Omega Mu Sires and Sons: Martin Family

Omega Mu
​Sires and Sons

Nelson H. Martin, 1876 (Grandfather)
Bertrand C. Martin, 1901 (Father)
George N. Martin, 1927 (Grandson)

We are proud and grateful for the many Sires and Sons in our Omega Mu history: Chaplin, Davis, Flint, Garland, Haskell, Hitchings, Keith, Mitchell, Mullen, Smith, and Williams. To be sure, all of the families are inextricably woven into our fraternal history. Above all else, it is a proud heritage, and the love and goodwill that these families have exhibited toward the Omega Mu brotherhood, through many generations, has been meaningful, a fraternal vision of unity that causes one to smile at that historic connectedness. Intrinsically, that is what fraternity is all about: family, a very large family. Our Omega Mu family is a long-lived family at the University of Maine. And, in the end, in the unfolding of our fraternal history since 1874, the Martin family from Fort Fairfield, Maine, shines the brightest in their historical importance for our Omega Mu brotherhood. Nelson, Bertrand, and George Martin were the first father, son, grandson fraternal lineage in our history. And thought we sincerely admire and honor every family legacy in our fraternal history, the Martin legacy, in truth, is genuinely incomparable in our history. Their fraternal legacy goes significantly deeper than being the first three generation family legacy in being Omega Mu Fijis. Their combined Q.T.V.-Phi Gamma Delta story comprise a wonderful family chapter in our Omega Mu history because they were each present at defining periods in our history. To begin with, they each articulated our durable, forward-focused character during times change. Nelson H. Martin, ’76, was present at our inspirational beginning when the first Q.T.V. Chapter Hall was completed in 1876, and he was, undoubtedly, one of the Q.T.V. brothers who helped build our first fraternal home. Bertrand C. Martin, ’01, was part of the first initiatory class of Phi Gamma Delta brothers at the University of Maine in 1899. He signed the oath imitation oath on December 8th, 1899. Just as his father lived in the first Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, Nelson may have lived in the last Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, but he certainly lived in the first Phi Gamma Delta House. George, ’27, quite possibly may have been a pledge when the first Phi Gamma Delta house was destroyed by fire on April 4th, 1924, and he certainly was one of the first brothers to walk through the front door of the newly built Castle a year later. ​

​Nelson H. Martin, 1876

 Civil War Years

Nelson H. Martin served in the Second Maine Calvary during the Civil War. 

​Maine State College Campus, 1876

The first Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, second from the right, where Nelson H. Martin lived in 1876, the present site of Coburn Hall The first Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, second from the right, where Nelson H. Martin lived in 1876, where Coburn Hall now stands. 

"The first meeting place for fraternities on the Maine campus was in this building which was constructed in 1876 for the Q.T.V. fraternity which later became Phi Gamma Delta. Occupied from 1876-1888.

"The entire expense of its erection was borne by the members and this demanded from considerable self-sacrifice and loyalty."

"As this was the first fraternity chapter house built in the State, it surely must have been a building to be proud of."

"The following students who are to grace the platform and edify the audience with their oratorical talent....
Nelson H. Martin, Linneus"

"Nelson H. Martin of Fort Fairfield, has the honor of being the first graduate to send his son to his Alma Mater. His son, Bertrand M. Martin has entered 1901."

Bertrand C. Martin, 1901

The third Q.T.V. Chapter Hall where Bertrand C. Martin may have lived for a short period while the first Phi Game Delta House was being built during the 1897-1898 academic year, and on November 24th, 1899, Q.T.V. officially became Phi Gamma Delta.

Bertrand C. Martin, #12, was one was one of our first Phi Gamma Delta brothers in 1899.

Bertrand C. Martin became a Phi Gamma Delta brother on December 8th, 1899

​Bertrand C. Martin, second row, top.

Gen. Lew Wallace
National President of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity

"PHI GAMMA DELTA
New Fraternity Installed at the U. of M.
Former Q. T. V. Society Granted a Charter in October."

"Although our advent into the Phi Gamma Delta has been of recent date, we have made rapid progress since our installation Nov. 24th.......Every department of the University is represented by some of our men....besides having men on the Varsity of each team, We have six men on the glee and instrumental clubs, which made a successful tour of the state in Dec."
Fraternally yours, 
Howard L. Maddocks"

Howard L. Maddocks

Our last Q. T. V. Chapter Hall, now Mount Vernon Hall, first on the right, and, oddly enough, our recently built first Phi Gamma Delta House is right next door. The field in the distance, next to the small white building next to the road, is the present site
​our Castle.

​Early pictures of the first
​Phi Gamma Delta House, 1900

1901 group photo​
Bertrand C. Martin, 1901, second row, 5th one in from the right.

​George N. Martin, 1927

The Castle

Castle, 1925-1926

The house as it would have looked when George N. Martin lived there from 1925-1927. ​

We all continue to believe in the indispensable good, the overwhelming good, of our fraternal life and, in turn, the Sires and Sons of our Omega Mu brotherhood remain an integral, enduring and living testimony to that historic fact. We - all Omega Mu brothers - will always remember all of our generationally-linked Omega Mu families and their constitutive importance in our proud history. Personally speaking, their family connectivity in participating in our fraternal traditions is always wonderful to see. I am very proud of that, and our Sires and Sons tradition has continued with the following families: Cote, D’Antonio, Fassett, Foster, Hanson, Hersey, Hill, Hussey, Leet, Madeira,  McIntire, Morton, Schnauck, and Stewart. In conclusion, our historic foundation is strong due to generations of hard work; consequently, our Omega Mu brotherhood remains the greatest brotherhood at the University of Maine. In fraternally practical and theoretical terms, dogmatically asserted, it always has been, and it is that simple, and that legacy continues with the present undergraduates living in the Castle, a proud, coherent narrative for 147 years. The continuing beauty of the past and the present, and with confident assurance we go into our future. Perge.

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
​(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
​Perge