David Abel (1883 - 1973)

Motion Picture Cinematographer.  Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands of Russian parents,  he came to the United States as a child and worked as a portrait photographer before entering films with the Flying A studio in 1913.  A solid craftsman,  he was considered particularly good with complex action scenes.  At RKO Radio studios during the 1930s,  Abel […]

George Francis Abbott (1887 - 1995)

Playwright, Theatrical Director. He became one of the most prominent American theatrical writers with works that include the plays “On Your Toes,” “Beat The Band,” “The Boys From Syracuse,” “Pal Joey,” “On The Town,” “A Funny Thing is Happened in the Way to the Forum,” “Three Men on a Horse,” and the adaption of “All […]

Vincent John Fuller (1931 - 2006)

Attorney. He was a prominent defense lawyer whose clients included boxer Mike Tyson, fight promoter Don King and union leader Jimmy Hoffa. His most notable case occurred in 1982 representing John Hinckley Jr., accused in the March 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. During the eight week trial he successfully argued on behalf of […]

John William Fritz (1896 - 1984)

Lawman, Kennedy Assassination Figure. As head of the Dallas Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide unit in 1963, he was Lee Harvey Oswald’s primary interrogator.  Law enforcement officers led by him interrogated Oswald over the less than 48 hours between his arrest and death. John Fritz was present for more of the questioning than any other officer.  Family […]

Rose Fortune (1774 - 1864)

Police Officer and Business Woman. Born into slavery in Virginia.  She and her family escaped to New York City then the Nova Scotia (Canada) town of Annapolis Royal in 1783 when she was ten years old. In 1825, she started her own business, carting luggage with a wheelbarrow between the ferry docks and nearby homes […]

Percy Eugene Foreman (1902 - 1988)

Legendary Texas criminal defense attorney.  Known for his unconventional trial strategies, he handled society divorces, and in sixty years of practice defended more than 1,000 accused murderers, only one of whom was executed. (Foreman was quoted as saying, “He deserved it.”) Among his most famous clients were James Earl Ray, whom he persuaded to plead […]

Col John Salmon “Rip” Ford (1815 - 1897)

Civil War Confederate Army Officer. Born in South Carolina to William and Harriet Ford. He grew up on a plantation in Lincoln County, Tennessee. John was a good student and by the age of 16 was qualified to teach, but instead he went on to study medicine in Shelbyville, Tennessee, this is where he would […]

Geraldine Bledsoe Ford (1926 - 2003)

Judge. She was the first female African-American elected to a judgeship in the United States. Although she was known by many as “Mean Geraldine” for her strict interpretation of the law and tough sentences, she was also considered fair and just. She earned a BA from the University of Michigan in 1948, and then graduated […]

Richmond McDavid Flowers (1918 - 2007)

Alabama Attorney General, Civil Rights Figure. Flowers attracted national attention when he began challenging Alabama Governor George C. Wallace’s segregationist stands in the 1960’s. Elected to office in 1962, the same year as his old friend, Wallace; he ran as an avowed segregationist himself. He soon started parting ways with Wallace, however, following Wallace’s “stand […]

Arthur Milo Fleming (1888 - 1971)

Lawyer. He was the defense attorney for Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, who were convicted of murdering the Clutter Family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959. The story around the Clutter murders and subsequent trial of their killers was made famous when they were depicted in writer Truman Capote’s 1966 true crime novel “In […]

Evelyn Finley (1916 - 1989)

Actress. She was an extraordinary horsewoman, beginning her career as a stuntwoman in films of the 1930s. Her first title role was in “Arizona Frontier” (1940) and she went on to be a regular in many B-Western movies. Among her credits are “Trail Riders” (1942), “Cowboy Commandos” (1943), “Ghost Guns” (1944), “Prairie Rustlers” (1945), “Sundown […]

John Fielding (1970 - 1780)

Magistrate and Social Reformer. The brother of ‘Tom Jones’ author Henry Fielding. In his late teens, John was blinded in an accident while serving in the Navy, but did not allow this disability to blight his life. With assistance from Henry he studied law, and the duo worked together as magistrates, fighting corruption within the […]

Roswell Martin Field (1807 - 1869)

Dred Scott’s lawyer, father of famous author and poet Eugene Field. Field was admitted to the bar by the time he was 18. He served at state’s attorney for his country from 1832 to 1835. Fields came to St. Louis in 1839 & after several difficult years, his fortune changed in 1853 when he became […]

William Mark Felt, Sr (1913 - 2008)

FBI Agent, Watergate Figure. He was better known as “Deep Throat,” the name given him by the press to hide his identity as the secret government official who leaked details of the illegal activity relating to the Watergate Scandal.  His information led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, who resigned rather than face […]

Joseph A. Faurot (1872 - 1942)

New York City Police detective who introduced the use of finger-printing in the United States. He was the first to use fingerprints to identify a criminal, and the first to obtain a conviction with fingerprint evidence. Faurot rose to become a deputy police commissioner before his retirement in 1926.  (bio by: Anonymous)

