On June 4, 1902, Constable Charles Cummins and his wife were in their front yard in DeLaMar, as Benjamin Williams approached the area, intoxicated. Williams fired a rifle shot at a dog walking with two men on the road. Constable Cummins led his wife to the side as Williams approached, recognizing the Constable. Without a word, Williams raised his rifle and shot Deputy Cummins in the chest and ran for the nearby woods. Mrs. Cummins took her husband’s revolver from his pocket and fired five shots at Williams as he fled. Williams was pursued by a number of armed men. A lynching was avoided by the actions of two special officers who captured Williams as the angry mob tracked him. Williams was described as “a strapping mountaineer whose naturally lawless nature needed only the incentive of bad whisky to move him to the awful crime” Williams was tried and sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment.
Archives: Fallen Officers
John H. Delaney
Eugene Robinson
At an early hour on January 21, 1902, San Francisco Patrolman Eugene C. Robinson of the southern station was mortally wounded by three burglars, whom he surprised in the act of breaking into a hardware store on Valencia Street, near Sixteenth.
He died soon after being taken to the hospital.
One of the trio of safecrackers, supposed to be F. Daly, was badly wounded by shot from the policeman’s pistol and captured.
Robinson discovered the burglars just as they were entering the store and immediately crossed the street to arrest them, calling upon them to surrender.
Instead of obeying they opened fire upon him simultaneously, and three bullets struck the policeman in the abdomen.
As he fell he opened fire with his revolver and struck one of the burglars, who ran for a short distance into the arms of another policeman, attracted by the shooting. The other two men escaped meanwhile, and although a posse of policemen soon took up the scent, they managed to elude their pursuers. Daly refused to tell the identity of his companions.
Herbert S. Walker
On May 10, 1901, Constable Herbert S. Walker was contacted by Shasta County Sheriff Charles Behrens requesting his assistance in capturing two armed escaped prisoners. E.A. Illingsworth and B.H. Dorland had escaped from the Shasta County jail in Redding on April 9, 1901.
The following day Sheriff Behrens received a tip that the escaped prisoners had been seen about two miles north of Adin. The Sheriff and Constable Stanley of Siskiyou County invited Constable Walker to accompany them in capturing the two fugitives. A team of horses and a driver were hired along with a tracker. After spotting the fugitives along a river, the tracker signaled the law men. Illingsworth approached the tracker and engaged him in conversation. Constable Walker left his position of concealment and ordered Illingsworth to throw up his hands. From a distance, Dorland saw Sheriff Behrens approach Walker and Illingsworth and started shooting. Numerous shots were fired with Dorland’s second shot hitting Constable Walker. Walker fell to the ground and the tracker picked up his Savage rifle and shot Dorland, killing him instantly. The tracker then attempted to shoot Illingsworth as he fled.
Three hours passed before medical assistance arrived to treat Constable Walker. He had lost a significant amount of blood. Constable Walker died on Sunday, May 12, 1901. The treating physician said Walker’s wound would not have been fatal if the blood loss had been controlled.
Constable Walker was survived by his wife, son, and father, as well as numerous siblings.
Sam Holman
Butch Dobler
Will Ward
Henry R. Farley
William H. Kilroy
E.E. Dixon
On December 26, 1898, as Constable E.E. Dixon was attempting to arrest E.H. Ellsworth on a warrant for libel, he was shot and killed by Ellsworth.
This warrant had been issued after Ellsworth, the editor of the local paper, had written several derogatory articles. In this incident the article had been written criticizing the manner in which Justice of the Peace Howell conducted his court. Howell had then sworn to a complaint and the warrant was issued and delivered to Constable Dixon to serve. Ellsworth was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison.
