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Ben C. Collins
Agency patch
Police Officer

Ben C. Collins

United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services — Washington, DC
Felonious
United States flag District of Columbia flag
End of Watch August 1, 1906
Age 31
The Vigil Panel 51 · Column 1 · Line 8 ›
Gender Male
Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 51

Incident

Officer Ben Collins was shot and killed in Oklahoma by a hitman in retribution for the shooting of an armed fugitive. Officer Collins' murder happened in front of his home and was witnessed by his wife. The suspect, famous outlaw and assassin Jim Miller, was arrested in 1909 for another murder and hung by a lynch mob, along with three other men. The mob had broken into the jail to lynch the murderer of Marshal Zeke Putnam, of the Allen, Oklahoma, Police Department. Miller was a cousin by marriage of the suspect that killed Deputy Sheriff John Turman in 1898. Two of Officer Collins' nephews were also shot and killed in the line of duty while serving as police officers in Oklahoma. Patrolman Jim Keirsey, of the Seminole Police Department, was shot and killed on November 7, 1929, and Deputy William Keirsey, of the Carter County Sheriff's Department, was shot and killed on December 10, 1930. Officer Collins is buried in Garden of Memory Cemetery, Colbert, Bryan County, Oklahoma.

In Our Keeping

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August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Collins served with the United States Department of the Interior.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Collins.

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

Agency

Department United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services
Type Federal Agency
Location Washington, DC
Platform Identity usdibiaojsfed.fed.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 1, 1906
Age 31
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Shotgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Ben is one of 15,742 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,102 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

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Compare against
I

Time

In 1906, 89 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 69th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Ben was 31. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

August holds 8.9% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was shotgun, in 7% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services has 52 officers remembered here, Ben among them.

Across the years

Police Officer Ben C. Collins

United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services · End of Watch August 1, 1906

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 38-E

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