​First Generation
 
1.  William Eddy ‘Jack’ Hallmark was born on 1 Jul 1886 in Texas. He died on 4 Jan 1971.
 
Sheriff in Brown Co Texas
W. E. HALLMARK was elected on November 8, 1932, re-elected November 3, 1936, November 8, 1938, and served until January 1, 1941. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
1910 US census - Brown Co, Texas -Precinct 4: William E., 23, TX, AL, TX, Farmer, Home Farm, Minnie 20, TX, TX, TX, Married under a year. 1 child, 0 living
1920 US census - Brown Co, Texas Precinct 4: W. E., 33, TX, Laborer, Minnie, 29, TX, Lillie,
2 10/12, TX. Next door to Mother and Father.
1930 US census - Brown Co, Texas — Brownwood: William E., 44, TX, Jail Keeper, Minnie M.,
40, Lillie M., 13, TX, Leonard 0. McKinney, 38, Brother in Law.
 
Escape in 1939
O. M. Smith, deputy sheriff when Jack Hallmark was sheriff during the thirties, said the most famous escape from the county jail came in 1939. Two prisoners, called Jailer Pinkney Taylor, asking for medicine, slugged Taylor, took his keys, stole a car outside the jail belonging to a Howard Payne College ministerial student, and left town. The men were captured several months later.

“Jack” Hallmark
Picture contributed by Grandson Bill McInnis of Brownwood

William married Minnie Mae Mckenzie daughter of
John Kinnith McKenzie and Ellen Eliza Edwards.
Minnie was born on 9 Oct 1889. She died on 18 Oct 1962.
They had the following children:
 +2F        i.             Lillie Mae Hallmark was born on 4 Mar 1918.
 3F          ii.            Dorothy Fay Hallmark was born on 9 Dec 1924. She died on 19 Jan 1925.
 
Second Generation
 
2. Lillie Mae Hallmark (William Eddy) was born on 4 Mar 1918. Lillie married Claude Mclnnis , son of John Mclnnis.
They had the following children:
 +4F        i.             Claudette Mclnnis.
 +5M      ii.            Bill Mclnnis.
 
Third Generation
 
4. Claudette Mclnnis (Lillie Mae Hallmark, William Eddy). Claudette married Thomas.
They had the following children:
 6M        i.             Mitch Thomas.
 7F          ii.            Tonnyru Thomas.
5.  Bill Mclnnis (Lillie Mae Hallmark, William Eddy). Bill married Jessica Gearhart in 1973. They had the following children:
 8M        i.             Ben Mclnnis. Ben married Rachael ?.
 9F          ii.            Rachel Mclnnis Rachel married Scott Myers.

​First Generation
 
1.  Alfred Dell ‘Fred’ White was born on 21 Oct 1879 in Navarro CO, Texas. He died on 14 Mar 1962 in Brown CO, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Ca, Texas.
 
Sheriff of Brown Co, Texas elected 11/2/1926
 
Fred WHITE was elected November 2, 1926, and served until January 1, 1929. Contributed by Patsy Johnson
Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Escape in 1927
 
Carl Adams, a former deputy sheriff, recalled an escape made in 1927 by Dave Rutherford, charged with killing Santa Anna Constable Joe Griffin. Rutherford who was in a cell next to an outer wall of the jail sawed his way out one night. He was later recaptured and taken to the state penitentiary at Huntsville to serve out his time. (Jail Stories — website — Brown County Museum)
 
1880 US census - Navarro Co, Texas w/parents
1900 US census - Brown Co, Texas - Pct 7w/parents and siblings - lists as Alfred D
1910 US census -Brown Ca, Texas - Pct 7- w/spouse and 3 children lists as Alfred D
1920 US census -Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood Ward 4w/spouse and 3 children lists as Fred
1930 US census -Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood w/spouse
WWI draft records - Brown CO, Texas - lists occupation as Deputy Police
 
December 1926— WA. Burney, Chiropractor of Brown Co. was kidnapped.
November 10, 1927— Bangs State Bank was robbed by three masked men.
1928 — Walter Timmons, Chief Deputy located a stash of homebrew.
1929— Grand Jury reported no evidence of abuse of prescription law could be found. The
Jury reported that sixteen (16) doctors wrote seven hundred forty-five (745) whiskey
prescriptions during 1928.
1929— Quoted by District Judge E. J. Miller— “More than half the bank robberies this year in Texas were committed in Brown County.”
 
Alfred married Leona M Cross on 21 Jan 1902 in Brown Co, Texas. Leona was born on 22 Dec
1880. She died on 22 Mar 1969 in Brown CO, Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery,
Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 2M        i.             Riley White was born in 1904 in Brown Co, Texas.
 3F          ii.            Velma White was born about 1906 in Brown Co, Texas.
 4F          iii.           Lela L White was born about 1909 in Brown Co, Texas.

