Officer Down Memorial Page

On June 30, 1891 , apparently in the preformance of his duties, Elijah was shot and killed. "The graveyard at Burlington was used as a dumping ground for garbage by a few individuals and it became necessary to forbid it. On June 30, 1891 , Frank Pierce came to the graveyard with a load of garbage and was informed by E. H. Wishard that he could no longer unload there. Pierce had a reputation for ugly acts, and he drew two revolvers and shot Wishard. Pierce was arrested and brought to jail, and by the time he arrived a mob of about five hundred awaited him. They would have lynched him had not the militia been called out and blank cartridges used. This was the second time that a mob came near lynching him, as he had been sought by one in 1888."--From " Iowa History Project", Annals of Iowa , Vol. XI Iowa City, January, 1914, Attempted Lynchings in Iowa by Paul Walton Black. "Governor Drake on Thanksgiving day pardoned out the notorious whisky searcher of Des Moines, Frank Pierce, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the murder of E. H. Wishard. He had yet two years to serve and should have done so."--From the Fayette County Union Newspaper, December 3rd & 10th, 1896.

The death certificate says the cause of death was gunshot wound at the hands of Frank Pierce. It lists the date of death as July 1, 1891 and that he was to be buried in Woodland Cemetery on July 2.

Fellow Citizen
History buff
September 6, 2007

Create an account for more options, or use this form to leave a Reflection now: