Fallen constable’s story revisited

100 years after death, he’s focus of D.C. memorial effort

ROGERS — Brian Culpepper wants to honor a constable killed in the line of duty almost 100 years ago when a horse and buggy crashed into his vehicle.

“Edward Allen should be remembered,” said Culpepper, the crime scene technician for the Rogers Police Department. “He deserves to be honored.”

Culpepper had never heard of Allen, who died March 16, 1924, until November.

He wants Allen’s name added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington.

The memorial is the nation’s monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, according to its website. The memorial features two curving, 304-foot-long blue-gray marble walls on which are carved the names of more than 21,000 officers dating back to the first known death in 1787, according to the website.

Culpepper collects historical documents, especially those involving statutes and laws. He bought a small 1905 booklet with the rules of the Rogers Cemetery and found that information about Allen was in the package with the booklet.

He researched and learned that Allen died in the line of duty.

Allen, the constable for Esculapia Township in the Rogers area, was returning from a raid on suspected gamblers and bootleggers when his car was hit by a runaway horse and buggy, according to an article in the Rogers Democrat.

Benton County currently has constables elected from five townships.

Constables in Benton County used to play an important role in law enforcement, said Keith Brummett, the constable of Township 2 and the first vice president of the Arkansas Constable Association. Rural areas didn’t have police departments, so constables served that role, Brummett said.

Most of the smaller cities in the county now have police departments.

Brummett said the role of the constable has changed, and he sees it as one to assist police and deputies and be an extra set of ears and eyes.

Allen was described in the news article as a hard-working, energetic person and businessman who had been making good as constable.

“He did not know the meaning of the word fear and was held in respect by every law breaker in this part of the country,” the article said.

Culpepper described Allen as an old-time policeman.

Keith Foster, spokesman for the Rogers Police Department, said the agency supports adding Allen’s name to the monument.

“The holdup is that one of the requirements is a family member or descendant has to be known/available,” Foster said.

Culpepper hasn’t found a family member. He was able to add Allen’s name to the Officer Down Memorial Page, but his goal is to find a relative so the name can be on the memorial.

“That’s the ultimate recognition,” he said. “I’ve done everything possible to find a family member. I can’t get him on the wall without one. I have to have a family member.”

Allen was married, and he and his wife had three sons and two daughters, according to the news article.

His wife, Ora, died in 1926, and they are buried in Rogers Cemetery.

Brummett wasn’t aware of Allen’s case, and the constable association doesn’t have any information about Allen’s death.

“It will mean a lot to me to have his name on the wall, but I hope it means more for the family,” Culpepper said.

Allen’s name would join two local constables, according to the memorial’s website.

Will Dalton, an Esculapia Township constable, was shot and killed Jan. 20, 1891, while trying to search a house for two fugitives.

Lester Setser, a constable in Decatur, was killed June 5, 1951. Setser took a drunk man home, and as he was leaving, the man shot Setser four times in the back.