Charles "Charley" Meredith

Cooke County Sheriff's Department — Gainesville, TX

Felonious

End of Watch May 30, 1881

Tour of Duty

The Vigil Panel 6 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 3

Incident

Special Deputy Charles Meredith, Special Deputy Samuel Meredith and Deputy Sheriff M.M. Knight were shot and killed while attempting to arrest two men on a warrant.

On Monday, May 30, 1881, at 12 noon, Cooke County Deputy Sheriff M. M. (Meek) Knight swore in four men - Samuel (Sam) J. Meredith, Charles (Charley) Meredith and two others - to assist him in arresting two men with warrants for carrying concealed weapons. The five lawmen first arrested an unnamed blacksmith, two of the Special Deputies guarded him. Deputy Sheriff Knight and the Meredith's went to arrest a gunsmith. As they approached the suspects house, the suspect opened fire with a Winchester striking Deputy Sam Meredith in the neck. The suspect then shot Deputy Knight in the head, killing him instantly. Deputy Charles Meredith tried to hide behind a tree, but the suspect fired and killed him instantly. The suspect noticed that Sam Meredith was alive and withering in pain so he placed his rifle against Deputy Sam Meredith's head and killed him.

The suspect left his family and fled into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). It is unknown if the suspect was ever arrested or charged in the deaths of these three lawmen.

Deputy Charles Meredith had served with the Cooke County Sheriff's Department for one day.

Thank you for your service and please know that no passage of time can ever erase your sacrifice. Rest in peace always.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo Delaware State Police (Retired) May 30th, 2021

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-07A8166A
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

145 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Special Deputy Sheriff Meredith served with the Cooke County Sheriff's Department.
Thank you for your service to the Gainesville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Cooke County Sheriff's Department

Location Gainesville, TX

Platform Identity ccso.cooke.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 30, 1881

Tour of Duty

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Rifle; Winchester

Offender John Thomas

Special Deputy Sheriff Charles "Charley" Meredith is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Cooke County Sheriff's Department, 4 of 4 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.

Cooke County Sheriff's Department

of 4 officers

100% Felonious

TX — Statewide

1,463

of 2,421 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious