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Correction Officer

Joseph F. Wilkerson

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division — Huntsville, TX
Accident
United States flag Texas flag
End of Watch April 23, 1906
Age 51
The Vigil Panel 50 ›
Gender Male
Incident Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 123

Incident

The Texas Prison System operated a railroad between an iron ore bed and the furnace at the prison in Rusk in Cherokee County. The train left the prison with 24 guards and 149 convicts at about 6:30 a.m. Shortly after leaving the prison one of the convicts uncoupled the two rear railroad cars which quickly started dropping behind the rest of the train. The engineer was ordered to stop the train. Two convicts jumped from the train and ran towards the woods. Fifteen to twenty guards opened fire on them. When the smoke cleared they discovered that Officer Joe Wilkerson, was killed and another officer, Will Lloyd, was slightly wounded. One convict was killed and one wounded. The officers were accidentally shot in the confusion.

Justice T. H. Findley conducted an inquest. The judge concluded that: “I find from the evidence that deceased, Joe Wilkerson, came to his death from a pistol shot wound from a pistol in the hands of Jim Bell, a guard at the prison, while trying to prevent the escape of a State convict, and that the killing was purely accidental.” Guard Bell was discharged by the prison system.

Wilkerson was survived by his wife and four small children. He is buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Rusk, Texas

Survivors

Wilkerson was survived by his wife and four small children.

In Our Keeping

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August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Correction Officer Wilkerson served with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Thank you for your service to the Huntsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Correction Officer Wilkerson.

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

Agency

Department Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division
Type Corrections
Location Huntsville, Walker County, TX
Platform Identity tdcjcidcorr.walker.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 23, 1906
Age 51
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

The Sacrifice · Accident

Joseph is one of 8,275 officers lost to accidents in the United States, 30% of the 27,551 remembered there.

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

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Compare against
I

Time

In 1906, 27 officers in the United States were lost to accidents, the 118th heaviest of 174 years on record. The heaviest was 1929, with 118.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Joseph was 51. Of the 7,718 lost to accidents in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 29 and 46; the middle age was 36.

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

When

April holds 7% of these deaths in the United States; August holds the most, 9.5%. Mondays: 13.4%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Accident deaths account for 30% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the 2nd most common cause.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division has at least 120 officers remembered here, Joseph among them.

Across the years

Correction Officer Joseph F. Wilkerson

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division · End of Watch April 23, 1906

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 50-E

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