Jacob Absolom Martin

Jacob Absolom "J.A." Martin (1850–1919) was born in Matagorda, Texas, the youngest child of Dr. James Fisher Martin and Julia Ann Eberly Martin. His life traced the arc of South Texas itself from frontier hardship to settled prosperity.

The family left Matagorda in 1853 for Gonzales County and were registered in Rancho in the 1860 census. He was around 15 years old when the Civil War ended and the great cattle drives north to Abilene and Dodge City were beginning. He grew into a true Texas cattleman, riding as a trail driver and building a large ranch that spread across both sides of the Wofford Crossing Road in Karnes County, arriving around 1868. He eventually acquired the neighboring Rose Ranch and became a prominent figure in the county's ranching world. Beyond the saddle, J.A. was a man of standing in his community: a Mason, a member of the Woodmen of the World, and president of the Nichols National Bank in Kenedy, Texas. His faith ran deep in the Methodist tradition—it was he who deeded the Escondido Cemetery land to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, "for and in consideration of the love I have and bear for the cause of Christ." Family marked every chapter of his life. He married Alice Amanda Campbell in 1870 and they had 10 children before her death in childbirth in 1889, along with the child. He later married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Smiley Griffin, with whom he had six more. When he died in 1919, he was laid to rest alongside generations of his family in the Escondido Cemetery, on land he himself had given—a fitting close for a man whose roots in the Texas soil ran as deep as anyone's.