By Bob Vlach
Woodford Sun Staff
Historian Bill Penn never planned on writing a book about Henry Lewis Martin Sr.
It was while researching two farms on Midway Road and Old Frankfort Pike that the author and co-owner of the Historic Midway Gift Store says he became aware of Martin – a Civil War veteran, statesman, sugar investor and mule dealer.
It was through that research and his friendship with Martin’s granddaughter, Mildred Martin Buster, a frequent visitor to his and his wife Leslie’s downtown Midway store, that Penn became interested in writing about Martin’s life.
Penn, a Civil War and local historian, learned through his research that Martin rode with John Hunt Morgan after joining the Confederacy when he was 14. “He lied about his age,” says Penn.
Later in life, Martin owned Woodford County’s Calumet Farm, which was next to The Maples – the farm where his son Henry Lewis Martin Jr. (Mildred’s father) and family lived.
Martin Sr. named his farm Calumet before there was a farm with that name in Fayette County. According to an article in the Jan. 5, 1953 edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader, “Some sources date the house to which he gave the Indian name meaning ‘pipe of peace’ as early as 1810, others as late as 1835.” The story goes on to say Martin Sr. made his money selling mules – buying in Missouri and selling in Kentucky and New Orleans.
Penn does not know why Martin chose the name Calumet, but says he may have been inspired by a plantation named Calumet in Louisiana, where he frequently did business.
Penn’s research was bolstered by letters written during the years when Martin was a prisoner of war at Rock Island, Illinois. Mildred kept her grandfather’s letters and shared them with Penn.
“She was always wanting me to write everything down,” says Penn. He says the book about Martin really started to come together when his great-granddaughter Kate Martin Buster came into the picture.
