John and Anna Martens’s biography, Kalamo Township, Eaton County, Michigan Copyright © 1999 by Jan Sedore. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ A HISTORY OF KALAMO TOWNSHIP KALAMO TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY-1989 Page 6 JOHN & ANNA (GRAMES) MARTENS A representative farmer of Kalamo Township and native son of Eaton County was George Martens. He was born in Bellevue on March 30, 1843, a short time after his parents, John and Anna (Grames) Martens, arrived there from Germany. John and Anna were married in Germany and came directly to Eaton County when they immigrated to America in 1842. They became among the earliest settlers of Section 5 in Bellevue Township, where they bought 100 acres of land. A few acres had been cleared and a small cabin erected on the place. John also purchased 20 acres in Kalamo Township. The Martens were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and he was a staunch Republican. John and Anna had two other sons: John, born in 1845, and Henry, born in 1849. Son John later became a prosperous farmer in Kalamo married Adelaide Jackson and had ten children. Henry never married. John and Anna Martens remained on the homestead until their deaths-his in 1862 and hers in 1884. Their eldest son George then worked the home farm and in 1873 he and his brother Henry bought 80 acres of wild land in Section 33 of Kalamo Township. Later, in an exchange, George became sole owner of the farm and made his home there. He married Harriett (Hattie) Jenks in 1867, and they later moved to land across the road in Section 33. They had six children. One of their sons, William, became an area farmer and lived all of his life in Kalamo Township. He first owned 58 acres in Section 30 of the township, then later bought 35 acres in Section 21 plus 80 acres in Section 28, the parcels being located across the road from each other on Kalamo Highway. William G Marten's first wife was Florence Mason; he later married Iva Leora Baker, daughter of Wesley and Anna (Cunningham) Baker of Kalamo Township. Iva Baker had taught school in Bellevue and Kalamo before her marriage in 1904 to William Martens. He was director of Kalamo School District #6 for many years. William Martens had one son with his first wife; and he and Iva had seven children. Iva died in 1932 and William, in 1946. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Kalamo and she was a member of the Eastern Star and the Kalamo Women's Club.