Otto Martini and Johanna "Hannah" Gustafsdotter

 Left: Otto and Hanna Martini Right: Martini Family Home (taken in 2014)

Otto Martini, born 4 November 1860 in Östra Ljungby of Socken, Kristianstad, Sweden to Nils Elof and Sofia (Jeppson) Martini.¹ On November 3^rd 1886 he married Hanna Gustafson in San Bernardino, California.² Johanna Gustafsdotter, also known as Hannah Gustafson, born 30 October 1864 in Tofteryd, Jönköpings, Sweden to Gustaf Nilsson and Vendela Christina Johansdotter.³ Otto and Hanna had eight children, two boys died before they were five years old. In 1891, after Otto’s father’s death, his half-brother Peter and half-sister Sophia, were taken in and treated as part of the family evidence appeared in the 1900 U.S. Census where they were listed as Otto and Hannah’s children.⁴ Otto’s and Hannah’s children were:

Martini Family Christmas ~ 1915-1920

Name	Birth	Marriage	Death
Verner Nefton Martin	13 February 1888 Riverside, Riverside, CA	NA	1891 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Lillie Evelyn Martin	17 May 1890 Riverside, Riverside, CA	About 1920 California Harry Dunann	6 July 1957 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Olga Vendla Christina Martin	21 October 1893 Riverside, Riverside, CA	20 January 1926 Orange, Orange, CA Milton Floyd Goodhart	3 July 1976 Hemet, Riverside, CA
Paul Gustaf Martin	7 April 1895 Riverside, Riverside, CA	24 April 1919 Long Beach, Los Angeles, CA Myrtle Evelyn Johnson	9 January 1957 Roosevelt, Duchesne, UT
Walter Myron Martin	12 July 1898 Riverside, Riverside, CA	Unknown	1950 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Roy E. Phillip Martin	1 May 1900 Riverside, Riverside, CA	NA	1901 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Clifford William Martin	29 January 1902 Riverside, Riverside, CA	Unknown	24 January 1953 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Florence Margaret Martin	9 July 1904 Riverside, Riverside, CA	Unknown California Edmund C Hooper	21 September 1987 Riverside, Riverside, CA
Information on Children came from “Family Tree,” Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed Sept 2016

  

Otto and Hannah had a ranch at the west end of Central Avenue in Riverside. Here they grew a variety of crops that included: alfalfa, beans, walnuts, and at times they had dairy cows. The milk barn burned down at least twice and was rebuilt once. After raising their children, they enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren. The ranch was large and so they had to work together to keep the ranch going. They lived in the same home on Central Avenue from at least 1900 until they both passed away. Otto and Hannah were hard workers. Otto maintained the farm and managed the ranch hands he employed. Hannah maintained the home garden, which grew a variety of vegetables and several fruit trees, milked cows and provided meals for the men, as well as caring for the children.⁵ Hannah’s sister Christina lived close by, although the nearest home was a couple blocks away at the time. While several of Otto’s siblings lived in Riverside, most of them farmed either for themselves or hired out.  Otto and Hannah left a legacy of hard work, determination and a spirit of adventure. The home they lived in stayed in the family for a couple generations and is still standing today. When Otto and Hannah died they were buried in the Olivewood Cemetery  close to their siblings.⁶

Pictures: 

Top Left: Otto with Grandsons Bill and Ray (Paul Martin sons)

Top Right: Farm life with Clifford Martin

Bottom Left: Otto and Hannah with grandkids

Mid Right : Otto with brothers Harry and Anders (Andrew) - Harry, Anders, Otto

Bottom Right: Hanna with oldest grandchild Bill

References:

[1]  Otto Martini (273X-2L3), "Family Tree", database, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed September 2016).

2  Otto Martin to Hanna Gustafson, 3 November 1886, San Bernardino, California, “California, County Marriages, 1850-1892,” database, Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed September 2016) p. 493.

3 Johanna “Hannah” Gustafsdotter (2MPK-379), “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch.org.

4 1900 U.S. Census, Riverside County, California, Precinct 7 Riverside City, stamped p. 135A, dwelling 172, Otto Martini Household; digital image, Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed September 2016); citing NARA microfilm    publication T623.  

5 Personal Interview, Raymond Charles Martin, grandson, conducted at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah, by Amy Woodward on 17 September 2016,

6 Otto Martini, digital image, Find a Grave (http://findagrave.com: accessed September 2016), memorial # 63595844. Hannah (Gustofson) Martini, digital image, Find a Grave, memorial #63595947.  

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 [AW1]

Paul Martin

Pictures: Top: All dressed up Paul in top left corner; Paul in Army Uniform; Right: Paul's discharge picture Dec. 1918.

