Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 1985 Page: 4 of 14
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Page 4-Palaclos Beacon Ilian. Man 14,1985
This Week in Texas History,
Ben Thompson: invincible with a six-shooter,
BY BARTEE HAILE
? March 10, 1884, two years
. after killing Jack Harris, Ben
b Thompson reappeared in San
, Antonio and headed straight for
the Vaudeville Variety Theatre,
scene of the shooting. Did the
whiskey at last get the upper
hand, or was it an addiction to
danger that goaded the gunman
. to take the perilous curtain call?
Although nGt as well remember-
ed as other legendary Texas
,, gunslingers like Sam Bass and
t John Wesley Hardin, Thompson
stood at the top of that violent
class. When it came to a
.-six-shooter showdown, he was
. invincible.
Natives of England, the Thom-
► pson family moved the 5,000
miles to Austin, Texas, while Ben
was only a child. At the age of 15,
the boy shot his first human
target, a black playmate who
, luckily survived.
>; While still in his teens, Thom-
pson ran away to New Orleans,
the closest town with a wild and
wicked reputation. Before long
he was back in Austin, just one
step ahead of a murder charge,
after a Frenchman ended up a
loser in an illegal duel.
Thompson’s career choice at
19 .guaranteed a lifetime of
Although his kin tried
to steer him into printing, he
opted for gambling, a trade
where a fast hand was the main
prerequisite.
During the Civil War, the
Confederate private was accused
of slaying men in an Austin street
brawl. At the first of many
murder trials, Thompson proved
to be a courtroom charmer who
could overcome any prosecutor
no matter how damaging the
evidence. The jury acquitted the
personable youth without bother-
ing to deliberate.
After the South’s surrender,
Thompson was among the hun-
dreds of Texans rounded up by
PALACIOS CITY COUNCIL
POSITION 4
James (Jimmy) Clayboum
(Pol. Adv. Paid for by
Dorothy Clayboum, Treasurer)
P.O. Box 248, Palacios, TX 77465)
PISP BOARD OF TRUSTEES
POSiTION 2
Nancy Bowers
(Pol. Adv. Paid for by
Nancy Bowers
Drawer 799, Palacios TX 77265)
Candidate announcement and listing—$35
paid in advance.
TAKE A BITE OUT OF
How do burglars operate?
Today’s burglar is brazen. He operates openly-
not dressed in dark clothes, nor with the furtive ac-
tions of the so-called “cat burglar”.
• He may drive a truck and dress as a
service repairman.
• He may knock at your door, using vari-
ous pretenses, to appraise the house for
valuable items.
• Burglars often cniise neighborhoods looking for
absentee owners or such tell-tale signs as news-
papers which have not been removed from the
front of the house.
• Another favorite trick is the wrong-number tele-
phone call to find out if the owner is at home
before attempting to eater a residence.
• Quick thefts of purses or other valuables are
commonly carried out by burglars who enter an
opposite door when the homeowner is seen work-
ing outside in his yard.___
STATE OFFICIALS
Board of Education
District 2
MARY HELEN BERLANGA
2590 Morgan
Corpus Christi, Texas 78405
Governor’s Office
MARK WHITE
State Capitol
Austin, Texas 78769
Speaker of the House
GIB LEWIS
Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78769
Lieutenant Governor
WILLIAM P. HOBBY
Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711
State Representative
TOMUHER
Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78769
State Senator
JOHN SHARP
Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711_
the Union occupiers. However,
he engineered an escape from
the Travis County jail and fled
across the Kio Grande. In Mexico
he fought as a mercenary on the
side of Emperior Maximilian in
that country's civil carnage.
Following the demise of his
European employer, homesick
Thompson slipped back into
Austin. For weeks he bested
Reconstruction lawmen in a wary
war of wits but finally was
apprehended.
Found guilty by a military
tribunal of the attempted homi-
cide of his brother-in-law, Thom-
pson was sentenced to a long
prison term. An armed guard of
200 soldiers escorted the manacl-
ed outlaw to the state penitentary
at Huntsville.
