John Campbell Martin

NYTimes Covers Abbeville Murders

I’m going to start this tonight and add to it later. There are two larger articles regarding the murder of Pem Guffin that need to be transcribed (and I’m banging away on a tiny kitchen table laptop right now) and I will get to those probably this weekend. I also have the papers from the file of letters from the governor’s office at the time where local law enforcement has to account for the complete cluster that was the events leading to a murderer just walking away… to Texas… to live a long life. Those are somewhere in my house. I think. Possibly. Or in the car. But I’ll post those too.

VIOLENCE IN SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston, S. C., Feb. 25.–Since the adjournment of the court that went through the farce of trying the men who murdered L. P. Guffin on Sept. 27, other deeds of violence — some by the same ruffians — have been frequent. On Feb. 18, J. C. Martin, one of the men who murdered Mr. Guffin, with his brother, W. B. Martin, went to Carolina Fair’s house and fired through the cracks of the building, the charge of buckshot striking her in the back, killing her instantly. On the Saturday night following, M. E. Hollingsworth shot and killed Dick Goolsby. Hollingsworth is a brother-in-law of Martin. On Sunday night a band of disguised men shot through Harriet White’s house, pelted the building with stones, and, had it not been for the interference of colored men from the farm of L. L. Guffin, brother of the murdered man, they would have taken her out and whipped her. All this occurred in Abbeville County.

The New York Times
February 26 1881

Note: Several things in the article contradict witness accounts. For example, Caroline was shot in the house of a friend and died three days after being shot. J. Campbell Martin was not involved, according to all witness accounts, but later provided a false alibi for his brother. While I’ve always seen Caroline’s name printed as Farrow, I can’t say with certainty that it was not Fair or that Fair wasn’t another name that she used. She had been freed from slavery barely 16 years before her murder, so spent most of her life without a surname at all anyway. She could neither read nor write according to her entry in the 1880 census. Hollingsworth was married to the sister of J. Campbell Martin’s wife and the family lives in the Martin’s Mill area.

P.S. In the 1880 Census, the Martin family (William, J. Campbell, Ina, Mary) lived with a ten year-old domestic servant named Langdon Goolsby, identified as “mulatto.”

P.P.S. A woman named Octavia E. Stone purchased a piece of property from M. E. Hollingsworth some time later. Octavia is the name of one of Caroline’s daughters and I cannot find another instance of that name in the Martin’s Mill area.

ONE MORE THING BEFORE I GO.

In case it is not clear, the White family was black and lived in the Martin’s Mill area.

Death of Samuel Starke Martin

Death of Mr. Starke Martin
Donalds, S. C., Nov. 29
To the Press and Banner:
Though not unexpected the news that Mr. S. Starke Martin was dead cast a gloom of sorrow over his many friends. Mr. martin died after a protracted illness, having suffered a stroke of paralysis several month’s since. He was taken to the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. H. Shaw, and everything that skilled physicians and loving hands could do failed to ward off the Grim Reaper, and on the 22nd instant he breathed his last. So peaceful was the end that those in the room scarcely realized it until he was dead. His long illness was borne by the philosophic resignation and cheerfulness that was his strongest characteristic, and for which he was noted. During his life of 66 years no calamity or business reverses could becloud his sunny nature. Among his numerous acquaintances not an enemy could be found. His generosity was proverbial; he would divide his last morsel with the needy. He was devoted to his family, loyal to his friends and true to his country.

During the civil war Mr. Martin joined Co. G, 1st S. C. Cavalry, and remained with it until the surrender. After the war he married Mrs. Julia A. Cunningham.

Mr. Martin is survived by two daughters, Miss Louise Martin and Mrs. Jas. H. Shaw, one sister T. C. Gower, and three brothers L. L. and another brother of Texas, and J. C. Martin of Donalds.

Mr. Martin’s remains were interred in the cemetery at Broadmouth church amid a large concourse of friends, and many beautiful floral tributes from a distance attest the high esteem in which he was held by absent friends, and while his body sleeps beneath a mound of flowers, the great, generous and noble soul has plumed its flight to the great unknown. Friend.

Samuel Starke Martin Obitury Source:
The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, November 30, 1910, Image 9
Image provided by University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026853/1910-11-30/ed-1/seq-9/

Alex Sanders of Martin’s Mill

Alex Sanders
Born April, 1807, Still Alive and Well.

