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Pannill Martin's Last Legacy Gift Arrives
The last of alumnus Pannill Martin's gifts to McDonogh has arrived, 26 years after his death. His $348,000 gift restricted to endowment for scholarship is part of the McDonogh Forever Campaign. Here is his story:
Pannill Martin, Class of 1900, began his life on a Virginia plantation in 1886. His fortunes changed at age 2, when his father died and he moved to Baltimore with his teenage mother. Initially placed in the Home of the Friendless orphanage, Pannill entered McDonogh School on scholarship in 1898. His hair color earned him the nickname “Reddy.”
Many years later, Martin remembered the school with mixed feelings. On one hand, he said, “I enjoyed the learning and some of the instructors.” A May 1900 article in The Week noted that he was also fond of reading and playing the banjo. But he chafed under the discipline. Pannill ran away three times, and after his last escape McDonogh let him go. He was 13.
Martin moved on to public school, then worked his way through Western Maryland College. In 1914, after various stints as a salesman, he took over the Cloverdale Spring Company. The company distributed its water and ginger ale in Maryland and 16 other states. In 1934, Cloverdale became the first franchised bottler of Pepsi Cola. Martin sold the company in 1960 for $1.6 million and retired.
Throughout his career, Martin felt indebted to McDonogh for teaching him moral values that proved indispensable in business. “McDonogh taught me great principles of honesty,” he said. “And on my word alone I have borrowed great sums of money. One’s good name and reputation will take a person a long way in the world.”
Martin gave generously in gratitude to the school from which he had run away. During the 1960s, he gave McDonogh roughly $1.5 million in trusts, to be used for scholarships like the one he once held. Of these gifts, he wrote, “I can think of no more important investment in our youth than a McDonogh education for a deserving child.”
Martin believed that, because of their deep gratitude toward McDonogh, scholarship students are a blessing for the school. He certainly was.
The last of alumnus Pannill Martin's gifts to McDonogh has arrived, 26 years after his death. His $348,000 gift restricted to endowment for scholarship is part of the McDonogh Forever Campaign. Here is his story:
Pannill Martin, Class of 1900, began his life on a Virginia plantation in 1886. His fortunes changed at age 2, when his father died and he moved to Baltimore with his teenage mother. Initially placed in the Home of the Friendless orphanage, Pannill entered McDonogh School on scholarship in 1898. His hair color earned him the nickname “Reddy.”
Many years later, Martin remembered the school with mixed feelings. On one hand, he said, “I enjoyed the learning and some of the instructors.” A May 1900 article in The Week noted that he was also fond of reading and playing the banjo. But he chafed under the discipline. Pannill ran away three times, and after his last escape McDonogh let him go. He was 13.
Martin moved on to public school, then worked his way through Western Maryland College. In 1914, after various stints as a salesman, he took over the Cloverdale Spring Company. The company distributed its water and ginger ale in Maryland and 16 other states. In 1934, Cloverdale became the first franchised bottler of Pepsi Cola. Martin sold the company in 1960 for $1.6 million and retired.
Throughout his career, Martin felt indebted to McDonogh for teaching him moral values that proved indispensable in business. “McDonogh taught me great principles of honesty,” he said. “And on my word alone I have borrowed great sums of money. One’s good name and reputation will take a person a long way in the world.”
Martin gave generously in gratitude to the school from which he had run away. During the 1960s, he gave McDonogh roughly $1.5 million in trusts, to be used for scholarships like the one he once held. Of these gifts, he wrote, “I can think of no more important investment in our youth than a McDonogh education for a deserving child.”
Martin believed that, because of their deep gratitude toward McDonogh, scholarship students are a blessing for the school. He certainly was.