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Private

John F. Gravis

Texas Rangers — Austin, TX
Felonious
United States flag Texas flag
End of Watch August 4, 1890
Age 22
Tour of Duty 5 mo
The Vigil Panel 28 · Column 3 · Line 11 ›
Gender Male
Incident Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 121

Incident

Company D of the Texas Rangers under Captain Frank Jones was moved to the Trans Pecos area in far West Texas on May 30, 1890. The Shafter settlement in Presidio County was a mining town and there had been a number of disturbances.

On Monday, August 4, 1890, a fight broke out at a dance at a private residence in Shafter. Ranger Private John F. Gravis was at the dance when a wild gunfight erupted in which several people were killed. Gravis was shot and instantly killed in the shooting. Captain Jones arrived with several rangers and began rounding up suspects. He returned to Marfa with seven men under arrest for murder. Other rangers and a civilian posse brought in another dozen suspects. Rangers later arrested three men fleeing to Mexico. While one newspaper account in September 1890 reported that a man was to be tried at Marfa for the murder of Private Gravis, it is unknown if anyone was ever convicted.

John F. Gravis enlisted in the ranger service on February 24, 1890 and had served for a little more than 5 months when he was killed. The newspaper reported that his body was shipped to his home in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. His place of burial has not been located. There is no information as to whether Gravis was married or had any children.

As a postscript, Ranger Captain Frank Jones would be killed in the line of duty on June 30, 1893 in El Paso County.

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Tributes

136 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Private Gravis served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Texas Rangers
Type Other
Location Austin, Travis County, TX
Platform Identity tr.travis.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 4, 1890
Tour of Duty 5 mo
Age 22
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Unknown weapon

The Sacrifice · Felonious

John is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  3. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1890, 65 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 113th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

John was 22. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. John had served 0.4 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

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%. Mondays: 13.8%.

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 unknown weapon, in 0.5% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Texas Rangers has at least 120 officers remembered here, John among them.

Across the years

Private John F. Gravis

Texas Rangers · End of Watch August 4, 1890

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 12-E

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