Officer John A. Crane

John A. Crane

Around 1:00 a.m. Officer John A. Crane responded to a disturbance. George Puryear, 19, was complaining that he had been robbed at a bawdy house by one of the women. Puryear and another man from the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) had been in town all day and were drinking heavily. As Officer Crane walked up to the scene, Puryear, who was on horseback, turned in his saddle and fired at Officer Crane. The bullet struck Crane in the leg above his knee. Puryear fled to the Indian Territory where he was shot and killed by a posse of officers from Denison, Sherman and Grayson County, Texas.

Crane recovered slowly and eventually returned to work on light duty as a police clerk. In May 1907 he became bedridden from the wound and had to leave the department. He died on September 12, 1907 from the effects of the wound. He was survived by his wife and two children. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery, formerly Maple Grove Cemetery, in Denison, Grayson County.