Charles Henry Martin

Charles Henry Martin (October 1, 1863 – September 22, 1946) was an American Army officer and later politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he had a 40-year career in the military including serving in conflicts from the Spanish-American War to World War I before retiring as a major general. A Democrat, he was the U.S. Representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district from 1931 to 1935 and then was the state's governor from 19... more

Charles Henry Martin (October 1, 1863 – September 22, 1946) was an American Army officer and later politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he had a 40-year career in the military including serving in conflicts from the Spanish-American War to World War I before retiring as a major general. A Democrat, he was the U.S. Representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district from 1931 to 1935 and then was the state's governor from 1935 to 1939. Charles Martin was born near Albion, Illinois, on October 1, 1863. He attended Ewing College (Ewing, Illinois) for two years until he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy. He would actively serve in the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and Boxer Rebellion after graduating from West Point in 1887. In 1920, when the army's authority to maintain Jim Crow regulations seemed threatened, Martin wrote that "...the negro is of very little importance... the average negro is not by any means equal to the average white man... less