Deputy Sheriff Grover Cleveland Blanton

Grover Cleveland Blanton

Deputy Sheriff Grover Blanton was shot and killed in Quicksand by two men in retaliation for an arrest that had occurred six months prior.

Deputy Blanton had been assigned to serve misdemeanor warrants on both men that resulted in one of them being jailed. On August 7th, 1915, Deputy Blanton had gone to the voting precinct at Quicksand and encountered the two men, not knowing that they held resentment against him. As they spoke one of the men suddenly pulled out a gun and shot him in the back. The second man then shot him in the abdomen.

Despite his wounds, Deputy Blanton fatally shot one man and wounded the other. Deputy Blanton was taken to Jackson by train where he died later in the day. The wounded man was convicted of Deputy Blanton's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Deputy Blanton was a U.S. Army veteran of WWI. He was survived by his wife, parents, and three siblings. He was predeceased by one sibling.