Shelby County Indiana
Newspaper Articles
Martin / Martyn
Newspaper Articles
Martin / Martyn
The Shelbyville Republican
Monday December 17, 1934
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CORONER OPENS PROBE IN
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LOCAL POISON DEATH
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Believes Strychnine May Have Caused
Death of Mrs. Evelyn Martin
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Will Investigate Purchase
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Bulletin
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The powder which caused the death of Mrs. Lucy Evelyn Martin here yesterday is strychnine, it was determined today in analysis of the substance by the state Pure Food and Drug Department, after Coroner Thomas Cartmel submitted a sample of the powder for analysis.Monday December 17, 1934
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CORONER OPENS PROBE IN
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LOCAL POISON DEATH
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Believes Strychnine May Have Caused
Death of Mrs. Evelyn Martin
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Will Investigate Purchase
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Bulletin
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Investigating the poison death of Mrs. Lucy Evelyn Martin, 22 years old, which occurred at 10:30 o'clock Sunday morning in her home at 733 Main street, Walkerville, Coroner Thomas Cartmel went to Indianapolis today to obtain, from the state's pure food department a definite analysis of the powder that, according to the coroner, caused the fatality.
Coroner Cartmel said that he believes the powder found in the two other capsules given to Mrs. Martin, but not consumed, is strychnine.
Mrs. Martin was the wife of Embert Martin and was the mother of four children. The oldest four years of age.
COMPLAINED OF ILLNESS
She complained of feeling ill early Sunday morning, and thought she had been stricken with influenza. Her husband asked his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Martin, living nearby, to assist the younger Mrs. Martin and to prepare breakfast for the children. Mrs. Elizabeth Martin brought with her some capsules which she believed to contain quinine.The younger Mrs. Martin took one of the three capsules given to her, at about 8:30 o'clock. An hour later she became violently ill and was seized with convulsions. Dr. W. R. Tindall was called. When he arrived, he diagnosed her condition as induced by poison, and hastened back to his office for a stomach pump. When he returned to the Martin home, Mrs. Martin was dead. Her death occurred at 10:30 a.m.
RELATIVES SURPRISED
The mother-in-law of the poison victim expressed surprise at the statements of the coroner and physician that the capsules contained poison and not quinine. She said that her husband, Lawrence Martin, had filled the capsules with a powder that he believed to be quinine, Saturday. The bottle containing the unused powder was turned over to Dr. Tindall and later to Coroner Cartmel. The coroner said that the label on the eight-ounce bottle had been scratched off. The powder it contained was so fine and flour-like, while quinine is of crystalline nature, according to Coroner Cartmel.Before calling the physician, members of the Martin family gave Mrs. Martin some home remedies and a quantity of lard, as emetics, Mr. Cartmel was informed. They feared at first that Mrs. Martin had taken an overdose of quinine. The small amount she consumed could not possibly have constituted an overdose, the coroner stated.
Mrs. Martin was born in Paoli, Indiana, June 17, 1911, the daughter of James and Mary Vaughn Ridley. She was married to Mr. Martin July 2, 1927.
Survivors besides the husband are four children, Rosemary, age 6 years, Robert Lawrence, 4; Lester Allen, 3, and Merritt Estal, 13 months; two sisters, Mrs. Mary Walton and Mrs. Pearl Walton, both of Shelbyville; one brother, Joseph Ridley, Salem, New Jersey; and one foster brother, Vernie Quillen, who is in the U.S. Army.
Mrs. Martin was affiliated with the local Salvation Army.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. at the Nazarene church with Adjutant Gertrude Calvert, of the Salvation Army, and the Rev. Fred Bouse, pastor of the Nazarene church, officiating. Burial will be in the Miller cemetery in charge of C.F. Fix & Son, funeral directors.
Friends may call at the late home, 733 Main street, anytime after 6:00 o'clock Monday evening.
