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Sheriff

James Thomas Rogers

Rusk County Sheriff's Office — Henderson, TX

Accident

End of Watch April 22, 1890

Age 39

Tour of Duty 5 yrs 6 mo

The Vigil Panel 10 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Sheriff James Rogers drowned in Hardy Creek, approximately one-half mile west of the county courthouse, while returning to Henderson during the search for a wanted subject.

The creek had swollen due to heavy rainfall and he was swept into the water as he tried to cross the creek on his horse. A search was launched in the evening after his horse was found by a citizen. His body was located at about 2:00 am the following morning.

Sheriff Rogers had served as the sheriff of Rusk County for 5-1/2 yeas. He was survived by his wife and six children. He was predeceased by one daughter.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and six children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-8AC9F1FA
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.
Sheriff Rogers gave the Rusk County Sheriff's Office 5 years.
Thank you for your service to the Henderson community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Rusk County Sheriff's Office

Location Henderson, TX

Platform Identity rcso.rusk.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 22, 1890

Tour of Duty 5 yrs 6 mo

Age 39

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sheriff James Thomas Rogers 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%.

Rusk County Sheriff's Office

of 1 officers

100% Accident

TX — Statewide

653

of 2,421 officers

27% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Thomas Rogers's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How James Thomas Rogers Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service

5.5