JOHN H. MARTINDALE, editor and proprietor of the Murray
News, is a son of Mason and Mary (Simonds) Martindale, natives of New York.
They came to Clarke County in 1869, where the mother is yet living. John H.
lived with his parents until twenty years old, receiving a common English
education. He then learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed
for a time and then engaged in farming. In
1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-second New York Volunteer
Infantry, serving until the close of the war, and receiving his discharge in
July 1865. He came to Muscatine County,
Iowa, and in 1866 rented a farm in Clarke County. When the village of Murray
was started he found profitable employment once more as a carpenter. From 1873 to 1876 he was engaged in
merchandising. He was then occupied as postmaster and justice of the peace
until 1880. In 1879 he was chosen representative from this county to the
General Assembly, in which he served one term. In 1881 he entered upon
journalism, to which he has since devoted his time. Mr. Martindale was married June 26, 1866, at
Nichollville, St. Lawrence County, New York, to Jane D. Clark. Their six children
are named – Ella J., now Mrs. Dewey; Hersey M., now Mrs. Kadel; Edmund M., Mary
D., Ralph M. and Gertrude L. Mr. Martindale is a Republican, a Good Templar and
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; and, with his wife, belongs to the
Baptist church.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 360
