1931 Deputy City Marshal William Wright Print Block Savannah Missouri Andrew County

This antique print block shows Officer William Combs Wright Jr., who was a Andrew County Deputy Sheriff and a Night Watchman with the Savannah Missouri Police Department, from the 1910s to the 1940s. It is made of copper, lead, and wood and measures 4.5 inches x 2 inches. The second pictures shows what it looked like in the newspaper when it was published. 

More about William Combs “Billie Bright” Wright:

William Combs Wright Jr., also known as "Billie Bright," was born on December 5, 1877 in Andrew County, Missouri to William and Ellen (Welch) Wright. According to his draft registration in 1918, Wright was tall and slender with blue eyes and dark hair. With the exception of a short stint with the Railroad, Wright spent most of his adult life working in law enforcement in the county of his birth. He worked as a jailer at the Andrew County Jail; an Andrew County Deputy Sheriff; and as a Night Watchman with the Savannah Missouri Police Department.

As a result of his long service in law enforcement, his name was often in the local newspapers. The following is a summary of some of his more interesting exploits. On December 22, 1923, after a dog belonging to Clarence Dickson contracted rabies and bit several other canines, Night Watchmen Wright was forced to kill about 25 more dogs in Savannah, Missouri as a preventive measure. On December 21, 1925, Officer Wright apprehended a bank robber by the name of Melvin R. Wheeler after he came to the Andrew County Sheriff's Office to reclaim an abandoned getaway car. Evidently, when Wheeler and his accomplice, Ernest J. Tolbert, held up the Round Prairie Bank of Fillmore, Missouri on December 18, 1925, they abandoned this vehicle, which belonged to Tolbert, for a Buick which was more conveniently located. On June 27, 1932, Police Officer Wright apprehended Getrude Lytle just moments after she shot and killed her two-timing fiancé Virgil T. Reece. The shooting occurred after Lylte spied Reece in a car with Marie Thompson in front of Dr. John Calvin Hoshor’s drug store on the square. According to witnesses, Lytle walked from across the street from the Andrew County Courthouse, stepped to the driver side of the vehicle, and shot Reece point blank in the head with a stolen pistol. Lytle then took ten steps toward Officer Wright and surrendered. The location of this murder, which was in front of 413 West Main Street, Savannah, Missouri in a building now occupied by Creations. William Wright died on May 25, 1959 at the Methodist Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri due to congestive heart failure and was buried next to his wife at the Savannah Cemetery.

This is a vintage item and as such, it may show signs of wear such as dents, dings, dips, discolorations, dog-eared corners, scratches, scrapes, scuffs, writing, wrinkles, ripples, folds, marks, etc. Please see pictures and grade the quality of this item yourself.

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