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The U.S. Marshals Service Big League Cards ©

Big League Cards Animated

In the mid 1990's the U.S. Marshals Service produced a series of "sports cards" that depicted and commemorated notable Marshals and Deputy Marshals that served their country in various historical periods of the Marshals Service existence. The cards were designed by Big League Cards. ©

 

John Abernathy
Oklahoma Territory (1906-1910) Abernathy earned this nickname of Catch 'Em Alive Jack by capturing hundreds of wolves single handedly without ever having to kill one. He would prevent the wolves from attacking him by jamming his hands down their throats. He, of course, was also a successful U.S. Marshal. © 1994 Big League Cards 06-B563
John Brooks
District of Massachusetts (1791-1796) Brooks studied medicine before taking up arms during the Revolutionary War. He fought at Concord, where the shot heard round the world was fired. In 1791, President George Washington appointed him U.S. Marshal for Massachusetts. He was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1816. © 1994 Big League Cards 12-B563
Al Butler
District of Columbia and Maryland (1958-1975) During the 1960's, Butler was one of the bravest of a very brave group of deputies who helped change America by desegregating schools throughout the South. "I never hit a man in my life that didn't ripple his muscles at me first", Butler liked to say. © 1994 Big League Cards 02-B563
Ada Carnett
Oklahoma Territory (CA. 1893) Carnutt was one of the first women to wear a Deputy Marshal's badge. In 1893, she single handedly arrested two forgers and personally escorted them to jail. Like all deputies of her era, Carnutt had to be extremely tough and ready to face danger around every corner. © 1994 Big League Cards 03-B563
Lewis Cass
District of Ohio (1807-1813) Cass was appointed as U.S. Marshal for Ohio in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson. His subsequent positions included brigadier general during the War of 1812, governor and then U.S. Senator from Michigan, U.S. Secretary of War, Minister to France and U.S. Secretary of State. © 1994 Big League Cards 07-B563
Charles Devens
District of Massachusetts (1850-1853) A Harvard graduate, Devens practiced law until President Zachary Taylor appointed him U.S. Marshal in 1850. He fought for the Union during the Civil War and was wounded during the battles of Fair Oaks and Chancellorsville. In 1877, he became U.S. Attorney General. © 1994 Big League Cards 10-B563
Frederick Douglass
District of Columbia(1877-1881) Before the Civil War, Douglass became one of the best known opponents of slavery and a leader in the abolitionist cause. In 1877, he was appointed U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia by President Rutherford B. Hayes, becoming the first African American to hold this position. © 1994 Big League Cards 04-B563
Wyatt Earp
District of Arizona(1882)Earp served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal for less than six months. In 1881, Earp and three others challenged the Clanton and McLaury brothers at the O.K. Corral. Popularly viewed as an American hero, many aspects of Earp's life have been clouded by myth. © 1994 Big League Cards 03-B563
Robert Forsyth
District of Georgia (1789-1794)Born in Scotland, Forsyth fought for America in the Revolutionary War. he was appointed by President George Washington as the first U.S. Marshal for Georgia in 1789. Five years later, he became the first American law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty. © 1994 Big League Cards 03-B563
Katherine Battle Gordy
Southern District of Alabama(1936-1952) Katherine Battle Gordy made history in 1949 when she became the first woman ever to be appointed, although temporarily, as U.S. Marshal. She devoted her entire working career to the Marshals Service, proudly serving 16 years as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. © 1994 Big League Cards 21-B563
Ward Hill Lamon
District of Columbia (1861-1866) Lamon was Abraham Lincoln's law partner when Lincoln was elected president in 1861. Appointed as U.S. Marshal for the capital, Lamon worked diligently to protect Lincoln. On April 13, 1865, he was sent to Richmond, VA. The next night, the president was assassinated in Washington, D.C. © 1994 Big League Cards 14-B563
Chris Madsen
Oklahoma Territories(1891-1911) Madsen, Bill Tilghman and Heck Thomas were the Three Guardsmen of Oklahoma because of  their dedication to bringing law and order to the Indian and Oklahoma territories. A gifted administrator, Madsen best understood the rules and regulations governing Deputy U.S. Marshals. © 1994 Big League Cards 18-B563
