Martin and an older brother decided to join their neighbors, the Reinhard brothers, and try their luck at seeking gold after learning about the California Gold Rush. "Seneca County, Ohio History and Families" states that the four men first went to New York, then circumnavigated the tip of South America by sailboat, and finally set up camp at Hangtown (Placerville), California. They stated that chickens were selling for $50 and eggs for $5 a dozen. Only bartenders with a lot of skill were hired since the cost of a drink at a bar was a pinch of gold dust from the prospector's poke. After four years, they walked over the Panamanian isthmus to the Atlantic side, where they boarded a ferry to New York and then Ohio, and returned home in January 1856. "Martin possessed 173 acres at the time of the book and had the resources to start a life in the California mines," according to the "History of Seneca County, Ohio" (1886).
On September 10, 1861, Martin wed Mary Ann Lonsway in Seneca County, Ohio. Joseph and Sarah Ann [Julien] Lonsway welcomed Mary into the world on May 14, 1843, in Seneca County. Amelia, Joseph Anthony, Sarah Ann, Emma Elizabeth, Rose Ann, Susan K., Lewis Sylvester, Leander Martin, George Edward, Leo Andrew, and Mary M. were the eleven children raised by Martin and Mary Ann. The 1874 land owners map lists Martin as a farmer as well as a grain and stock raiser.
His father, Nicholas, moved in with his son, Martin, after his mother passed away in the 1873. Nicholas lived there until his death in 1881. Martin and Mary Ann Werling are interred at the cemetery of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tiffin, Ohio, where the Werling's were members.
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