December 26, 1879 – April 29, 1965
Early History
Hubert Martin was born in Alexander County, North Carolina December 26, 1879. His parents were Samuel C. Martin and Rebecca Melvina Florentine Norton. His father died of typhoid fever when he was only about two years old, the same year Gatis, Hubert’s brother, was born.
Hubert’s mother was married again to "Gas" (William Gaston?) Smith. She and her second husband had three girls and a boy, at least some of whom were born before they moved to Arkansas when Hubert and his brother, Gatis, were about 11 and 9 years old. They came as part of a big group from North Carolina, and lived in the Drasco/Wolf Bayou area in Cleburne County, Arkansas.
In Arkansas at some point the Smith family moved back down on the river toward Wilburn. It was hard to get to their place – no roads much. The Martin boys were being treated badly by the stepfather and decided to run away or were chased away. Hubert never talked a great deal about this, but Gatis told his family that he, the stepfather, threw rocks at them to chase them off. We are not sure how old they were when they left, but were not yet adult, maybe 13 or 15 years old, so it must have taken considerable courage to leave their family.
The Smith family stayed there where Hubert’s mother died of malaria and "Gas" Smith remarried after a time. Lorene said she and one of Gatis’s daughters visited Aunt Ola Outlaw, a Smith half sister of Hubert, long after Hubert was dead. Ola lived in Little Rock and was very friendly with the family. They had in mind trying to get more information about the relationship between Hubert and Gatis and the stepfather, but never managed to steer the conversation in that direction.
We don’t know how they made the connection, but Hubert and Gatis ended up at the home of Fayette Ward at Wolf Bayou and Hubert at least, stayed with that family for several years. In the same Wolf Bayou community were their great uncle, Jacob Artimus Kever and three first cousins of their father. Perhaps they helped the boys find a place to live. Of course in the Ward household they were expected to work, but since the Wards had several children of their own, it would seem that they took them in out of kindness rather than for the work they could do. However, there was plenty of work to do, running a grist mill and a farm.
It is interesting to think about the influences that caused Hubert to be the kind of man he ultimately became. Some of the reasons undoubtedly can be found in his innate temperament and intelligence. In his early life we can see some strong influences on Hubert – the abusiveness of his stepfather gave him a strong motivation to take a bold action. He took charge of his own life while he was still a child. The kindness and generosity of Mr. Ward in taking him in gave him a chance to live in and learn from a stable caring family. Also, during those years Hubert had the chance to go to school for the first time. We’re not sure how long he went to school – estimates vary from a few months to two years, but he made the most of it. If he hadn’t been given this opportunity, given his drive and intelligence, would he have found another way to become literate?