Thomas Richard Madden, Deputy US Marshal
US Marshal Service
Thomas Madden had been in the Indian Territory for 17 years and as a white man married to a Cherokee woman, he was an adopted citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
He was sworn in as a Deputy US Marshal for the Western District of Arkansas on June 15, 1894.
Madden owned a large general store in Braggs. On Sunday morning, April 19, 1896, Madden was informed that Mose Miller, a 20 year old Cherokee Indian, was loitering in front of Madden’s closed store.
Miller had a bad reputation and was out of jail on bond for assault. Madden’s brothers, John and James, accompanied him to investigate Miller.
As the brothers approached the front of the store, Miller drew his gun and fired. The Madden brothers drew their guns and fired in return.
Thomas Madden was struck in the hip and groin and fell dead. John Madden kept firing at Miller but he escaped.
Mose Miller later killed Deputy US Marshal Joe Jordan on October 14, 1897, before he was shot and killed in a shootout with Sequoyah County Deputy Sheriff Till Conley on September 30, 1916.
Marshal Madden, who was 45 at the time of his death, is buried in the South Bethel Cemetery in Braggs, Muskogee County.