He has been on the Martin’s Mill tract, seven miles west of Abbeville, for sixty-seven years. In 1827, he was sold by G. W. Hodges, Sheriff, under execution against Captain Thomas Sanders, who owned the land now owned by Mr. Charles Graves, of this county. Thomas Martin bid off Alex., at $400. cash. He took him home, where he has lived ever since. He soon afterwards became the property of John Campbell Martin, son of Thomas Martin. Under all the changes of ownership of the land Alex. Sanders remain on the place, and is still there. His young Master Campbell Martin, gave him a small tract of land during his life-time, and although Martin is dead his successor in the ownership of the land, Mrs. Stelts, who was his wife at the time of his death, still honors the act of her former husband and allows Alex. the use of the land.

He has always been an upright, honest and industrious man. During the time of his slavery, he was always faithful to his owner, and in his freedom he has never gone from the old place, where he has lived for sixty-seven years.

image_681x648_from_828,6328_to_2266,7698 Source:
The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 21, 1894, Image 4
Image provided by University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026853/1894-03-21/ed-1/seq-4/

John Campbell Martin Dead of Pneumonia

The Sick and the Dead.

[…]

Mr. J. Campbell Martin, who has been at the point of death for several days with pneumonia, died yesterday. Monday morning he was pronounced to be in an improving condition, and the doctors thought that he would get well, but in the night he died. He leaves a young wife, and two or three little children. He exposed himself in the water at work on his mill race, which brought on sickness which proved fatal. He was possessed of good property.

J. Campbell Martin Obituary

Source:
The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, April 30, 1884, Image 2
Image provided by University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026853/1884-04-30/ed-1/seq-2/

Sheriff’s Sale

One of the many sheriff’s sale notices I have, this one deals with the execution of (I presume) John Campbell Martin’s estate by his widow, Ina Holcombe Martin. I actually don’t know how Julia A. Martin is though… Hm. I feel like I should.

Here’s another interesting thing. One of the neighbors to the larger tract is W. L. Prince. Ina’s mother’s middle name is Prince. I’m working under the tentative assumption that Ina’s grandmother’s maiden name was Mary Prince, but both of her parents are buried in Greenville so I haven’t really been looking for her people in Abbeville.

Julia A. Martin against Ina H. Martin. – Execution.

By virtue of an execution to me directed, in the above stated case, I will sell to the highest bidder, at public auction, with the legal hours of sale, at Abbeville Court House on MONDAY, the 2nd day of DECEMBER A. D. 1889, the following described property, to wit: All that tract or parcel of land, containing

Eight Hundred Acres

more or less, situate in Abbeville County, South Carolina, bounded by lands of John Evans, W. L. Prince, S. S. Martin and others. Also the MILL TRACT, containing

Three Hundred and Fifty Acres,

more or less, and bounded by lands of Mrs. E. A. Robertson, Winestock place and others, known as the John Campbell Martin lands. Levied on and to be sold as the property of Ina H. Martin, to satisfy the aforesaid execution and costs. TERMS–Cash.

W. D. Mann,
Sheriff Abbeville County

 

Sheriff Sale 1889 Ina Holcombe MartinSource:
The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, November 13, 1889, Image 5
Image provided by University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026853/1889-11-13/ed-1/seq-5/

Genealogy Gets Messy with Annette and Eliza

Skip to where you start to see dates if you are looking for facts because the first part of this is just pretty much just me unpacking the mental mess I’ve accumulated from spending hours reading wills with the word “negro” in them. Thanks.

Eliza Harrison Martin

I stood at Campbell’s Mill, the ancient stacked stone dam still standing to hold torrents of river water from the mill pond below. My great great great great great grandfather, John Campbell, had settled this land, on this river, and began to carve from the frontier what was to become an extraordinary working estate.

By the time his own grandson, John Campbell Martin (Sr.) died, having spent his life as master of the family plantation, his property included about 130… people.

It is impossible to spend so much of my time with my head in a place of slavery and oppressive patriarchy without seeing its effects in our world today. I will spare you my postulating though and bring it back to that patch of land on the river in South Carolina. So I am sure that others have looked upon that dam and the ruins of the mill that operated there until just a few decades ago and thought of the accomplishment of their forefathers but the story of the family success becomes more complicated once you make your way to the family cemetery.

