James Delahunty was the warden for the Nebraska State Prison when he was shot and killed during an escape by three inmates. It was James' 55th birthday.
James is not a direct ancestor to me. My 1st cousin 4x removed was Mary Reade. She married Thomas Delahunty. James was the nephew of Thomas Delahunty. I found the story of James compelling enough to do some research on him.
James Delahunty was born March 14th, 1858 in Peoria, Illinois to Patrick and Ellen (Kennedy) Delahunty, both natives of Ireland. James was the oldest of eight known children. Around 1884, the family moved from Peoria to Clay Center, Nebraska, where James' father continued farming. His father died in 1889.
By 1906, a city directory for Lincoln, Nebraska, indicated that James Delahunty was a deputy warden at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
The 1910 census for Clay County, Nebraska shows James, age 43, living on the farm with his mother and some siblings. It shows that James was divorced, and working as a farmer (however, he was the warden of the prison).
On March 4th of 1912, there appeared to be concerns about "dope" being brought into the prison and some were calling for James to be replaced as warden, but the governor believed that James was doing a good job, so he remained. Ten days later, 3 inmates used explosives to get free and shot 2 guards as they made their escape. James came out of his office shooting at the escaped convicts. He was shot in the right hip but continued to shoot at them. He was then shot in the chest and died.
I learned from a newspaper article that his brother John also worked at the prison and that their mother was the prison matron. Neither of them had been injured or involved in the shooting.
There were services held for James Delahunty at the Cathedral in Lincoln, Nebraska, and then his body was shipped to Peoria, Illinois for burial.
