50 Ways to Die : Homicides, Accidents, Suicides, Infanticides and Acts of Mother Nature

by West, Jerry L.

• ISBN13: 9781456746773
• ISBN10: 1456746774
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-27
• Publisher: Textstream

Summary

50 Ways to Die is a compendium of death and sometimes violent crimes occurring in the county, And The social trends that surround them. West's research centered on records of Coroner's Inquest and microfilm of the newspaper, Yorkville Enquirer, both of which are archived at the History Center in York. The inquests records had not been studied until West began his research which coincided with members of the staff and volunteers were indexing. A great deal of appreciation is extended to Archivist Nancy Sanbet, her staff And The several volunteers who assisted. And a special thank you to Miles Gardner who gave the idea for this book by his Murder and Mayhem in Old Kershaw. This book gives accounts of murders, suicides, accidental deaths and gruesome infanticides, ending in 1929. West has randomly extracted more than twenty murders, some of which are still retold in local kitchens and living rooms. The list includes the 1929 chilling murder of Faye Wilson King by her husband, Rafe. This murder brought national publicity To The small western York County town of Sharon. Also included is the 1922 murder of playing children by a man angry over water in Clover, And The brutal murder of Johnny Lee Good in 1888. People of York County have murdered over women, food, liquor, money, slander and unpaid bills and they did it with planks, bare hands, guns, knives and even ironing boards. Sometimes these occurred on the spur of the moment with overheated blood and sometimes with cold calculation. While most crimes were white on white or black on black, The subject of race has been excluded expect in cases where mentioning it was for clarification. One thing is clear in many of these cases, justice came to some, And The times were certainly not safe for minorities, The poor, and children.

Excerpts

The Murder of Rebecca Trull About the time McWhorter was sending his report To The State Legislature, one of the county's earliest recorded murder was taking place. Though there is no official record of this murder it is told among the Martin family and verified by private letters. Family tradition relates that sometime between 1835 and 1840 Morgan Martin Jr. And his cousin Rebecca Trull were at work hoeing corn in an insolated field near the Broad River when the cousins got into an argument. Tempers were lost and in a murderous rage Morgan struck Becky with his hoe. Regaining his senses he knelt beside her and tried every method he knew to revive her--but to no avail. Realizing she was dead and fearing retaliation by their families, he carried her body To The river, buried it there in a secret grave at the mouth of Bear Creek, about a mile from the present site of Cherokee Mill. During these teenage years of our county the folks living in the extreme western section lived unto themselves and had little contact with law and order. Thus, we must rely on family tradition for this murder. The Martin family was locally powerful and was to be feared For The frontier type of justice they might mete out. Morgan had little or no choice but to flee; and he fled to Georgia where other members of his family had moved from York County. Some thirty years later, On 19 April 1867, Morgan Martin wrote to his youngest brother, Thomas A. Martin, who had married Permela Ramsey, The "cow bell" of Mormonism in York County. Writing from Dawson County, he penned, "I take my seat to try and write to you a few lines this morning to let you and all the rest know that I'm well. Also the rest of the family. Thanks To The heavenly blessings bestowed on us that we are together as a family and doing the best we can [with] what little time we have to live. I am thankful to God for His blessings that He has bestowed even as it is that father and mother are blessed to live to such an old age. And that so many of us are yet alive, though some are gone. I trust we will all do better For The time to come that we may all meet in heaven in the great day of promise of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to see you all and be with you, if it was possible. I never would have left you in my life if it had not been that the Devil had such powers, that my peace was destroyed, and there was too many devils there. I want to live in peace." Morgan Martin's letter might give the impression that he had become contrite and wanted to live in peace, but Dawson County records prove differently. Six years after he wrote his brother, he was tried and found guilty for assault and battery on a Jane Bruce, and was charged $10 plus court costs. Two years later his son, Michael M. Martin, appeared before the Superior Court of Dawson County saying he was in fear for his life and For The life of his mother, Mesina Martin, and wanted his father bound under a peace warrant. A warrant was issued for his arrest at which time he wavered a trial and was placed under bond. Perhaps the devil maintained his hold on Morgan, For that was not the last time he was in conflict with the law. With this, Morgan Martin faded into his history without revealing the grave of Rebecca Trull.