At first it looks tiny, the burial ground. There are only a handful of upright markers, each carved with the name of a respected member of the clan. Then you pull back. I can’t say that the dozens (to stay conservative with the number) of field stones all belong to slaves. There are too many to all represent the resting place of members of the Martin family though and I have no record of the property serving as a community church or graveyard — no reason to think that these stones represent anything but the people of this property. It kind of hit me then that this place is not ours alone. Of course, it is ours. Legally it belongs very legitimately to a set of siblings who look after it and appreciate the weight of it. Historically though, this isn’t just our ancestral home. And it was not our blood alone that built what it had at one time become.

I am not trying to take something from my own family’s history, but I can’t not stand in reverence to the backs that history was built upon. I think that to spend this much time studying what happened there and pretend that I am researching a family and not the entire ecosystem of slaves and masters is to not be honest about this place, these people, or even our own willingness to work within a system that we can thrive in at the expense of others.

So that would be a nice ending, but I am just getting to Annette and Eliza.

Annette Amelia Martin was born on August 7, 1837. She died on April 27, 1849 at the age of 11. Eliza Harrison Martin was born November 30, 1848 and died before her first birthday on July 27, 1849. I didn’t have any previous record of these two girls, which wasn’t really odd because birth certificates weren’t much of thing at the time. Birth records were kind of the domain of the church and they’re much less accessible than government rolls. With the information on their headstones though I could go looking for a 1850 mortality schedule.

They were, in fact, on the 1850 mortality schedule for Abbeville County. Eliza died of “congestion chills.” One line above, Annette’s cause of death is listed as measles. Also, Annette was a slave.

The 11 year-old with the headstone in the family cemetery baring the family name was a slave and described as “black.” Who knows who else she was, but usually it didn’t matter. The family patriarch in 1837 would’ve been John Campbell Martin (Sr.). In fact, he would’ve been the only Martin on the property. His father died ten years prior to Annette’s birth and had no other sons. John Campbell Martin (Sr.) had a whole host of aunts but no natural uncles to carry the Martin name.

Of course I think that I know who Annette’s father may have been, but natural paternity was so rarely given any consideration that it alone seems like a strange reason to hold Annette in the same regard as they held white family members born as a result of a marriage. The lack of importance given to paternity under the systems of 1850 South Carolina cannot be understated. If my suspicions are true, that would make Annette, the slave, my great grandmother Pearl Campbell Martin’s great aunt. I wonder how her life would’ve influenced the Martin family, whether she was a natural born daughter or just a friend held so close as to be given the family name and put to rest next to their own infant daughter. If there’s another answer, and I am sure there might be, I would LOVE to know what it is. The fickle and dusty mistress of history doesn’t seem to be forthcoming with it though.

As a side note, I believe that Eliza may be named after Eliza Harrison (Jones), born 1822 and a member of Trinity Episcopal in Abbeville. The source of Annette Amelia’s name isn’t clear, but I do wish I had a list of the slaves living on the property at the time of her birth.

The Murder of Caroline Farrow

Originally printed in Abbeville’s Press and Banner, February 23, 1881. Reprint: The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.), 03 March 1881. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026965/1881-03-03/ed-1/seq-1/>

Sent to me from Dr. Lowry Ware in January 2013

The Murder of Caroline Farrow

Abbeville is again the scene of crime and bloodshed–a crime for which the history and traditions of a county are famous in the past for law and order, furnish no parallel. It seems from the testimony taken at the Coroner’s Inquest that on the night of Friday, the 18th instant, some Negroes undertook to have a candy pulling at the house of Sarah Martin, on the plantation in possession of Mr. Stark Martin, that owing to the presence of Mr. William Bee Martin that intention was abandoned; that Mr. Martin the same night forced open the door of Caroline Farrow’s house, while she was dressing, that she took flight from the house in the darkness and secreted herself for a time; that she afterwards went to the house of Cornelius Matthews; that in about a half or three-quarters of an hour from that time the muzzle of a gun was seen projecting through a crack between the logs of the house in which she had taken refuge; that a voice from the outside, believed to be that of Mr. William Bee Martin, said: “Take care, I’ve got you now.” At that instant the gun fired, and the whole load of shot lodged in the hip of Caroline Farrow, who was standing perhaps four or five feet from the muzzle of the gun when it was discharged. She fell upon the floor on her face. There was a commotion about the house, not unnatural to the occurrence of such an event; one of the men went into the yard; the figure of a man supposed to be that of Mr. William Bee Martin, was seen to mount a horse, which had been hitched nearby, after which he rode away, rapidly.

The evidence at the Coroner’s inquest was solely in behalf of the State. The Coroner does not undertake to investigate the merits of the crime, and hence no evidence was taken in the interest of the accused. In the absence of any testimony, we thought it well to offer his brother an opportunity to say a word in his behalf. In reply, Mr. J. Campbell Martin protested that his brother was innocent; that he was at his house, in bed and asleep at the hour, when the shooting was done.

It is not our province to pronounce judgment as to whether either the evidence before the jury or the statement of Mr. Martin are true or untrue. We give them publicity for what they are worth, and will allow the reader to form his own conclusion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused. About one fact, however, we think there can be no doubt—that a most foul and base deed has been committed. The heart shrinks from the contemplation of the killing of any human being in the manner by which the life of Caroline Farrow was taken, and the quiet inoffensive citizen must feel to a greater degree the doubt as to the personal safety in a country where such crimes occur. The public are familiar with many of the facts concerning the various crimes which have blackened the history of Abbeville

County within the last few years, but we look in vain for one of greater atrocity, or one  more likely to give our people a feeling in insecurity, even while around their own fireside. The muzzle of an unfriendly shot gun peering through the cracks of one’s house, is not of the nerve quieting order, and although the Governor of the State has seen fit, in his wisdom, to pass unnoticed the crime at Maddox’s Mill, where Mr. William Maddox was called to his door last November, in the night time and murdered, it is to be hoped that he will not be slow to see that the detective and State officers shall do their whole duty in this matter. Coroner J. A. Shellito so far, has discharged his duty fully, and he informs us that he will today comply with the requirement of the Jaw, and send to the Governor the evidence taken at the inquest. If the Governor will let people who may be contemplating cold blooded murder, know that the power of the State would be brought against them, it is fair to presume that crimes of this kind would be fewer. In no county have we had a greater number of cold blooded murders than in Abbeville. The Harmons, the Franklins, William Maddox, and now Caroline Farrow, all murdered in cold blood while in their own houses.

For years the juries in Abbeville have been exceedingly lenient towards persons charged with crimes against the person, and we are now reaping the evils of that sickly sentimentality which shrinks from meting out a just punishment for crime. Is there not a limit, beyond which, the forbearance of our people will not go? Is there not a time when they will assert that crime shall stop?

Coroner’s Inquest.  The Jury Say that Caroline Farrow came to her death at the hands of William Bee Martin. Last Saturday it was rumored on our streets that a Negro woman had been shot and killed by William Bee Martin, on his farm about eight miles west of Abbeville Court House. Further information confirmed the fact of the shooting, but established the fact that she was still living. She died, however, about seven o’clock on Monday morning. Coroner J. A. Shillito summoned Deputy Sheriff J. Y. Jones to his assistance. Dr. Marshall of our town was notified that his services as an expert were needed. A few jurymen proceeded at once to the scene. In a little while representatives of the Press and Banner followed and all were soon on the ground, where we beheld the most ghastly wound on the person of Caroline Farrow that it is possible to conceive. The inquest was organized which brought out the following developments:

