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 1913
Killing at Morehead , Mount Sterling Advocate (December 3, 1913)
Submissions from 1917
The Toliver-Martin-Logan Vendetta , Charles C. Mutzenberg (January 1, 1917)
Final Battle of Morehead , Charles C. Mutzenberg (January 1, 1917)
Submissions from 1919
Rowan County Pacifier Dies in Florida , Maysville Public Ledger (April 4, 1919)
Boone Logan , Mount Sterling Advocate (April 15, 1919)
Submissions from 1921
Famous Feudist Shot By Marshal , Hartford Republican (July 29, 1921)
Man, Wounded in Duel, Paralyzed , Louisville Courier-Journal (July 30, 1921)
"Cate" Tolliver Shot by Morehead Marshal , Maysville Public Ledger (July 30, 1921)
Shooting at Morehead , Mount Sterling Advocate (August 2, 1921)
Killing at Morehead , Owingsville Outlook (August 4, 1921)
Submissions from 1924
Sheriff is Slain from Ambush , Louisville Courier-Journal (January 20, 1924)
Slain Deputy's Funeral is Held in Courthouse , Owensboro Messenger (January 22, 1924)
Submissions from 1925
A Tolliver-Martin Feud Song , John Harrington Cox and Harvard University Press (January 1, 1925)
Submissions from 1927
Rowan County Crew , Dock Boggs (January 1, 1927)
Submissions from 1928
The Rowan County Feud , Cal Turner (January 1, 1928)
The Kentucky Feud that Turned into a Free-For-All , Dayton Daily News and Howard L. Burba (July 1, 1928)
Submissions from 1932
The Ballad and Folk-Ways of Kentucky Mountaineers , Percy Hutchison (January 31, 1932)
Submissions from 1933
Feuds Die Out but Feud Tales Persist , Jean Thomas (November 26, 1933)
Submissions from 1935
A. W. Young is Dead; Kentucky Senator , New York Times (February 19, 1935)
Submissions from 1940
Rowan County War Manuscript , Unknown (January 1, 1940)
Submissions from 1956
1886 Legislature Laid Down an Edict that Rowan County Feud Must Stop or the County would be Discontinued , Rowan County News (May 10, 1956)
Submissions from 1957
The House of a Forgotten Tragedy , Helen Price Stacy and Licking Valley Courier (March 7, 1957)
Submissions from 1960
Rowan County War - Chronology , Unknown (January 1, 1960)
Submissions from 1964
Ballad of the Rowan County Troubles , Jean Thomas and Walter Kob (January 1, 1964)
Submissions from 1967
The Tolliver Song , Josiah Henry Combs (January 1, 1967)
Submissions from 1970
The Tolliver-Martin or Logan Feud , Unknown (January 1, 1970)
Songs of the Rowan County War , Unknown. (January 1, 1970)
Submissions from 1976
The Rowan County War: The Anatomy of a Mountain Fued , Stuart S. Sprague (January 1, 1976)
The Rowan County Trouble: Anatomy of a Mountain Feud , Stuart Seely Sprague and Mountain Review (July 1, 1976)
Submissions from 1984
Days of Anger, Days of Tears: Rowan County, Kentucky, 1884-1887 - First Edition , Juanita Blair and Fred Brown Jr. (January 1, 1984)
The Feud that Produced a College , Fannie Madden-Grider and Alvin Madden-Grider (December 1, 1984)
Submissions from 1987
Rowan County War, August 1884 - June 1887 Map , Jack Ellis (January 1, 1987)
Bloody Rowan , Ashland Sunday Independent (June 21, 1987)
Submissions from 2000
Days of Anger, Days of Tears: The Story of Two Kentucky Feuds - Millennium Edition , Juanita Blair, Fred Brown Jr., and David Beaver (January 1, 2000)
Valley of the Shadow: The Story of the Rowan County War (side one) , Fred Brown Jr., Robert Sloan, All Audio Studio, and Morehead Tourism Commission (April 1, 2000)
Valley of the Shadow: The Story of the Rowan County War (side two) , Fred Brown Jr., Robert Sloan, All Audio Studio, and Morehead Tourism Commission (April 1, 2000)
Interview with Fred Brown and Bob Sloan , Fred Brown Jr., Robert Sloan, and Chuck Mraz (June 1, 2000)
Morehead Memories , Jack Ellis and Morehead News (December 1, 2000)
Submissions from 2011
The Rowan County War , Christopher Merritt (January 1, 2011)