Five Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies, who died in the line of duty between 1892 and 1932, had their names added to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial Monument during a ceremony held June 5 in Richmond.
“When we add a name to the law enforcement memorial, it’s more than an act of duty; it’s a promise from a grateful commonwealth that these officers who died protecting our safety will never to be forgotten,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “The memory of those we honor today, as well as the additional 589 officers listed on the monument, inspires us to be better, to do more and to strive to live up to the incredibly high standards of service and sacrifice they set.”
Kentucky’s Law Enforcement Memorial Monument holds the names of 599 men and women heroes who have died in the line of duty since 1845 after adding 10 officers on June 5.
The names of the Whitley County deputies added to the monument include:
- William Sadler – end of watch Feb. 29, 1892.
- David Branham – end of watch June 8, 1901.
- Carlo Jones – end of watch Sept. 24, 1909.
- George Smiddy – end of watch May 13, 1926.
- James Bowlin – end of watch Dec. 4, 1932.
Whitley County Sheriff Bill Elliotte said he was unaware that those deputies had lost their lives in the line of duty until he was contacted a couple of months ago by someone with the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training, who informed him that five historical names were being added to the wall from Whitley County.
Elliotte and four of his deputies traveled to Richmond for the ceremony and to accept a folded American flag in honor of each Whitley County deputy.
“It was an honor to be able to stand in and accept this. My goal is to hopefully locate some family members or descendants from these guys. Some of them are probably so old that we never will. Some of the ones in the earlier 1900s we might be able to,” Elliotte said.
Elliotte said that if anyone has any information about these men or knows about any of their family members, then his department would love to get the information.
The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department can be contacted at (606) 549-6006.
Whitley officer deaths
Not much is known about the deaths of Bowlin, Branham or Jones except that cause of death for all three officers was gunfire, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the lives and sacrifices of America’s fallen law enforcement officers.
Sadler died from gunfire from a shotgun. He was shot and killed by a man that he had attempted to arrest earlier in the evening for being drunk in public and causing a disturbance in Corbin.
“The man was able to escape during the initial arrest and went to the home of a friend retrieve a shotgun. He returned to town 30 minutes later and went to a local diner. When Deputy Sadler entered the diner to confront him the subject rose from his table and shot him in the stomach,” according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
The Officer Down Memorial Page indicates that Smiddy wasn’t a sheriff’s deputy but rather a chief of police, who served with the Jellico Police Department for one year. It indicates his cause of death was from gunfire that came from a .38 caliber handgun.
Smiddy was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man, who had fired several shots earlier in the evening of May 12, 1926, while involved in a domestic dispute.
“He requested assistance from the chief of police and an officer from the neighboring police department in Jellico. The three officers located the man at a barber shop on North Main Street, on the Kentucky side of the border, and attempted to arrest him. The man immediately opened fire, mortally wounding Chief Smiddy and seriously wounding the police chief from the Tennessee town. The suspect was killed by the return fire,” according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which noted that Smiddy succumbed to his wounds early the next day.
(Editor’s Note: It is unclear which police department Smiddy was employed for, but at one time there was an incorporated city of Jellico, Kentucky.)
Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation
The Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation seeks to recognize all Kentucky peace officers who have given their lives in service to the commonwealth.
The memorial foundation was established in 1999 to build a monument recognizing Kentucky officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Once the monument was completed in 2000, the organization expanded its efforts to include an ongoing financial endowment program, which helps officers and their families with educational, medical and emergency needs.
The names of three other officers were added to the historical nominees on the memorial this year, including: Barbourville Police Department Officer James Smith, whose end of watch was Oct. 25, 1967; U.S. Marshal William Byrd, whose end of watch was Jan. 16, 1897; and U.S. Marshal James Short, whose end of watch was May 26, 1923.
In addition, this year’ ceremony added the names of two officers, who died in the line of duty this past year.
Winchester Police Department Sgt. William “Marty” Jackson suffered a fatal heart attack after arresting a subject for disorderly conduct, public intoxication and resisting arrest. His end of watch was April 14, 2024.
Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Phipps was shot and killed while pursuing a fleeing suspect in Russell Springs. His end of watch was Sept. 16, 2024.
