John Martin
John Martin of Rowan County, Kentucky, was buried in the family cemetery, where his gravestone describes him as a man who never forsook a friend. He was held in a jail, and accounts differ on which one: a jail at Winchester, a jail at Mt. Sterling, or a train out of Lexington, with one report saying a marshal took him out on an order that was reportedly a forgery. A mob took him and shot him, and his cousin, C. W. Martin, who says he is thoroughly acquainted with the details, says a group from the rival Tolliver faction boarded the train at Farmers and shot him while he was handcuffed. The cousin also says he was taken home to Morehead, lived three days and died there, and that a newspaper report of the death was partly inaccurate about where and how it happened.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). Accounts agree that men from the rival Tolliver faction shot Martin on a train after taking him from jail, but his cousin C. W. Martin says a newspaper account was partly inaccurate about where and how it happened.
Reported by: C. W. Martin, his cousin (family or their lawyers); Newspaper accounts of the 1884 killing (reporters).