The origin of the Rowan County War, also known as the Martin-Tolliver Feud, can be traced back to the controversial election of Thomas F. Hargis as circuit judge in 1874 and the Underwood-Holbrook Feud which occurred from 1877 to 1879. The conflict between the Martins and Tollivers began in August of 1884 during a tightly contested race for Rowan County sheriff. What ensued was a series of brutal murders, deadly gun battles and three years of lawlessness in the county. The feud ended in June 22, 1887 when the Tollivers were surrounded at a hotel and tavern in Morehead by a posse of over one hundred men led by Boone Logan. After the gunfight, most of the members of the Tolliver faction were killed and peace was eventually restored to the county.
Submissions from 1887
Avenging Tolliver: Craig's Death Incite to More Desperate Deeds , Monmouth Evening Gazette (June 27, 1887)
Arrest of Rogers , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 27, 1887)
Craig Tolliver: That He Was Famous Who Will Deny After Reading the Following Epitaphal , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 27, 1887)
Latest from Rowan , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (June 27, 1887)
Echoes from the Rowan Racket , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (June 28, 1887)
The Battle of Morehead , Semi-Weekly South Kentuckian (June 28, 1887)
Ought Soon to be Ended , Monmouth Evening Gazette (June 28, 1887)
Rowan County: The Mannins Escape-Andy Tolliver Dead-Dr. Logan Going Back to Morehead , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 28, 1887)
Killing of the Tollivers , Richmond Climax (June 29, 1887)
Bloody Rowan , Hazel Green Herald (June 29, 1887)
The Tolliver Gang Again , New York Times (June 29, 1887)
A Reign of Terror: Wild Excitement in Rowan County, Kentucky - Tolliver Threatened , Monmouth Evening Gazette (June 29, 1887)
They Don't Tell the Truth , Hazal Green Herald (June 29, 1887)
Wreck of the Rowanites , Hartford Herald (June 29, 1887)
Rowan County Quiet , New York Times (June 30, 1887)
Rowan's Peace , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 30, 1887)
Exteminated , Big Sandy News (June 30, 1887)
Craig Tolliver and Rev. Barnes , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 1, 1887)
Typescript of Newspaper Articles related to the Rowan County War , Unknown (July 1, 1887)
The End is Not Yet , Monmouth Evening Gazette (July 1, 1887)
Public Meeting at Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 1, 1887)
The Kentucky Feud , Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (July 2, 1887)
Bit the Dust , Tampico Tornado (July 2, 1887)
The Rowan County War , Huntington Advertiser. (July 2, 1887)
The Rowan Resolutions , Hazel Green Herald (July 6, 1887)
Thirteen Questions , Hazel Green Herald (July 6, 1887)
The Rowan Troubles , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 6, 1887)
State Guards at Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 11, 1887)
Shooting in Kentucky , Grant County Herald (July 14, 1887)
Kentuckians Abroad , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 15, 1887)
Fled From Kentucky: Ex-Sheriff Ramey and Son Hiding in Wisconsin , Monmouth Evening Gazette (July 16, 1887)
County Attorney Shaw , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 16, 1887)
All About Two-Fifty: Cause of the Notorious Rowan County, Ky., Fued , Monmouth Evening Gazette (July 20, 1887)
Affairs at Morehad , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 21, 1887)
Cook Humphrey , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 23, 1887)
State Troops , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 25, 1887)
Trouble Feared at Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 27, 1887)
Deputy Sheriff Hogg , Big Sandy News (July 28, 1887)
The Rowan County Feud , Chicago Tribune (July 29, 1887)
Rowan County , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 30, 1887)
Soldiers For Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 30, 1887)
Troops to go Forward , New York Times (July 31, 1887)
On To Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 31, 1887)
Troublous Times , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 1, 1887)
Troops for Rowan County , Chicago Tribune (August 1, 1887)
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (August 1887) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (August 1, 1887)
Want Troop in Rowan County, Kentucky , Monmouth Evening Gazette (August 1, 1887)
Troublous Times , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 1, 1887)
Governor has Ordered 60 men , Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (August 2, 1887)
The Ways of Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (August 2, 1887)
Only Armed Men at Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 2, 1887)
Rowan County , Richmond Climax (August 3, 1887)
The War in Rowan , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 5, 1887)
The Morehead War , Chicago Tribune (August 5, 1887)
Troops Called For , Hazel Green Herald (August 5, 1887)
The Blood Flows in Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (August 5, 1887)
The Soldier Boys in Rowan , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 5, 1887)
Morehead Quiet , Monmouth Evening Gazette (August 6, 1887)
Quiet Reigns in Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (August 6, 1887)
Rowan Circuit Court , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 8, 1887)
Tolliver , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 11, 1887)
The Youngs Indicted, - and Jurors Ordered Summoned from Fleming County to Try the Case , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 11, 1887)
The Grand Jury of the Rowan Circuit Court , Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (August 12, 1887)
The Rowan Warriors , Louisville Courier-Journal (August 12, 1887)
Sheriff Hogg , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 13, 1887)
Sheriff Hogg in Fleming County , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 13, 1887)
Every Weapon in Morehead Confiscated , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 13, 1887)
Two Desperadoes Arrested , New York Times (August 14, 1887)
Rowan Circuit Court , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 15, 1887)
Hiram Pigman , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 16, 1887)
Searching Homes in Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 16, 1887)
Logan's Murderer Bribed , New York Times (August 18, 1887)
The Youngs Acquitted , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 19, 1887)
From Rowan County, Ky.: Sensational Evidence in a Trial at Morehead , Monmouth Evening Gazette (August 19, 1887)
Letter from Zeke Yocum , Frankfort Roundabout (August 20, 1887)
Letter from Zeke Yocum , Frankfort Roundabout (August 20, 1887)
G. A. Cassidy Attorney for Defense , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 20, 1887)
A Kentucky Vendetta , Sydney Morning Herald (August 25, 1887)
Pigman and Perry , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 27, 1887)
Cal Toliver Shot At , New York Times (August 30, 1887)
Dr. Logan Leaves Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 30, 1887)
News From Watterson's State , Monmouth Evening Gazette (August 31, 1887)
The Same Here, Pete , Richmond Climax (August 31, 1887)
Trial of Pigman and Perry , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 31, 1887)
Pigman and Perry Acquitted , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 1, 1887)
The Kentucky Vendetta , Canterbury Press (September 2, 1887)
Tolliver's Slayers Acquitted , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 2, 1887)
The Usual Verdict in Rowan County , Monmouth Evening Gazette (September 2, 1887)
The Roaring Farce , Frankfort Roundabout (September 3, 1887)
Logan and Youngs Leave Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 6, 1887)
Special Train carrying the State Troops , Big Sandy News (September 8, 1887)
A Burlesque on Justice , Chicago Tribune (September 9, 1887)
Pigman and Perry Acquitted , Hazel Green Herald (September 9, 1887)
John Hall , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 10, 1887)
The Kentucky Vendetta , Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (September 10, 1887)
Illustrations of State Militia at Morehead , Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (September 10, 1887)
Rowan Heard From , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 12, 1887)
Shooting at Morehead , Richmond Climax (September 15, 1887)
Private Patterson , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 17, 1887)
George Walters , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (September 23, 1887)