First Generation
 
1.  Albert Bert Clarendon Hise was born on 5 Sep 1876 in Marion Co, Tennessee. He died on 6 Feb 1948 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Sheriff of Brown Co lived in Old Jail
 
Bert HISE was elected on November 7, 1922, re-elected November 4, 1924, and served until January 1, 1927. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
His was also Chief of Police in the 1930’s.
 
“In about 1925, a Negro man who had killed Coleman County Sheriff Dick Pauley, was brought to Brown County for trial in District Court.
About midnight on the date the Negro was brought to Brownwood, the late Bert Hise, then Brown County Sheriff, received a phone call from a man in Santa Ann, who reported that ‘lots of Coleman County cars are passing through here headed for Brownwood’. When the mob arrived in Brownwood, some thirty minutes later, the sheriff and what men he could muster were waiting for them. The mob, armed with rifles, pistols and clubs, collected outside the jail and demanded that the Negro man be turned over to them.
Sheriff Hise was faced with the tormenting choice of turning the prisoner over to the restless mob, who would have taken justice into their own hands or defending the jail if the mob stormed it in an effort to get the Negro.
Fortunately, he did not have to do either Fred Abney, mayor at that time, and Walter Early, then District Attorney, arrived on the scene to provide a dramatic climax to the night’s stormy activities.
Both Abney and Early, with undaunted courage, spoke to the angry mob, promised them that justice would be carried out here, and urged the Coleman people to go home and go to bed.
It was a moment of personal triumph for both men, when they persuaded the mob to disperse and return to Coleman. And as they had promised, the Negro’s trial went before the District Judge the next day. He was convicted of murder and later executed at the State Prison.” Copies from the Brownwood Bulletin, Issued September21, 1952, compiled by Brown County Historical Society. (In the Life and Lives of Brown County People; Brown County Historical Society Book 1 Second Edition Indexed 1988, complied by Lorene Bishop assisted by Melba Coursey; pg 22)
 
Hise was awarded a medal by the NAACP for defusing a mob that came to Brownwood From Coleman to form a lynching party. They were met at the county line in the middle of the road by Sheriff Hise with a Shotgun. (website of Brown Co Historical Society)
 
Albert married Francis Pearl Monroe on 24 Dec 1900.
 
 

​First Generation
 
1.  Robert Bartlett Pugh was born on 3 Jul 1867 in Texas. He died on 31 Jul 1927 in Brown Co, Texas.
 
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co 11/5/1918; re-elected 11/2/1920
 
R. B. PUGH was elected on November 5, 1918, re-elected November 2, 1920, and served until January 1,
1923. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
1880 US census - Brown Co Texas Pct 1 — w/mother & stepfather - William Cain
1900 US census - Brown Co, Texas Pct 6
1910 US census - Brown Co, Texas Pct 6
1920 US census - Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood Ward 1
Date of birth and death from Mclnnis Funeral home records
 
Stories from local newspapers:
‘Several young Lotharios were in jail in Brownwood (what is now the Brown Co Museum of History). To pass time, they sent an ad to a matrimonial newspaper stating they were wealthy bachelors who lived in a castle by the side of a wide and beautiful river. They enclosed their pictures and wanted to correspond with young ladies who were interested in matrimony and desired to live in their chalet. The local postmaster was swamped with mail Sheriff Bob Pugh had to assign a special deputy to distribute the mail to the jailbirds. (The Nice and the Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 92)
 
Inmates Start A Matrimonial Bureau
 
“Brownwood, Texas. Eight prisoners in the Brown County Jail started a matrimonial agency through a letter to the Chief of Police at Camden, New Jersey.
 
“In their letter to the Camden officer, these jail birds represented themselves as eight hard working cowboys, living on a lonely ranch, and they wanted to get in correspondence with some nice girls with a view of matrimony. The Camden officer turned the letter over to the Camden Newspaper which published the love pleading epistle under the caption the eight lonely Texas Cowboys were wanting brides in New Jersey.”
 
From Democrat-- Voice
June 10, 1921
 
Robert married (Josephine E. ?) Josephine was born in Dec 1867 in Texas. They had the following children:
 2F          i.             May Pugh was born in May 1893 in Texas.
 3M        ii.            Robert B Pugh was born on 18 Sep 1902 in Brown Co, Texas. He died on 25 Jul 1916 in
Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Bangs Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.

​First Generation
 
1.  Hugh N Davis was born in 1865 in Texas. He died in 1923 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Parents Jefferson B Davis and Martha W Davis.
 
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co 11/3/1914; re-elected 11/7/1916
 
Hugh N. DAVIS was elected on November 3, 1914, re-elected November 7, 1916, and served until November 5, 1918. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Hugh married Lucy. Lucy was born on 20 Jun 1867. She died on 14 May 1952 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 2F          i.             May Davis was born in 1891 in Texas.
 3F          ii.            Holyce Davis was born in 1895 in Texas.
 
