Officer Down Memorial Page

Dear Grandfather Simpkins:
Momma was only two when you went down while serving. She missed you terribly growing up. I missed you growing up also. I know I would have been a better man had I known you. Even so, I have been proud of you my whole life and told your story many times. Your children, my mother and aunts and uncles, were wonderful people. They are all gone now but you would have been proud to see what wonderful people they became. I am thankful for you and your life. I am proud to be your grandson and hope my life will honor you.

Here is more information about Deputy Neil Simpkins:

Printed on: October 18, 2003

Deputy to be honored 79 years after death
By TERI ANDERSON
Post Register

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A bootlegger shot and killed Bonneville County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Simpkins in June 1924 as the officer tried to apprehend him.

Seventy-nine years later, a fellow deputy will pay tribute to Simpkins by hanging a plaque on the wall of the Sheriff's office.

Sheriff's Lt. Sid Poole will hang the plaque, which includes Simpkins' picture and biography, some time in the next month, putting an end to a seven-month effort to chronicle the history of the Sheriff's office.

Poole had nearly given up hope of ever finding out more about Simpkins' life when he got an unexpected call in late September from Martin McCullough, the slain deputy's grandson. A relative had seen a story about Poole's search for information about what had happened to Simpkins and his murderer.

McCullough, who was 3 months old when his grandfather died, agreed to send Poole a letter and copies of old newspaper stories about Simpkins, who was killed at I Street and Sage Street in Idaho Falls while trying to arrest W.C. Wilson.

The packet details how Simpkins, a 52-year-old father of 12, had gone to arrest Wilson on a warrant for bootlegging. He got out of his police car, according to the 1924 newspaper article, and was met by Wilson's wife, who begged him not to go to the back of the house. She reportedly told him, "There'll be a killing if you go."

Then, shots rang out.

Wilson fled in his car, while Simpkins walked 50 to 60 yards to a tree and said he had been shot, according the article. Simpkins died en route to the hospital.

Wilson hid in Grant for three days, going without food and water.

When he learned Simpkins was dead, Wilson reportedly said, "Well that is going to make it tougher on me than I thought," according to a 1924 article from the Times-Register.

Wilson was arrested the day Simpkins was buried. The bootlegger was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but was out in three.

Simpkins was remembered at his funeral for working long hours and having little time with the family he loved. Simpkins received a "paltry sum of $125 a month to rear and educate a family," according to the newspaper.

Life after Simpkins' death was tough for his family, but his widow, Della, was always in good spirits, according to his grandson's letter.

Although she did not receive any financial help from the county or state until 1958, Della Simpkins' 10 youngest children took turns staying with McCullough's mother, their oldest sister.

Hiram Kinney
Grandson
September 23, 2011

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