Memorial adds 19th century officer Oxford County deputy, killed in line of duty in 1893, joins list of fallen

AUGUSTA – After a string of burglaries in a Paris store more than a century ago, the Oxford County sheriff assigned Deputy Harrison Whitman to stake out the business in hopes of nabbing the thief.

Working with jailer Chandler Garland, Whitman spotted a burglar entering the store at about 2 a.m. Nov. 18, 1893. Soon, Whitman was in pursuit of the suspect, chasing him across a park in the western Maine town.

The suspect, Abner Thorne, fired his gun and a bullet struck Whitman in the chest. Ten minutes later, the deputy was dead.

On Thursday, Whitman’s name will be added to the Maine Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial near the State House, where families of many of the 78 fallen state troopers, game wardens, sheriffs’ deputies and municipal officers will attend an annual observance.

Whitman’s name is being added belatedly and largely due to some detective work by state police Sgt. Percy Turner, who learned about Whitman after reading a history of the Paris area.

That set Turner on a genealogical search using the Internet, and eventually to Whitman’s gravesite in his hometown of Mexico.

The grave marker, erected by the citizens of Paris, says the 23-year-old officer known as “Harry” had died “While in the discharge of an official duty for the protection of the community.”

A newspaper article appearing two days after the part-time deputy’s slaying describes the stakeout in detail. After the thief was spotted, store owner Sumner Newell was awakened and came to the scene.

As Newell unlocked the store and walked in, a struggle ensued. The two men tumbled to the ground, and Garland fired several shots. One wounded Newell and blood began running down his face.

In the ensuing confusion, Garland heard two more shots and Whitman cried out, “O, I am shot,” according to Garland’s account in the Lewiston Daily Sun.

The young officer was carried to a nearby home, where he died.

The suspect escaped. Thorne, 19 at the time, later was arrested at his employer’s home and convicted of murder, according to Percy’s research.

A nephew of Whitman’s, Stanton Whitman, 89, is expected to attend Thursday’s observance. Whitman, of Worcester, Mass., told Turner that his uncle’s “day job” was self-employed jeweler and that the sheriff had given him part-time duty for special assignments.

Whitman is not the first slain officer to be honored belatedly.

In 2000, Rockland Special Officer James Robbins was added to the list. Robbins had been bludgeoned to death in 1879 by a suspected thief. His story was uncovered when a retired Rockland chief rummaged through old newspapers.

Whitman, too, “was one of those law enforcement officers lost to history,” state Public Safety Department spokesman Stephen McCausland said Wednesday.

The first officer’s death recorded on the memorial in Augusta occurred in 1808, a dozen years before Maine became a state. The memorial was dedicated in 1991 by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.

Attorney General G. Steven Rowe will be featured speaker at Thursday’s event.

Flags flew at half-staff in Maine and other states Wednesday in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day. President Bush said the tribute has special significance coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that took scores of officers’ lives.