After two years behind bars,
the new and sympathic civil
government released Thompson
in a general amnesty for inmates
believed unjustly incarcerated
under the harsh yankee rule.
For the next decade, he made
the rounds of the wide-open
frontier towns. In and out of jails
from West Texas to St. Louis,
Thompson regularly went on trial
for his life. Ever the darling of
the jury, he always walked away
a free man. ____
Despite his bloody deeds in
distant locales, the gunman
remained popular in his home-
town. A series of skirmishes with
the Comanches resulted in a
wave of publicity in 1881 that
carried Thompson into the office
of Austin city marshall.
By most accounts, he did a
credible job on the respectable
side of law, and Austin crime
actually declined. But Thompson
could not stand prosperity.
A red hot feud had simmered
for years between the famous
gunfighter and Jack Harris, weH
liked owner of a San Antonio
theater. In the autunm of 1882,
Thompson resolved to cool the
quarrel permanently, and Harris
died in a burst of bullets.
Observers agreed that old Ben
had pushed his luck too far this
time. No San Antonio jury would
buy his self-defense plea. When
the week long trial ended in a not
guilty vote, the whole town was.
stunned.
However, the Harris killing
cost Thompson his position as
marshal. Back in Austin his life
began to unravel, and he gradu-
ally slid into the bottle.
March 10, 1884, Thompson
and a companion named Fisher
entered the Vaudeville Variety
Theater. Seconds later gunfire
erupted, and both men were
riddled by a lethal barrage.
The consensus in San Antonio
was that Thompson got exactly
what he deserved. But Austinites
were outraged by the post-mort-
em that disclosed Thompson and
Fisher were struck by nine and 13
slugs respectively and eyewit-
ness accounts claiming the pair
never pulled their pistols.
The “Austin Daily Dispatch”
railed: "The general venlict in
our city is that Thompson was led
into a trap and brutally assass-
inated....It is common in Italy
and Spain to hire men to
inaugurate this hellish business
in this country.”
Years later, a retired San
Antonio newspaper editor reveal-
ed the purported truth behind the
Thompson murder. According to
the ex-journalist, three men
armed with rifles waited inside
the theater, performed their
savage chore and then quickly
vanished.
Ben Thompson died a gun-
fighters death at age 41, quite a
feat of longevity for such a high
risk profession. And he might
have lived even longer had he not
tempted fate that day in San
Antonio.
State Capital Highlights
By Lyndall Williams
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
AUSTIN—Like a firecrack-
er exploding in their faces, last
week's surprising rout of the
parimutuel betting issue left
pro-gambling forces shocked,
wounded and wondering what
went wrong.
What was expected to be a
close vote, resembling the two-
vote difference in ’83, turned
into a lopsided 96-52 massacre
as the Texas House of Repre-
sentatives voted against pass-
ing the horse-betting bill to
third reading.
And in the shocked after-
math, opponents quickly sealed
the bill’s fate by winning a mo-
tion “to reconsider and table”
it, a little used parliamentary
procedure that makes a two-
thirds vote necessary before
the bill can be brought up again
for consideration. Several pro-
gambling freshmen legislators
were confused by the motion
and found out afterwards they
had voted against their issue.
Although the bill’s House
sponsor and Speaker Gib Lewis
pronounced the bill “dead” for
the remainder of the session,
other members think the bill
may yet be revived in the Sen-
ate, where Ike Harris, R-Dal-
las, has pledged to push for-
ward.
Harris chairs the powerful
Economic Development Com-
mittee, and Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby
also favors the issue. Speaker
Lewis went so far to publicly
advise Hobby to drop the issue
as “dead”, but speculation has
it that Hobby might also try to
revitalize the bill.
Crumbled Coalition
Even if the Senate approves,
as it did last session, the two-
thirds barrier still remains in
the House, a quota higher than
the strongest coalition tally
that pro-gambling forces have
put together.
