Martin

The obituary of George Martin, electric company lineman.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 July 1928.

——

In the 1880 census of New Hope township, Chatham County, N.C., George Martin, 12, servant, in the household of Frederic Hartsoe, a 63 year-old white farmer.

In the 1910 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C.: George Martin, 42, electric company electrician; wife Bettie, 36; and adopted son James, 3.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 110 Reid Street, George Martin, 54, electric company lineman; wife Bettie, 46; mother-in-law Lou Hunter, 67, widow; and son Vernon Martin, 14.

George Aldrich Martin died 16 July 1928 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 61 years old; was born in Chatham County, N.C., to Pomp Martin and Annie Crump; was married to Bettie Minnie Martin; worked as an electrician “wiring houses for himself”; and was buried in Wayne County, N.C.

Two balls in the dead man’s forehead.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 September 1921.

On 30 December 1921, the Wilson Daily Times reported the cases the Superior Court recently heard, including:

It was a curious crime. Jack Anna Ricks Rich had inherited a farm from her husband ten years earlier, and as noted above, Charlie Martin was a long-time tenant. In fact, when Martin registered for the World War I draft in 1918, he listed Jack Ann Rich as both his employer and his nearest relative.

Charlie Martin was listed in the 1900 and 1910 censuses of Cross Roads township, Wilson County, as a single farm laborer boarding in the households of white farmers. He seems to have had no close family. When he died at Rich’s hands, a neighbor struggled to provide adequate information about him. Martin’s birthdate was unknown, and his age was “look to be 45 or 50 years.” His parents were unknown, but his birthplace was thought to be Ohio (though census records listed North Carolina.)

“No Doctor Kill By Pistol Shot”