A family story……….
Joe Elijah Martin was born on Oct. 9, 1869 in Baxter County, Arkansas. Joe was usually called Joe Lige and he was the eldest son of John Menan Martin and Kizzie (neé Jeffery) Martin.
The Martin family moved to Arkansas sometime between 1851 and 1860 settling in North Fork Township, Izard County. The family was an original American pioneer family, having first settled in colonial Virginia in the seventeenth century and moving west through North Carolina, Tennessee, and eventually settling in Arkansas.
Joe Lige married Martha (Mattie) Gaither in 1888 and they had six children: Lucy Caroline, Maude Ella, Nancy Kizzie, Frank, Sam, and Gustava.
The story goes……….around 1920, Joe Lige’s youngest daughter, Gustava, became pregnant by a boy named George Tilley. One Sunday morning Joe Lige took off to shoot crows and while he was out, along came Oliver Smith on horseback. Oliver was George Tilley’s brother-in-law. Oliver and Joe Lige got into a fight, presumably over the pregnancy. Joe Lige shot and killed Oliver and ended up going to prison for a very short time. Apparently, the sentence was not long enough for Oliver’s family and they swore vengeance on Joe Lige. When Joe was released from prison, he was told to stay out of Arkansas. So, Joe Lige, his father John Menan, cousin Charley Boyd, and several nephews (Wilson & Theodore) left Arkansas and headed for Oklahoma. They settled in Okfuskee Oklahoma area. This was around 1921, which meant Joe indeed only spent perhaps a year in prison.
Meanwhile, Joe’s daughter, Gustava, ended up marrying George Tilley and they had three children. After a few years, Joe decided to return to Arkansas for a quiet fishing trip and to visit with his children and grandchildren. One of Oliver Smith’s boys heard that Joe Lige was in town and took Tilley’s gun and snuck down to the river where Joe was fishing. When he saw Joe, he shot him in the head. The Smith boy was around 16 or 17 years old, and when his family heard what he did, they sent him out of the state to hide. The boy never returned and it’s not known what happened to him. Joe Lige’s body was sent down the White River on a raft and he is buried in the Martin Cemetery in Martin Springs, Baxter County, Arkansas. Joe Lige died April 26, 1923.
Authors note: I do not know if this story is true. Perhaps part of it is, perhaps none of it. I do know that around 1920 several Martin men moved to the Okfuskee Oklahoma area. My grandfather (Wilson Martin) married my grandmother in 1925 in Okfuskee County and my father was born in Dustin, Ok in 1926. Wilson’s father (my great grandfather) Thomas Menan Martin and his father, John Menan Martin, are buried in the Likowski Cemetery, Okfuskee County, OK. Something prompted the Martin family to leave Arkansas and move to Oklahoma.
Happy researching!
Deborah