Sgt William Wright
Sergeant William Wright
D.O.D, February 18, 1863
During times of small pox, we had a few officers die from contracting it while on duty. One of these officers had to subdue a subject he knew to have small pox in order to keep him from spreading it to people in the community. As he was running around like a mad man, the officer tackled and subdued him, thereby contracting the disease and passing away from it himself. So the patrolman basically risked his life and then gave his life to protect those he swore to protect. We'll try to find more on Sgt. Wright; I know at one time we had more. One of the articles that had one of the other two fallen officers said that, in addition to the officer they were reporting on, we lost two others to small pox. Sgt. Wright and one of those other officers. Line of duty illness was largely ignored in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s If an officer dies from anything work-related, they should be honored and remembered. But the city doesn't, or didn't agree; they might just be coming around to it. I don't think all deaths are Medal of Honor worthy, but definitely all of them deserve recognition and reemergence. After all, had it not been for the job, they would have lived a longer, fuller life. So how can they be ignored? The city's answer was that it used to come down to money. I am glad that even though it is late, we are able to give these men and women the recognition they and their families' deserve. The site currently has more than 200 fallen officers that have died while on duty or as a direct result of something duty-related. We will keep researching our police and including the names and stories as we find them. If you know of an officer who passed away as a result of the job, send us the information, and we'll research it and add them to the list of fallen heroes.
More details
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| End of Watch | 18 Feb 1863 |
| City, St. | UNK |
| Panel Number | N/A |
| Cause of Death | Small Pox |
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