Maston Reynolds "Boss" Greene

United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service — Washington, DC

Felonious

End of Watch May 12, 1877

Age 33

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

The Vigil Panel 5 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 312

Incident

Deputy Marshal Boss Greene was shot and killed while attempting to arrest two counterfeiters near Comanche, Texas. Two brothers had passed seventy-five cents in counterfeit coins for a night's lodging. They went into Comanche and passed more counterfeit coins for clothing and rode out of town. The victim who had received the coins for the lodging went to town and contacted Deputy Marshal Greene, of the Western District of Texas. Deputy Marshal Greene and the victim caught the men 10 miles outside town and arrested them. The lawman took a pistol from one of the men and handed it to the victim for safekeeping. He failed to take the other man's Winchester rifle. As the men were riding back to town, one of the prisoners dismounted his horse. The horse was difficult to manage and flared up. The other brother used the distraction to pull his Winchester from its scabbard and ordered Deputy Marshal Greene to hand over the money he had confiscated. Deputy Marshal Greene complied and dropped the money to the ground. When the man bent over to pick it up Deputy Marshal Greene drew his revolver and fired at him, grazing the man in the head. The other brother returned fire, striking Deputy Marshal Greene in the face, knocking him from his horse. He then shot him in the foot. Deputy Marshal Greene was taken to a local residence where he died at 7:30 p.m. The two brothers fled on horseback. They remained at large for several years until being captured in Bell County in 1883. They were returned to Comanche County to face trial but were lynched by a mob on September 19th, 1883, before the trial took place. Deputy Marshal Greene had served with the United States Marshals Service for three years. He was the city marshal of Comanche prior to his federal appointment. He was buried in the Oak Wood Cemetery in Comanche.

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Permanent identifier: BO-US-FED-A425C4F9
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

149 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Greene gave the United States Department of Justice 3 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service

Location Washington, DC

Platform Identity usms.fed.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 12, 1877

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Age 33

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Rifle; Winchester

Offender Lynched

Deputy U.S. Marshal Maston Reynolds "Boss" Greene 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 DC, 754 of 1,419 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 53.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.1 percentage points below the national rate of 54.2%.

At United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service, 251 of 313 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 80.2% of this agency's fallen.

United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service

251

of 313 officers

80.2% Felonious

DC — Statewide

754

of 1,419 officers

53.1% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious