H.N. (Nick) Palmer
Toppy Johnson
Arizona Silver Belt
April 23, 1896

General Roskruge received a dispatch from Victoria, South Africa, 
April 16, saying "Palmer, Johnson and Hammond killed."  The 
dispatch was signed by Enoch Kenyon, a friend of Mr. Roskruge, 
and a well known Arizonan and member of Tucson Lodge No. 8.  Mr. 
Kneyon is in charge of a mine in Mashonaland, and the fact that 
he wired the killing of the three men as above noted is evident 
that they too were Tucson men and known to Mr. Roskruge, but 
inasmuch as the dispatch contains only the surnames of the 
parties killed, it is not easy to locate them. It is, however 
thought that Nick Palmer and Toppy Johnson are two of the parties 
mentioned as both are believed to be in South Africa but the 
identity of Hammond is still a question of doubt.  A year or 
so ago Toppy Johnson was in British Columbia, later he was in 
Prescott and is just as liable to be in South Africa as he is 
to be in any other section of earth.  Palmer has not been here 
for many years--Tucson Journal.

The Journal Miner also believes that the Palmer referred to is 
undoubtedly H.N. Palmer. He left Prescott the the South Africa 
gold fields some time last fall being joined in the trip at 
New York by W.H. Johnson, a Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix 
railroad conductor. Letters from Mr. Palmer recently received 
stated that he and Mr. Johnson were together near Buluwayo so 
it is reasonable to assume that of the many killed in that 
section Mr. Johnson is included in the list. It was at Mr. 
Hammond's request that Mr. Palmer was urged to go to 
Matabeland and the coupling of both names in the horrible 
fate which the above dispatch leads one to believe as true 
gives to it a verification of truth.  Nick Palmer had many 
friends in this section and all over the coast and the 
tidings of his death will be received with sincere regret 
by all.


June 17, 1896

W.J. Martin, the mining man, has received a letter from James 
Cassidy, giving a few more details of the murder of H.N. 
Palmer and W.H. Johnson.  Cassidy writes as follows under the 
date of April 19:"Palmer and his party were murdered while 
going to look at a mine and he was one of the first that was 
killed. He wrote me a letter the day that he left for the 
mine.  They were ambushed at the Shangani River between 
Buluwayo and Pretoria. I saw the offical list of the killed 
and there is not mistake that Palmer and Johnson were two of 
the victims."

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