Special Deputy Marshal J. Perry Griggs

J. Perry Griggs

Special Deputy Marshal Griggs was shot and killed as he attempted to arrest two moonshiners in Cleburne County, AL. Apparently the two suspects got word that Deputy Marshal Griggs and another officer were coming and hid in the woods near their still. As soon as the officers came in sight the two opened fire killing Deputy Marshal Griggs instantly. The other officer returned fire killing one suspect and exchanged shots with the other but neither were hit and he managed to escape. On November 24, 1904, the suspect was captured in Cleburne County and charged with murder and the murder of another man two years earlier. He was only convicted of illegal distilling and sentenced to 2.5 years.

Only five months earlier, Special Deputy Marshal Griggs had been shot at by a man that he and a fellow Deputy Marshal were attempting to arrest in Cherokee County, GA. A book he was carrying over his heart stopped a bullet that would have otherwise penetrated his heart in that incident.