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The Shelbyville Republican
Tuesday December 18, 1934
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WILL CONTINUE PROBE INTO
POISON DEATH OF
MRS. LUCY E. MARTIN
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“Quinine” Taken by Mother of Four
Was Really Strychnine Sulphate,
According to Analysis Made By
State Board of Health at Request
of Coroner Thomas Cartmel
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Coroner's Inquest Is Slated to
Take Place on Friday or Saturday
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Although questioning of persons who may have valuable information about the poison death of Mrs. Lucy Evelyn Martin, which occurred at her home in Walkerville Sunday morning, will continue through the week, the coroner's inquest probably will not be held until Friday night or Saturday, Coroner Thomas Cartmel indicated today.The Shelbyville Republican
Tuesday December 18, 1934
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WILL CONTINUE PROBE INTO
POISON DEATH OF
MRS. LUCY E. MARTIN
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“Quinine” Taken by Mother of Four
Was Really Strychnine Sulphate,
According to Analysis Made By
State Board of Health at Request
of Coroner Thomas Cartmel
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Coroner's Inquest Is Slated to
Take Place on Friday or Saturday
----------
Examination of the powder that was fatal to Mrs. Martin, by Harold V. Darnell, state chemist in the Food and Drug Laboratory of the Indiana Division of Public Health, revealed Monday that the substance mistaken for quinine and consumed by Mrs. Martin was strychnine sulphate. The powder had been placed in capsules by Lawrence Martin, father-in-law of the poison victim, last Friday or Saturday, Coroner Cartmel was told.
The statement of Mr. Darnell, written as part of the inquest testimony, follows:
“On December 17, 1934, Mr. T.H. Cartmel submitted to me in the Food and Drug Laboratory of the Indiana Division of Public Health two samples of an unknown powder, one of which was in a one-eighth ounce bottle and the other in two capsules. On examination, both samples were found to contain strychnine sulphate.
“Of special interest was the fact that the label on the one-eighth ounce bottle had evidently been removed by scratching. There was no warning of any kind on the bottle to show that it contained a violent poison.”
Coroner Cartmel said that each capsule contained three grains of the poison. One-thirtieth of a grain, he said, is considered a fatal dose.
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The Shelbyville Republican
Saturday December 22, 1934
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7 WITNESSES HEARD IN
CORONER'S PROBE OF
POISON FATALITY
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Powder Mistaken as Quinine Was
Found in Closet Year Ago at Home
of Parents of Victim's Husband,
Coroner Is Told;
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Martin Say
They Are Mystified as to How Poison
Was Brought Into Home;
Man's Visit in 1931 Is Recalled
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The bottle of strychnine sulphate that caused the death of Mrs. Lucy Evelyn Martin at her home in Walkerville last Sunday was found in a clothes press at the home of her husband's parents a year ago, according to testimony given yesterday in the inquest conducted by Coroner Thomas Cartmel.The Shelbyville Republican
Saturday December 22, 1934
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7 WITNESSES HEARD IN
CORONER'S PROBE OF
POISON FATALITY
----------
Powder Mistaken as Quinine Was
Found in Closet Year Ago at Home
of Parents of Victim's Husband,
Coroner Is Told;
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Martin Say
They Are Mystified as to How Poison
Was Brought Into Home;
Man's Visit in 1931 Is Recalled
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Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Martin, father-in-law and mother-in-law of the poison victim, gave that testimony, and said that they presumed the bottle contained quinine.
They stated that they observed that the powder in the bottle was finer than ordinary quinine, but that they believed the difference was due to disintegration that might have been caused by age.
Two or three days before the younger Mrs. Martin's death, the mother-in-law said, Lawrence Martin went to the home of George Henry, on Fair Avenue. While there, he complained about having a cold. The Henry's told him to take quinine as a remedy, according to the inquest testimony, and gave Mr. Martin a small quantity of quinine, which sufficed for filling six or seven capsules.
When Mr. Martin returned to his home with the quinine, Mrs. Martin told him that they had some quinine of their own in their medicine cabinet, Coroner Cartmel was informed. Mr. Martin used four or five of the quinine capsules, he testified. When the daughter-in-law became ill, on Sunday morning, December 16, Mr. Martin filled “about four or five” capsules with the powder from the old bottle that Mrs. Martin had mentioned. He said he believed there were seven capsules altogether, including two of genuine quinine which Mr. Martin himself had not consumed. Mrs. Martin, taking three of them to the home of her daughter-in-law, took three of the five that contained poison, Mr. Martin said.
Witnesses in the inquest held in the city hall Friday afternoon were: Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Martin, Embert Martin, Mrs. Nellie Ferleman, a neighbor of the Martins; Frank Bales, ambulance driver; Paul Fix, embalmer; and Dr. W. R. Tindall, physician who was called to Mrs. Ember Martin's bedside when she was dying of the poison.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Indianapolis Star
November 7, 1915
Page 2 Column 3
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Fire in Home and Preacher
Ready to Marry Couple,
But Clerk Refuses License
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(Special to The Indianapolis Star)
SHELBYVILLE,
Ind., Nov. 1. -- Dan Cupid had to take the count in the first round here
late this afternoon in a bout with County Clerk Cecil Collins,
when Edward Dickman and Miss Inith Martin,
prominent young persons of this city, sought a marriage license. The clerk
refused to grant a license because of the age of the would-be bridegroom.
