Roll of Honor
John H. Martin
Incident
Assistant Principal Keeper John Martin suffered a fatal stroke three days after a riot at Auburn Prison in which Principal Keeper George Durnford was murdered, and eight inmates were killed.
Principal Keeper Dunford had been shot by inmates after being taken hostage on December 11th, 1929. Eight inmates were killed by New York State Police later in the day during an attempt to quell the disturbance and escape attempt. Several inmates were charged in connection with the riot. Principal Keeper Durnford's killer was identified and charged with his murder.
Assistant Principal Keeper Martin was in his office on December 14th, 1929, when he suffered a stroke. He was taken to his home, where he died the following day.
Assistant Principal Keeper Martin had served at the Auburn Prison for 39 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-B4A8A002- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
39 years. You could have gone home.
Assistant Principal Keeper Martin gave the New York State Department of Correctional Services 39 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Albany community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Assistant Principal Keeper Martin.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Assistant Principal Keeper John H. Martin is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NY, 629 of 2,147 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 29.3% of this state's fallen. That is 20.2 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At New York State Department of Correctional Services, 2 of 36 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John H. Martin's cause is highlighted.
How John H. Martin Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John H. Martin is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
35 officers from New York State Department of Correctional Services are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