Paul Martin was the son of Otto and Johanna (Gustafsdotter) Martin. He was born on the 7 April 1895 in Riverside, Riverside, California. The Martin family had a large farm, that most likely occupied most of his time in his younger years. When Paul was 23 years old he enlisted in the US Army on the 12 of August 1918 to help fight in WWI. His discharge papers included the following physical description, "He had light blue eyes, flaxen hair, ruddy complexion, and was five feet nine inches in height." (1) 

Paul's First Car

He married Myrtle Evelyn Johnson four months after his discharge from the army on the 24 April 1919 in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California. They had two sons William Otto "Bill" 1920-1996 and Raymond Charles "Ray" living. Paul continued to work with his family on the family farm. Although the work was hard labor Paul was able to buy one of the first cars in Riverside. 

(Pictures from the Fuller Ranch, Corona, California: Top Right: Paul and Myrtle; Bottom: Bill and Ray, Paul's sons, on white horse)

Utah Ranch Workers - 1932

Clark Farm outside Cedar City, Utah 1941

In the early 1930s Paul and his brother Walter went to work on the Fuller Ranch in Corona, CA where they successfully raised alfalfa. After a year Mr. Fuller decided to not renew the lease and took over the ranch again. As a result, Paul and his brothers looked for other opportunities to farm, an acquaintance in Los Angeles owned a ranch 40 miles outside of Cedar City, Utah. The brothers original plan, according to his son Ray, was that each brother would spend a year in Utah every three years. Ray was not sure why his father stayed on after the first year but thought it may have been because he liked it and choose to stay. Paul took pride in his alfalfa crop ensuring its premium quality and not becoming like the "Mormon" hay which was very weedy. Paul rented a home for his family to live in Cedar City during the winter so the boys could go to school. However, during the summer the whole family was needed on the ranch to keep it running. The family did this from 1932-1937 when his wife and children returned to Riverside, Riverside, California. Myrtle didn't think that the Utah schools were good enough for their sons who were entering high school and she didn't care for country life, even though Paul rented her a house in Cedar City. They would remain separated 7-9 years before they divorced.

Ray, Bill, Fred Cheney and Paul on farm outside Cedar about 1950

 Paul continued farming in Utah, he eventually bought his own farm near the Clark farm of about 100 acres. He invested in a carrot crop in 1948 and mortgaged his farm to build a packing shed at Beryl, a railroad town, to process the carrots. When the carrot crop failed he traded the farm by New Caste, for a smaller farm in Roosevelt, Utah. 

Christmas of 1956 Paul wasn't feeling well while visiting Ray's family in Salt Lake City. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with pleurisy. He decided, against the advice of his son to stay in Salt Lake and returned home to Roosevelt. Paul lived in a sheep herder's trailer and his nearest neighbor was two blocks away. He died shortly thereafter alone and was found a day or so later by his neighbor who noticed that there was no smoke coming from his trailer.

I asked my Grandparents, his son Ray and his wife Gloria, to describe him for me. They told me that Paul was a very loving, kind and patient man. He enjoyed talking to and playing with his grandchildren. Paul was a hard worker, he never smoked, and would only drink on rare occasions.  

Note: I interviewed Raymond Charles Martin 17 September 2016 about his father Paul Martin in his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. The data expressed in this post was shared by Ray during that interview, unless otherwise noted.


(1)  1918 Military Discharge Papers, found in Miscellaneous Records book 17 page 284, in the possession of Ray and Gloria Martin

  Otto and Johanna Martini family ~ 1910Picture courtesy of Ray Martin

The purpose of this blog is to have a place to record the research findings for the Otto Martini and Johanna “Hanna” Gustafsdotter family including stories from their descendants, and genealogical information about their ancestors and their descendants. Otto and Johanna both immigrated to the United States from Sweden in the early 1880s and were married in Riverside, Riverside, California in 1886. I am their great-great granddaughter thru their son Paul Martin, his son Raymond Charles Martin, and his daughter Judy Lynn Martin Reeves. I have always been close to my Grandpa (Raymond Charles) Martin who taught me how to drive, fish and do many other things. Growing up I was the oldest granddaughter and so I got to go on many trips with my grandparents. My great-grandpa Paul died before I was born so I never had the opportunity of knowing him.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which teaches and believes that families are eternal. Naturally if the family is eternal, I feel, we need to know who is included in that family beyond our immediate families. It is thru family history work that we connect to our ancestor. I have a great love for my ancestors which has been fueled by knowing all of my grandparents and five of my great-grandparents who all treated me like I was the apple of their eye. My concentration for the past several years has been the Martini Family as there were many dead ends and lots of descendants to find from the pedigree. This past year has proved fruitful because of the various projects done for my Family History degree which completed the sixth and seventh generations of this family. These are exciting projects for me to share and I am excited to finally have a place to share with my extended family the research I have been doing.  

Notes: The data and picture contained in this post are from Family Search you can click on the names to be taken to their page on Family Search. My grandfather and mother are still living so for their privacy I will not be linking to their profiles on Family Search.