Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff William Martin died from the effects of blood poisoning, which he contracted after cutting his hand while cleaning out the county jail's cesspool on February 16th, 1916.
He was taken to a hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas, for treatment but was unable to recover. He died in the hospital on March 7th, 1916.
Sheriff Martin had served as sheriff for three years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-352529F7- 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
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sheriff Martin gave the McDonald County Sheriff's Office 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Pineville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Martin.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff William L. Martin is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MO, 26 of 813 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.2% of this state's fallen. That is 5.9 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At McDonald County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William L. Martin's cause is highlighted.
How William L. Martin Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William L. Martin is highlighted in Mar.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from McDonald County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
