Deputy McCain killed by prisoner in 1908 escape

Here is the second law enforcement officer who will be honored on the Sheriff's Monument.

If you would like to make a donation to help Wharton County build this monument in memory of these men, please contact Darryl Darnell at the Wharton County Sheriff's Department.

Henry "Ross" McCain

1871-1908

The Jesse E. and Eliza Mc- Cain family of Georgia moved to Mississippi in 1860 and started a family, having two older children there, George W. and Missouri McCain.

Sometime before 1873 the McCains moved to Young County, where they farmed their land.

Henry Ross McCain was born in June 1871 while they lived in Young County.

In 1880 the McCain family was still in Young County. Henry, age 7, his mother, age 40, and father, age 47, one brother George W. who was 20 years old and worked as a farm laborer for his father and one sister, Missouri McCain, who was 13 years old.

Henry McCain grew up on a farm, and worked as a farm laborer for his father.

In 1900 when Henry called "Ross" McCain lived in Wharton County, he worked as a carpenter and lived in a hotel owned by the J.D. Skinner family. There were three other boarders in this hotel and Mr. Skinner's wife, son-in-law and his four grandchildren also lived in the hotel.

Ross McCain went to work at the Wharton County Jail as a Deputy Jailer at the age of 30 in 1901 under Sheriff Frank Barrett Davis.

He served with three different sheriffs, Davis, R.A. Rich from 1902 to 1906 and Robert Koehl from 1906 until his death in 1908.

Deputy Jailer McCain was attacked by a prisioner who was

trying to escape.

The prisoner did escape and was on the run for all that day and night and the next day when he was once again apprehended.

McCain was rushed to St. Joseph's hospital in Houston where he held on for two days before he died on Sunday, July

19, 1908.

His remains were shipped to Normanna for interment.

He was unmarried and survived only by his brother who was at his bedside when he died. His mother and father had died two years before.

On May 13, 2005 Henry Ross McCain's name was added to the National Law Enforcement Museum Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

His name was placed on panel 13-E, line 24.

Janet Hobizal is an archivist with the Wharton County Historial Museum.