Re: STOKES REAMS, son of John Reams & Elizabeth Harrison
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In reply to:
Re: STOKES REAMS, son of John Reams & Elizabeth Harrison
R. Reams 1/18/06
William Harrison Reams, son of Stokes B. Reams and Jane Reams, was the first law officer killed in Kentucky and is the first name on the State Memorial for slain officers. He married Jane Settle. The story is documented in the Reams Family book by Mildred Reams Kantorowicz. William Harrison was "made a deputy sheriff. As such, he was called to quell some disturbance. He was set upon by one of the parties, who with a Bowie knife, actually disembowed Reams. He could not mount his horse for he had to hold his wound together with hhis own hands to prevent his innards form spilling on the ground.
With the help of the Lord, he managed to walk home in weather of near-zero temperature. He fell through the door of his home murnuring to this wife that he was killed. It is said that his hands were frozen to his wound." Jane went on to be an industrious women, and was well thought of in the community.