There is ample biographical information about Martha West and William Dever, because they were two of the approximately 50 white people lynched in Kentucky between 1880 and 1950. Martha West (also identified as Pattie Funk, Miss Patty Funk, and Martha Funk) was born around 1861 in Kentucky. According to the 1870 Federal Census, her mother was Emily Funk and her father was unnamed. Emily Funk (also listed Emily Lunk) was a housekeeper. Patty Funk was the youngest of two children, and her older sister was Rebecca Funk ( listed Rebecca Lunk). Martha Funk married Thomas West on December 22, 1880 in Washington, Kentucky. According to Find A Grave, Thomas West (also identified as Thomas J. West, Mr. West, andThomas Jefferson West) was born in March of 1854. The 1870 Census indicated Thomas J. West was born to James West and a woman whose name was not listed. According to Ancestry.com, Thomas and Pattie West had nine children: Nelson, Mattie, Ella, Mary Ellen, Maggie, Rosa, Robert, Hundley, and Joseph.

            The Louisville Courier Journal reported that William Dever (also identified as William Devers and William Deveres) was about  50 years old in its article on December 29, 1895. At the time of the incident, William Dever had moved to Lebanon, Kentucky from Knoxville, Tennessee a year or two prior with his wife and daughters. His wife died soon after moving to Kentucky, and her name remains unknown. He had two daughters, Alma Devers, who was fourteen years old at the time, and a second daughter whose name remains unknown. However, The Topeka Daily Capital said, she died a few days before the incident.

            Contemporaneous newspapers alleged Martha West and William Dever met and started their affair soon after Dever’s wife died in 1893. Thomas West found out about the affair and started the process of divorcing Patty West. On December 6th, 1895, Thomas West confronted Dever about the affair at a nearby creek. At this meeting, West attempted to shoot Dever. West missed and Dever returned fire, killing West. After the death of West, Dever was arrested and put on trial. He pleaded self-defense and he was found not guilty of murder. Once Dever was released from jail, West’s family warned him to leave the town or else they would seek revenge. Dever did not leave, instead moving into West’s home with his daughter Alma.

            On December 29th, shortly after midnight, a mob of around six came to the home of Mrs. West and William Dever. The mob demanded Dever to come out of the house so they could confront him, but he refused and sent out his daughter, Alma instead. The mob told Alma to run away from the house so she would not die too. She left and went to a neighbor’s house. The Topeka Daily Capital said that the neighbor was a black man. The mob again told Dever to exit the house and again he refused. This time the mob responded by setting the house on fire with Dever and Mrs. West inside. Soon, Dever ran out of the house in an attempt to escape the fire and the mob met him with gunfire. Dever died on the lawn. Martha West stayed in the house and died as it burned.

            Contemporary newspapers reported Alma and their neighbor were the ones who found the bodies of Dever and Martha West. The articles described Alma as greatly affected by the event.  The papers also reprinted rumors that the family of Thomas West killed Dever and Martha West. The community and leadership in Lebanon, Kentucky vowed that they would find the mob, but there is no indication that the members of the mob were apprehended or arrested.

References

Location of the Lynching

Citation

Robinson, Alyssah. “Martha West and William Dever.” Documented Biographies. Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky. May 12, 2023. https://drvk.createuky.net/biographies/1891-1900/martha-west-and-william-dever/

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