Good connections

A rather lengthy obituary ran in the Observer-Reporter just before the end of the year for Edward S. Martin of Washington, who died Dec. 20 at age 93.

Edd was the only son of Gen. Edward Martin, who preferred to be known by his military rank even though he went on to be governor of Pennsylvania and Republican Senator from the Keystone State.

The younger Martin inherited his father's collection of, well, you name it. I've never seen anything quite like it, as it was on display Thursday at the Three Rivers Auction Co. in Washington, ready for a weekend of bidding.


Gen. Martin (1879-1967) knew just about anyone of any importance during the first half of the 20th century, as evidenced by his personal mementos, including items autographed by everyone from Winston Churchill to John F. Kennedy when he was a freshman Senator from Massachusetts. The general also collected art, books, glass, firearms, vintage liquor and furniture made from timber in the original White House, just to name a few sundry items.

His son inherited the bulk of the collection, and Edd had no children. He had discussed the eventual disposition of the materials with my friend Tripp Kline, owner of Three Rivers. And this weekend, the Gen. Edward Martin collection will be available to the highest-bidding American history aficionados throughout the world.

I culled a 3 1/2-minute video from nearly an hour of Tripp chronicling the various items and the interesting stories to be told about them. This, despite keeping a Valentine's Day dinner date with Mrs. Funk, and Lane and Lisa McFarland. (If you want someone to build you a quality home, talk to them ...)

Anyway, click here to see the Martin video

And click here for more information about the auction

Photo: Tripp's niece Jessica updates information about Gen. Martin for the auction company's Web site.