Deputy Sheriff James B. Foster

James B. Foster

Deputy Sheriff James Foster was shot and killed by a suspect he was attempting to arrest for the theft of chickens.

Deputy Foster, along with two other deputies who had an arrest warrant for the suspect, went to the suspect's mother-in-law's house where he was thought to be. The house was approximately one to two miles north of Rogersville. They arrived at the house near midnight and on demanding admittance, the suspect's mother-in-law said he was not home. They told her they would search the house, and after some parleying, they entered. Upon entering the house, Deputy Foster struck a match, holding it over his head to see.

At this point, the suspect shot the deputy with a musket at close range, a load of shot striking him in the side. Deputy Foster fell and the suspect rushed out of the house and escaped in the darkness, followed by a number of shots by the deputies. Deputy Foster walked a few feet and fell dead.

Deputy Foster had been specially deputized to arrest the theft suspect.

The man who shot him was convicted of Deputy Constable Foster's murder and sentenced to death. The United States Supreme Court reversed the verdict and returned the case to the lower court for trial, where he was convicted again and sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison three years later.

This photograph of Deputy Foster as a child is the only photograph of him known to exist.