William Avery Sexton

Columbus Division of Police — Columbus, OH

Accident

End of Watch March 25, 1913

Age 32

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

Badge 6

The Vigil Panel 27 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 58

Incident

Probation Officer William Sexton drowned while performing rescue operations during the Great Flood of 1913, in which the Scioto River overflowed. During the rescue operations, he fell from the rowboat in the area of Rich Street and Mitchell Street. His body was recovered several days later. Approximately 500 people were killed throughout Ohio during the flood, including Captain Allen McGown of the Findlay Police Department. Officer Sexton had served with the Columbus Police Department for eight years and was assigned as a probation officer for the Columbus Police Court.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, father, and brother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-OH-DBCF07F9
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.
Probation Officer Sexton gave the Columbus Division of Police 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Columbus community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Probation Officer Sexton.

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

Agency

Department Columbus Division of Police

Location Columbus, OH

Platform Identity cdpd.franklin.oh.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 25, 1913

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

Age 32

Badge Number 6

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Probation Officer William Avery Sexton 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 OH, 318 of 991 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Columbus Division of Police, 19 of 59 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.2% of this agency's fallen.

Columbus Division of Police

of 59 officers

32.2% Accident

OH — Statewide

318

of 991 officers

32.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident