Francis Augustus HAMER

Notes:

Captain Hamer grew up on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County and moved to Oxford, Texas in 1894. He initially worked in his father's blacksmith shop, then as a wrangler. In 1905, he helped capture a horse thief while working on the Carr Ranch. The sheriff recommended him to the Texas Rangers, and Frank joined the organization in April 1906.

Frank became part of Captain J. H. Rogers' Company C. He resigned from the Rangers in 1908 to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas, a post he held until April 1911 when he became a special officer in Harris County. Frank rejoined the Rangers in 1915. During this second phase of his Ranger career he served on the south Texas border, served as Senior Ranger Captain at Headquarters Company in Austin, was instrumental in bringing order to the oil boom towns, and took on the Texas Bankers' Association "reward ring." Frank retired from the Rangers in 1932, but retained a special Ranger commission. In 1934 Frank was hired as a Special Investigator for the Texas prison system to track down gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. During the 1930s Frank worked for various oil companies and shippers helping to prevent strikes and breaking up mobs. He was called to Ranger duty again in 1948 by Governor Coke Stevenson to help check election returns in Jim Wells and Duval Counties in that year’s U. S. Senate race. He retired to Austin in 1949.

Died:
at 9:40 p.m. at his residence, 1007 Riverside Dr.

Francis married Gladys JOHNSON about 1918. Gladys was born on 5 Oct 1892 in Texas, USA; died on 17 May 1976 in San Marcos, Hays, Texas, USA; was buried in Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Travis, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Francis Augustus HAMER, Jr. was born on 11 Aug 1918 in California, USA; died on 19 Sep 2006.