Type of Officer: Sheriff
Jurisdiction: Cowley County
County: Cowley
Death Date: 1/25/1883
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death: Accident
Sheriff Shenneman had received notice that Charles Cobb, who had killed Valley Falls Marshal Daniel Weiser, was traveling in his direction. Cobb, working at a ranch near Udall Station (now Udall) aroused suspicion of the owner when he kept loaded weapons close at hand. The rancher notified Shenneman. Using an assumed name, the sheriff went into the ranch house, observed Cobb, decided he was the wanted person and attempted to arrest him. Cobb, however, shot and killed Shenneman but was captured by the owner and ranch hands and taken to Winfield. When a large crowd gathered, Cobb was moved to Wichita for safekeeping. He was returned, however, to Winfield for a court hearing. A large mob again gathered, took him from the jail, and lynched him from the Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Kansas railroad trestle. While in jail, Cobb explained that books on Jesse James and other “desperados” had influenced his spree of crime.
Panel: 30