[1] He was the son of Theodore Martine, a grocer and realtor descended from French Huguenot immigrants.
[1][4] After his graduation from law school, he was admitted to the bar and practiced law with the firm, Flanagan, Bright & Martine, which dissolved not long thereafter, at which point he practiced on his own for several years before partnering with Charles A. Jackson under the name Jackson & Martine (with offices in the Morse Building).
[1] Martine was a member of Tammany Hall but left in 1881, following the expulsion of Fire Commissioner Henry D. Purroy and Police Justice Andrew J.
[7] Martine prosecuted Jacob Sharp and several Aldermen for bribery in connection with the concession for the Broadway Surface Railroad.
In November 1887, he was elected on the Tammany, County Democracy, Republican and Irving Hall (another faction of Anti-Tammany Democrats)[9][10] tickets a judge of the Court of General Sessions,[11] and remained in office until his death.