Martin Abstract Company

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Martin Abstract Company out in Atascosa County. Now, every good story needs a little context, so let me set the stage. By the early twentieth century, the ranching industry that had spurred the growth of Atascosa County had begun to wane.

Those big spreads, the ones that defined the land for generations, were getting split up. Smaller ranches, farms, town lots. The old map of the county was being redrawn in ink and deed paper rather than fence line and cattle brand.

And where there's real estate changing hands, somebody has to know who owned what, and when, and whether the title holds up to scrutiny. Enter George M. Martin.

He looked at all that churning, all those transactions, and he saw not a problem but an opportunity. In 1909, he founded the Martin Abstract Company. A business built on the idea that the history of a piece of land matters just as much as the land itself.

Now, Martin ran that company until his death in 1917. Two years later, in 1919, the company was purchased by a Jourdanton attorney by the name of A. N.

Steinle. Then comes Steinle's son, Glenn N. Steinle.

After returning from military service during World War Two, Glenn owned and managed the business, and he kept right on doing it until his death in 1983. That is a long stretch of stewardship, holding the records of a county's land in careful hands. And the story doesn't end there.

Following Glenn's death, the company has continued to be owned and operated by members of the Steinle family. Three generations, two family names, one company still standing. In a county that watched its ranches shrink and its landscape transform, the Martin Abstract Company has simply kept the record straight.

What the marker says

By the early 20th century the ranching industry that spurred the growth of Atascosa County had begun to wane, with many large ranches split into smaller ranches, farms and town lots. George M. Martin realized the importance of a company to research title in relation to the resulting real estate transactions, and he founded Martin Abstract Company in 1909. After Martin's death in 1917, the company was purchased in 1919 by A. N. Steinle, a Jourdanton attorney. His son, Glenn N. Steinle, owned and managed the business after returning from military service during WWII until his death in 1983. Following his death, the company has continued to be owned and operated by members of the Steinle family. (2009)