David R Lock
1835-1911
Information on
David Lock comes from "Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin,
7th ed., 1887"
and the Campbell County Historical Society
David R Lock was the
father of Newport's modern police force. He was born in London, England,
February 2, 1835 to John B and Nancy Ann (Richards) Lock, natives of Devonshire, England. John B and Nancy
Ann and family immigrated to Newport, Ky., in 1849, where John B was a grocer, and for a number of years was
poor commissioner, and also treasurer of
the city schools. John was born in 1808, and died in 1880.
Children of John B Lock and Nancy Ann Richards
1.
Frederick John Lock
born 1829 in London England; m-Sarah Glover in March 1861; became a doctor in
Newport
2. David R Lock born 2 February 1835 in London England
David R Lock was educated in the common schools of London, England, and Newport, Ky., and learned the trade of a plasterer, serving an apprenticeship of three years. He worked at his trade for a number of years, when he was appointed city collection, and served four years as city marshal.
On May 2, 1859, he married Miss
Sarah F Hagerty (born Aug 1837 in Ohio, daughter of Elizabeth Helm of Newport)
Children of Frederick John Lock and Sarah Glover
1. William O Lock
2. Frank Lock
3. Lizzie Lock
4. Bertha Lock
5. Georgia Lock
Children of David R Lock and Sarah F Hagerty
1. William H Lock born in 1861-died
before 1900
2. David R Lock Jr. born Aug 1885-11 Apr 1935
David R. fought for the Union joining Company E 8th Kentucky Cavalry in 1862, rose from the ranks to become a Second Lieutenant, and was captured August 2, 1862 and sent to Libby Prison where he remained until March 1865. He marched at the grand victory parade in Washington in May 1865 with the other captured officers liberated from Richmond's Libby Prison. Tradition has it that Abraham Lincoln met the English-born Lock, who looked more robust than the other ex-captives, patted him on the shoulder and joked that "prison life did not harm you, did it?"
After operating a fish, poultry and ice store at 521 York Street, he became President of the Central Savings Bank and Trust Company. All police chiefs needed an established civilian source of income because they had no guarantee of being reappointed once the politicians who chose them left office. He was also an agent for the Champion Ice Company of Covington.
Lock first assumed the post of "city marshal and chief of police" in 1873. Albert S Berry, an ex-confederate officer, earned a one-cent fine in December 1874 for knocking "flat down" Marshal David R Lock, a Union veteran. Until 1901 Lock headed the police force during four separate administrations for a total of 15 years. Of the six other police chiefs from 1873 to 1901, none served longer than five years and their average tenure was just two and half years. It was Lock who dispersed the Forty Thieves Gang.
The concern over crime that had surfaced in 1877 grew. Lock and his assistants, one of who was Thomas Cottingham, a native of Ireland who had come to Newport in 1860, discovered a cave along the Licking River near the foot of Fifth Street. This cave had a small entrance, but it opened up to a large room and several rooms led to passages to the outside. Also discovered was a secret room behind a closet in an old building at Fifth and Patterson by a building contractor. In the room was a supply of jimmies, keys, saws, and other burglary tools, all labeled part of the Forty Thieves. The discovery of this cave helped break up the gang. The cave has since collapsed during a succession of floods.
Lock replaced felt hats with the London "Bobby" helmet on the 19th century police uniform. By 1889 the department generally consisted of 16 men appointed for two-year terms. They worked twelve hour shifts, with each officer assigned to walk a particular beat in one of the six wards. The force stood at 24 men in 1899. Average pay in 1896 was $2.28 per day for lieutenants and $2 per day for the officers on the street. The first known report of annual arrests appeared in 1889 when there were 663, followed by 504 in 1890. Arrests totaled 511 in 1898.
David R Lock died August 24, 1911 and was buried in Evergreen
Cemetery. He was a Mason and a Knight Templar, a Republican politically,
and a member of the Episcopal Church in religion. Lock's daughter-in-law,
the wife of his son David R Lock Jr. died about the same time while on a trip to
Denver intended to improve her health. Lock's funeral was postponed for a couple
of days for the return of his daughter-in-law. A double funeral was held
at Grace Methodist Church in Newport and both were buried at Evergreen.