Roll of Honor
Incident
At approximately 2:00 a.m, City Marshal John L. Hammond went to the residence of Wilbarger County Sheriff J.T. Conn. The sheriff's residence was on an upper floor of the county courthouse. Marshal Hammond woke Sheriff Conn to pick up an arrest warrant. Sheriff Conn went down to his office by a back stairway. Marshal Hammond accidentally fell 20 feet from the balcony at the head of the main stairway. Hammond lived only a few minutes and did not speak.
As a mark of respect the city council of Vernon issued a resolution regarding the accidental death of City Marshal John L. Hammond. The Knights of Pythias of which he was a member, stated that they will erect and present a residence to the widow.
Hammond was survived by his wife and children. He is buried in Eastview Memorial Park, Vernon, Texas.
Survivors
Hammond was survived by his wife and children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-790E8F58- 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
136 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
City Marshal Hammond served with the Vernon Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Vernon community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
City Marshal John L. Hammond 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 TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Vernon Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John L. Hammond's cause is highlighted.
How John L. Hammond Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John L. Hammond is highlighted in May.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Vernon Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