THE TESTIMONY

A. W. Thomas, sworn, said: Lived in the house where shooting occurred for the last two years; on last Friday night I was here at home in my house, and my wife and Cornelius Matthews and Sarah Matthews went over the creek to Mr. Stark Martin’s place, and when they came back Carrie Farrow came with them; just before they came back Mr. Bee Martin came to my door and called me three times, and I saw him. Mr. Martin said, “Thomas, I’ll kill you in the morning, God damn you, excepting God paralyzes me.” I never made no answer; he said it was an old grudge; these women and Cornelius Matthews came into the house; they were sitting by the fire; after sitting betwixt five and ten minutes, I got up and went to the door, came back and sat down, sat there betwixt a half and three quarters of an hour, I said to my wife, I believe I’ll go to bed, pulled off my clothes, went to bed and just as I Iayed down, I heard a voice said, “Take care, take care, God damn you, I’ve got you now,” a gun fired and Carrie fell; I jumped up out of the bed and hollered for Randall Mason to come here quick; when Randall came I saw a man going up through the old field; I was by the pig pen ten or fifteen steps from the retreating man; he was riding; the moon wasn’t up; I take the voice that said, “take care, take care, God damn you, I’ve got you now” to be the voice of Mr. Bee Martin; it was not too dark for me to see the horse; didn’t know whether he had a gun or not; he ran around the garden and got on his horse a little piece from the corner of the garden; he was just mounting and turned his horse as I saw him; couldn’t track to do any good on account of the rain after the shooting; I came back, made the alarm and sent for the doctor; I am satisfied it was Mr. Bee Martin that called me at the door the first time; didn’t come out of the door after Mr. Bee Martin threatened me; this is all I know about it; of my knowledge I know of no circumstances to connect Mr. Bee Martin with the shooting; the man riding off didn’t look like he had a hat on; my little boy found a hat next morning near the ladder leaning against the chimney; didn’t see the gun; there was a light; and Carrie Farrow was standing in front of fire; (hat exhibited) can’t say whose hat it is. A. W. Thomas Sarah Matthews, sworn, said: Lives in the house where the shooting occurred; was going over the creek to a candy pulling with my sister Amanda and my husband Cornelius Matthews; the candy pulling didn’t take place because Bee Martin was there; a great many people gathered; Carrie Farrow said she was afraid of Bee Martin and asked us to let her come back with us and stay all night with us; as we were coming home Bee Martin overtook us on the road; he rode up and said, “Manda, who are all these you’ve got here with you?” She said, “Sarah, Cornelius and amongst us;” Bee Martin asked where was Carrie; she told him she did not know; Bee Martin said, “all I want is to lay my eyes on her, God damn her, I’ll kill her before morning;” he passed still cursing and saying all he wanted was to see Carrie Farrow, God damn her, he would kill her before morning; Bee Martin came in front of my house and called my brother, A. W. Thomas, as high as three times; he said “Thomas, God damn you, I’ll kill you in the morning, excepting God paralyzes me;” he went on riding up the road; we all sat down in the house; and sister “Manda said to Carrie if she had eaten anything, she said no, I haven’t eat anything since night before last; I got up and gave her some molasses and bread, I turned to pour some milk out of the churn; the churn was in front of the fire, as I aimed to cover the churn, Bee said, “take care, take care, God damn you I’ve got you;” I was between the hole near the chimney and Carrie; I saw the gun and fell back; the gun went off and shot Carrie Farrow; the gun protruded into the house about four inches; I was so frightened I can’t say whether it was a double or single barrel gun; I am sure that it was the voice of Bee Martin that said, “take care, take care, God damn you, I’ve got you now”; I am sure he had no gun when he overtook us; he was riding a black horse; don’t know of my own knowledge why Carrie was scared of Bee; when we heard Bee coming from the candy pulling, we recognized Bee’s horse and heard him cursing, then Carrie Farrow hid in the pines; don’t know the hat exhibited to me; this is all I know about it.

Sarah Matthews.

Amanda Thomas, sworn, said: Lives in the house where the shooting occurred; on last Friday night Sarah and Cornelius Matthews went over the creek to a candy pulling; candy pulling didn’t go because Bee Martin was there; Carrie Farrow and Lindsay Wilson were to give it; Carrie Farrow said as Bee Martin had threatened her she was afraid and this was the reason it didn’t come off; Carrie Farrow said let me go home with you all and stay all night; I know that Carrie Farrow was under Sarah Martin’s house; she got under there to get out of Bee Martin’s way; when we arrived she came out; Bee Martin ran against Sarah Martin’s door and broke the fastening of the door; we all ran out, Carrie

Farrow with us; we came on back home and Bee Martin overtook us; Carrie Farrow dodged out in the pines; Bee Martin rode up and said ‘Manda, who are all of these you have got with you?;” I said, “Sarah and Cornelius and them’uns” he came on to my house and called my husband and said “Martin God damn you, I’ll kill you in the morning unless God paralyzes me.” Bee Martin then went on up the road; we came in and talked a while; I asked Carrie if she had eaten anything; I told Sarah Matthews to get up and give Carrie some bread; Sarah poured out the molasses; Carrie said “put it down, I’m not ready for it yet, Carrie asked for some bread and milk; I heard a voice at the chimney say, “look out, God damn you, I’ve got you now;” Carrie Farrow came in night clothes; she had been broken upon by Mr. Bee Martin while dressing for the candy pulling; just before hearing the voice at the chimney corner; she asked me to loan her one of my dresses; she walked to the fire and was buttoning up the basque; I heard the voice say, “look out, I’ve got you,” I heard the gun go off; I was frightened and didn’t give the alarm; Carrie Farrow whirled and fell t1at of her face; heard no more voices outside; I recognized the voice as that of Mr. Bee Martin; can’t tell whether Mr. Bee Martin was drinking or not; don’t know the cause of the fuss between Mr. Bee Martin and Carrie Farrow; Carrie told us Bee said if she reported him for beating her Monday night he would kill her; he tried in the village to get together she said, to make it up with him, and told her if she didn’t he would give her 20 lashes or kill her; Mr. Bee Martin has not been here since the shooting; don’t know whose hat the one shown me is; Mr. Martin had no gun when he passed me; the night was hazy and cloudy; he was riding his black horse Black Sally; this is all I know about it.