Dickman, a grocery clerk, admitted he was a little less than 18 years old.
He looked like a full grown man, but did not know anything about the Indiana
marriage law. The clerk refused to budge, even when the parents of both
the young persons were enlisted in their behalf. "Not before you're
18," was the final word, and neither the tears of the girl nor the wrath of
the disappointed young man moved him. The couple even had the fires
started in the home they had furnished and had engaged the pastor for the
service. The bride, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. S. Martin,
had been the guest of honor at a number of prenuptial events, and one of the
evening papers published a detailed account of the wedding, which was set for 5
o'clock, as though it had taken place. The couple probably will make a
hurried trip to some gretna green.November 7, 1915
Page 2 Column 3
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Fire in Home and Preacher
Ready to Marry Couple,
But Clerk Refuses License
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(Special to The Indianapolis Star)
Contributed by Virginia Latta Curulla
The Shelby Democrat
June 17, 1915
Page 6 column 1
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PRISON SENTENCES
FOR TWO NEGROES
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Nelson Demas and Branch
Martin Sent Up For
2 to 21 Years.
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BOTH ENTERED GUILTY PLEAS
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Demas Was Held for Murder of Jo-
seph Brantford -- Martin First Man
Ever Sent from Shelby County
for Perjury.
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(From Monday's Daily.)
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Judge Blair sentenced two negroes to prison this afternoon, two to twenty-one years each.June 17, 1915
Page 6 column 1
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PRISON SENTENCES
FOR TWO NEGROES
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Nelson Demas and Branch
Martin Sent Up For
2 to 21 Years.
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BOTH ENTERED GUILTY PLEAS
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Demas Was Held for Murder of Jo-
seph Brantford -- Martin First Man
Ever Sent from Shelby County
for Perjury.
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(From Monday's Daily.)
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One of the men is Nelson Demas, 29 years old, and the other Branch Martin, 41 years old. The former pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the latter to perjury.
Demas will be taken to the state reformatory and Martin to state prison. M. O. Sullivan, county attorney, represented both of the defendants.
Demas had been held in jail since the second day of May and was charged with murder in the first degree for the death of Joseph Brantford, whom he shot in the quarrel at the negro resort on east Jackson street and who was the proprietor of the place. The shooting occurred on Sunday morning, May 2, and Brantford died in the Robert W. Long hospital at Indianapolis nine days later. In the fight Demas lost his left arm which was shattered by a charge from a shot gun fired by Jack Miles, who is held in jail on the charge of shooting Demas with intent to kill. His case will be given attention later in the present term of court.
So far as anybody about the court house could recall this afternoon, Martin, who is a storekeeper on south Pike street, is the first man ever sent to prison from the Shelby circuit court for perjury. The charge against him grew out of his testimony before the grand jury. The grand jurors had ascertained that the trouble at the resort started over a game of craps and that Martin was one of the players. They warned him repeatedly that he must give them mothing but the truth in the murder investigation, but he repeatedly denied that he was in the game or that there had been any craps game in progress. Subsequently they returned the indictment for perjury against him.
In addressing Martin in connection with the passing of sentence for perjury, Judge Blair stated that he would make the punishment even more severe but for the fact that he considered the mand had acted as he did thru ignorance of the serious offense he was committing and solely for the purpose of shielding some of his friends who were mixed up in the fight at the resort.
[The article continues.]
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelbyville Democrat
Monday, September 2, 1907
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MARRIED SATURDAY EVENING
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Harry Albion and Miss Lora Martin Surprise Relatives.
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Harry Albion
and Miss Lora Martin were married Saturday evening at eight
o'clock at the study of the Rev. O. A. Cook, pastor of the First Baptist
church. The marriage came as a surprise to relatives of the groom, as the
fact that it had occurred was not announced to them until Sunday morning.
On leaving home the groom had told his parents that he was going to
Indianapolis.Monday, September 2, 1907
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MARRIED SATURDAY EVENING
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Harry Albion and Miss Lora Martin Surprise Relatives.
