Sheriff John Paynter and Lieutenant William Harville were shot and killed while trying to serve a murder warrant on two men.

On October 5, 1865 , Sheriff Paynter summoned six men to assist him in making the arrest of the two men named Stow and Earnest and proceeded about twelve miles from Stockton, on Osceola Road, where they came to the house. When Sheriff Paynter and the men entered the house they found Stow in bed. As they approached Stow he fired a weapon at Sheriff Paynter, striking him in the heart and killing him instantly. Stow then fired at Deputy Harville, killing him. A third deputy in the room fired several times at Stow but he was able to escape in the confusion with a party of men that had been hiding outside of the house.

Sheriff Paynter, born in Virginia in 1824, had been sheriff for one year, and had previously served with the 4th Missouri Cavalry Volunteers.

Deputy William Harville | Interred: Lindley Prairie Cemetery, Bearcreek, Missouri