Deputy U.S. Marshal Theodore W. Moses

Theodore W. Moses

Deputy Marshal Theodore Moses was shot and killed as he slept. Deputy Marshal Moses had gone to Camden County, Missouri to arrest a man suspected of illegal distilling. He went to the suspect's home with the intent of taking him into custody, but discovered that the suspect was out hunting and was not expected back until later. Because of the late hour, Deputy Marshal Moses retired to his room in the hopes of catching the suspect the following day.

During the night, the suspect, who had gotten word that a warrant was out for him, crept into Deputy Marshal Moses's lodgings and shot him in his sleep. He then muttered that no one was going to arrest him and fled. Deputy Marshal Moses succumbed to his wounds within a half hour.

The innkeeper, who overheard the suspect say that he would not be arrested now that Deputy Marshal Moses was dead, alerted authorities. After a six month manhunt, Marshals tracked the suspect to Arkansas, where he was arrested on June 10, 1870, and brought back to Missouri to face murder charges. On September 23, 1870, he escaped from the Warrensburg Jail.

Deputy Marshal Moses was a Union Lieutenant-Quartermaster in the 14th Missouri State Militia Calvary, Companies F and S during the Civil War.