In past articles involving Darwin D. Martin (DDM), one of the officers and owners of the Larkin Soap Company (LSC), we gave witness to his amazing career beginning as a young teen till his death in 1935.
DDM had a stellar reputation as hard-working, intelligent and honest, traits recognized by John D. Larkin (JDL) when, in 1881, JDL promoted the then 16 year old
to the position of Head Bookkeeper. DDM had been working as a soap slinger for the
company since 1878 when he was only 13. PHOTO 1
DDM fell in love with Isabelle Reidpath around 1887. Marriage, in 1889, and
fidelity followed. Their daughter, Dorothy, was born in 1896, followed by their son, Darwin R. (DRM) in 1900. Jack Quinan, internationally renowned scholar of Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) and past Curator of the Darwin Martin House who resided
for a time in the FLW-designed Barton House, wrote a book, "FLW's Martin House:
Architecture as Portraiture," is the source of much of the biographical information
contained in this article. The accompanying photo of the Martin family from around
1907 shows a scowling 7 year-old DRM standing in front of his grinning, proud father, DDM. Mother Isabelle sits between DRM and 11 year-old Dorothy. This photo is also from Quinan's book. PHOTO 2
DRM had nearly died as an infant, which likely caused his parents to dote on him. The difficult life DDM experienced with his own family and childhood likely added to
DDM's commitment to work hard and give his wife and children the best lives that he
could. DRM attended private schools in Buffalo and went on to graduate from Yale uni
versity.
Following in his father's footsteps, DRM cultivated a livelihood of purchasing