 
 
 

​First Generation
 
1.  Frank Emison was born on 10 Sep 1856 in Kentucky. He died on 3 Aug 1937 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co, lived in Old Jail
 
Frank EMISON was elected on November 6, 1906, reelected November 3, 1908, and served until November 8, 1910. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Emison family was in Brown County by 1882.
Frank Emison was elected sheriff of Brown County in Nov 1906. Local citizens must have been satisfied with him as he was re-elected in 1908.
Monday morning, Nov 7, 1907, was probably just another day for Sheriff Emison. The first order of business was to dispatch Deputy Eastman Kitchens, with a group of county prisoners to work on the public road near the Pecan Bayou bridge.
Perhaps by mid-morning Emison had time to review the events of the weekend. One incident, reported in a local newspaper that afternoon, began Saturday morning when Mr. O’Neal, a San Saba County rancher from the Locker community, called on the sheriff and requested his help in the search for Raymond, his young son. Raymond, who was angry with his father, had saddled a horse in the middle of the night and rode away toward Brownwood. Emison traced the lad to Thrifty but lost his trail and returned home. Unfortunately, we have no record of what eventually happened to Raymond.
Another weekend event occurred that Saturday morning. At three a.m. the switching crew in the Santa Fe railroad yards discovered the unconscious body of a man sprawled across the tracks. Officers called to the scene who noted that the man had a ‘bad wound on the left side of his head,’ evidently caused by a blow from someone with a shovel that was found nearby. The man finally regained consciousness and informed the deputies that he was “WA. Blevins from Grosvenor.” From that point however, his memory slipped away and he just could not remember ‘how he came to be in the railroad yards or who struck him with the shovel.’
Meanwhile back on the road, near the Bayou bridge, Deputy Kitchens’ prisoners had worked all morning, eaten lunch and had again been positioned up and down the right of way. One prisoner on the work-gang, Claude Robinson, a local ‘bad guy’ had recently received a sentence of four years, six months and was awaiting transfer to the State Penitentiary, by some method, was chained to his leg.
Robinson obviously was not fond of his situation and was alert for an opportunity to escape. About 2:30pm he maneuvered himself into a position in which he could not be easily observed by the guard. “He succeeded in getting his chain loose and, when he thought the time was right, charged off down beside the Pecan Bayou, dodging in and out of the undergrowth.
When Kitchens realized what had happened he crashed through the bushes after the prisoner as he shouted back to a guard to go for the sheriff and the blood hounds. Undoubtedly inspired by the potential wrath of the sheriff he overtook the fugitive after ‘a chase of about one mile downstream.
Just as Sheriff Emison arrived on the work-site, with the dogs, Kitchens returned with Robinson who had a long, gaping scalp wound on the side of his head. The newspaper article reporting the incident suggested the wound looked as if it ‘could have been caused by a blow from a revolver in the hand of the deputy,’ but further stated ‘that reports differ as to how the wound was actually caused.” (In The Life and Lives of Brown County People, Book Number Eleven, (Brown’s Henry Ford, Pioneer, Historian, Educator, Brown County Clerk and Banker, Researched by: Lex Johnston, Great Grandson), (The Dawn of Brown County Early History 1904-1908 from Henry Ford’s Cotton Calculators), (Brown County Trivia by Lex Johnston), compiled by Mrs Louise Martin Johnston, Mrs. Lorene Eastman Bishop and Mrs. Pauline Glass Hochhalter, published by the Brown County Historical Society, Brownwood, TX, RD Printing, Brownwood, TX, June 1994, pg 116)
 
1900 US census — Brown Co, Texas — index list last name as “En”
1910 US census — Brown Co, Texas — lists as Sheriff
1920 US census— Brown Co, Texas
1930 US census — Brown Co, Texas
 
Frank married (1)Augusta Oberthier. Augusta was born in 1862. She died in 1893 in Brown CO, Texas.
Frank and Augusta had the following children:
2M       i.             Oscar F Emison was born on 19 Mar 1880. He died on 25 Oct1901 in Brown Co, Texas.
He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Ca, Texas. Oscar married Unknown
3F         ii.            Mabel E Emison was born in Apr 1883 in Brown Co, Texas. Mabel married R L Gray on
12 Aug 1914 in Brown CO, Texas.
 +4M      iii.           Clarence Leroy Emison was born on 17 Sep 1884. He died in 1963. Frank married
Florence Pearce daughter of William Yancey Pearce and Mary Olive on 22 Apr 1894 in Brown Co, Texas. Florence was born on 24 Nov 1868 in Louisiana. She died on 5 Aug 1943 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Frank and Florence had the following children:
 5M        v.            Walter W Emison was born in May 1895 in Brown Co, Texas.
Walter married Anabel Cunningham on 22 Jun 1920 in Brown Co, Texas.
 +6F        vi.           Mary Emison was born about 1902.
 +7M      vii.          Frank Emison was born on 24 Aug 1907.
 
Second Generation
 
4.  Clarence Leroy Emison (Frank) was born on 17 Sep 1884 in Brown CO, Texas. He died in 1963. Clarence married Beatrice Riggs on 14 Mar 1917. Beatrice was born in 1901. She died in 1989.
They had the following children:
 12F        i.             Frankie Emison was born in 1918.
 13F        ii.            Edna Emison was born in 1921.
 14F        iii.           Ruby Rowena Emison was born in 1922. She died in 2001.
 15F        iv.           Oleta Clara Emison was born in 1927. She died in 1990.
 
