Martin DeFoor (September 17, 1805 – July 25, 1879) was an early
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settl ...
.
Background
In the 1840s, he moved his family from
Franklin County, Georgia to
Panthersville.
In 1853, he moved to the
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
area and took over operation of
Montgomery ferry and resided at the Montgomery home the rest of his life. It was thereafter known as DeFoor's Ferry. From that time until his death, DeFoor and his family lived in the former Montgomery home, one of the oldest in the county, and located on the west side of what is now Chattahoochee Avenue, just north of Moore's Mill Road. The house was torn down in August 1879, by Thomas Moore, a son-in-law of DeFoor who used the lumber in erecting a barn on his own place just across the road.
Death
On July 25, 1879, he and his wife, Susan, were brutally murdered. Both had been attacked with an axe and were found at 6am on July 26 by their grandson.
The killer was never identified, nor a motive established. They were not known to have any enemies and nothing was stolen except some
promissory notes, despite the couple having cash in plain sight. A search of the house uncovered signs that someone had hidden in their house beforehand and the axe was found in the fireplace.
At one point, newspapers claimed a man named Joe Johnson had confessed to their murders. But his confession proved false.
They are buried in Montgomery Family Cemetery in Bolton.
See also
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
References
Axe murder
1805 births
1879 deaths
American murder victims
People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state)
Pioneers of Atlanta
Stabbing attacks in the United States
Unsolved murders in the United States
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