Former Dallas Deputy Sheriff Charles H. Nichols was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1871. He is buried in Pioneer Cemetery, under a tombstone that preserves the memory of his sacrifice, in Dallas TX.
His tombstone reads as follows:
"CHARLES H. NICHOLS
Born 1841, Careter Co. Tenn.
Died January 20, 1871
Colonel -- C.S.A.
Deputy Sheriff, Dallas County, Texas
Shot and killed in the line of duty"
From Find-A-Grave: (
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"Birth: 1841
Carter County
Tennessee, USA
Death: Jan. 20, 1871
Dallas County
Texas, USA
Deputy Sheriff Charles Nichols, a former Missourian and a Confederate Officer, chased down John H. Younger (of the Younger Gang) for shooting off the nose of a cowboy while he was trying to shoot a pipe from the cowboy's mouth. While Deputy Sheriff Nichols and his partner Deputy Sheriff James McMahan tried to arrest and handcuff John Younger, he produced a handgun and shot and killed both Deputy Sheriffs. John Younger was not arrested for the murders but was shot in the neck and killed on March 17, 1871 while heading to Roscoe, Missouri, with his brother James."
And from the Officer Down Memorial Page: (
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"Deputies Charles Nichols and James McMahan were shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect.
When the officers attempted to handcuff the suspect, he produced a handgun and shot both of them.
The suspect was one of two brothers known as the James-Younger Gang who shot and killed Deputy Edwin Daniels, of the St. Clair County, Missouri, Sheriff's Department, on March 17, 1874. The brother who murdered Deputy Nichols and Deputy McMahan was also shot and killed in the shootout. The James-Younger Gang was also connected to the death of Bureau of Indian Affairs Police Officer Frank West in 1886 by the husband of Bell Starr, an accomplice of the gang.
Deputy Nichols had served as a Confederate Officer in Civil War and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Dallas, Texas."
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