James Roy (J. Roy) Martin was born to Claude Quillain Martin and Rosena Belle Martin on 7 January 1897 in Mount Zion, Georgia. Martin served in the U.S. Navy during World War I and attended the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After becoming a farmer, Martin was instrumental in the beginning of the chicken broiler industry in Carroll County.

On 13 February 1925, Martin married Carrie Antonette Hudson. They were the parents of two adopted children and remained married until her death on 2 October 1960. After the death of his first wife and at the age of sixty-five, he was accepted into the Peace Corps. Following training in Princeton, New Jersey, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, Martin was stationed at Monsefu, Peru from May 1965 until June 1967. While there he organized a co-operative for the pasteurization of milk. He also wrote an instruction book for young people with no agricultural training. In Peru, Martin lived in the home of the village chief and was accorded a great deal of respect because the people were not accustomed to seeing anyone of his “great age,” Martin being seventy years old when he left Peru.

Upon his return to the United States, Martin married Alberta (Carroll) Grant in February 1967 in West Palm Beach. He then accepted a position as Assistant Director of the Harpst Home for Children in Cedartown, Georgia, overseeing the farm program. In June 1986 he was awarded the Lillian Carter Humanitarian Award at the Peace Corps’ 25th Anniversary celebration in Atlanta. He died September 4, 1987, from injuries received in an automobile accident.