James Vernon

Death by Force

James Vernon Fish, 42, male, White, left home on a cold Sunday in West Greenwich with the quiet resolve of a deputy whose work often unfolded in barns and back roads rather than grand halls. Before the day was done—January 13, 1901—he confronted three men believed to have attended an illegal cockfight. The meeting turned violent. A shot tore into him, and the men fled into the winter woods, leaving Fish bleeding and the town suddenly smaller without his steady presence. He was rushed to Rhod ...Read More

Deputy Sheriff James Vernon Fish