Honoring a Hero

OFFICER ALBERT L. COLSON

End of Watch (EOW): July 3, 1924

Officer Colson was born the son of James W. and Bertha (Griffin) Colson in Millbridge, Maine on March 2, 1869. He was married to Lillian Reed, in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1891.

While serving with the Exeter Police Department on July 3, 1924, Officer Albert L. Colson, along with his friend and neighbor, Arthur C. Bennett, were shot and killed when they attempted to quell a neighborhood disturbance at the home of J. Parker McDuffy on Franklin Street. When the two men arrived, McDuffy was sitting on his steps with a shotgun on his lap. After speaking a few words with him, Officer Colson tried to disarm McDuffy, who pulled out a revolver and shot Colson in the abdomen. Officer Colson died almost instantly. When Mr. Bennett tried to take the shotgun away, he too was shot by McDuffy and died at the hospital a few hours later. McDuffy later surrendered to police. The 74-year-old suspect was arrested, charged with murder, and sent to prison, where he died in 1928.

At the time of his death, Officer Colson was 55 years old. He left behind his wife, Lillian, and their two daughters. In 1992, Officer Colson was been posthumously awarded the Exeter Police Department’s Medal of Valor by Chief MacKinnon and in 2024 the department's Wounded in Service award by Chief Poulin. His name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC in 1992.  On the 100 year anniversary of Officer Colson's sacrifice, The Town of Exeter Select Board proclaimed and affirmed, July 3, 2024 as Police Officer Albert L. Colson Day within the Town of Exeter. 

As a tribute to Officer Colson’s sacrifice to the Town of Exeter, the new police station set to be finished in 2026 will be named in his honor. May he continue to watch over our officers and guide them safely through their shifts.