Roll of Honor
Incident
Guard James Fancher died of cholera during an outbreak in the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus.
He had been hired only four days earlier and was stationed on the roof of the prison. He had taken a pitcher of water with him and drank from the pitcher overnight. He began showing symptoms of cholera at 3:00 am and had died by 11:00 am.
Approximately 100 inmates died as a result of the outbreak in a matter of two weeks. The prison doctor also died after contracting cholera.
NEVER FORGET! Honoring the dedicated service and ultimate sacrifice of Guard James Fancher of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Ohio, and the additional 78 American Peace Officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice on this date in history.
Superintendent Joe Morbitzer (Retired) Ohio Attorney General, Bureau of Criminal Investigation July 14th, 2024
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-478018A2- 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
177 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Guard Fancher served with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Thank you for your service to the Columbus community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Guard James Fancher 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 OH, 49 of 991 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.2 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 1 of 26 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Fancher's cause is highlighted.
How James Fancher Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. James Fancher is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
25 officers from Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
