Martin Rich was born in Ithaca, New York in 1835 and came to Dodge County with his parents at the age of 10.  Except for a few years in the 1870s and 1880s when he operated a lumber business in Omro, Wisconsin, and Ontonagon, Michigan, he lived his life in the village of Horicon.  He was one of the village's nine mayors, but his chief interest lay in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1856.  He was elected Grand Master of the Wisconsin Lodges in 1889, and served on the board of directors for the Odd Fellow's home  until 1906.  Maritn Rich died at his home in Horicon in October 1915.

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[Source: Memorial sketch in "Proceedings of the Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Jurisdiction of Wisconsin," 1916; "History of Horicon," by Allie E. Freeman and Walter R. Bussewitz, 1948.]