In the small town of Gowrie, Iowa, a dispute on a Saturday evening in the summer escalated to a fatal conclusion for the town marshal. On July 11, 1903, Marshal Thomas Nicholson, a man of about forty-five who had lived in Gowrie for twenty-five years, was shot and killed. The incident that led to his death began with an attempt to arrest a young man named William Carr, who was around twenty-three years old at the time and had a reputation for having a violent temper, especially when
intoxicated.
The trouble reportedly started earlier in the day when William Carr's father, Ira Carr, was arrested for intoxication and sentenced to thirty days in jail. This event seemed to anger the younger Carr, who then began drinking heavily and was said to have made threats. Later that evening, near the Rock Island depot, William Carr, under the influence of alcohol, got into an altercation with a stranger which resulted in a physical fight.
Marshal Nicholson was called to intervene and arrest Carr for his disorderly conduct. It was during this attempt to perform his duty that Marshal Nicholson was shot by Carr with a shotgun. The shooting occurred near the Minneapolis & St. Louis crossing of Market street between 11:45 and midnight. Following the shooting, William Carr was taken into custody and held in the village jail under guard before being transferred to Fort Dodge. A coroner's inquest was held the following morning, and the jury determined that Thomas Nicholson's death was a result of a gunshot wound inflicted "deliberately and premeditatedly" by William Carr. Carr was held without bond to await the action of the grand jury.
