Henry Martin

Generations of University of Virginia students knew Henry Martin (1826-1915) as the man who rang the bell that roused them in the morning and called them to lectures throughout the day.  Many left their recollections of this tall, dignified man. It is said that Martin remembered the name and face of every student, even years after they had left. 

In his reminiscences Martin stated that he was born at Monticello on the day that Thomas Jefferson died, July 4, 1826. He told of his working life in slavery and freedom, from farm laborer to waiter to his forty years as the University bellringer. He was also an active member of Charlottesville’s African-American community, a church and family man.

Martin recounted some of his Civil War adventures to his University acquaintances.  After being hired out in Richmond, he ran back to Charlottesville using a rebel uniform as a disguise.  Family stories tell how Martin was fired on during his journey as a fugitive. He spent the rest of the war nursing Confederate soldiers at the University hospital. 

In 1915 large numbers of University faculty and students as well as townspeople attended Martin’s funeral at First Baptist Church.  The reporter covering the event wrote that at the graveside “a heartbroken grandson about ten years of age gave way to uncontrolled weeping.”