Thomas B. McMartin, a distinguished lawyer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was born in Fairfield, Iowa, on October 30, 1857, to Finlay and Martha McMartin. After moving to Dixon, Illinois, in 1865, he completed his education and began studying law under Eugene Pinckney, being admitted to the bar on March 18, 1879. McMartin moved to Sioux Falls in 1880, where he quickly advanced in his legal career. He formed partnerships with Eugene Coughran and later Judge John E. Garland before establishing his own practice in 1893. Known for his tenacity and skill, McMartin successfully handled significant cases, including one that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He married Jennie M. Bowen in 1888, and they had one child, Thomas Bowen.
Thomas B. McMartin has been a resident of South Dakota for more than a score of years and has risen to a place of distinction and honor as a member of the bar of the commonwealth, being actively engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Sioux Falls.
Thomas Bell McMartin is a native of the state of Iowa, having been born in Fairfield, on the 30th of October 1857, a son of Finlay and Martha McMartin. In 1865 the family removed to Dixon, Illinois, where the subject of this sketch was reared to maturity, completing the curriculum of the public schools and later pursuing studies under private tutors. In 1877 he began reading law under the direction of Eugene Pinckney, of Dixon, and was admitted to the bar of the state on the 18th of March, 1879. He served his novitiate as a practitioner in Dixon, where he remained about one year after his admission to the bar, and in May, 1880, he came to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he has ever since been actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, having rapidly forged forward to the front rank, by reason of his ability, devotion to his work and his well-directed energy. After coming to Sioux Falls, he was a clerk in the law office of the firm of Kershaw & Flagg about nine months, at the expiration of which he entered into a professional partnership with Eugene Coughran, under the firm name of Coughran & McMartin, and this alliance continued until October 1889, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. Of Mr. McMartin’s efforts during this period another writer has spoken as follows: “During this time he had a constantly growing practice and was employed in some very important cases, which he conducted with distinctive ability.” In 1889 our subject entered into partnership with Judge John E. Garland, under the title of McMartin & Garland, and this association obtained until September 23, 1893, since which time Mr. McMartin has conducted an individual practice of general order. He is known as an able advocate and safe counsel, being well grounded in the learning of the law and sparing no pains in the preparation of his cases, so that he is ever able to present his causes with clearness and power. He has had a particularly wide and important experience as attorney for receivers of insolvent institutions, having thus been retained by the receivers of the First National Bank of Sioux Falls, the Chamberlain National Bank, the Madison National Bank, the Bank of South Dakota (at Madison), the Dakota National Bank and the Insurance Company of Dakota. Of him it has been said in this connection that “in the case of the Sioux Falls National Bank versus the First National Bank of Sioux Falls, which grew out of the attachment of the assets of the First National by the Sioux Falls National, he won the admiration of the bar by his persistent and successful prosecution of the case on the part of the defendant bank. He was defeated in the circuit and supreme courts of the state but took the case to the United States supreme court and there prevailed. He took this final recourse against the advice of the comptroller of the currency and the opinions of distinguished lawyers, and his victory was thus the more gratifying and the more indicative of his tenacity of purpose and his professional ability.” Mr. McMartin has served several years as United States commissioner since taking up his residence in the state, and while he is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Republican party, he has in no sense been ambitious for political preferment. He is a close observer of the ethics of his profession and stands high in the regard of his confreres and the general public, having a host of friends in the city in which he has so long maintained his home.
On the 28th of February, 1888, Mr. McMartin was united in marriage to Miss Jennie M. Bowen, of Broadhead, Wisconsin, and they have one child living, named Thomas Bowen McMartin.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.