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Mr. Albion is employed at the Conrey-Birely plant and is an industrious and efficient young workman. His bride is a popular clerk at the Shelbyville dry goods store, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Martin.
The groom evidently has a fondness for marriages which are a trifle unusual. About three years ago he eloped with his first cousin, Miss Inez Hunter, a resident of Illinois. They were married at Cincinnati. She died about a year later.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelbyville Democrat
Monday, September 2, 1907
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NEWS NOTES.
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John Martin,
formerly of Sugar Creek township, but now living in northern Missouri, is here
to spend a few days with relatives and friends.Monday, September 2, 1907
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NEWS NOTES.
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Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelby Democrat
Thursday September 16, 1897
Page 2 column 9
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LYNCHING OF MARTIN
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Who Was Formerly A Resident Of
Liberty Township, This County
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A special from San Francisco, under date of September 12, relates how William G. Martin, of Missouri, was hung by a party of Klondyke miners on September 2, for the alleged stealing of a ham.
Just before everything was completed for the hanging, Martin said:Thursday September 16, 1897
Page 2 column 9
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LYNCHING OF MARTIN
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Who Was Formerly A Resident Of
Liberty Township, This County
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"May I write a message, boys?"
Poor Martin took a letter from his pocket and kissed it, then he tore it up, saving only the back of the envelope, stooped, pulled off his rubber boots, and placing the paper on the sole of one, wrote in darkness the following in a dim trembling hand:
"Hoping that with the money I might make in the Klondyke, sacrifice would go out the door
and love return through the window, I left you. Kiss Ted, but never tell him."
(Signed) "Gid"
In the morning Martin's body was seen turning first one way and then back, like a kettle dangling over a fire, his hands tied behind him with a pack strap. On the other half of the envelope, which Martin tore in two, was his name and the post mark, St. Louis.and love return through the window, I left you. Kiss Ted, but never tell him."
(Signed) "Gid"
Martin was born and resided in Liberty township, this county (Shelby), and was of a roving disposition and left here for Missouri about 15 years ago, where he had learned telegraphy. His mother was a sister of Messrs. A.J. and St.Clair Ensminger and a relative of the other Ensmingers of this county.
Contributed by Barb Huff for Bob McKenzie
The Shelbyville Republican
Shelbyville, Ind., September 18, 1896
Page 2
==========================
HORD.
----------------
Mr. and Mrs. Grant Martin, of Shelbyville,
visited Mr. Isaac Sexton's family recently.Shelbyville, Ind., September 18, 1896
Page 2
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HORD.
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Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelbyville Daily Democrat
Saturday, August 6, 1892
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Lewis Martin, now deceased of Shelbyville, had ten sons, which enlisted in the army and served their country well, five of whom were in the same regiment. Their names and regiments are as follows: Thomas D. Martin, 52nd Ind.; Wm. Martin, 3d Ohio; Milton Martin, 37th Ind.; John Martin, ---, Ohio; Enoch Martin, 61st Ind.; Benjamin F. Martin, 51st Ind.; George Martin, 51st Ind.; James Martin, 51st Ind.; Royal Martin, 52nd Ind.; Smith Martin, 51st Ind. Saturday, August 6, 1892
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Submitted by Barb Huff
The Shelby Democrat
September 11, 1890
Page 4 column 4
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Grant Martyn has filed a complaint for damages in the sum of $5,000 against the C. H. & I. railroad company, for injuries resulting in the loss of one [of] his legs at a crossing of the roadway near Fountaintown, on the 15th of May inst. Hord & Adams will appear for the plaintiff.September 11, 1890
Page 4 column 4
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Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelby Democrat
Thursday, September 11, 1879
Page 3, column 4
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CRADLE -- ALTAR -- TOMB.
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Married.
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SLIFER - MARTIN -- On the 10th [could be the 16th] day of September, 1879, at the residence of the bride's parents, Mr. Jacob Slifer to Miss Jessie Martin, of Van Buren township.Thursday, September 11, 1879
Page 3, column 4
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CRADLE -- ALTAR -- TOMB.
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Married.
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Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The National Volunteer
Shelbyville, Indiana
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
August 4, 1853
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Married --- On the 30th ult. by Judge Sleeth,
Thomas D. Martin and Sarah Farnsworth, all of Shelby County.Shelbyville, Indiana
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
August 4, 1853
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Copied by Sherry Badgley Ryan from Maurice Holmes' book, Shelbyville, Indiana, Newspaper Excerpts 1853 - 1859