7.  Mary Emison (Frank) was born about 1902 in Texas. Mary married Delton Kenneth Longley.
They had the following children:
 16M      i.             Delton Kenneth Longley, Jr. was born on 24 Apr 1944 in Brown CO, Texas.
 
8.  Frank Emison (Frank) was born on 24 Aug 1907 in Brown Co, Texas. Frank married Annie Helen Thedford.
They had the following children:
 17M      i.             Rupert Frank Emison was born in Dallas Co, Texas.
 18F        ii.            Martha Jane Emison was born in Dallas Co, Texas.

​First Generation
 
1.   Moses Hampton Denman was born on 1 May 1859 in Texas. He died on 11 May 1944 in
Brown CO, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co 11/6/1900, re-elected 11/3/1902; re-elected 11/7/1904; reelected 11/8/1910; re-elected 11/5/1912; 11/4/1928; 11/4/1930
 
M. H. DENMAN was elected on November 6, 1900, re-elected November 4, 1902, November 8, 1904, and served until November 6, 1906. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
M. H. DENMAN was elected a second time on November 8, 1910, re-elected November 5, 1912, and served until November 3, 1914. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
M. H. DENMAN was elected a third time on November 6, 1928, re-elected November 4, 1930, and served until January 1, 1933. Sheriff Denman served a total of fourteen years. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
“The records at the courthouse show a contract was entered into between the Commissioners Court, after bonds had been voted, February 10, 1902, with Martin, Moodie and Company for the construction of a new jail.  The contract price was $24,925.60. On June 1903 the jail was accepted. (In the Life and Lives of Brown County People; Brown County Historical Society Book 1 Second Edition Indexed 1988, complied by Lorene Bishop assisted by Melba Coursey; pg 23)
 
“Whiskey came to Brown County along with axes, Bibles and guns. The first saloons were established in the early 1 870s. September 8, 1885, the first county wide election was held to stamp out the sale of liquor and the prohibitionist lost by a vote of 472 to 687. Another election was held November 15, 1893, that stopped the sale of liquor and the saloons were forced to close their doors, in the City of Brownwood, Texas. The liquor people refused to abandon their fight, and another election was held, December 12, 1895, that gave them time to reopen their saloons in Brownwood. The vote was 327 for prohibition, 356 against. A county wide liquor election was held, September 5, 1903 and the prohibitionists won by a vote of 133 and this ended the saloons in Brown County.
The lucrative era of the bootlegger had arrived and was destined to last until liquor was voted in again in 1965, when Precinct 4 in Brown County voted the sale of all liquor for ‘Off Premises Consumption’.  Source —Brownwood Banner Brownwood Bulletin
(In the Life and Lives of Brown County People; Brown County Historical Society Book 1 Second Edition Indexed 1988, complied by Lorene Bishop assisted by Melba Coursey; pg 24)
 
Moses Denman came to Brown County in 1883 from Houston County at the age of twenty- four and soon began the career which made him, briefly, the country’s most famous sheriff. At least his exploits were described in newspapers throughout the Southwest. Denman was everyone’s idea of a typical sheriff. He had a big black mustache, a wide- brimmed hat, a pistol at this side, and he always rode a large black horse.
 
Moses Denman served as sheriff of Brown County for fourteen years, having been elected first in 1900 for three terms of two years each. After being defeated in 1906, he ran again in 1910, won and served two more terms before losing another election. This time he remained in the life insurance business for fifteen years but, in 1928, he was re-elected for his seventh term. When he retired in 1930, at the age of seventy-three, he was believed to be the oldest sheriff in the state at that time.
Denman, grandfather of Jack Denman, became deputy sheriff soon after his arrival in Brown County. He made his first arrest on the same day he was sworn in to serve under Sheriff W.Y. Pearce. The young deputy was given a warrant for the arrest of a man named Jefferies who was accused of adultery.
The new officer was determined to prove his worth, so he went out with another deputy to the man’s home. There he found his man but in his haste he had forgotten to bring the proper papers with him. Back he went to the courthouse, leaving the other deputy in charge of Jeffries. Unfortunately, Jeffries went out the back door and escaped before Denman returned.
The embarrassed young deputy sheriff searched for his man all afternoon. Finally, someone told him that Jeffries was in one of the local saloons. On the way to the saloon, Denman met W.A. ‘Billy’ Butler, the city marshal. (Butler later became mayor of Brownwood.) Moses asked Billy to go with him to the saloon. When he arrested Jeffries, Butler was standing close by to back him up. Jeffries let loose with a stream of profanity that shocked and startled the young deputy. But not Billy Butler, He knew all the same words and replied with blistering language. When the prisoner saw that he was both out-manned and out-cussed, he went docilely to jail for the ‘crime’ of adultery.
All night Deputy Sheriff Moses Denman tossed and turned. No one had told him that one of the requirements for being a law enforcement officer was the ability to curse. Moses had been brought up to believe that cussin’ was a sin! His choice seemed clear - - learn to cuss or resign. Next morning, he decided to learn to cuss. He asked Billy Butler to be his instructor but vowed to use his knowledge only when it was necessary.
After Denman became sheriff in 1900, his fame as a law enforcement officer spread throughout the Southwest. He traveled in many states, searching for wanted men and had many heart-stopping adventures in tracking down suspects.
 
