the place, as Anna and her father, Elza, both moved to Coweta in 1905. She took the job of assistant principal in the Coweta schools that September, and by the following May, she was the principal. Anna remained in Coweta through the end of 1907, but early in 1908, she and her father moved back to Nebraska, though not to Falls City. They went instead to Peru, in Nemaha County, so Anna could pursue further studies at the Peru Normal School. She graduated from the Normal School in 1909, and promptly went to work for the schools in Dunbar, Nebraska. The 1910 census shows her (“Annie”) living with her father (“Eliza”) in Dunbar Village. It’s not clear what her position was at Dunbar initially, but she was the school principal during the 1910–11 term. In the fall of 1911, Anna went to Nebraska City (where her brother George was superintendent of schools) to begin what turned into a 25-year career teaching English at Nebraska City High School, and also serving as school principal. Her father moved with her to Nebraska City, and she continued to care for him until he died on 20 June 1916. Anna was a successful and well-liked teacher in Nebraska City. According to a memoir written by her niece, Minnie Alice Rhodes, “She was a good instructor and the students’ name for her was ‘Old Ironsides,’ and she was as dependable and uncompromising in principle as was that old battleship.” In 1915, she advised and encouraged the students who began the school’s newspaper, The Otoean (which continues to this day), and she continued as faculty advisor to that paper until her retirement in 1937. When her retirement was announced, the Nebraska Daily Press News (17 March 1937, p. 1) wrote: “It will be difficult to find a person to fill her place in the school system, one who will give as efficient training to the young men and young women of the community as she has. Annually, when students who had graduated from Miss Martin’s classes advanced into the University at Lincoln, tribute was paid to her work. For years, it has been said by English instructors at the University that students from Nebraska City have excelled in that branch of learning.” Anna lived on in Nebraska City until her death on 11 June 1946. Newspapers in Nebraska City, Falls City, and Dawson ran obituaries, and she was laid to rest at the Steele Cemetery in Falls City, close to her parents. If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about Anna's life, please contact me at the address shown in the image below:
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