Springville officer gets stone on grave, finally

SPRINGVILLE (AP) — Levi Washington Davis, the first Springville law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty, has finally received a headstone at his grave.

A ceremony was held Friday to honor Davis, who died after being shot during an 1860 gunbattle with a suspect when he was a 24-year-old deputy marshal.

Davis and others were dispatched to arrest horse thief and prison-escapee Jack Cole.

Cole said he was going to surrender when they arrived but instead opened fire and hit Davis. Both Davis and Cole died several days later.

Davis' grave had been marked by little more than a number in the years since his death.

Springville police decided to obtain a gravestone for him after his story was brought by light by historian Robert Kirby.