Thomas Wooldridge
Dubois County Sheriff's Department
Saturday, September 17, 1842
Served: 5 years, 1 month
Badge #:
Panel 33E, Line 23
Panel L22, Line 10
Incident Details
Cause of Death:Gunfire
Date/Time of Incident:
Saturday, September 17, 1842
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
Sixth near Clay streets, Jasper
Incident County:
Dubois
Incident Township:
Bainbridge
Weapon Used:
Rifle
Suspect Disposition:
Pardoned in 1843
Burial Place:
Nelson Harris Cemetery, Jasper
Sheriff Thomas Wooldridge was shot and killed as he walked down Sixth Street in Jasper by a man who operated an illegal still on his farm two miles from town.
In an unprovoked attack in the evening, the suspect shot him through the heart from an upstairs window of his home on the northwest corner of Sixth and Clay streets.
The 40-year-old man, who was a justice of the peace, was tried for murder in a change of venue to Gibson County. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison but was pardoned in 1843.
Sheriff Wooldridge, from Jasper, was in the first year of his two-year term in office as the ninth sheriff of Dubois County. He was survived by his wife and infant son.
Military Service
Indiana State Militia |
Historical Note • Sheriff Wooldridge is the third known law enforcement line of duty death in Indiana.• He held the shortest term in office, at 33 days, of the 21 sheriffs with line of duty deaths in Indiana. |
Dubois County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Wooldridge