Sheriff A. J. Royal
In western movies,
sheriffs are often portrayed as rigid disciples of law and order. They were the one person the public could
trust above all others — a bulwark against lawlessness and incivility. Reality, however, sometimes paints a
different picture. In the town of Fort
Stockton, Texas, Sheriff Andrew Jackson Royal was not the most civil of law
enforcement officials. Possessing a firm
hand, he was often mistaken for a tough, no nonsense sheriff with little
tolerance for bad guys. Actually, he was
just plain mean, with little tolerance for anyone.
Born on November
25, 1855, in Lee County, Alabama, Royal grew up in a family of five daughters
and one son. Royal later made his way
to Fort Worth where he worked for the railroad.
In 1879, he married a young lady with the intriguing name of Naomi
Obedience Christmas. Whether or not that
was her actual name or a working girl moniker has not been determined. After their marriage, Royal moved to
Junction City, Texas where he started a ranch and operated a saloon. It was there that he began his dark decent;
one of his employees was found murdered.
To avoid arrest, he moved his family of six daughters and one son to
Pecos County. Again, he started a ranch
and established a saloon near Fort Stockton.
As owner of the “Gray Mule Saloon,”
Royal shot and killed another employee — obviously not a boss you want
to start an argument with.
In 1892, Royal managed
to get elected the Sheriff of Pecos County.
The town citizenry became polarized into those who supported Royal and
those who didn’t. Employing a deputy of
similar deportment, Barney Riggs, he terrorized those citizens and officials
who didn’t support him. In one instance,
he almost beat a man to death over a stolen watermelon. A grand jury, largely made up of Royal’s
cronies, indicted Judge O. W. Williams for failure to pay a city occupation
tax. Another was indicted for
fornication; a charge that didn’t hold up because the girl involved was also
fornicating with a member of the grand jury.
Some just disappeared without a trace.
As the months went by, Royal only got meaner, especially after he had a
few.
Royal’s main
rivals were two brothers, Frank and James Rooney, local merchants, and County
Clerk W. P. Matthews. The three of them
supported R. P. Neighbors in the coming 1892 election for sheriff. Hopefully, Neighbors would replace Royal, but
not before Royal tried to take out Matthews and the Rooney brothers. Intoxicated in his saloon, Royal heard that
they were at Koehler’s store.
Threatening to “wipe them out,” he pulled out his pistol and walked over
to the store to confront them. James
Rooney confronted Sheriff Royal with a shotgun.
Both exchanged shots but no one was hit.
Royal had the store surrounded by his cronies and deputies. When the Rooney brothers and Matthews refused
to come out, Royal threatened to burn them out; they filed out and
surrendered. Needless to say, they were
thrown in jail, along with a number of anti-Royal residents.
As tensions in
Fort Stockton began to elevate, the Texas Rangers were called to the
scene. Company D of the Texas Rangers
rode into town, where a recent sheriff election was on the verge of becoming an all
out feud between Royal and Neighbors supporters. To intimidate voters, Royal had posted armed
men at the polling places. It didn’t
take the Rangers long to figure out Sheriff Royal was less than appropriate for
his position. Texas Ranger Sergeant Carl
Kirchner stated, “Royal was a very overbearing and dangerous man when under the
influence of liquor. Almost the entire
county seems to be against him.” Skeptical
of his reelection chances, Royal looked to the Hispanic population for support. Unable to speak Spanish, he released one of his
prisoners who could. Victor Ochoa was
allowed to escape provided he would campaign for Royal. It didn’t work. Royal lost the election to Neighbors. On November 21, 1894, before Neigbors took
office, Royal was assassinated by a shotgun blast to the neck. The mystery of his murder was never solved,
not that anyone really cared.
