Death Classification: Line of Duty Death
Agency: Chicago Police Department
Served: 3 years, 11 months*
Unit of Assignment / Detail: 3rd Precinct - Madison Street Station
District of Incident (Present Day): 001 - Central
Cause of Death: Gunfire - Enemy
Age at Time of Death: 34
Timeline
Date of Birth: 1847
Date of Appointment: Sep 1877
Date of Incident: 25 Jul 1881
End of Watch: 03 Aug 1881
Date of Interment: 06 Aug 1881
Interment Details
Cemetery: Calvary Cemetery - Evanston, Illinois
Grave Location: Lot 20, Block 29, Section P
Interment Disposition: Burial
Memorial Details
Superintendent’s Honored Star Case: Panel # A-1
Gold Star Families Memorial Wall: Panel # 19
Illinois Police Officers Memorial Wall: Panel # 1, Line 12
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall: Panel # 17-E: 6
Officer Down Memorial Page: Listed
Service
Military Service: No Military Record Found
Incident & Biographic Details
Patrolman Daniel Crowley, Star #296, aged 34 years, was a 3 year, 11 month veteran of the Chicago Police Department, assigned to the 3rd Precinct – Madison Street Station.
On July 25, 1881, Officer Daniel Crowley was working in plainclothes and had just arrested Minnie Daley who was wanted on a larceny charge. As the officer made his way to the station with his female prisoner, and her mother, they encountered two intoxicated men at Quincy and Desplaines Streets. The two men, James Jones and Edward Kelly of No. 163 Van Buren Street (present day 742 West Van Buren Street), were standing on the sidewalk at the corner. Kelly stepped forward and slapped the prisoner on her shoulder. Kelly asserted that she had stepped on his foot, accompanying the statement by very foul language. Mrs. Daley then struck Kelly after resenting his statement towards her daughter. Kelly continued to swear at the female prisoner, forcing Officer Crowley to expose his star. He told him to desist and let them pass. Kelly answered insolently and suddenly drew a .32 caliber revolver from his hip pocket. He cocked the revolver and leveled it at Officer Crowley’s breast. In response, Officer Crowley struck Kelly with his cane and knocked the gun from his hand. Unfortunately, a round was discharged from the gun and struck Officer Crowley in his right thigh. The bullet entered his thigh above the knee and then traveled upwards; it lodged in a muscle located in the inner side at the back of his leg. Kelly then turned and fled on foot with Officer Crowley in pursuit. Despite being wounded he chased Kelly Southbound on Desplaines Street before turning Westbound on Jackson Street. As they ran, Officer Crowley attempted to fire at Kelly, but his revolver malfunctioned and the hammer struck the very edge of the cartridge. They ran for nearly a block until Kelly disappeared. Officer Crowley then returned and took hold of Mrs. Daley and set off for the station again. At the corner of Adams and Desplaines Street, he collapsed from exhaustion.
Officer Crowley was taken to his home located at No. 94 Miller Street (present day 838 South Miller Street) where doctors believed the wound was not fatal. The bullet was successfully removed, but an infection spread through the officer’s body. Tragically, blood poisoning set in and he died ten days later at 12:00 a.m. on August 3, 1881 of blood poisoning.
On February 2, 1886, Edward Kelly was arrested by Patrolmen Costello and Momane. He was held by the Criminal Court on a $2,000.00 bond. Kelly stood trial and was convicted. He was sentenced to six years in Stateville Penitentiary in Joliet.
Officer Crowley was waked at his residence located at No. 94 Miller Street (present day 838 South Miller Street). He was laid to rest on August 6, 1881 in Calvary Cemetery, 301 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, Illinois but later moved. His grave is located in Lot 20, Block 29, Section P.
Patrolman Daniel Crowley, born in 1847, received his Probationary Appointment to the Chicago Police Department in September, 1877.
Officer Crowley was survived by his wife.
Incident Recorded under Chicago Police Department homicide file, Case #2798.