Timothy Farrell (1922 - 1989)

Los Angeles County Marshall, Police Chief from January 1971 to January 1974. He was also an actor and writer, playing in many films by director Ed Wood. He wrote and played the baliff in the ABC television series “Day in Court” and Traffic Court. He also played the bailiff in the courtroom scene in the […]

Anthony Ettricke (1970 - 1970)

Ettricke was a lawyer and antiquary. He commited the Duke of Monmouth for trial after his rebellion – Monmouth was executed a week later. An argumentative man, in a fit of rage he swore he would ‘never be buried within the church or without it – neither above the ground or below it’. He therefore […]

James Edgar Engle (1970 - 1897)

Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Served in the Civil War as a Sergeant in Company I, 97th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia on May 18, 1864. His citation reads “Responded to a call for volunteers to carry ammunition to the regiment on the […]

Overton Gentry Ellis (1970 - 1970)

Judge. He was chief justice of Washington supreme court and an associate justice for eight years. Judge Ellis left Kansas City in 1892, two years later he married Jennie Wilhite, a member of a pioneer Kansas City family. In 1910 Judge Ellis was appointed associate judge of Washington high court and in 1917 he assumed […]

Jake Ehrlich (1900 - 1971)

Trial lawyer. His slogan, “Never plead guilty”, was known throughout the legal profession and his courtroom skills, strategies and successes gave him national acclaim. His first major case was defending Alexander Pantages in 1931, and following his successful defense, Hollywood celebrities entrusted him with their legal problems. Actors, writers, directors, musicians, sports figures, and assorted […]

Francis Boardman “Pistol Pete” Eaton (1860 - 1958)

Folk Figure. A former deputy U.S. Marshall who claimed to have killed 11 men with the Colt .45 he wore strapped to his side. He served as deputy U.S. Marshall under Judge Isaac C. Paker “hanging judge” in the Indian Territory. Frank Eaton was known as “Pistol Pete,” a nickname he acquired at the age […]

Wyatt Earp (1848 - 1929)

American Frontier Law Officer. Born in Monmouth, Illinois, he grew up on a farm in Iowa.  He moved with his parents in 1864 to California.  His early youth found him working as a stagecoach driver, buffalo hunter and then as a police officer in Wichita, Kansas. On to Dodge City, Kansas where he established his […]

Virgil Walter Earp (1843 - 1905)

Western Lawman. Born in Hartford Kentucky, he was brother to James, Morgan and Wyatt Earp. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was a freighter-teamster in Prescott, Arizona and was Deputy Marshal at Tucson, 1870 to 1879. In 1880, he was elected City Marshal of Tombstone and recruited brothers Wyatt and […]

Morgan Earp (1851 - 1882)

Western Lawman. The brother of Western figure Wyatt Earp, he is best known for the gunfight with Ike Clanton’s gang at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Born in Marian County, Iowa, he was the youngest of “Fighting Earps.” His father moved the family, to San Bernardino, California in 1864. He married Luisa Houston in […]

James Cooksey Earp (1841 - 1926)

Western Figure. Born in Harford, Kentucky, he was the oldest brother of Virgil, James and Wyatt Earp. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 17th Illinois Infantry, Union Army and was badly wounded in a battle at Fredericktown, Missouri, After the war, he traveled through different states before settling at Dodge […]

Gabriel Duvall (1752 - 1844)

US Supreme Court Justice,  US Congressman. He served as the Congressman from Maryland’s second district from November 1794 to March 1796. From 1796 to 1802 he was Chief Justice of the General Court of Maryland. He served as First Comptroller of the US Treasury for the next five years. President James Madison appointed him to […]

Charles Morrison Durand (1811 - 1905)

Lawyer and author. He was convicted of complicity in the 1837 rebellion and, as a result, spent many years in exile in the United States.  Family links:  Spouses:  Sarah Bostwick Durand (1820 – 1855)*  Mary Ann Bradshaw Durand (1829 – 1918)*  Children:  Charles H. Durand (____ – 1847)*  Charles Albert Durand*  Helen Durand (1838 – […]

John Riley “Jack” Duncan (1850 - 1911)

Texas Ranger and Bounty Hunter. Born to James and Katherine Duncan. He was raised in a small farming community in Hardin County in north central Kentucky. He and his brothers tended to the family’s farm while his father served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, the family engaged in several […]

Allen Welsh Dulles (1893 - 1969)

US Diplomat, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director. He was the first civilian Director of the CIA and served in that position from February 1953 until November 1961, its longest-serving director as of 2014. He is considered one of the essential creators of the modern US intelligence system and was an indispensable guide to clandestine operations […]

Sir James Dowling (1787 - 1844)

Judge. Born in London, a son of Vincent Dowling of Queen’s County, Ireland. He went to St Paul’s School, London, and then became a parliamentary reporter until he was called to the Bar in May 1815. He practised at the Middlesex Sessions and, with Archer Ryland, edited King’s Bench Reports 1822-31, in nine volumes, and […]