And that coalition crumbled
into pieces last week following
a dismantling of the bill’s wel-
fare provisions in committee.
Bowing to the wishes of the
horse racing industry, panelists
deleted the section direct-
ing part of every racetrack’s
proceeds to child welfare. That
section was important to mi-
nority lawmakers who had
withheld support in ’83 until it
was included.
Blacks, Republicans
Even though the gambling
lobbyists tried to appease them
by guaranteeing a percentage
of racetrack stock to minority
investors, the Black lawmakers
in particular weren’t buying in.
And the substitute was similar
enough to affirmative action to
repel most of the Republican
legislators.
Many legislators will support
parimutuel betting only if they
know it will pass. They don’t
want to face the folks back
home after voting aye on a con-
troversial issue that failed.
When the Blacks and Repub-
licans kept the bill from the
76 votes needed for a majority,
several sunshine supporters
quickly defected and changed
their votes before the official
count.
Senate Action
Last week in the Senate:
—Lawmakers approved a bill
allowing criminal background
checks on the estimated
100,000 child-care employees in
Texas.
—1The State Affairs Com-
mittee heard mixed testimony
on the open container bill.
—The Education Committee
considered several bills to abol-
ish or amend the new no pass-
no play rule which was part of
last year’s controversial reform
package.
Mauro, Hightower
Two state officials were in
Washington. D.C. last week for
different reasons.
Land Commissioner Garry
Mauro lobbied the Congress to
protect the Veterans Land Pro-
gram in Texas by repealing a
provision which wipes out the
program for some vets in 1990.
Agriculture Commissioner
Jim Hightower spoke to a Jef-
ferson Memorial rally of farm-
ers lobbying for higher farm
supports. Hightower continued
his attacks on President Rea-
gan, calling him “stupid” and
accusing him of committing
“economic genocide” against
farmers.
Prosecution Rests
Meanwhile, in the felony
commercial bribery trial of At-
Beacon 'eurly files
20 YEARS AGO
Adjutant General Thomas Bis-
hop turned down the bid offered
by the Citizens of Palacios for
Camp Hulen.
Grand Champion fryers of
Matagorda County Livestock
Show were shown by Gene
Kubecka. Gary Kocurek had
Reserve Champion calf. Linda
Stuhrenberg and Freda Kocurek
won 1st and 2nd place respective-
ly in the girls Junior Division of
the fair.
Robby Shelton and Ricky Con-
rad were named to District 25-AA
All-District basketball team.
James Gibson received honor-
able mention. Helen Bolling and
Sandra Guidry were named
to girls All-District team and Pat
Roher was given honorable men-
tion.
25 YEARS AGO
The Federal Aviation Agency
announced that its' station at the
Palacios Municipal Airport would
now be called FAA Flight Service
Station. Last year more than
7.800 pilots responded to the
radio call "Palacios Radio" and
were helped to make their flight
safer.
The Alpha Club will hold its’
second annual "Darktown Fol-
lies" on April 1st.
Mrs. R.H. Neeley was elected
president of the Women’s Divi-
sion of the Chamber of Com-
merce for the ensuing year.
Celenese Corporation of Amer-
ica has taken an option on land in
Matagorda County on which it
contemplates the construction of
a plant.
New school records were made
at the Black Cat Relays Saturday
by Bobby Fowler in the 120 high
hurdles and Hensley Weaver in
the 220 yard dash.
30 YEARS AGO
Palacios boys and girls won
many honors at the Matagorda
County Fair and Livestock Show.
Mike Seaquist exhibited the
grand champion calf. Alfred
Manning, the grand champion
hog; George Cepak, reserve
champion hog and Dickie Kubec-
ka, grand champion fryers. In the
fair division, Gladys Bowers won
four grand champion ribbons and
received high score of the fair.
Contruction started on a
dental clinic for Dr. John W. Hart
on Fourth ■ St., north of the
Feather Building.
Members of the First Metho-
dist Church laid the corner stone
for their new Educatioal Building
Mar. 13.