Bud Rhone, a deputy at the time the jail was being built in 1902, was the first law officer to place a prisoner in the jail. We do not have a record of who that prisoner was. Rhone attended an open house at the jail in observance of its 50th anniversary on September 21, 1952. Over 1,000 visitors toured the jail on its 50th anniversary according to Ray Masters, Sheriff.
 
There was no privacy in the cells. Prisoners lived four to a cell. There was no cooling system - just open windows. The building had gas stoves and electricity. A cardboard fan was provided for each inmate and was the basic cooling system.
The third floor housed the gallows which was intended to be used in carrying out capital punishment. Soon after the jail was built, all executions were moved to the state prison. No one was ever hanged in the old jail.
 
The maximum number of prisoners recorded in the jail at one time was 90 prisoners. During the time when Camp Bowie was occupied, 56 were arrested and jailed on one Saturday night. Most of the time all the cells were not taken. On cold nights in the winter there were homeless men who came to the jail and asked if there was room for one more person. Most of the men the Sheriff knew and would give them a bed and lock them in for the night. The next morning the cook at the jail gave the man a cup of coffee and something to eat. They did not have homeless in hot weather. It was cooler out under a bridge than in the jail.
In September, 1903, Denman created a nation-wide sensation by taking a prisoner from under the noses of Tombstone, Arizona’s officers and territorial rangers. He went to Tombstone to bring back a man named Joe Hughes who had been charged in Brown County with cattle rustling.
The sheriff took with him extradition papers from the governor of Texas to Governor Brodie of Arizona; however, the Governor had gone on vacation. Hughes had been arrested and was in jail but his lawyer refused to allow him to be brought back to Brownwood. Denman wired Governor Brodie asking him to honor the extradition papers but Hughes’ lawyer, Tom Flannigan, wired the governor requesting that he refused permission for extradition. After several days, the governor did honor Denman’s request but he sheriff knew that efforts would be made in Tombstone by officers to prevent the removal of the prisoner. Therefore, he made careful plans for escape. First, he hired a guide with three horses and hid the horses a short distance from Tombstone. Next, he rented a hack and, with the guide, went to the jail after his prisoner.
Since Denman now had the Arizona governor’s permission to extradite Hughes, the District Attorney, D.A. Cunningham, ordered the Tombstone sheriff to release the prisoner to Sheriff Denman. (Cunningham’s political enemies claimed that Denman paid him fifty dollars. This was enough to defeat Cunningham for district attorney in the next election.) The D.A. and the Tombstone sheriff did not notify Tom Flannigan nor did they allow Hughes to communicate with his attorney. As soon as Flannigan learned of the release, he immediately swore out a writ of habeas corpus against Denman demanding that he produce Hughes before a Tombstone judge.
In the meantime, the intrepid Texas sheriff had his man in the hack heading for his hidden horses. As he left the town, Hughes kept yelling, “They’re kidnapping me! They’re kidnapping me!”
Denman, his prisoner and his guide switched from the hack to horses and headed out over 175 miles of arid desert to the town of Sansamon with Hughes handcuffed to the saddle. All three of them nearly died of thirst before they reached their destination.
The Cochise County officers and the territorial rangers searched every train and scoured the country, carrying with them warrants for Denman’s arrest. Every law enforcement officer between Tombstone and the New Mexican border was alerted by wire to help in the search. All anyone knew was that the Texas sheriff, his guide and the prisoner were somewhere out in the desert. Finally, Denman and the two men reached Sansamon where they boarded a train and crossed the state line, out of the jurisdiction of the Arizona authorities. Denman was safely across the state line none too soon because news was out that Governor Brodie had changed his mind and had wired to arrest Sheriff Denman! He claimed that the case had been misrepresented to him. All of Arizona was angry at Denman for outwitting the whole territory’s law enforcement. Several years later, however, one of the Arizona law officers who had been chasing him wrote to Sheriff Denman complementing him on his job. He said that Arizona lawmen had been close behind Denman all the way, but that he had just plain outsmarted them.
That was not quite the end of the story. Thomas Flannigan, Hughes’ lawyer, filed a civil suit against the sheriff for $15,000.00, claiming his client had been ‘damaged by the unwarranted action of the Texas sheriff, and were proposed he shall suffer the consequences. The charges were later dropped. When Hughes was tried in Brown County on the charge of cattle theft, two jurors held out acquittal while ten were convinced he was guilty. The trial resulted in a ‘hung jury’ and Hughes was not retired but was released. Nevertheless, Brown County’s ‘typical Texas sheriff’ still ‘got his man’!
(The Nice and the Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 63-65)
 
