MARTIN, Thomas (Mrs -who?) - Putnam

At Cloverdale, in Putnam County on the night of the 29th of November, a man named Thomas Martin became offended at something said by his wife and gave her three minutes to retract. At the end of that time he stood in the door of the house and shot her with a pistol, the ball taking effect in her head and killing her instantly.  A man named Stanton was in the house and interfered to save the woman when Martin shot him, the ball taking effect in the shoulder. He is expected to die. The wife of Martin had her babe in her arms when she was shot and fell back dead, clasping it. It is not believed that Martin made any charge of infidelity against his wife. He had been trying to get rid of her and had offered her $500 if she would consent to be divorced from him as he wanted to marry another woman. After the shooting, Martin pretended to be crazy and went about telling that he had killed a man named Harris, whom he had not touched at all. There was great excitement in Cloverdale and a strong possibility that Martin would be lynched.