The Congressman elect from South Dakota, Eben W. Martin, might be said to be indigenous to the soil, for he is by birth, training, education and experience a product of the Northwest and a fair example of what its institutions can do for its citizens. Mr. Martin was born in Maquoketa, a name suggestive of western ozone , -- Iowa, in 1855. On his father's side the ancestry is Scotch Irish, while his mother is of English descent, from a family which settled in Stonington, Conn., in the seventeenth century. Her maiden name was Lois Hyde Wever, and she was the youngest child of Rev. John W. Wever, a Methodist Episcopal Minister of the Troy (N.Y.) conference. Mr. Martin's father, James W. Martin, was a traveling salesman in modest financial circumstances, who served in the war of the Rebellion as captain of Company I, Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteers. Eben W. Martin's great great grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and served under General Washington.

     By reason of this military lineage Mr. Martin is a member of the Loyal Legion through his father's service, and a member of the South Dakota Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution by virtue of his great great grandfather's record in the struggle for independence. Mr. Martin early education was obtained in the district school of Maquoketa, Jackson county, Iowa, and in the grammar and high school of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he prepared for college. He entered Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, and took the classical course, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1879, and three years later received from the institution the degree of Master of Arts. While in college he was, in 1877, president of the Interstate Oratorical Association -- a fact which speaks well for his oratorical standing at college.

      Having chose law as his profession, he commenced his legal studies in the offices of George B. Young, Clinton, Iowa, and then entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar in 1880. He was president of the law class of the university while he was a student. In August, 1880, he came to South Dakota and settled at Deadwood when the region was known as the "Black Hills" where he has ever since lived. Here he devoted himself to his profession with great assiduity and soon had a lucrative practice in all the courts accessible.

      In 1887 he formed a partnership with Norman T. Mason, Esq., under the style of Martin & Mason.  The firm at once took a leading a position at the bar and has since had a large share of the important litigation in all the higher courts of the state. Some of the cases conducted by the firm have been noted for the array of legal talent employed. One of the more recent cases is that of the Buxton Mining Company vs. Golden Reward Company, in the Circuit Court of the United States at Deadwood, and in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Paul. Martin & Mason were attorneys for the plaintiff. This was a jury case. The trial consumed five weeks, resulting in a verdict for about seventy thousand dollars for the plaintiff.

      Mr. Martin has always been a Republican, and has generally taken part in all campaigns so far as his business would permit, but not in a personal way except when he was elected to congress as a member at large from South Dakota. He has always taken an interest in educational matters, as might be expected from his own thorough equipment. He was for several years president of the board of education of the city of Deadwood, and has served at different times as a member of the board of trustees of the State Normal School at Spearfish, S. D., and of other educational institutions. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and in May, 1900, was a lay delegate to the quadrennial general conference of the denomination, held at Chicago.

      In 1883 he was married to Jessie Arvilla Miner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George N. Miner, formerly of Cedar Falls, Iowa, now of Hot Springs, S. D. They have five children: George M, 16 years old; Lois W., 14; Paul E. 11; Charles E. 8, and Jessie A. Martin, 4 years old.