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 1874
The Revenue License , Maysville Tri-Weekly Eagle (June 23, 1874)
Submissions from 1877
Hell to Pay in Rowan Again , Maysville Republican (March 31, 1877)
The Bloody Ground , Cincinnati Daily Star (June 21, 1877)
Insurrection in Kentucky , Hickman Courier (July 20, 1877)
Carter's War: The Trial of the Underwoods and Holbrooks , Hickman Courier (July 20, 1877)
Submissions from 1879
Sketch of the Life of Judge Hargis , Breckenridge News (May 14, 1879)
Impeachment Threatened , Hickman Courier (May 23, 1879)
The Crowning Infamy , Breckenridge News (May 28, 1879)
Judge Hargis , Farmers' Home Journal (June 12, 1879)
War in Kentucky , Hickman Courier (June 13, 1879)
Judge Hargis Speaks , Hickman Courier (June 20, 1879)
Tom Green's Suit , Hickman Courier (June 27, 1879)
Rowan's Records , Hickman Courier (August 22, 1879)
The War in Carter County , Cincinnati Daily Star (September 10, 1879)
War in Kentucky , Memphis Daily Appeal (September 13, 1879)
The Underwood Vendetta , Hickman Courier (September 26, 1879)
A Family Feud , Chicago Tribune (October 14, 1879)
The Underwoods , Hickman Courier (October 17, 1879)
The Underwoods , Semi-Weekly South Kentuckian (October 21, 1879)
Meanest Killing Ever Recorded , Hickman Courier (October 24, 1879)
Morehead's Mystery: Magistrate Myer's Memory Manifestly Muddy , Maysville Republican (October 25, 1879)
Spirit of the Press , Cincinnati Daily Star (October 30, 1879)
Lawlessness in Kentucky , New York Times (November 11, 1879)
Ft. Underwood, of Carter. An Amazing Story of a Feud in the Kentucky Mountains , Sycamore True Republican (December 3, 1879)
Submissions from 1880
1880s Photograph of Morehead , Unknown (January 1, 1880)
Allie & William Young (image) , Allie Young and William Young (January 1, 1880)
Young Family (image) , Young Family (January 1, 1880)
Ft. Underwood, of Carter , New Ulm Review (May 19, 1880)
Kentucky KuKlux , Hickman Courier (June 4, 1880)
Submissions from 1881
Argument of Hon. Henry L. Stone in the Case of Thomas M. Green vs. Thomas F. Hargis , Charles A. Graham (January 1, 1881)
Singular Murder Trial , Chicago Tribune (March 25, 1881)
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (May 1881) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (May 1, 1881)
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (November 1881) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (November 1, 1881)
Submissions from 1882
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (August 1882) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (August 1, 1882)
Submissions from 1883
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (August 1883) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (August 1, 1883)
Submissions from 1884
Witness Testimony to the Events of August 4, 1884 , Unknown (January 1, 1884)
Not Exactly the Square Thing , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (April 14, 1884)
A Disgraceful Affair , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (April 16, 1884)
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (August 1884) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (August 1, 1884)
Bloody Election Day , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (August 6, 1884)
Local Elections , Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (August 8, 1884)
John G. Hughes , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (November 28, 1884)
Morehead Ky., Dec. 2 , Louisville Courier-Journal (December 3, 1884)
Floyd Tolliver and John Martin , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (December 5, 1884)
Kentucky Regulators , Chicago Tribune (December 11, 1884)
A Murderer Mobbed , Louisville Courier-Journal (December 11, 1884)
A Train Stopped and a Murderer Riddled with Bullets , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (December 11, 1884)
Rowan County Row , Louisville Courier-Journal (December 12, 1884)
Riddled with Bullets , Daily Cairo Bulletin (December 12, 1884)
The Rowan Trouble , Louisville Courier-Journal (December 14, 1884)
Special Dispatch from Morehead , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (December 23, 1884)
Submissions from 1885
Articles in Regional Newspapers , Various newspapers (January 1, 1885)
They Robbed the Safe , Louisville Courier-Journal (January 31, 1885)
Rowan County Circuit Court Ordinary Docket (February 1885) , Rowan County (Ky.) Circuit Court (February 1, 1885)
Feared Their Testimony , Louisville Courier-Journal (February 11, 1885)
A Lawless Officer , Louisville Courier-Journal (February 24, 1885)
Bowling's Victim Dies , Louisville Courier-Journal (February 25, 1885)
Mr. Z. T. Young , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (March 10, 1885)
Another Victim Falls , Louisville Courier-Journal (March 17, 1885)
Deputy Sheriff Stewart Bumgarten , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (March 18, 1885)
Shooting of Col. Z. T. Young , Hazal Green Herald (March 18, 1885)
A Dispatch from Lexington , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (March 20, 1885)
On War's Brink , Louisville Courier-Journal (March 30, 1885)
Mr. Warren Alderson , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (March 30, 1885)
Riot in Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 2, 1885)
Rowan's Rumpus , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 3, 1885)
A Reign of Lawlessness: A Whole Kentucky County Murderously Mad Over an Election Wrangle --- Serious Results , Bloomington Weekly Pantagraph (April 3, 1885)
The Rowan County War , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 4, 1885)
Riotous Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 4, 1885)
Commission Reports , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 4, 1885)
The Rowan County (Ky.) War , Chicago Tribune (April 4, 1885)
Two Bands of Desperadoes are Still Confronting Each Other , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (April 4, 1885)
An Armistice , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 5, 1885)
Rowan's Easter , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 6, 1885)
Representatives , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (April 7, 1885)
The Rowan County Troubles , Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (April 7, 1885)
All Quiet in Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 8, 1885)
Rowan Regulators , Hazel Green Herald (April 8, 1885)
From Rowan County , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 12, 1885)
Sheriff W. C. Humphrey , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (April 14, 1885)
Rowing Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 15, 1885)
Speaks for Himself , Louisville Courier-Journal (April 17, 1885)
The Rowan County Trouble does not Seem to be Over , Hartford Herald (April 29, 1885)
A Mt. Sterling Fire , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 1, 1885)
Ed Pierce , Hazel Green Herald (June 3, 1885)
Judge and Juries at Mt. Sterling Enforcing the Law , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 11, 1885)
On the Ragged Edge of War , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 14, 1885)
Rowan County's Roughs , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 20, 1885)
Continued Outlawry: More Trouble for Rowan , Hickman Courier (June 26, 1885)
Lively Times in Kentucky , New York Times (June 29, 1885)
The Dogs of War , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 29, 1885)
The Martin Tolliver War , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (June 30, 1885)
Call to Arms: Three Detachments of State Militia Ordered to Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (June 30, 1885)
The Rowan War, the Martin House Burned , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 1, 1885)
In Rowing Rowan , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 2, 1885)
Rowing in Rowan , Semi-Weekly South Kentuckian (July 3, 1885)
The Dogs of War: The Rowan County War Breaks Out Afresh , Hickman Courier (July 3, 1885)
The Situation at Morehead , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 3, 1885)
All is Quiet in Rowan County , Maysville Daily Evening Bulletin (July 3, 1885)
Soldiers at Rowan County Courthouse (Photograph) , Norman Wells (July 4, 1885)