N. P. Thomas

Texas Rangers — Austin, TX

Felonious

End of Watch January 5, 1909

Age 49

The Vigil Panel 56 · Column 1 · Line 5 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 121

Incident

Between 1907-1909, the Texas Rangers were requested to enforce the prohibition laws in the Texas Panhandle because officials felt the local police and sheriff’s departments were not being diligent. A force of rangers, including Ranger Private N. P. “Doc” Thomas, shut down the bowery area of Amarillo, and arrested hundreds of bootleggers. This caused bad blood with the local police and sheriff’s departments. The rangers withdrew to other duties, but Thomas remained in Amarillo. The bootleggers started reopening for business as the rangers left town. Thomas told several people that he was a marked man and would never get out of Amarillo alive. Around 10 o’clock on Tuesday morning, January 5, 1909, Thomas was sitting in a chair in the county attorney’s office in Amarillo, the county seat of Potter County, with his leg up on the table talking to a local attorney about representing him in a dispute with the Potter County Sheriff’s Department. A man wanted for murder in Arkansas had been taken out of the county jail by Thomas and released to a deputy sheriff from Arkansas who took the prisoner back to Arkansas without any legal proceedings. Sheriff J. E. Hughes and his chief jailer, Deputy Sheriff James W. “Jim” Keeton were upset over the incident and confronted Thomas. Both Hughes and Keeton accused Thomas of involvement in the “kidnapping” of the prisoner. The local attorney left the room, and he heard Keeton call Thomas a liar. Keeton shot Thomas above the right eye. Thomas was found with his hands in his lap, his head hanging back over the chair. Thomas’ .45 caliber pistol was still in the scabbard. The sheriff, who had just walked out of the room, returned and Keeton surrendered to him. Thomas lingered for one hour before dying from his wound in the room where the shooting occurred. There were no eye witnesses to the actual shooting. N. P. “Doc” Thomas was buried in the Springtown Cemetery in Wise County. He had been a deputy sheriff in Parker County, joined Company

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Last updated: August 2, 2026

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Private Thomas served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Private Thomas.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Texas Rangers

Type Other

Location Austin, Travis County, TX

Platform Identity tr.travis.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 5, 1909

Age 49

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

N. is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1909, 99 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 52nd heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

N. was 49. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

January holds 8% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Tuesdays: 13.4%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded