Patrolled town on horseback...Marshal Ed Sims, chief of Maysville’s police department in 1924, patrolled some sections of town by horseback. His son, Boyd Sims, remembers his father always going to feed his horse before going to work. Marshal Sims, who also raised bloodhounds for prisons around the South, was heading out with his son to feed his horse on the day he was shot and killed.  (Photo courtesy of Boyd Sims)
‘In Valor There is Hope’
Maysville marshal killed in line of duty in 1924;
son visits Washington, DC memorial where father is honored
By JANA ADAMS, Banks County News 2/19/1997

It was a typical winter afternoon in Maysville on Thursday, Jan. 3, 1924—a little more than 73 years ago.

Around 3:30 p.m., Marshal Ed Sims, 44, who had been chief of Maysville’s police department for 24 years, was walking to town from his home on Sims Street. With him was his youngest son, Boyd, who was 6 years old.

"I always walked to town with him every day," B. Sims remembers. "The first thing he would do was feed his horse…He rode it to check on town. He also rode it to come home for supper…We didn’t quite get there (that day)."

As the two neared the vacant lot behind the post office off the Maysville-Homer Road, Marshal Sims saw two men for whom he had warrants, his son said.

Boyd Sims said: "The man and son did have hard feelings with my father because he had issued warrants before…(That day) he had warrants for the two men’s arrests and was in the process of serving the warrants.

"The man and son were in a wagon and had a rifle in the bottom of the wagon. The boy raised the rifle up and my father told him to put it down.

I can see it as clear as yesterday…Instead of putting the gun down, the boy fired one shot, hitting (my father) in the head…He died almost instantly, but while falling, he drew his pistol and shot the boy."

"They brought my father home in a Model T Ford with his feet dangling. I beat him home, of course…The young man was sent on the train to the hospital in Gainesville. He returned five days later on the same train. Banks County Sheriff John Welchel would’ve charged the boy with murder if he had lived."

"I was about 20 feet from my father when he was killed. It lives with me every day. It was 73 years ago."

While B. Sims remembers every day his father and the sacrifice he made while "in the line of duty," it wasn’t until recently that Marshal Sims was officially recognized.

In 1993, B. Sims had his father’s gravesite in Maysville’s Sunrise Cemetery beautified with a flat monument reading: Ed Sims, 1880-1924, Maysville Chief, Town Marshal, 1900-1924, Killed in the Line of Duty, 1924.

Some time after that, B. Sims’ daughter, Carol Sims Lones, saw a notice in a magazine requesting that families of officers killed in the line of duty contact the National Law Enforcement Officials Memorial organization in Washington, DC.

B. Sims contacted the office and was required to prove through old accounts that his father had actually been killed in the line of duty.

"I received a letter from Washington inviting me to come up and see my father’s name (which had been engraved) on a (memorial) wall with (those of) other officers killed in the line of duty," Sims, who now lives in Tallahassee, FL said.

Not too long ago, B. Sims, his daughter, her husband, Wayne Lones, and B. Sims’ son, Boyd Sims Jr., visited the memorial wall and attended a ceremony held in memory of the 197 officers whose names were added to the memorial.

B. Sims described the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which is located near the Superior Court building, as "horseshoe-shaped, probably close to 400-500 feet around and 3 ½ feet tall." The wall had more than 13,500 names on it, but B. Sims had received a card entitled "In Valor There is Hope" that said his father’s name would be found at line 19, panel 45, east.

While recalling the memorial ceremony, B. Sims said: "It was the most beautiful ceremony I have ever seen in my life. We had a special invitation to attend with reserved seats. We were seated in the 10^th row center."

"Each person was given a candle as we entered to take our seats. First, there was a prayer, then the marching of the police honor guard through the crowd onto the platform where speakers were seated. The first speaker was the director of the memorial, then the FBI director, a senator and Attorney General Janet Reno."

"Then the names of the 197 men and women were read. The candles were lit while someone sang. Can you imagine what more than 10,000 candles looked like wavering in the dark?"

Since B. Sims’ visit, the official date for the memorial ceremony has been set for May 15, when blue ribbons are to be displayed and the officers killed in the line of duty will be remembered.