Amanda Thomas

Dr. J. W. W. Marshall, sworn, said:
Made a post mortem examination on the dead body of Caroline Farrow with Dr. D. Sloan Benson. Found a gun shot wound in the left hip two and a half to three inches in diameter. The shot passed through the hip bone, entered the cavity of the pelvis, and lodged in the pelvis. Did not cut any of the bowels nor the pelvic viscera. Found the shot in the hollow of the sacrum, small bird shot. Found on examination profuse internal hemorrhage had taken place from the effects of the gun shot wound. I suppose from the small shot taken out the wound, that it must have been inflicted by means of a shot gun .

J. W. W. Marshall, M.D.

Dr. D. Sloan Benson, sworn, said: I made the post mortem examination, in company with Dr. Marshall and corroborate above statement in every particular.

D. Sloan Benson, M.D.

The Verdict of the Jury, State of South Carolina
Abbeville County

An inquisition taken at the Martin plantation in Abbeville county, the 21st day of February, A. D., 1881, before J. A. Shillito, Coroner of said County, upon the body of Caroline Farrow of Abbeville County, S.C., then and there being dead, by the oaths of James A. Reid, E. B. Taylor, A. T. Fleming, Thomas Crawford, J. Thomas Fortescue, A. E. Lesly, E. Richey, B. W. Williams, T. P. Millford, R. A. Richey, G. C. Dusenberry, J. H. Walker, being a lawful Jury of Inquest, who being charged and sworn to enquire for the State of South Carolina, where and by what means the said Caroline Farrow came to her death by a gun shot wound inflicted upon her on the night of Friday the eighteenth day of February, A. D. 1881, and that said shot was fired by W. B. Martin, and so the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid W. B. Martin in manner and form aforesaid Caroline Farrow then and there feloniously did kill, against the peace and dignity of the same State aforesaid.

J. A. Shillito, C. A. C.
Statement of J. Campbell Martin
Jas. A. Reid, Foreman
A. E. Lesly
J. H. Walker
T. P. Milford
Thomas Crawford
A. T. Fleming
E. B. Taylor
ED. Richey
J. T. Fortescue
Beny. W. Williams
G. C. Dusenberry
R. A. Richey

In an interview with Mr. J. Campbell Martin, brother of the accused, he made the following statement: “My brother, William B. Martin, denies committing the deed, and I believe my brother’s statement as to his innocence. You have no doubt observed that the witnesses testify that the deed was done about nine o’clock. My brother was at my house in bed asleep at that hour. He is not going away. He will stay and stand his trial if indicted. I do not care to say why he is not here to-day. This is all I have to say.

Dissatisfaction Among the Negroes.

Hearing that the Negroes were dissatisfied at the fact that William Bee Martin had not been arrested, and learning that the rumor was current among them to the effect that Trial Justice Calhoun had on Saturday last refused to issue a warrant for his arrest, although the accused was in town on that day. We called at the Justice’s office where we were furnished with a copy of the following:

State of South Carolina
Abbeville County
Affidavit

Personally appeared before me, Orville T. Calhoun, a Trial Justice of said State, Cornelius Matthews, who, being duly sworn, says: That at Abbeville, S.C., on or about the 18th February, 1881, Caroline Farrow, while in the house of Martin Thomas, was shot by someone on the outside of said house, through a crack in said house, that from information delivered from others and from facts which he knows of his own knowledge, he verily believes W. B. Martin is the person who shot the said Caroline Farrow, and prays that he may be apprehended and dealt with according to law.

his

Cornelius X Matthews
Sworn to before me this 19th February, 1881.
Orville T. Calhoun, Trial Justice, A. C.

