Roll of Honor
Incident
Three strangers arrived in Brenham and became abusive and insulted a female. A man passing by protested their treatment of the woman, and the three strangers drew their pistols and told him to go about his business. The man went to Sheriff William M. Thompson and filed a complaint to get warrants for their arrest.
Several hours later, Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Sheriff Crozier confronted the three men, one of whom was variously identified as Hansboro, Handsboro, Handsborough, Hansbrow, and Hertzberg. The sheriff tapped Hansboro on the shoulder, demanded his pistol, saying, “you are my prisoner.” The sheriff started to draw his pistol, but man drew his pistol quickly and fired, although his friends told him not to fire. Hansboro’s shot missed the sheriff. Deputy Crozier fired at Hansboro, striking Sheriff Thompson in the back and shoulder, coming out the left side. Hansboro fired at the deputy and would have killed him except the deputy was behind a post.
Hansboro was arrested by local citizens and placed in jail. Deputy Sheriff Tesdart formed a guard to protect Hansboro from being lynched, and took him to the train depot to be transferred to Galveston for safekeeping. While at the train depot, Sheriff Thompson’s wife approached Hansboro with a pistol and placed the weapon against his breast and pulled the trigger. The pistol did not fire and the deputy quickly disarmed her and had the train depart.
Sheriff William M. Thompson died the next day, Tuesday, June 14, 1870. He was survived by his wife. He was born about 1836 in Kentucky and was about 34 years of age at the time of his death. Thompson was elected on December 3, 1869 and served about six months. His funeral was held in Brenham, but his place of burial is unknown at this time.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
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BO-US-TX-F93AD9C8- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
156 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Sheriff Thompson served with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Brenham community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff William M. Thompson is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.
At Washington County Sheriff's Office, 2 of 3 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William M. Thompson's cause is highlighted.
How William M. Thompson Compares
Offender Outcome
acquitted
When Felonious Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. William M. Thompson is highlighted in Jun.
Weapons Used Against Officers
Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. William M. Thompson was killed by handgun.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Washington County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
