Jailer Fish was killed in a jail escape. A group of prisoners forced their way through to an open cell for their escape. At 6:00 pm, Jailer Deputy Craig, entered a cell with supper for the 32 prisoners, leaving his brother-in-law, Horry Fish, outside to guard the outer doors. As Deputy Craig entered he was grabbed by the prisoners and forced back into one of the cells. The leader of the escape, Oscar M. Leland, got into a scuffle with Fish outside the door. He struck Jailer Fish with a log of wood and Jailer Fish was able to shoot him in the right shoulder. Jailer Fish called for his sister & Deputy Craig's wife, Mrs. Lita Ann Craig, to bring down the pistols. As she entered the jail she shot Oscar Leland through the entrails above the hip. Leland then struck her in the head with the log knocking her unconscious. He then struck Jailer Fish again, knocking him down to the ground. A postmortem examination showed Jailer Fish was killed by a gunshot wound entering his left side at the  lower rib and passing through to his right side, where it lay buried beneath the skin. The bullet passed through the transverse colon severing the abdominal aorta, causing  instant death. It is believed that Leland fired the fatal shot from one of the pistols he took from Deputy Craig.

Jailer Fish was the son of Hiram and Electa Fish. Interred: Fish Cemetery, Covert, Van Buren Co, MI.

Article by Brent Marchant