Type of Officer: City Marshal
Jurisdiction: La Crosse
County: Rush
Death Date: February 1, 1904
Added to Memorial: 2024
Circumstances of Death: Gunshot Wound
William J. Talbott, age 55, a La Crosse City Marshal and Civil War veteran was shot and killed on February 1, 1904, by a local merchant who had been drinking for several hours before the tragic encounter. Marshal Talbott attempted to arrest the man for public intoxication after the prominent La Crosse merchant made verbal threats against the Marshal’s life. Marshal Talbott ordered the merchant to remain inside his place of business and to stay off the streets. Following a verbal altercation, the man retreated momentarily back inside his store only to return, shooting Marshal Talbott once with a Colt revolver. Talbott succumbed to his gunshot wound a few minutes later. The prominent merchant was convicted and sentenced to the Kansas Penitentiary at Lansing. La Crosse City Marshal Talbott was survived by his wife, and three living sons at the time of his death.
Panel: 38