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Hutch, Reno officers paid a price for dutyBy Dwight JurgensThe Hutchinson NewsTen years after former Leavenworth resident Major General Jesse Reno was killed in the Civil War Battle of South Mountain in 1862, then-civic cheerleader and town promoter C.C. Hutchinson carried a citizens’ petition to Topeka asking the Kansas governor to give self-government to what the Legislature then loosely referred to as *Reno County.”The governor agreed, appointed a special board of county commissioners, and in January 1872, Reno County was formally bom. Two days later, C.C. Hutchinson was elected state representative, and 30 days after that, Hutchinson -the town, not the man - was named thecounty seatWithin six weeks, county officers wereelected, including the first sheriff -Charles Collins, who was a resident, US. deputy marshal and sole candidate for the post.And in August X872, the Hutchinson Police Department was formed with the naming of J.R. Lindsey as “city marshal” According to present-day local law-and-order historians - Sgt. Roger Conlon of the Hutchinson Police Department and Deputy Sgt. Jim Potter of the Reno County Sheriff’s Department - 10 law enforcement officers have been shot or killed in the line of duty since Collins and Lindsey were sworn in;• In 1901, a local thug pushed Undersheriff Edward Metz underneath a train in the 100 block of West Avenue C. Metz was killed; his assailant was never captured.■ In December, 1911, Deputy Thomas Simpson Fowler caught and arrested a burglary suspect by the name of Hemy Bowers. As Fowler was walking Bowers to the police station - then located at Sherman and Washington - Bowers produced a gun and opened lire. He shot Fowler five times, killing the deputy. Bowers was captured and sentenced to prison, where he died five years later of natural causes.■ In 1923, a car thief shot Officer Edward Cunningham in the face as the officer was attempting to arrest him. Cunningham survived and the thief wentSee POLICE, Page 23C
Newspaper Details
Hutchinson News
Hutchinson, Kansas, US
Fri, Jul 04, 1997
Page 82
Full Page
Clipped by
Hutchinson P.
KS, USA 23 Aug 2023
Other Publications Near Hutchinson, Kansas
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