TOM F. McCLURE.
When Tom F. McClure, widely known in Texas as the "six-shooter-less
sheriff," entered upon his new duties as captain of the North Side
Police Station in Fort Worth in August, 1915, he accepted as a part of
his official equipment, the regulation six-shooter for the first time
in his life. Mr. McClure brought to his service in his new position the
benefit of a lifetime of experience in the hunting and handling of
criminals, for he began his official career when not more than sixteen,
as a deputy in the service of his uncle, J. H. Mershon, deputy United
States marshal for the Western District of Arkansas. Mr. McClure is a
native Texan, born on his father's farm, twelve miles south of Decatur,
Wise County, in 1868. His parents were John and H. E. (Mershon)
McClure, both now deceased.
John McClure was born in Missouri and he was one of the
early pioneers to Texas, coming to this state in the early '50s. He
first settled in Hays County in Southwest Texas, but later, and just
prior to the war, he settled in Wise County. There he was one of the
pioneer white settlers, and he lived through the dread period of the
Indian raids and depredations that made the life of the white man an
insecure and uncomfortable existence, to say the very least. This
condition obtained before the war and continued through it into the
later '70s, making the history of Texas in those years a particularly
bloody one. John McClure enlisted in the Confederate army under Sull
Ross, who later became governor of Texas, and he served throughout the
war with valor and distinction under that gallant soldier and officer.
He was a stockman by way of occupation, following the natural trend of
the state, and he had a nice ranch at the vicinity of Decatur. It is
recalled, however, that he was the only man among the pioneers of that
part of Wise County who was a skilled carpenter and woodworker, and in
that capacity he was called upon time without number to make coffins
for white settlers that were the victims of Indian depredations in
their vicinity.
Mrs. McClure was a native daughter of Kentucky and she
came with her parents to Texas, also pioneers to Wise County, when she
was yet a child in years. She married John McClure there, and there she
spent her life.
Tom McClure was sixteen years old when in 1885 he left his
father's home and went to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to be with his maternal
uncle, J. H. Mershon, then deputy United States marshal for the Western
District of Arkansas, with jurisdiction over Indian Territory. At that
time the United States District Court of Indian Territory was noted for
the great number of criminal cases, outlaws and desperadoes, that were
tried there. Young McClure was appointed by his uncle as his assistant
or deputy, and then began his thrilling career as an officer of the law
in the most lawless period of that district.
In 1891 Mr. McClure returned to Wise County, settled down
and engaged in the cattle business. Later he became deputy sheriff of
Wise County. In 1899 he became sheriff of the county and he served in
that office for four years. Subsequently he went to Jones County and
interested himself again in the cattle business, and was there elected
sheriff, serving a four year term in his official capacity in that
county. While there he was by appointment of Governor Campbell a member
of the Live Stock Sanitary Commission of Texas for two years, in which
post, as in all others, he gave an excellent account of himself at all
times. His duties as sheriff of Wise and Jones counties took him in
pursuit of criminals as far east as the Atlantic coast of Tampa,
Florida, and as far west as California and through to British Columbia
and Northern Canada, and in those years he established a reputation for
fearlessness and all around efficiency that will never be outlived.
In 1914 Mr. McClure was a candidate for the office of
state comptroller on the prohibition-democratic ticket, but for
personal reasons he withdrew from the race while the campaign was yet
in its earliest stages. In the summer of 1915 he moved to Fort Worth
and in August followed his appointment to his present position, captain
of police in charge of the North Fort Worth Police Station.
At the time of his appointment a local paper commented on
the man and his career in this manner:
Tom McClure, famed over Texas as
the 'six-shooter-less sheriff,' first of Wise, then of Jones county,
has been appointed Captain of Police in charge of the North Side
station. He will begin work Sunday.
McClure will be the successor of Capt. G. Frank Coffey who was killed
two months ago by Tom Cooper. Captain George Cooper, transferred to the
North Side temporarily, will be returned to headquarters.
But McClure will no longer be known as a six-shooter-less officer. He
will break his record of a life-time Sunday when he buckles a belt and
pistol around his waist.
'I guess I'll have to wear one,' he said Saturday. 'I don't expect ever
to have to use it, but it is probably best to wear one. My experience
as an officer has always been in the small towns and open country, and
I did not need a pistol. But as a policeman I expect I will have to
deal with many classes -- that is why I'm going to use a gun.'
Retiring as sheriff of Jones county after a service of four years,
McClure entered the race for state comptroller, but withdrew before the
election a year ago. He then moved to Fort Worth and became a qualified
voter. The most exciting days of his career as an officer happened
during the five years he served as deputy United States marshal at Fort
Smith, Arkansas, over which district the famous judge, I. C. Parker,
presided. Judge Parker bore the reputation of having sentenced more men
to the gallows than any other judge, and McClure participated in the
arrest of many of these men.
Lawlessness ran rife over the Indian Territory then, and McClure spent
most of the five years on the trail of bad Indians and outlaws. Many of
the Indian Territory cases were tried at Fort Smith. He was one of the
officers who helped to break up the Belle Starr gang and the Pickens
gang, two famous bands of territory outlaws. He left the Federal
service, however, and came to Texas just as the Dalton gang was budding
out into outlawry. He was intimate with them, and worked with them in
Arkansas when they were deputy U. S. marshals in Fort Smith.
Although he had many fights with bad Indians and outlaws, McClure
fought with Winchesters and shot guns, and never carried a pistol.
'Those were exciting days,' he said Saturday. 'We would go out in wagon
trains to gather up prisoners. We would catch a man, chain him up in
the wagon and drive on through the country looking for others. We would
be gone as long as three months at times before we would drive into
Fort Worth with three and four wagon loads of prisoners. I remember one
time we drove to within sight of Decatur before we caught a man charged
with assault to murder. I was hoping we would not catch him until we
got into Decatur, because I wanted to see some of the home folks, but
we turned around and drove back to Fort Smith.'
McClure served as deputy sheriff for six years in Wise county before he
ran for sheriff and was elected. After four years as sheriff at Decatur
he went to Stamford. He lived two years in Jones county before he was
elected sheriff and held the office four years. A chase of 9,000 miles
after an alleged kidnapped boy of Stamford featured the closing days of
his service as Jones county sheriff. He brought the boy back.
Mr. McClure married Nannie Simmons, a Mississippi girl and
the sister of Judge Tom Simmons and Dr. C. B. Simmons. They have their
home on the north side.
from A
History of Texas and
Texans,
by Frank W. Johnson.
The American Historical Society. Chicago, 1916. Vol. III,
pp. 1460-1462.