Mose Denman was sheriff in 1910. One morning, the milkman asked the Sheriff’s wife if they were hanging laundry out of the upper windows to dry. When she looked she discovered that two prisoners had cut through the bars and used bed sheets for a rope to escape. (Jail Stories — website — Brown County Museum)
1860 US census - Houston Co, Texas - Randolph post office wlparents
1870 US census - Robertson Co, Texas Pct 5 - w/parents
1880 US census - Bell Co, Texas - Pct 7
1900 US census - Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood
1910 US census - Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood Ward 3w/spouse and one son
 
Moses married Ruth Walton. Ruth was born on 10 Feb 1860. She died on 23 Aug 1940 in Brown CO Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 +2M      i.             Thomas ‘Tom’ Edgar Denman was born on 20 Oct 1879. He died on 28 Feb 1959.
 +3M      ii.            Walter G Denman was born on 1 Dec 1881. He died on 9 Jun 1948.
 4M        iii.           Homer Chilton Denman was born on 9 Apr 1894 in Brown Co, Texas.
He died Feb 1977 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas. 1930 US census - Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood in household of Bill McConathy as a lodger Homer married Minnie E Brown on 14 Nov 1918 in Brown Co, Texas. Minnie was born about 1898 in Texas. She died in 1981. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Second Generation
 
2.  Thomas ‘Tom’ Edgar Denman (Moses Hampton) was born on 20 Oct 1879 in Brown Co, Texas. He died on 28 Feb 1959. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas.  1930 US census Brown Co, Texas - Brownwood -w/spouse and children
 
Thomas married Ina May Coggin on 26 Jul 1904 in Brown Co, Texas. Ina was born about 1880. She died on 28 May 1970. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
5M       i.             Coggin M Denman was born on 29 Jun 1905.
He died on 29 Apr 1982. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown Co,
Texas.
 6M        ii.            Morris Denman was born about 1907 in Texas.
 7M        iii.           Thomas Tom Denman was born about 1908 in Texas.
 8M        iv.           Jack Denman was born about 1913 in Texas.
 9M        v.            William Billie Denman was born about 1919 in Texas.
 

First Generation
 
1.   George Washington Batton was born September 30, 1864, in Smithville, Tennessee. He died on June 3, 1922 in Hope, New Mexico. He is buried in Carlsbad, New Mexico
 
George Washington Batton married Lille Bell Volintine. Lillie was born on September31, 1872, in Lavaca Co, Texas. She died on June 13, 1950 in El Paso Co, Texas.
 
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co November 8, 1898
 
George Washington BATTON was elected sheriff of Brown County on November 8, 1898 and served until November 6, 1900. He was born September 30, 1864, in Smithville, Tennessee, and was killed June 6, 1922, in Hope, New Mexico, while trying to arrest an escaped convict. He is buried in Carlsbad, New Mexico. At the time of his death he was Sheriff of Eddy County, New Mexico. His wife was Lillie Bell Volintine, born September 31, 1872, in Lavaca County, Texas, and died June 13, 1950, at El Paso, Texas. The above information was courtesy of Jacqueline McClinton of Oglesby, Texas.
 
Tevis Clyde Smith told this story: Yarborough saw the men approaching from his upstairs window, ran into his room and barricaded the door. When the sheriff knocked and asked Yarborough to open the door in the name of the law, Yarborough, who was drunk at the time, fired through the door. Several of the bullets struck Sheriff Bell and he fell, fatally wounded. Deputy Sheriff Batton threw himself against the door and crashed into the room. Yarborough was ready for him with his Winchester raised. He pressed the trigger but the rifle jammed. Batton then aimed his Colt at Yarborough and fired.
 
Pearl
By Mike Cox
The old tintype, the only known image of John Pearl, hangs in a small frame on the wall in the - Coleman county Museum.
 
Pearl never got to know it, but he has the singular distinction of being the first and last man legally hanged in the county. The jail in Coleman where Pearl was both incarcerated and executed was built in 1890 of limestone quarried from the nearby Santa Anna Mountains.
 
The lockup saw its share of miscreants and felons, but a decade went by before it held its first defendant in a capital case. Even then, the murder in question occurred in Brown County. not Coleman.
 
The victim was Ed Tusker, a cotton farmer who had a place south of Bangs. In December 1900, he disappeared. When his friends and neighbors began to wonder where he had gone - no one had seen him since Dec. 4, his hired hand said Tusker had decided to move to back to his native Germany.
 
That hired hand was Pearl, who sold some of Tuskers cotton and cottonseed in Brownwood. He said Tusker had left him his wagon and team, along with other equipment and a bill of sale for some property.
 
Tusker’s friends and acquaintances, however, had heard nothing of any plans on his part to return to his native country. Within a week of his disappearance, people began searching for the farmer. Someone thought to check the tank on Tusker’s place. On the second day of dragging operations, Tusker’s body --weighted down with a large rock--was found.
Pearl was tried and convicted in Brown County. The jury’s finding in regard to his punishment was easily written on a single piece of paper: Death by hanging.
 
