Obituary can be found in Sonoma County Tribune, Wednesdasy, May 1, 1888 at California Digital Newspaper Collection, cdnc.ucr.edu
**********************************
On April 28, 1888, another local officer earned a spot in law enforcement history by becoming the only Cloverdale police officer ever killed in the line of duty.
Around 1:30 p.m. on that fateful day, the Wells Fargo stagecoach from Cloverdale to Lakeport was held up by two masked men on Geysers Spring Road, approximately 4 miles east of town.
When word of the robbery reached Cloverdale, Constable Albert Perry Crigler deputized Samuel Allen and the two of them went looking for the highwaymen. They found them around 5:30 p.m. in a rocky area near Sulpher Creek.
Constable Crigler ordered the men, brothers-in-law Eugene Preus and Jon Frey, to put down their weapons, but only Frey complied. Preus defiantly raised his .44 caliber revolver and shot Crigler through the heart, killing him almost instantly.
Allen returned fire with his .44 caliber Winchester rifle, killing Preus with a bullet to the left eye.
Frey was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Allen, but managed to escape. He was caught two days later just south of Santa Rosa, still in possession of the stolen money. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Constable Abraham(sic) Perry Crigler was just 33(sic) when he died, leaving behind a wife and three young children.
Wells Fargo & Co. gave $300 to his widow and another $300 to Samuel Allen as compensation.
He married Laura Eleanor Bates on December 22, 1878, and they had three children, William Edward (1879), Edward Phillip (1880) and Della Bell (1884).
Laura remarried about 8 years after his death.
Crigler was appointed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to be Constable of the Cloverdale Township on April 7, 1885 and took his oath of office on April 13.
Constable Crigler, or "Ab" as he was known, is buried near his parents in the Cloverdale Cemetery.
Old newspaper accounts indicate tragedy visited the Crigler family more than once during a very short period of time. It seems two of his four brothers also met violent deaths.
A few years before Crigler's murder, a step-brother was accidentally shot and killed by a buddy while out hunting. Another brother died two years after his murder when his foot slipped and he fell under the cars of a moving train in San Jose.
Mary Jo Winter is a Cloverdale correspondent.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Jo Winter
**********************************
On April 28, 1888, another local officer earned a spot in law enforcement history by becoming the only Cloverdale police officer ever killed in the line of duty.
Around 1:30 p.m. on that fateful day, the Wells Fargo stagecoach from Cloverdale to Lakeport was held up by two masked men on Geysers Spring Road, approximately 4 miles east of town.
When word of the robbery reached Cloverdale, Constable Albert Perry Crigler deputized Samuel Allen and the two of them went looking for the highwaymen. They found them around 5:30 p.m. in a rocky area near Sulpher Creek.
Constable Crigler ordered the men, brothers-in-law Eugene Preus and Jon Frey, to put down their weapons, but only Frey complied. Preus defiantly raised his .44 caliber revolver and shot Crigler through the heart, killing him almost instantly.
Allen returned fire with his .44 caliber Winchester rifle, killing Preus with a bullet to the left eye.
Frey was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Allen, but managed to escape. He was caught two days later just south of Santa Rosa, still in possession of the stolen money. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Constable Abraham(sic) Perry Crigler was just 33(sic) when he died, leaving behind a wife and three young children.
Wells Fargo & Co. gave $300 to his widow and another $300 to Samuel Allen as compensation.
He married Laura Eleanor Bates on December 22, 1878, and they had three children, William Edward (1879), Edward Phillip (1880) and Della Bell (1884).
Laura remarried about 8 years after his death.
Crigler was appointed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to be Constable of the Cloverdale Township on April 7, 1885 and took his oath of office on April 13.
Constable Crigler, or "Ab" as he was known, is buried near his parents in the Cloverdale Cemetery.
Old newspaper accounts indicate tragedy visited the Crigler family more than once during a very short period of time. It seems two of his four brothers also met violent deaths.
A few years before Crigler's murder, a step-brother was accidentally shot and killed by a buddy while out hunting. Another brother died two years after his murder when his foot slipped and he fell under the cars of a moving train in San Jose.