George Maledon
Western District of Arkansas (1874-1894)Maledon was known as the "Prince of Hangmen, because he served as Hanging Judge, Isaac Parker's chief executioner; he administered the hangings of 60 of the 79 men condemned to death by Parker.  Maledon also shot an additional four men who tried to escape prison. © 1994 Big League Cards 16-B563
William "Bat" Masterson
Kansas, Southern District of New York (1879-1881, 1905-1909) Masterson was a sheriff and a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Kansas before heading to Arizona. He was an Indian fighter and a lawman known best for his dandy dress and crack shot. He later moved to New York where he worked as a sports writer and again served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. © 1994 Big League Cards 24-B563
James J.P. McShane
Chief, U.S. Marshals Service (1962-1968) John F. Kennedy's body guard during the 1960 election, McShane was named Chief - now called Director - of the Marshals Service in 1962. He carried out Federal court orders to desegregate the South and protected those who marched with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. © 1994 Big League Cards 01-B563
David Neagle
Northern District of California(1889)In 1889, Neagle shot and killed David Terry, who had attacked Supreme Court Justice Stephen Fields. Arrested for murder, the Supreme Court ordered Neagle released in a landmark case that set precedents for the power of the executive branch of our government. © 1994 Big League Cards 09-B563
Evitt Dumas Nix
Oklahoma Territory (1893-1896) Nix was appointed U.S. Marshal over the Oklahoma Territory by President Grover Cleveland. He supervised the work of more than 150 deputies, including the famous Three Guardsmen, and his rugged men made countless arrests. © 1994 Big League Cards 08-B563
Pablo de la Guerra y Noriega
Southern District of California(1850-1854) Guerra was the first U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of California and the first Hispanic ever appointed to the position. His duties included executing the orders of the Federal court and keeping all Federal prisoners in safe custody. © 1994 Big League Cards 13-B563
Bass Reeves
Indian and Oklahoma Territories (1875-CA. 1907) Born a slave, Reeves moved west into the Indian Territory and became a Deputy U.S. Marshal, working for the famous "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker. As tough as any deputy who wore the badge, on one occasion he single handedly arrested and brought to trial 19 horse thieves. © 1994 Big League Cards 11-B563
Dorothy Rose
Northern District of Illinois (CA. 1929) In the same year that the stock market crash began the Great depression, Rose became the youngest Deputy U.S. Marshal in the United States. At only 21, she was a crack pistol shot.  her duties included escorting female prisoners to court, jail and the penitentiary. © 1994 Big League Cards 20-B563
Norman E. Sherriff
District of Columbia (1966-1971) Sheriff served in the district for five years. On September 24, 1971, he and other deputies escorted a prisoner to the funeral of the prisoner's father. He was shot to death in a bloody gunfight on the church steps while attempting to thwart the prisoner's escape. © 1994 Big League Cards 08-B563
Henry, Heck, Thomas
Oklahoma Territory (1886-1911) The toughest of the Three Guardsmen of Oklahoma, Thomas made the hardest arrests and challenged some of the worst of the outlaws. On August 24, 1896, Thomas and his posse ambushed the notorious bank robber and murderer Bill Doolin. When Doolin fired, Thomas shot him dead. © 1994 Big League Cards 19-B563
William, Bill, Tilghman
Oklahoma Territory (1886-1911)Fellow deputy Bat Masterson called Tilghman, the greatest of us all. Tilghman and his partners Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen were known as the Three Guardsmen of Oklahoma and they were instrumental in bringing law and order to the lawless Indian and Oklahoma Territories. © 1994 Big League Cards 17-B563
William S. Tough
District of Kansas (1873-1876) Tough was born in Baltimore, Maryland but headed west at 17 and became a trapper, Pony Express rider and wagon master. During the Civil War, he served as Buffalo Bill Cody's commanding officer. In 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Tough to the position of U.S. Marshal for Kansas. © 1994 Big League Cards 15-B563