The man who became governor of Pennsylvania in 1915 and who was promoted as a "favorite son" candidate for the presidency in 1916 revealed early in life many of the qualities that marked him as a leader.
When Martin Grove Brumbaugh was eight years old he upset the careful plan of the James Creek Sunday school to encourage Bible memorization. The Pennsylvania Brethren Sunday school offered a red card for each remembered verse and a blue card for ten correctly recited. Martin took most of one class period to recite 145 verses from memory, capturing a year's supply of cards and demonstrating his eagerness for learning.
When Martin was eighteen he helped his father secure twelve hundred logs for telegraph poles for the pennsylvania railroad. After they were assembled on a river, ready to be delivered, a violent storm scattered them for great distances. For weeks father and son searched for their lost logs and finally replaced all that were missing. The next year, when Martin was running for county superintendent of schools - the first of many responsible jobs he held as an educator - a farmer who was committed to support his opponent asked him, "Are you any relation to that young Brumbaugh who helped his father with the telegraph poles?" Martin's affirmative answer got the farmer's vote, and the election, for Martin. He won the contest by just one vote.
Source: Kenneth Morse in The Brethren Encyclopedia