Mary Jo Winter is a Cloverdale correspondent.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Jo Winter
Obituary can be found in Sonoma County Tribune, Wednesdasy, May 1, 1888 at California Digital Newspaper Collection, cdnc.ucr.edu
**********************************
On April 28, 1888, another local officer earned a spot in law enforcement history by becoming the only Cloverdale police officer ever killed in the line of duty.
Around 1:30 p.m. on that fateful day, the Wells Fargo stagecoach from Cloverdale to Lakeport was held up by two masked men on Geysers Spring Road, approximately 4 miles east of town.
When word of the robbery reached Cloverdale, Constable Albert Perry Crigler deputized Samuel Allen and the two of them went looking for the highwaymen. They found them around 5:30 p.m. in a rocky area near Sulpher Creek.
Constable Crigler ordered the men, brothers-in-law Eugene Preus and Jon Frey, to put down their weapons, but only Frey complied. Preus defiantly raised his .44 caliber revolver and shot Crigler through the heart, killing him almost instantly.
Allen returned fire with his .44 caliber Winchester rifle, killing Preus with a bullet to the left eye.
Frey was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Allen, but managed to escape. He was caught two days later just south of Santa Rosa, still in possession of the stolen money. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Constable Abraham(sic) Perry Crigler was just 33(sic) when he died, leaving behind a wife and three young children.
Wells Fargo & Co. gave $300 to his widow and another $300 to Samuel Allen as compensation.
He married Laura Eleanor Bates on December 22, 1878, and they had three children, William Edward (1879), Edward Phillip (1880) and Della Bell (1884).
Laura remarried about 8 years after his death.
Crigler was appointed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to be Constable of the Cloverdale Township on April 7, 1885 and took his oath of office on April 13.
Constable Crigler, or "Ab" as he was known, is buried near his parents in the Cloverdale Cemetery.
Old newspaper accounts indicate tragedy visited the Crigler family more than once during a very short period of time. It seems two of his four brothers also met violent deaths.
A few years before Crigler's murder, a step-brother was accidentally shot and killed by a buddy while out hunting. Another brother died two years after his murder when his foot slipped and he fell under the cars of a moving train in San Jose.
Mary Jo Winter is a Cloverdale correspondent.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Jo Winter
**********************************
On April 28, 1888, another local officer earned a spot in law enforcement history by becoming the only Cloverdale police officer ever killed in the line of duty.
Around 1:30 p.m. on that fateful day, the Wells Fargo stagecoach from Cloverdale to Lakeport was held up by two masked men on Geysers Spring Road, approximately 4 miles east of town.
When word of the robbery reached Cloverdale, Constable Albert Perry Crigler deputized Samuel Allen and the two of them went looking for the highwaymen. They found them around 5:30 p.m. in a rocky area near Sulpher Creek.
Constable Crigler ordered the men, brothers-in-law Eugene Preus and Jon Frey, to put down their weapons, but only Frey complied. Preus defiantly raised his .44 caliber revolver and shot Crigler through the heart, killing him almost instantly.
Allen returned fire with his .44 caliber Winchester rifle, killing Preus with a bullet to the left eye.
Frey was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Allen, but managed to escape. He was caught two days later just south of Santa Rosa, still in possession of the stolen money. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Constable Abraham(sic) Perry Crigler was just 33(sic) when he died, leaving behind a wife and three young children.
Wells Fargo & Co. gave $300 to his widow and another $300 to Samuel Allen as compensation.
He married Laura Eleanor Bates on December 22, 1878, and they had three children, William Edward (1879), Edward Phillip (1880) and Della Bell (1884).
Laura remarried about 8 years after his death.
Crigler was appointed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to be Constable of the Cloverdale Township on April 7, 1885 and took his oath of office on April 13.
Constable Crigler, or "Ab" as he was known, is buried near his parents in the Cloverdale Cemetery.
Old newspaper accounts indicate tragedy visited the Crigler family more than once during a very short period of time. It seems two of his four brothers also met violent deaths.
A few years before Crigler's murder, a step-brother was accidentally shot and killed by a buddy while out hunting. Another brother died two years after his murder when his foot slipped and he fell under the cars of a moving train in San Jose.
Mary Jo Winter is a Cloverdale correspondent.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Jo Winter
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