Gertie and Peter H.Martis
1886 - 1975 1882 - 1946
(The following information was submited By Warren Whitney)
As told by "Gertie" Pete and Gertie were members of a shooting group who fired every week end at Graceville. Pete used a 12 # "97' Win. Gertie's was a 16# "97". And she could shoot! They were in a match and Pete was about half way through his turn when his weapon failed. He went to get her gun and she would not let hum have it. She insisted that she would finish for him. And she won both the match she had just finished as well as his. He had bought a matched pair of Irish setters from a breeder in Kansas, for$100 a dog. A fantastic price at that time. They were shipped in about a week before pheasant season started. He had picked me up the day before to go out with him. We drove out of Clinton and parked with another party. He turned the dogs loose and they ran for a few minutes. He whistled them in and the dog flushed a bird and he went tearing around in a big circle with Pete blowing the whistle and cursing the **#$$ dog. As the dog made a circle in front of Pete he just blew the dog away. An hour later we were on the way to town. In those days a limit was 10 cocks, no hens, but the farmers expected you to kill a "few" hens as well. The dog story was a subject of conversation for years.
Pete Bert Lettie Gertie