George Washington Martin II (1876-1948)

'''George Washington Martin, Jr. (b. June 25, 1876 - d. November 21, 1948) was a prominent lawyer, jurist, and member of the Democratic Party in Kings County, Brooklyn, New York. As a lawyer he defended many criminals at trial, and then later as a judge presided over a number of famous trials involving underworld figures associated with the notorious Murder Inc gang of criminal assassins. He was a controversial figure in the history of New York City law in the 1930s when the judiciary and police force of Brooklyn were investigated for corrupt activities. In 1939 he was the subject of criminal charges of bribery and judicial corruption that Martin successfully defended at trial. In late 1939 impeachment proceedings were taken against Martin through the New York state senate but the charges were dismissed.

Ancestry
Martin's great-great-grandfather, Ephraim Story Martin, Sr. (1745-?) was born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts on February 2, 1745. He served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary War. He married Mary Burnham. He died in Vermont on August 8, 1833. Martin's great-grandfather, Ephraim Story Martin, Jr. (1777-1842), was born on June 10, 1777, and grew up in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and he married Nancy Haywood (1788-1862), who was born on February 25, 1788, and after marriage raised several children, and died in Springfield, Vermont. One of those children was Ephraim Dexter Martin (1809-?) who was born on May 13, 1809. He married Charlotte Lee in Springfield, Vermont. Another one of those children, Jonas Martin (1821-1862), grew up in Vermont, married Marion Betts, and worked as a ship's carpenter in Brooklyn. Jonas and Marion raised a son, George Washington Martin, Sr. (1847-1910), who was trained in engineering, rose to prominence in the commercial enterprise known as the Produce Exchange and served as Brooklyn's Superintendent of Street Repairs in the Department of City Works. In October 1869 he married Emma Frances de Revere (1853-1910). George and Emma lived for many years in her parents' home in Macdonough Street, Brooklyn. At that time Macdonough Street was designated as belonging to that exclusive part of Brooklyn known as Stuyvesant Heights, that featured brownstone townhouses. They raised a daughter, Emma Frances Martin (1874-1921), and their son George Washington Martin, Jr. (1876-1948).

Parents

 * George Washington Martin, Sr. (1847-1910)

Siblings

 * Emma Frances Martin (1874-1921)