David Martin (14)

David Martin (8 July 1696–11 December 1751) was High Sheriff of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1744. Following his 1736 appointment as sheriff, a duty he discharged faithfully enough to be frequently reappointed, he engaged in a number of entrepreneurial ventures: in 1739, he secured a patent to operate a ferry near the meeting-point of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers; and around 1745, he began manufacturing potash according to new methods in Pennsylvania. That year he was also named marshal of Trenton, New Jersey. He was an elected member of the St. Andrews Society of Philadelphia and, in 1750 became rector of the Academy of Philadelphia. In this capacity, he taught Latin and Greek and spent his evenings playing chess with Benjamin Franklin. (PI)