Watchman Davis, described as “an old and faithful officer,” one morning during 1846 did not return from his patrol.  For several days, a search ensued in vain.  Then, some boys accidentally came across his decomposed remains in high weeds in the Twelfth Street Burying Ground (now know as Washington Park) at 12th and Race Streets.  Investigators determined he had been shot and his body was thrown over the fence.  He was unarmed at the time of his murder.  He was the first law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in the tri-state region.

A $1000 reward (equivalent to about four years’ pay for the average worker) was offered for the identification, arrest, and conviction of his murderer, but no one ever came forward. 

During the early 19th Century, two brothers named Smythe and Walter Maythes made names for themselves with thefts, burglaries, assaults, imprisonments, escapes and more crimes.  Smythe Maythes was mostly known for his interstate crimes and escapes.  Judge Lynch of Kentucky found a way to prevent his escape when he tried him and hanged him on the same day for the killing of a peddler.  Walter Maythes was mostly known for his violence and stayed closer to home.  He was involved in several shootings; including having been shot himself more than once.  Over the years, he boasted in such a way as to leave little doubt that he had murdered Watchman Davis.  Years later, he became engaged in a dispute with a man named Fouche Gould at the Paul Pry Saloon on the north side of Sixth Street between Plum and Elm Streets.  Maythes went after Gould with a knife and Gould pulled a revolver and shot him dead. 

No one was ever charged with Watchman Davis’s murder.

Almost all of the information for this narrative came from a book published in 1867 and found by Joyce Meyer of the Price Hill Historical Society. All other information about this officer is apparently lost to history. If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.