June 8, 1819

John Wilson Martin was born in Harrison County, Virginia, and went to New Orleans, Louisiana, around 1843 to attend lectures at Tulane University. He was settled in Warren (Bradley County) by 1848, when he married and established what became a flourishing medical practice. It was said that Martin would ride by “horseback all day to reach the frequently remote residences” of the sick. Stories abound of his nightlong rides around the countryside to reach wounded Confederate soldiers while trying to avoid Union patrols. Oral tradition maintains that he began building the John Wilson Martin house for his family in 1862. The house is the oldest surviving residence in Warren and has been renovated for use as the Bradley County Historical Museum.