Darwin D. Martin - Early Life

Early Life

Martin was born in upstate New York in Bouckville. Martin had a difficult childhood, starting with the death of his mother when he was six. Martin's family was separated and Martin, who was the youngest of five, was forced to part ways with all his siblings except for his brother. The two Martin brothers went to New York City and Darwin obtained a job selling soap. Martin then came by himself to Buffalo to work in the Larkin Soap Company. One of the figures in the company who Martin admired was Elbert Hubbard, an executive. Martin worked ferociously, putting in 361 workdays a year. His efforts enabled the company to expand and rival Sears and Roebuck Co. He is credited with converting all the company customer records from cumbersome ledgers to efficient card catalogs, a pioneering advance in business record-keeping at the time. When Hubbard left the company, Martin filled the opening. One of his assignments was to find an architect to design a new administrative building for the expanding company. His brother, William Martin, who was living in Chicago, recommended a young architect named Frank Lloyd Wright.