Newspaper Clippings for
August, 1960
The Waukegan News-Sun Obituaries:
August 8, 1960
Martin, Pioneer, Dies At 87
MILLBURN - Edward A. Martin, 87, until two years ago owner of Lake County's
oldest grocery store, died yesterday at 5:30 p.m. at his home.
Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Strang Funeral
Home, Antioch, with the Rev. L. H. Messersmith of the Millburn Congregational
Church officiating. Burial will be in the Millburn Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Wednesday. Masonic services
are planned for 8 p.m. that day.
Mr. Martin's store on Rte. 45 at the end of Loon Lake road, a landmark in
Lake County, was sold to Herbert Messner two years ago. Before his retirement, Mr.
Martin had been in the grocery business here for 70 years.
BORN ON WEST COAST
Shortly after his birth in San Francisco, Calif., July 2, 1873, Mr. Martin's
mother died. His father, Frederick Regina Martin, a native of Sussex, England, took
him and his sister, Hattie, to Washinton, D.C. Then his father died and the children
became separated.
Hattie was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Pantall of Millburn and soon began
a search for her brother. She found him at Ft. Foot, seven miles from Washington.
The Pantalls brought him to Millburn in 1887 and at the age of 14 he began to work
in the Pantall grocery store.
Some 20 years later Pantall turned the business over to Mr. Martin who operated
it for 50 years. It was the last of the pioneer-type groceries, with its open
cracker barrel and 50-pound cheddar cheese from which visitors cut freely as they
stood around a potbellied stove discussing politics and news of the day.
Mr. Martin married Eva Kennedy Taylor on Oct. 22, 1908, who preceded her husband
in death April 19 of this year. Surviving are a son, Dr. Richard P. Martin, of
Millburn: a niece, Mrs. L. L. Pessink of Corpus Christi, Tex., and several nephews.
Mr. Martin was active in community affairs in Newport Township. He was township
supervisor for 12 years and a president of the Millburn School Board. A charter
member of the Millburn Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star and a past patron, he also
served three terms as master of the Millburn Masonic Lodge.
He was a member of the Royal Arch Masons in Waukegan, the Waukegan Commandery,
the Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Millburn Congregational Church.
Mr. Martin lived just two doors north of the grocery store.
loose clipping, source unknown undated but about August 8, 1960
FORMER OWNER OF OLD STORE IN ANTIOCH DIES
Funeral services for Edward A. Martin, 87, of Millburn,
Lake county, former operator of the oldest general store of
its kind in Lake county, will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in
the chapel at 1055 S. Main st., Antioch.
Mr. Martin, who died Sunday in his home, operated the
old fashioned store on the east side of U. S. highway 45 at
Loon Lake road from 1908 when he bought it from his foster
father, the late Richard Pantell, until he retired at the
age of 84 in 1958. He began his career at the grocery when
he was 14. The store is nearly 100 years old, and it was a
discussion center for men of the community.
When he retired, Mr. Martin leased the store to Herbert
Messner, Mundelein butcher shop operator. Mr. Martin lived
two doors north of the store. His wife, Eva, died in April.
He leaves a son, Richard P.
