Honoring Our Fallen Sheriffs

   Since statehood in 1816, the sheriff in each of the 92 counties is a constitutional officer who is elected to serve as the chief law enforcement officer.

   Originally, a sheriff could hold office no more than two, two-year terms in any six-year period. The Constitution of 1851, in Article 6, Section 2, was amended in 1952 when sheriffs could hold office no more than two, four-year terms in any twelve-year period.

   From our first in 1834 to the most recent in 2001, there have been 21 Indiana sheriffs with line of duty deaths while serving their term in office. There have been another six law enforcement officers who had previously served as sheriffs before their line of duty deaths occurred in the state.

   The wives of six fallen sheriffs were appointed to serve the remainder of their husband’s term in office while three relatives, a son and two uncles, were chosen to serve the remainder of three other sheriff’s terms in office.

   Under previous state statutes, the elected county coroner was to perform the duties of the county sheriff in the event of their death while in office, which continues to be their duty under current law if there is no chief deputy in the county.

William Gresham †
Harrison County Sheriff
Thursday, January 23, 1834
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Age: 31 • Political Party: Whig
• His uncle, Dennis Pennington (1776–1854), was appointed to serve the remainder of his nephew’s term

Thomas Wooldridge †
Dubois County Sheriff
Saturday, September 17, 1842
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 38 • Political Party: Undetermined

Albert Woodward McCorkle
Shelby County Sheriff
Sunday, October 10, 1880
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 32 • Political Party: Democrat

Robert Lewis Jones
Grant County Sheriff
Tuesday, December 11, 1888
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 39 • Political Party: Republican

William D. Mull †
Parke County Sheriff
Saturday, April 25, 1896
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 57 • Political Party: Republican
• Attained a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from the Jefferson Medical College

Charles Henry Oglesby
Pulaski County Sheriff
Saturday, October 5, 1907
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 41 • Political Party: Republican

Martin Cooper Jones
Vermillion County Sheriff
Friday, December 1, 1916
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 56 • Political Party: Republican
• His oldest son, Deputy Harry Jones (1887–1963), was appointed to serve his father’s newly-elected, second term

William VanCamp †
Franklin County Sheriff
Monday, August 20, 1923
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 34 • Political Party: Republican

Avis Madison Dutcher
Warren County Sheriff
Saturday, September 18, 1926
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 41 • Political Party: Republican

Herman Thomas Lange
Dearborn County Sheriff
Tuesday, December 31, 1929
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 40 • Political Party: Republican
• His wife, Mary “Mayme” Lange (1886–1944), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term becoming the first female sheriff in the state

Ray Marion Fisher †
White County Sheriff
Sunday, March 15, 1931
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 39 • Political Party: Republican
• His wife, Maude Fisher (1896–1982), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term becoming the second female sheriff in the state

Roy James Tipton Sr.
Clay County Sheriff
Wednesday, September 16, 1931
Cause of Death: Struck by vehicle
Age: 44 • Political Party: Republican
• His wife, Mae Tipton (1887–1963), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term becoming the third female sheriff in the state

Ray Samuel Compton
Rush County Sheriff
Monday, October 3, 1932
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 41 • Political Party: Republican
• His uncle, Deputy Clarence “Ed” Compton (1882–1970), was appointed to serve the remainder of his nephew’s term

Roy F. Holley †
Lake County Sheriff
Tuesday, January 17, 1933
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 43 • Political Party: Democrat
• His wife, Lillian Holley (1890–1994), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term becoming the fourth female sheriff in the state
• Attained a Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) from the Chicago College of Dental Surgery

John Henry Peper †
Boone County Sheriff
Thursday, February 7, 1935
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Age: 39 • Political Party: Democrat
• His wife, Audra Peper (1896–1973), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term becoming the fifth female sheriff in the state

Gerald Lee Uptegraft †
Blackford County Sheriff
Wednesday, June 22, 1949
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 42 • Political Party: Republican

Louis F. Kreilein
Dubois County Sheriff
Monday, March 29, 1954
Cause of Death: Accidental
Age: 56 • Political Party: Democrat
• His wife, Clara Kreilein (1908–1999), was appointed to serve the remainder of her husband’s term
• Last fallen sheriff elected to a two-year term

Salvatore Frank Navarra
Decatur County Sheriff
Monday, May 29, 1961
Cause of Death: Vehicle pursuit
Age: 51 • Political Party: Democrat
• First fallen sheriff elected to a four-year term

Milo Lewis †
Pulaski County Sheriff
Wednesday, October 11, 1967
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 50 • Political Party: Republican

James Cletus Goodwin †
Spencer County Sheriff
Sunday, October 28, 1973
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Age: 52 • Political Party: Democrat
• Appointed to serve remaining 21-month term of Sheriff Scales who resigned while in office
• Subsequently elected to one, four-year term

William Eugene Carver †
Harrison County Sheriff
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Age: 50 • Political Party: Republican

Former Sheriffs With Line of Duty Deaths

These six law enforcement officers had previously served as sheriffs before their line of duty deaths occurred in the state and are not included in the above statistics.

Deputy Sheriff John M. Cleary
Vigo County Sheriff’s Department
Saturday, April 9, 1892
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 48 • Political Party: Democrat
• Elected to two, two-year terms as Vigo County sheriff (1883–1886)

Detective Sergeant Ambrose Banta
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Police Department
Friday, October 21, 1927
Cause of Death: Struck by train
Age: 55 • Political Party: Republican
• Elected to two, two-year terms as Fountain County sheriff (1919–1922)

Federal Prohibition Agent
Roy Walter Shafer
Bureau of Prohibition – U.S. Treasury
Monday, June 30, 1930
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Age: 43 • Political Party: Republican
• Appointed to serve remaining 13-month term of Noble County (Ohio) Sheriff Charles W. Moore who was killed in the line of duty (1923–1924)
• Subsequently elected to one, two-year term as sheriff (1925–1926)

Former Sheriff Clyde E. Nichols
Washington County Sheriff’s Department
Sunday, April 1, 1984
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Age: 47 • Political Party: Republican
• Elected to two, four-year terms (1967–1974)

Captain Alfred Lemoine Drabenstot †
Huntington County Sheriff’s Department
Sunday, May 27, 1984
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Age: 55 • Political Party: Republican
• Appointed to serve remaining 21-month term of Sheriff Rudicel who resigned while in office (1977–1978)

Captain James Ephriam Baugh †
Putnam County Sheriff’s Department
Friday, January 2, 2004
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Age: 60 • Political Party: Republican
• Elected to two, four-year terms as Putnam County sheriff (1975–1982)