Deputy Sheriff David Madison "Mack" Thomas

David Madison "Mack" Thomas

Deputy Sheriff Mack Thomas succumbed to complications of a gunshot wound sustained 12 years earlier on August 25, 1909, in Taylor County.

A Taylor County constable had obtained a warrant for a goat herder who had brutally beat his 9-year-old stepson on a farm five miles south of Potosi. The constable requested assistance from Deputy Thomas after being warned that the man had threatened to kill anyone who attempted to arrest him.

The constable, Deputy Thomas, and a posse went to the man's farm to serve the warrant. Deputy Thomas and the constable approached the house and called out to the man while the posse concealed themselves nearby. The man opened the door and fired a shotgun at the officers, striking Deputy Thomas in the face and the constable in the leg. The man then fled into the nearby hills before surrendering three days later. He was initially convicted of assault to murder but the case was reversed before he was convicted of a reduced charge of assault. He was fined $50.

Deputy Thomas lost one of his eyes as a result of the shotgun blast. He died from complications of the wound on October 13, 1921.