NYPD Remembers Forgotten Heroes

100 Added to Wall

NYPD Remembers Forgotten Heroes 

By REUVEN BLAU

For Patricia Smith, seeing the name of her Great Uncle Warren finally added to the memorial wall in 1 Police Plaza was a moving experience.

"It's a little overwhelming," she said after the names of Warren D. Smith and 99 other officers who died in the line of duty were inscribed on the plaque Nov. 14. "It's a long time coming."

'Finally Paying Tribute'

Mr. Smith died on June 13, 1938, a day after he was struck by a car while on patrol in Brooklyn. According to news reports from that day, the fatal accident occurred while he crossed Flatbush Ave. near Dorchester Rd.

"With this ceremony, we are righting historic wrongs that have caused them to be ignored," Mayor Bloomberg told the crowd of several hundred officers and family members. "We are at long last paying full and fitting tribute to all of the nearly 700 New York City Police Officers who have fallen in the line of duty during more than 150 years of service."

Beginning in 1993, several retired police officers worked with members of the NYPD's Personnel Bureau and the city Department of Records and Information Services to examine numerous archival newspaper records and documents to ascertain who may have died in the line of duty and the details surrounding their deaths.

"They pored over pension charts, force records, annual reports, and old newspapers to validate new cases," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. The original memorial wall, he noted, used to include only Medal of Honor winners.

He singled out three officers who were killed during the 1863 Civil War draft riots: Peter McIntyre, Edward Dippel, and John T. Van Buren.

Brian G. Anderson, the Commissioner of Records and Information Services, said it was important to add those names. "Historians looking at the wall previously would have said 'You mean to say nobody was killed during the draft riots that were on duty for the NYPD?'''

The draft riots, which began July 13, 1863 and ended July 17, began as protests in response to President Abraham Lincoln's Enrollment Act of Conscription to draft men to fight in the ongoing Civil War. Although the draft included all eligible males, wealthy men trying to avoid the hazards of war could pay a "commutation fee" to escape service. That stipulation particularly enraged the city's impoverished Irish immigrants.

Held Back Crowd

According to a New York Times account of the riots, a desperate crowd of young men and boys set fire to the Provost Marshal's Office. A line of Police Officers held back the rampaging crowd, the paper said, but after two hours the outnumbered officers were overcome, and some were severely beaten and/or killed. Patrolman McIntyre, a father of three, died a month after the incident from injuries he suffered during the attack. His funeral, reports at the time said, was attended by several hundred fellow officers. "Peter McIntyre gave his life for his city, for his country," Mr. Kelly remarked. "He died amidst the efforts to preserve the Union. Regrettably, he was not adequately remembered by the department he so nobly served."

Others Recognized

The Patrolmen, Roundsmen, Detectives, Sergeants, and School Crossing Guards added to the list and the dates they died were:

Thomas Lynch, Sept. 27, 1849; William Helms, Nov. 17, 1849; George T. Gillespie, July 10, 1851; Michael Foster, Aug. 4, 1851; David Gourley, Nov. 6, 1854; Stephen Hardenbrook, April 15, 1857; John Steward, Dec. 20, 1859; Henry L. Williams, Oct. 14, 1862;

Austin Easterbrook, Feb. 6, 1864; Charles Curren, Oct. 6, 1864; John Fuchs, July 4, 1866; John Hipwell, Oct. 9, 1866; Robert S. McChesney, Oct. 19, 1867; Charles Thompson, Dec. 1, 1867; John Smedick, July 23, 1868; Edward Burns, Dec. 1, 1873; Thomas Evers, Nov. 8, 1874; Edward Scott, July 6, 1867;

Patrick McKeon, Dec. 5, 1876; James M. Stone, April 1, 1880; Thomas J. Norton, Dec. 19, 1881; Thomas Gallagher, Nov. 6, 1882; William Heaviside, Jan. 18, 1883; Richard Comisky, March 11, 1883; James North, Aug. 21, 1885; Robert A. Montgomery, Jan. 11, 1887; Patrick J. Treanor, Oct. 31, 1887;

John C. Clancy, Sept. 1, 1890; Robert B. Nichol, May 1, 1892; Thomas Gleason, Sept. 5, 1893; John T. Delehanty, Sept. 25, 1895; Daniel Bailey, Sept. 5, 1896; Oscar Reinhardt, April 24, 1897; Simon P. McDonnell, Dec. 7, 1897; Fredrick H. Lincoln, Jan. 18, 1898; August Schneider, Aug. 26, 1898;

Henry F. Buschman, Oct. 8, 1898; Thomas F. Meagher, April 27, 1899; Robert J. Thorpe, Aug. 13, 1900; Charles L. Horn, Oct. 8, 1900; John J. Sheridan, July 16, 1902; Patrick K. Cushing, Oct. 28, 1904; John Kavanagh, Nov. 6, 1904; James W. Devens, Nov. 25, 1904; Ira D. Kinne, Jan. 17, 1905;

John Eagan, Jan. 29, 1905; Thomas Smith, Feb. 27, 1909; Artemas L. Fish, May9, 1909; Peter Fitzsimons, Nov. 1, 1912; Eugene Burns, May 4, 1913; John Mee, July 15, 1914; John E. Hodgins, Oct. 7, 1914; Edmond Lehane, Dec. 15, 1914; Rush A. Webster, June 20, 1915; William McAuliffe, March 18, 1916;

Hugh McKiernan, Dec. 5, 1916; Ralph H. Boyland, Feb. 21, 1917; Richard Swanton, March 16, 1917; Thomas H. Beresford, May 21, 1917; James S. Maher, July 27, 1919; Christopher J. Tierney, Sept. 20, 1919; James Hughes, Nov. 19, 1919; John McIntyre, Nov. 19, 1919; Daniel J. Grennan, Dec. 9, 1920;

Joseph C. Wallis, Jan. 1, 1921; Walter M. Cavanagh, Sept. 16, 1921; Peter J. McIntyre, Oct. 10, 1922; Thomas J. Shine, Nov. 12, 1922; John J. O'Conner, March 18, 1923; Francis P. Baker, April 22, 1923; Philip H. Endress, April 24, 1923; William B. Gill, May 27, 1923; Cornelius Platt, June 17, 1923;

Thomas J. Leonard, Aug. 25, 1923; John J. McGlyn Oct. 18, 1924; Neil Gibbons, Oct. 19, 1924; Michael Shine, Jan. 10, 1925; Harold Ormsby, Feb. 27, 1925; Charles J. Singer, Oct. 27, 1925; John J. McDermott, March 22, 1927; Christian L. Kirkegard, Nov. 20, 1929; Robert J. Lyons, Nov. 23, 1929;

Frank J. Byrnes, March 14, 1931; Patrick J. Doyle, April 4, 1931; Joseph A. Kelly, April 17, 1932; Herbert A. Haucke, June 16, 1934; William J. Gayne, April 20, 1936; Warren D. Smith, June 13, 1938; Percy Smith, Oct. 3, 1938; Charles G. Sundstrom, Aug. 21, 1941; Ralph Martin, July 21, 1943; Charles A. Brereton, Sept. 30, 1947; John J. Ronan, June 26, 1951; Anton Lehr Jr., March 7, 1960; Gladys Valdes, Nov. 10, 1970; Robert W. Cox, March 11, 1977; and Neil A. Forster, Dec. 11, 1997.