Richard Dick Speed

Richard “Dick” Speed (born December 11, 1867) was a lawman and community member whose life was rooted in central Oklahoma. Known locally as the marshal in Perkins, he carried responsibilities that connected him to neighbors and families across Payne County. Accounts preserved by local records and memorial lists describe a man who worked in public service at a young age and who left behind a young family — a wife, Rachel, and three small sons.

Speed’s place in local memory is closely tied to his role as a marshal and special deputy at a volatile time on the Oklahoma frontier. Those records indicate he brought dedication to his duties in a region where law enforcement was often dangerous and deeply intertwined with the daily life of the towns he served. Community burial records show he was laid to rest in Perkins Cemetery, where his grave records record his birth and death dates and label him by the nickname many knew him by: "Dick."

While the historical record centers on his public role and the violent circumstances of his death on September 1, 1893, the essential human details that survive are of family and service: a husband and father who worked as a marshal for his town and who is remembered on memorials honoring law enforcement lost in the line of duty. His grave and local memorials stand as quiet reminders of a life lived in service to his community and of the children and spouse who survived him. Though many decades have passed, Richard "Dick" Speed’s name endures in cemetery records and law-enforcement memorials, and those records preserve the fact that he was a member of a family and a town, not solely a footnote in frontier history.