Wheeler Martin
Wheeler Martin (August 16, 1765 – May 22, 1836)[1] was a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from June 1823 to May 1824,[2] appointed from Providence, Rhode Island.[3]
Born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, Martin was first elected to the court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace for Providence in 1791, and thereafter re-elected several times.[1] In 1803 he also became a public notary, and in 1804 he reported to President Thomas Jefferson Rhode Island's passage of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1] After serving as a justice of the state supreme court from June 1823 to May 1824,[2] he was an elector in the 1824 United States presidential election, and was himself a candidate for the office governor of Rhode Island that same year, albeit unsuccessfully.[1]
In addition to his service on the court, Martin is known for his role as the defendant in the case of Stoddard v. Martin,
In February 1831, Martin published in the Vermont Intelligencer his recollections from New England's Dark Day, which had occurred over fifty years earlier on May 19, 1780.[5] In October 1831, Martin condemned the Snow Town riot in Providence, in which African American homes were targeted by a white mob; Martin praised the sheriff for having the police efficiently respond to the riots.[6]
Martin died in Seekonk, Massachusetts, at the age of 70.
References
- ^ National Archives. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Manual - the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1891), p. 208-13.
- ^ Samuel H. Allen, "Rhode Island Judiciary", in The Narragansett Historical Register (1889), Volume 7, p. 62.
- ^ a b 1 R.I. 1 (1828).
- ^ Wheeler Martin, "The Dark Day", Vermont Intelligencer (February 21, 1831), p. 1.
- ^ Wheeler Martin, "The Providence Riot", Vermont Mercury (October 7, 1831), p. 2.