Colonel Calhoun afterward kindly furnished the following statement as to the rumor, and we give the same in his own words; Mr. Calhoun said that after he had taken the above affidavit he asked the prosecutor if he had witnesses with him; that if he had, Martin was in town and he could go on with the case then. The prosecutor said he did not have his witnesses and would like to have the case put off until Monday. Mr. Calhoun agreed to this and asked for the names of the witnesses, and the prosecutor and those with him gave the following names: Mr. Kirby, Martin Thomas, Ephraim Martin, Sarah Martin, Jason Gray, Lindsay Wilson, Amanda Thomas, Sarah Matthews, and Phil Madden. Mr. Calhoun told the parties that he would send up on Monday morning for Martin and witnesses, and that they had better go on home as Martin was in town drinking, and some of them might get into a difficulty with him. They said they would go straight on home. Mr. Calhoun told them that if the girl should die before Monday morning they must inform the sheriff as soon as the girl died and he would have Martin arrested, and they said they would do so. Mr. Calhoun says he heard late on Saturday that the girl was dead, and that the sheriff had sent Mr. J. Y. Jones to arrest Martin, but that he saw a brother of the girl soon afterward and was told by him that his sister was not dead but very low. He told him if his sister should die, to inform the sheriff and he would arrest Martin and he said he would. On Monday morning he was informed that the girl was dead and Mr. Jones had been sent to arrest Martin. He got this information from the sheriff, and was told by the sheriff at the same time that he had sent Jones to arrest Martin on Saturday evening, but he had failed to arrest him.

The Accused

The accused is a descendant of one of the old and well-known families of Abbeville County, and as a matter of course is related to a number of our citizens. His father was John Campbell Martin, senior, who died on his farm, seven miles west of Abbeville Court House, in 1854, one of the wealthiest men in the county at that time. Besides being the owner of thirty-five hundred acres of land, he possessed more than one hundred slaves, together with all the implements and stock incident to the conduct of a farm of this size. The accused and his brother, J. Campbell Martin, inherited the water power and about two thousand acres of the land. On this valuable property the two brothers, being the youngest of the family, reside. The accused is an unmarried man, aged 26 years, and lives alone in a little log house on the farm on the east side of the river and near the mill.

The Deceased

Caroline Farrow, the deceased, was a Negro woman of perhaps thirty-five years of age, and leaves a number of little children.

J. Campbell Martin and the death of L. P. “Pem” Guttin

I have been spending too much time on the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website.
That is where I pulled the original articles about the murder of Carolina Farrow by William Belton (Bee) Martin after Dr. Ware tipped my off to them. In looking for information of W. B., I found something interesting about his brother, my great great grandfather, J. Campbell Martin.

 

The news and herald (Winnsboro, SC)
March 3, 1881. Image 2.

“A Terrible Murder”

J. Campbell Martin, a brother of W. B. Martin who was indicted with C. A. McClung for the murder of Pem Guffin some months since,…

 

What?

Um.

It’s 2am and the baby will be up in for the day in five hours but WHY NOT LET’S SEARCH.

 

Anderson Intelligencer
September 30, 1880. Image 3.

A difficulty occurred in Abbeville on last Monday between Mr. P. L. Guffin and Mr. McClung over a game of billiards, which terminated in the latter shooting and killing the former. We have not been able to obtain the particulars of the altercation.

 

Anderson Intelligencer
October 24, 1880. Image 3.

“Brief Mention.”

Charles A. McClung and J. Campbell Martin, the parties charged with the murder of L. P. Guffin in Abbeville week before last, the former as principal and the latter as accessory, were brought before Judge McGowan, at Abbeville, on Monday of last week upon a writ of habeas corpus, and, after examination; admitted to bail in the sum of $3,000 each.

 

Anderson Intelligencer
October 28, 1880. Image 3.

C. A. McClung and J. C. Martin were tried in Abbeville last week for the killing of L. P. Guffin and acquitted.

 

That’ll have to be it for now until I can dig through local newspaper and court records at some point. The Abbeville newspaper isn’t part of the online collection. There are much more interesting questions that I need answers to before I explore this novelty of family history though. Maybe I would be more curious if it didn’t fit so well with the ideas I already have; if it was pointing me in another direction. It’s not.