But the defendant’s defense attorneys succeeded in getting their client a new trial, this time in Coleman County on a change of venue. District Attorney J.H. Baker, with JO. Woodward in the second chair, prosecuted the case.
 
Pearl’s attorneys tried to save their clients life by proving he was insane, but the jury did not buy it. After hearing the prosecution’s evidence, the jury found Pearl guilty and assessed his punishment as death.
 
Coleman County Sheriff Bob Goodfellow, a Dallas native who had attended Baylor University, was not particularly enthusiastic in the duty he faced. But the law was the law and he supervised the construction of a gallows inside the jail adjacent to the courthouse. Just as dutifully, he issued printed invitations to some 50 people to witness the event.
 
The sentence was carried out on Oct. 22, 1901. Goodfellow reluctantly sprung the trap. Dr. TM. Hays of the nearby town of Santa Anna had been called on by the county to certify the condemned man’s death. When he first put his stethoscope to the man’s chest, the doctor recalled, “My heart was beating so hard that I couldn’t be sure whether it was mine or his.”
 
Even though he had no doubt that Pearl was guilty as charged, his role in springing the trap bothered Goodfellow, who served as sheriff until Nov. 6, 1906, for the rest of his life.
 
Batton spent his life as a lawman but, unfortunately, he too was killed in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He and a posse entered a house to arrest an outlaw but the outlaw killed him first. The outlaw, in turn was shot by a New Mexico Sheriff (The Nice and the Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 31)

Sheriff George Washington Batton
Eddy County Sheriff’s Department New Mexico; End of Watch: Saturday, June 3, 1922 Biographical Info: Age: 58; Tour of Duty: 14 years
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire; Date of Incident: Saturday, June 3, 1922; Weapon Used: Handgun; .44 caliber; Suspect Info: Shot and killed
 

GEORGE BATTON
Brown County Deputy Sheriff

Sheriff Batton was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend an escaped prisoner from Texas, who was serving a life sentence for murder. Sheriff Batton, along with a posse of deputies and citizens, surrounded the suspect’s hideout in the town of Hope. As Sheriff Batton entered the house, the suspect confronted the Sheriff and shot him in the abdomen killing him. The suspect continued to fire his weapon wounding a Deputy. The members of the posse returned fire and killing the suspect.
Sheriff Batton had served as Eddy County Sheriff for 2 years. He had previously served 4 years as a deputy and eight years as sheriff of Brown County, Texas. During his time with Brown County, Sheriff Batton was present when Sheriff Charles Bell was shot and killed. Sheriff Batton returned fire and killed the suspect.
He was survived by his wife, three daughters, and a son, who was later elected sheriff of Eddy County.




​​

First Generation
1.  Charles Charlie Bell was born on 31 Dec 1851 in Fairfield, South Carolina. He died on 25 Mar
1898 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Sheriff of Brown County Texas
 
1880 US census — Lamar Co, Texas Pct 2
 
Charles BELL was elected on November 8, 1892, re-elected November 6, 1894, November 3, 1896, and was to serve until election November 8, 1898. A copy of an article in the Brown County News in June 1922, tells of how Sheriff Batton died in New Mexico. It also tells how Sheriff Bell was killed March 23, 1898, in Brownwood, Texas, and how his deputy G. W. Batton killed his slayer. Batton then succeeded Sheriff Bell in office. None of this is in the State Election Register. The article was courtesy of Jacqueline McClinton of Oglesby, Texas. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Sheriff Charles Bell was another Brown County law enforcement officer who lost his life in the line of duty. He was elected in 11/08/1892, 11/06/1894, 11/03/1896.


Sheriff Bell and his deputy, George Batton, went to an old hotel to arrest a man named Yarborough. Tevis Clyde Smith told this story: Yarborough saw the men approaching from his upstairs window,  ran into his room and barricaded the door. When the sheriff knocked and asked Yarborough to open the door in the name of the law, Yarborough, who was drunk at the time, fired through the door. Several of the bullets struck Sheriff Bell and he fell, fatally wounded. Deputy Sheriff Batton threw himself against the door and crashed into the room. Yarborough was ready for him with his Winchester raised. He pressed the trigger but the rifle jammed. Batton then aimed his Colt at Yarborough and fired. (The Nice and the Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 31)

Sheriff Charles Bell
Brown County Sheriff’s Department Texas; End of Watch: Wednesday, March 23, 1898
Biographical Info Tour of Duty: 6 years
 
Incident Details: Cause of Death: Gunfire; Date of Incident: Wednesday, March 23, 1898; Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type; Suspect Info: Shot and killed
 
Sheriff Bell was shot and killed as he and his deputy attempted to arrest a drunken blacksmith. Sheriff Bell and the deputy went to the suspect’s home and while upstairs the suspect stormed in and shot Sheriff Bell. The deputy returned fire and killed the suspect.

