A Constable, A Murder, and A Feud

Fig1: Jacob Montgomery "Gum" Howard, courtesy of Margie Brickey.

Above is the only known photograph of Elliott County, Kentucky, Constable Jacob Montgomery “Gum” Howard (Fig.1). Gum was born in a part of Morgan County, which later became Elliott County, Kentucky, around 1848. He was born into a large but poor family of farmers and, as a young man, decided that the farm life was not the life he wanted to live. Instead, he joined a band of marauders led by a man named Neal McClanahan. Howard family oral history indicates that while he was with McClanahan, Howard raided the home of Union sympathizers and stole their horse. Howard was then arrested in 1866 on the charges of horse stealing and grand larceny in Morgan County, Kentucky, and served one year in prison.

After his carousing with the McClanahan gang and his subsequent arrest, Gum Howard met Anna Adkins and the two were married on January 28, 1869 (Fig 2). Gum Howard was 21 years old and Anna Adkins was only 15 years old. 

Fig 2: Marriage record for Montgomery Howard and Anna Adkins.

Although Howard had settled down and was beginning to create a family, the desire for adventure hit him once more. This time, however, he would become one of the first constables for the newly created Elliott County, Kentucky, in 1869. 

            As constable, Gum Howard was responsible for keeping the peace within the county. As such, when he heard of a wanted outlaw hanging around, he decided to go after him. On November 28, 1885, Gum Howard found the outlaw, John E. “Kan” Tipton hiding out at a local home. Howard reportedly said he wanted to bring Tipton in for his crimes to which Tipton replied with a bullet from a revolver. Howard was struck in the abdomen and was carried off to a nearby house while Tipton fled the scene. Gum Howard died that night, but his death triggered a deadly feud between the Howard clan and friends of the Tipton clan – the Tolliver’s (Figs. 3 & 4).

Fig 3: Article from the Altoona Evening Mirror.

Fig4: Article from the Twice-A-Week Messenger.

           The feud made an appearance in an 1892 edition of The Illustrated American, Volume XII under the heading, “A Kentucky Feud Revived.” The small article labeled the feud as the Tolliver-Howard-Martin feud, indicating a much larger, intricate feud than what the newspapers described (Fig 5). The article, though, wrongly mentions that Rowan County is in western Kentucky, when it is, in fact, in eastern Kentucky.

Fig 5: Article from "The Illustrated American Vol. XII" August 1892, pg. 471.

Unfortunately, both Cal and Wiley Tolliver died from their wounds, but, unlike as reported in The Illustrated American, Sam Howard, son of Montgomery Howard, lived until the ripe old age of 82. The other seven children of Jacob Montgomery “Gum” Howard, aside from Polly Anna who died at age 16 due to a freak accident, lived on into old age as well, setting aside their feuding ways with the passing of time. 

Sources:

“A Kentucky Feud Revived.” The Illustrated AmericanVol. XII. Aug. 1892.

“Another Tolliver Dead.” Altoona Evening Mirror.Altoona, PA.  Oct. 27, 1892.

“Jacob Montgomery ‘Gum’ Howard.” Photograph. Received from Margie Brickey 2017.

“Montgomery Howard Marriage.” Kentucky County Marriages 1797-1954. Familysearch.org.https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S7-93GS?i=190&cc=1804888. Accessed Mar. 10, 2019.

“Riot and Bloodshed.” The Twice-A-Week Messenger.” Owensboro, KY. Oct. 27, 1892.