Rev. J. V. Martin, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church at Arcola, Illinois, was born in Champlin, Minnesota, November 22, 1857.
He was educated in the St. Francis College, Milwaukee; St. John’s University, Minnesota, and subsequently completed the six-years’ divinity course at the Grand Seminary, Montreal, Canada, where he was ordained December 18, 1886. His first charge was at Spring-field, Illinois, where he did hospital service for two months; from there he was transferred to Shipman, laboring for two and a half years as the regular pastor; thence to Neoga, where he remained two years, when, in 1891, he came to Arcola. The Church here was built about thirty-three years ago, with Father Manganas as first pastor. The present membership of the Church is about three hundred, situated in the town and in the southwestern part of Douglas County. The Church is out of debt and is in a prosperous condition.
Father Martin is a conscientious worker in his Church ; he is a thorough Christian gentle-man and a devout worshiper of Christ.