​Sheriff Bell was shot and killed as he and his deputy attempted to arrest a drunken blacksmith. Sheriff Bell and the deputy went to the suspect’s home and while upstairs the suspect stormed in and shot Sheriff Bell. The deputy returned fire and killed the suspect.
 
The deputy, George Washington Batton, was shot and killed in the line of duty on June 3, 1922, while serving as sheriff of Eddy County, New Mexico.
 
Sheriff Bell was survived by his wife and children.
 
Charles married Mary Bell (Molly) Braddock. Mary was born on 18 May 1851 in Tippah Co, Mississippi. She died on 26 Mar 1914 in Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 +2M      i.              William Allen Bell was born on 6 Feb 1876.
 3M        ii.             Arthur Howard Bell was born on 2 Mar 1878.
Arthur married Elizabeth Yantis. Elizabeth was born about 1880.
 +4M      iii.            Benton Earl Bell, Dr was born on 2 Feb 1882.
 
Second Generation
 
2.   William Allen Bell (Charles Charlie) was born on 6 Feb 1876 in Tippah Co, Mississippi. William married Frances Ellen Smith.
They had the following children:
 5M        i.              William Allen Bell, Jr was born on 13 Oct 1902.
 6F          ii.             Virginia Bell was born on 16 Jul 1904.
 7M        iii.            Charles Smith Bell was born on 8 Aug 1906.
 8M        iv.           Frederick Yandey Bell was born on 17 Feb 1908.
 9M        v.            Arthur Jackson Bell was born on 7 May 1910.
 10M      vi.           Robert Houston Bell was born on 30 Aug 1913.
 
4. Benton Earl Bell, Dr (Charles Charlie) was born on 2 Feb 1882 in Lamar Co, Texas.
Benton married Lottye Pearl McGhee. Lottye was born about 1885.
They had the following children:
 11M      i.              Charles Henry Bell was born on 10 Mar 1910. He died on 13 Jan 1981.
 12F        ii.             Mary Bell was born on 18 Jun 1914.
 13M      iii.            Benton Earl Bell, Jr was born on 13 Jan 1917. He died on 9 Nov 1958.

​ 
First Generation
 
1.  William Yancey Pearce was born on 13 Nov 1845 in Alabama. He died on 19 Jun 1893 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
 
Sheriff of Brown Co
 
W. V. PEARCE was elected on November 4, 1890, and served until November 8, 1892. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
1850 - US census - Bibb Co, Alabama - E C River w/parents William and Lucinda
1860 -
1870 - US census - Bienville Parish, Louisiana
1880- US census - Hamilton Co, Texas
 
William married Mary Olive. Mary was born on 25 Apr 1853 in Louisiana. She died on 27 Nov
1926 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
1900 US census - Brown Co, Texas - widow
1910 US census - Brown Co, Texas
William and Mary had the following children:
 +2F        i.              Florence Pearce was born on 24 Nov 1868. She died on 5 Aug 1943.
 3M        ii.             William Pearce was born about 1872 in Louisiana. William married Ellen Moseley
daughter of Daniel Hay Zachary Moseley “Captain” and Harriett E Smith on 25 Sep 1895 in Brown CO, Texas.
 4M        iii.            John Martin Pearce was born in 1873 in Texas. He died in 1934 in Brown Co, Texas. He
was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas. John married Emma Shannon on 4 Feb 1892 in Brown CO, Texas. Emma was born on 3 Feb 1874. She died on 8 Sep 1951 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
 5M        iv.           Stephen Pearce was born in Sep 1876 in Texas.
 6M        v.            Doctor Pearce was born on 7 Feb 1878 in Texas.  He died on 20 Oct 1898 in Brown CO,
Texas. He was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
7M         vi.           Ace Pearce was born on 30 Apr 1881 in Texas. He died on 7 Jul 1930 in Brown CO, Texas.
He was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
 8F          vii.          Lelia Pearce was born in Aug 1886 in Texas. She died in 1966 in Brown CO, Texas.
She was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
 9F          viii.         Gertrude Pearce was born in Feb 1890 in Texas.
 10M      ix.           Charles Pearce was born on 22 Sep 1883 in Texas. He died on 12 Feb 1892 in Brown CO,
Texas. He was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
 
Second Generation
 
2.  Florence Pearce (William Yancey) was born on 24 Nov 1868 in Louisiana. She died on 5 Aug 1943 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas. Florence married Frank Emison on 22 Apr 1894 in Brown Co, Texas. Frank was born on 10 Sep 1856 in Kentucky. He died on 3 Aug 1937 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown CO, Texas.
Frank Emison was elected Sheriff of Brown Co 01/01/1905; re-elected 01/01/1907, they lived in Old Jail.
Frank and Florence had the following children:
 11M      i.              WaIter W Emison was born in May 1895 in Brown CO, Texas.
Walter married Anabel Cunningham on 22 Jun 1920 in Brown CO, Texas.
 12F        ii.             Mary Emison was born about 1902.
 13M      iii.            Frank Emison was born on 24 Aug 1907.