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##### June 11, 1927 OBITUARY ## Victoria Martin, Suffragist, Dies ##### By THE NEW YORK TIMES LONDON, June 10--Mrs. Victoria Claflin Woodhull Martin, nominee for the United States Presidency in 1872 and donor of Sulgrave Manor, home of Washington's ancestors in England, to the Anglo-American Association, died in her sleep here last night at her home, Norton Park, Tewksbury, at the age of 80. London newspapers all contain long obituary notices of Mrs. Martin, who has been known in this country chiefly as one of the donors of Sulgrave Manor. The Morning Post observed editorially: "There goes to her long rest a veteran who lived to see the triumph of a cause for which she was one of the first to contend. Mrs. Martin cleared the way for leaders of agitation for equal political rights alike in America, this country and elsewhere. The younger generation knows not the indomitable leader to whom their enfranchisement owes so much. She it was who blazed the trail for those more insurgent leaders who finally won victory. Mrs. Martin had resided in England since her marriage to John Biddulph Martin, noted banker and philanthropist. In her adopted country she continued the work in behalf of woman's suffrage, for which she had become known throughout the United States. She also was one of the most active workers in England for the promotion of friendly relations between that country and her native land. Born in Homer, Ohio, Sept. 23, 1838, Mrs. Martin was the daughter of Reuben and Roxanna Claflin. Her sister, Tennie C. Claflin, who became Lady Cook, died in January, 1923. As a young woman Mrs. Martin engaged in the banking business for a short time in New York and also was editor of Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly. A Pioneer Suffragist Early in life she became an ardent advocate of woman suffrage, and her lectures favoring the movement took her to all parts of the United States. She also lectured on the scientific and religious improvement of the human race and was the author of works dealing with both subjects. Mrs. Martin memorialized Congress in behalf of woman suffrage in 1870 and two years later was the candidate of the Equal Rights Party for the Presidency of the United States. She organized various conventions for the discussion of social reform and carried on propaganda work in the interests of the working classes both in the United States and Europe for more than thirty years. After the death in 1873 of her first husband, Dr. Canning Woodhull, Mrs. Martin went to Europe for a speaking tour. At one of her lectures in old St. James's Hall she met Mr. Martin, and their marriage followed. He died in 1897. Since then Mrs. Martin had devoted much of her time and had spent liberally of her fortune in all projects to cement the friendship between her native and adopted countries. A Leader in Sulgrave Movement Mrs. Martin was a moving spirit in the purchase of Sulgrave Manor and was a generous contributor to the fund raised for its purchase. In recent years, especially since the granting of woman suffrage both in the United States and England, she had lived in almost complete retirement. Her gift in 1922 of an ancient English manor to the British Sulgrave Institution brought Mrs. Martin before the public again, the occasion being taken by newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic to review the more important events of her active life. The manor, given by Mrs. Martin in recognition of the success attending the efforts to promote Anglo-American friendship, was built in 1531, and is on the Avon, forty miles from Sulgrave Manor. The relics contained in the house were said to be valued at more than $80,000. Author of Several Works Some years ago Mrs. Martin established in London the Humanitarian Magazine, which she edited in cooperation with her daughter, Zula Maud Woodhull, an author of note. Mrs. Martin was the author of "The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government," "Social Freedom," "Pharmacy of the Soul," "Aristocracy of Blood," "Garden of Eden Stirpicultures," "Rapid Multiplication of the Unfits" and "Arguments for Woman's Electoral Rights." She was one of the organizers of the Women's Aerial League of England. In February, 1914, on behalf of the league she offered a prize of $5,000 and a trophy for the first aviator who would make a flight across the Atlantic in either direction between any point on the American continent and the British Isles.
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