John Sylvester White
Agency patch
Patrolman

John Sylvester White

Felonious
End of Watch November 18, 1877
Age 29
Tour of Duty 6 mo
The Vigil Panel 5 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Patrolman John White was shot and fatally wounded at a pawn shop on Vine Street by the notorious outlaw Frank Rande, responsible for the deaths of five men and possibly thirteen more in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. Rande was recognized by the pawn broker who summoned Patrolman White. White seized Rande who pulled a revolver and shot him in the thigh. Patrollman White and a store clerk returned fire seriously wounding Rande. Patrolman White was taken home where doctors recommended that his leg be amputated. After doing so, the wound still proved fatal. He succumbed to his injuries two days later. Frank Rande's criminal career started when he escaped from the Iowa Penitentiary where he was serving a sentence for burglary. He was afterwards sent to Michigan City Prison where he served a sentence for burglary under another name. After being released in 1877, he robbed a farmer in Gibson, Indiana, and shot and killed two men and wounded three more who were pursuing him. In August that same year he shot and killed three men who were pursuing him after he robbed a home in St. Elmo, Illinois. His criminal career came to an end three months later when he was taken into custody after killing Patrolman White. Frank Rande was convicted of murdering the three men in Illinois on February 28, 1878, and sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself in his cell on March 8, 1884. Patrolman White had been with the agency for six months. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, Saint Louis, Missouri.

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

149 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman White served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Type Police Department
Location St. Louis, City of Saint Louis, MO
Platform Identity stlopd.saintlouis.mo.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 18, 1877
Tour of Duty 6 mo
Age 29
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

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

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  1. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1877, 35 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 149th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

John was 29. 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 0.5 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

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

When

November holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Sundays: 15.2%.

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 handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has at least 120 officers remembered here, John among them.

Across the years

Patrolman John Sylvester White

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department · End of Watch November 18, 1877

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 48-W

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