By Jessica Gorman
On the afternoon of 17 September 1906, Thomas R. Martin drove his wagon into Minden. He made a stop at the Shealy home on Union Street to drop off his niece, Liddia Talton before continuing on to downtown where he pulled up to the hitching lot in front of Chaffe’s Drug Store at the corner of Main and Pine Streets and adjacent to the courthouse. Charley W. Bradley was already there. He had visited City Marshal A.H. Phillips, Judge R. C. Drew, and District Attorney John N. Sandlin and reported that his horse had been poisoned, his orchard destroyed, and his life threatened. He blamed Tom Martin.
Tom Martin and Charley Bradley were neighbors, living west of Bayou Dorcheat near Murrell’s Point, now Dixie Inn. The two were said to have been engaged in an ongoing feud. In fact, Martin had been tried four years earlier for shooting at Bradley. He was acquitted. Bradley was a game warden. At least part of the trouble between the two seemed to stem from fishing violations on the part of Martin. He had previously been charged with placing a fish trap in Bayou Dorcheat. That trap was destroyed but had been rebuilt and was again destroyed by the game wardens.
As Tom Martin pulled up to the hitching lot, Charley Bradley spotted him. Bradley approached and Martin reached into his wagon, witnesses say to get a rope for his horse. Bradley said he feared for his life as he believed that Martin was reaching for a gun and was determined to kill him. As reported in the Shreveport Journal, “within twenty feet of the court house in the town of Minden Monday afternoon. Just as the hand on the town clock stood at half past 2 the loud report of a shotgun rang out, and a cry went down the street that a man had been killed.”
When Bradley came to town that day, he came prepared. He brought with him a pump shotgun loaded with buckshot. As he approached Martin, he fired once hitting him in the right side. Martin turned and he fired again hitting him slightly above his left hip. Tom Martin fell to the ground and was immediately pronounced dead by Dr. Merrill Monk who was among the crowd present.
Charley Bradley immediately turned himself in to City Marshal Phillips who was only steps away. He said he had to kill Martin. Popular opinion was split as to whether he was justified in doing so. Bradley was placed in the jail but due to overcrowding, he was soon moved to Shreveport.
On 10 June 1907, Charley Bradley’s trial began in Minden. He testified that just before the shooting, he asked Tom Martin if he intended to kill him and he replied that he did. Bradley said that when Martin reached into the wagon, he believed that he intended to make good on that threat and so, he shot him. He also testified about how he had lived in fear of Tom Martin for some time. Despite his testimony, Bradley was found guilty and faced a life sentence. Martin was known to be a dangerous man, but no weapon had been found in his possession and his actions that day had not been perceived as hostile by those present.
An appeal was filed. The case went to the Louisiana Supreme Court and Charley Bradley was granted a new trial. This time, his defense was insanity. That trial was held in Minden in September 1908. This time, Charley Bradley was found not guilty in what was called “one of the most notable and hotly contested (cases) that has been tried in the courts of Webster Parish.”
Thomas R. Martin is buried in the Martin family plot in the Minden Cemetery. His headstone is broken and in need of repair as are many others throughout the cemetery.
(Jessica Gorman is Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish Historian, and an avid genealogist.)