Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Robert Clay succumbed to a gunshot wound in his knee sustained two days earlier while trying to stop a gang of five subjects from stealing whiskey from a train in a rail yard in Wesley.
As his deputies surprised the group, one of his deputies struck a subject in the head with the butt of his shotgun as the subject attempted to shoot at the sheriff. The impact caused the gun-stock to break and misfire. The blast struck Sheriff Clay in his knee and severed an artery. He was taken to a local hospital where a blood transfusion was given and he succumbed to his wound two days later.
All the suspects were arrested and all alcohol was recovered and turned over to federal authorities.
Sheriff Clay served as Sheriff in Tazewell County since 1902 and previously served as a police officer and chief of police in Perkin.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-2F108F9D- 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
26 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Clay gave the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office 26 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Pekin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Clay.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Robert Ingersoll Clay is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Tazewell County Sheriff's Office, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert Ingersoll Clay's cause is highlighted.
How Robert Ingersoll Clay Compares
Offender Outcome
Arrested
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Ingersoll Clay is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Tazewell County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
