Katie and Lillie Martin at West Lawn
Two Martin sisters, and their husbands, share a home on Chestnut Hill

Barton and Catharine Martin raised a large family of nine children in Lancaster, including many years in the West Lawn house. There were two brothers and seven sisters in the Martin family. After Catharine’s death in 1886, Barton Martin continued living at West Lawn as a widower until his passing a few years later in 1890. Then two of his daughters, Katie and Lillie, lived at West Lawn.

Katie and Lillie at West Lawn in the 1900 U. S. Census:

Above: Martin sisters Katie and Lillian (Lillie) living at West Lawn in the 1900 U. S. Census

Sisters Katie and Lillie (Martin) received ownership of West Lawn after their father Barton Martin passed away in 1890.
Lillie’s husband, Henry K. Baumgardner, had been a business partner of her father, Barton Martin, selling coal and lumber. In 1901 Henry incorporated the business, which was known as the B. B. Martin Lumber and Coal Company.
Katie’s husband, Milton Alexander, was an attorney from Blair County. He practiced law in Altoona before moving to Lancaster. Here he was a partner in the law firm Martin, Holahan, and Alexander.
Also living in West Lawn in 1900, according to this census, were Katie and Milton’s two children Ralph (a law student, age 23 ) and Lillian (age 18). Lillie and Henry Baumgardner never had children.
Two hired housekeepers (“servants”) also lived in the house: Eliza Lefever (age 34) and Emma Keffler (age 16).
The census states that Katie’s husband Milton Alexander was the head of West Lawn household. He received that census title even though his wife Katie was the owner of the house, along with her sister Lillie who was co-owner. And both sisters had their own incomes from investments they received from their father.

Above: Lillie Martin’s husband, Henry Kurtz Baumgardner. Portrait from his 1940 obituary: Lancaster New Era. Henry married Lillie in 1877 while she was living in West Lawn. He was a partner in a coal and lumber business with Lillie’s father, Barton Martin. Lillie and Henry later lived in West Lawn, with Lillie’s sister Katie and her husband Milton Alexander. There are no portraits of Katie and Lillie in Lancaster newspapers.

West Lawn in the 1900 Lancaster Directory:

The 1900 Lancaster Directory, above, did not include the names of the Martin sisters. It only lists their husbands’ names. Directories of that era excluded names of wives, even if a wife owned the home and helped generate the income.

West Lawn in the 1896 and 1912 Sanborn Maps
The two Martin sisters were living there with their husbands.

Sanborn maps were created to assist fire insurance companies to determine fire risk for real estate. Brick buildings are shown in red; frame construction is yellow. “D” indicates dwelling. The number of stories is printed on each building.
The Sanborn maps above indicate that the West End Livery Stable (yellow / frame construction) was replaced by an empty lot. Automobiles were replacing horses. Garages were replacing stables.
The maps also reveal that a row of seven homes was built during that time at 235 - 247 Lancaster Avenue.

1928: Katie and Lillie sell West Lawn to the Lancaster School District
To be used for school offices:

1930: Katie and Lillie live next-door to West Lawn at 230 N. Charlotte St.
in a house built by their father, Barton Martin.

Above: The 1930 U. S. Census shows Lillie (“L. Elizabeth”) living at 230 N. Charlotte St. with husband Henry Baumgardner. Lillie’s widowed sister Katie also lived in the house. Katie and Lillie shared the home, as they previously did at West Lawn next door.
By 1940 Katie was deceased. Then another widowed Martin sister lived here with Lillie and Henry: Clara O. (Martin) Allen. The Martin sisters were in their 80s by that time, so they had a housekeeper living here with them: 69-year-old widow Fannie H. Riley.
Lillie eventually left her estate to her nieces and nephews, as she had no children. She also left bequests to St. John Lutheran Church and to the Ann C. Witmer Home for Widows and Maiden Ladies at 812 Columbia Ave. Lancaster.