New Jersey State Button Society

NJSBS Member Memorials

Alvia D. Martin

    Alvia Disbrow Martin, 85, of Cheesequake passed September 3, 2009 at the Bayshore Community Hospital with her family by her side.

    Buttons:  Alvia Martin served as president of the New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) from 1983 - 85.  She was a NJSBS life member, and member of the National Button Society. 

    Button Collection being auctioned:   Her button collection will be sold at auction on June 12 and 13, 2010 in Batavia, NY, by MBA Page Button Auctions.  

    Work Background:  Born in Keyport, a small New Jersey shore town, Alvia was a graduate of Keyport High School and the school of nursing at Jersey City Medical Center, from which she graduated with honors as registered nurse (RN). In World War II, she served in The Public Health Nurse Corps, during which time she met her future husband, Ebner Roger Martin, at a USO Dance in Perry Point, MD.  In 1948, they moved to Old Bridge.  Mr. Martin passed away in 2003 at the age of 82. He was a Navy veteran and a retired NJ State Trooper.

    Mrs. Martin worked at three medical facilities:  Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, when it was located in a Victorian house; Marlboro Mental Hospital, and the VA Hospital in Menlo Park. 

    She was also a member of The Harvard University Nurses' Health Study, which was begun in 1976 to investigate potential long-term consequences of the use of oral contraceptives.  The study soon expanded "to include diet and nutrition in recognition of their roles in the development of chronic diseases.  The research continues today with over 116,000 women enrolled in the study,” according to the Health Study Internet Website.

    Mrs. Martin is survived by her daughter, Susan Martin Maffei of Inwood, NY; two sons who live in Cheesequake:  Roger Foster Martin and Gary Alan Martin and his wife Stacy; six grandchildren and three great grandchildren, and a predeceased son, James Clifton Martin of Manahawkin. 

    Volunteer work:  Mrs. Martin’s great passion was local history. For 41 years she served as  curator of The Thomas Warne Historical Museum & Library, run by the Madison Township Historical Society (MTHS).  She resigned from this position in 2006.  An expert on local pottery, she authored a book in 1979 about Old Bridge Township, entitled "At the Headwaters of the Cheesequake Creek."  Later, she co-authored with Michael Launay, MTHS vice president, a second book about Old Bridge Township, entitled "Old Bridge."

    Thomas Warne Historical Museum & Library:  Thomas Warne was one of the 24 original proprietors of  "East Jersey" in the Raritan Bay area.  In 1682, he and his father purchased 1000 acres of land between the Cheesequake and Matawan creeks.  This acreage, originally called Madison Township, is today’s Old Bridge Township.

    In 1820, a one-room schoolhouse, the Cedar Grove School, was built on two acres of the Warne property, to educate first through eight-grade students.  When a new school was constructed 65 years later, the one-room schoolhouse was moved to an adjoining farm.  Today, the Cedar Grove School building is home to The Thomas Warne Historical Museum & Library, run by the Madison Township Historical Society.

     Located at 4216 Route 516 (Old Bridge Matawan Road), Matawan, NJ 07747, the museum contains contains many original schoolhouse elements--desks, slate blackboards and a  pot-bellied stove used for heating--in addition to old maps, early photographs and genealogy data.  Further acquisitions include a 1912 movie, a wax cylinder gramophone, various pottery and beach artifacts as well as native American Indian artifacts.  Local tours can be arranged by telephoning (732) 566 - 2108.

 Jane F Albanowski - 2010