Edward Otto Hartwick, Deputy Sheriff
Pawnee County Sheriff's Office
On Sunday, December 7, 1930, two young men went to the farm of Jess Powell ten miles from Pawnee to borrow a logging chain. Finding no one home, they located the chain and took it. Jess Powell, 65, soon returned home and, discovering his chain missing, decided thieves had victimized him. Arming himself, he decided to wait for the thieves to return. The two young men soon came back to return the chain, stopping at his well to get a drink first. Powell opened fire on them, killing one and wounding the other. A neighbor notified the Sheriff who responded with his Undersheriff Lancaster and Deputy Hartwick. The officers arrived at the farm after dark and approached the house. Powell, still waiting for more thieves, opened fire on them from ambush. Deputy Hartwick was struck once fatally and Undersheriff Lancaster was wounded. Powell escaped but was soon arrested near Ralston. His wife and seven children survived Deputy Hartwick.
Tom Johnson, Deputy Sheriff
Pawnee County Sheriff's Office
On Tuesday, March 19, 1901, Deputy Johnson was part of a posse that had tracked two men who robbed a store and killed the manager in Red Rock the day before, to the home of Isom Cunningham three miles north of Pawnee. Some of the possemen were talking to Cunningham at the front door. Deputy Johnson was approaching them when someone in the house fired through a crack in the door and shot him. The suspects, Bert Welty and Ben Cravens escaped. Deputy Johnson died two days later on March 21st.
S. R. Moore, Deputy Sheriff
Pawnee County Sheriffs Office
Shortly after 3 P.M. on Tuesday, January 12, 1915, three unmasked men were robbing the First National Bank of Terlton. A customer was able to go out a back door and alerted the townspeople. A posse was formed, including Deputy Moore, which followed the robbers as they came out of the bank with two customers as shields. The robbers had gone about a quarter of a mile to where their horses were tied when Deputy Moore, 36, tried to take a shot at them but instead was himself shot in the heart by one of the robbers with a Winchester rifle. Moore was survived by his wife and four children.
Slack Palmer, Deputy Sheriff
Pawnee County Sheriffs Office
Deputy Sheriff Palmer was shot Friday night December 8, 1911, at Fisher, 3 miles west of Sand Springs, in a fight with a another black man who had shot two men at Ripley the previous Wednesday. Deputy Palmer died in a Tulsa hospital on Sunday, December 10, 1911.
The suspect was turned up by Beggs negroes Monday with three bullets in his body and was turned over to Sheriff William McCullough.
Dwight Calvin Woodrell Jr, Sheriff
Pawnee County Sheriff's Office
About 3:45 A.M. Saturday, October 13, 2001, Sheriff Woodrell radioed his
dispatcher that he was out with a “Robert Weller” behind the “old Spess Oil
Building” 1 ˝ miles west of Cleveland on Highway 64 and requested a couple
deputies to back him up. A short time later deputies were not able to get a
radio response from Sheriff Woodrell. Sheriff Woodrell was located a few minutes
later lying in the front seat of his patrol car, shot several times. Woodrell
was transported by ambulance to the Cleveland Hospital where he died at 4:40
A.M. It appeared Woodrell had interrupted a burglary at the business when he was
shot. Sheriff Woodrell was survived by his wife Karen, three young sons and a
daughter. In February of 2004, James C Taylor and Justin L Walker were charged
with Woodrell’s murder. Both suspects were already in the State Penitentiary
serving sentences for other crimes when the charges were filed.