Mrs. E.N. Falks was Palacios’
first woman to serve on a jury.
J.P.Wyatt was elected com-
mander of the V.F. W. Auxiliary.
35 YEARS AGO
U.S. McMillan Jr. of El Campo
purchased the Simpsonville Gin
from Edgar Seifert and Frank
Wendel.
An advertising campain to
publicize the advantage of the
site of Camp Hulen, now offered
for sale, as an industrial location
was outlined at the Chamber of
Commerce meeting.
Mr. and Mrs. Able H. Pierce
Jr. of Houston were proud
parents of a baby boy born Feb.
28. The mother is the former
Ruth Harrison.
40 YEARS AGO
Births announced were a son
for Pfc. and Mrs. Henry Thomp-
son on Mar. 1, and a daughter for
Mr. and Mrs, J.E. Marks on
Mar. 7.
The school music department
had scheduled their annual con-
cert for Mar. 20.
The Blessing Library Associa-
tion was hostess at the Matagor-
da County Federation of Wo-
men's Club meeting in Bay City
SaturdiiV.
45 YEARS AGO
Rowland Burton, Glenn Clay-
bourn, T.E. Friery, Guy Johnson,
W.P. Regan, Earnest Wehmeyer
and Ralph Newsom were elected
Directors of the Palacios Athletic
Association and the erection of a
fence and a ticket booth at the
high school field was one of the
first projects.
50 YEARS AGO
Work on a seawall and pavil-
lion was scheduled to start within
a few days.
The County Federation of
Women's Clubs met in Mata-
gorda.
C.E. Chamblee moved to El
Campo to take charge of the
Humble Station and Bill Rioux
took over the service station
here.
Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Jensen
announced the birth 6f a baby
girl named Gloria.
55 YEARS AGO
Herman Lqdtje purchased the
two story building at the corner
of Fifth and Commerce Streets.
Cecil Kinard and Clara Bentz
were winners in the Junior
Declamation contest and Isadore
Bentz and Elizabeth Ruthven
were senior winners.
60 YEARS AGO
F.J. McCall purchased the
Smith property at the corner of
First and Main.
The Markham Mothers’ Club
entertained the regular March
meeting of the Matagorda Coun-
ty Federation of Women's Clubs.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Bussell
announced the birth of a baby
girl.
65 YEARS AGO
Business firms made homeless
by the fire of the previous week
were:Robinson and Huddleston
Barber Shop, E.L. Hardy, D.W.
Grant and Perry Real Estate
Offices, Miss Clardy Millinery
and Kirkpatrick Restaurant.
torney General Jim Mattox,
the prosecution rested after
their prime witness testified
Mattox tried to get him to call
off the trial.
Then Mattox's defense law-
yer began his tact of portray-
ing the attorney general as a
man just doing his job before
heated exchanges between him
and a Houston law firm led to
this trial.
Mattox is accused of threat-
ening to harm the firm’s bond
business to make them back off
from depositioning his sister.
Mattox says he didn’t make the
threat, and his defense tried to
show his actions never resem-
bled backing up such a threat.
Troubled Governor
Even some of Gov. Mark
White’s supporters now regard
him as “in trouble” politically,
and he wasn’t helped much last
week when the public learned
he paid a former water com-
missioner almost $10,000 for a
23-page report containing in-
formation readily available at
state agencies.
Former commissioner John
Stover of Lufkin, an appointee
of White’s predecessor Bill
Clements, said he received the
contract after White promised
to help when he resigned to let
White appoint a successor.
White denied he gave Stover
the contract as reward for his
resignation, to fulfill any prom-
ise, or to ease his transition
into private life.
Beacon
PUBLISHER
NICHOLAS M. WEST
OFFICE MANAGER
ELAINE TEMPLEMAN
Second Clew Postage Paid At
Palacios, Tex. 77465
Published each Thursday by
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Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 1985, newspaper, March 14, 1985; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth725243/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.