HHello, Atascosa County! If you’ve been following this column series, welcome back. If not, and you’re just getting into it, this is a good time to remind yourself. This is where the stories start to get funny. Chronologically, this is where the county starts to get a little cowboy.” By “cowboy,” I mean that things start to get wild-west here. Some of these stories are just that – stories. I think that’s more myth, although the facts should provide enough drama and intrigue. So, let’s get started.
Sheriff number 18, who we begin with this week, is Tillman Lorenzo (TL) Richardson. Sheriff Richardson served as sheriff from 1904 to 1910. Before serving as sheriff, he was postmaster in Tobey in 1903, and after serving as sheriff, he was postmaster of Jourdanton in 1919. I contacted his great-grandson, Johnny Martin, after we found a photo of someone believed to be Sheriff Richardson in front of the courthouse in Pleasanton. Mr. Martin sent a wonderful photo of the Richardson house in Jourdanton. The house was two stories with five white columns that reached from the floor to the roof and a white picket fence adorning the front. The house also had two trellises in the front with vines climbing up to the second story. During Sheriff Richardson’s tenure, the county changed headquarters. That must have been a turbulent time. The myth is that Jourdanton officials stole county records from Pleasanton under cover of night. In reality, the county was holding an election in which citizens voted to move the county seat. (If you want to read more about this, look for historical marker #15743 on Jourdanton; the marker is located in front of Jourdanton City Hall.) I have also heard the myth about voter fraud during this time, but that too is just a myth.
The sheriff had his job to do and was also appointed as a tax collector. He must also have been responsible for the safe transportation of county records from Pleasanton to Jourdanton. This event happened over 110 years ago now and people still talk about it today. Some people are seriously upset about it. That tells me that at that exact moment, in 1910, it must have been chaotic. I can assume that the transition was not smooth, many seats changed and the atmosphere changed drastically. Sheriff Richardson really had to be a tough guy to handle that appropriately. Who knows what role his emotions played during that time.
In my column last week, I talked about Sheriff Avant’s investigation of the notorious horse thief and murderer Gregorio Cortez. During the Cortez trial in 1903 and before he became sheriff, Richardson testified as a trusted official to the identity of Cortez, who had been in Atascosa County at the time of the horse thefts. He described Cortez traveling from Pleasanton to Amphion on Pearsall Road, now FM 3350. As Richardson reported, he came to Pleasanton on horseback from the town of Amphion.
Sheriff Richardson appears to have spent the rest of his life in Jourdanton. He may have felt at home in the new county seat. He died in Jourdanton in 1931 at the age of 73. He is buried in the Jourdanton City Cemetery next to his wife, Theresa Elizabeth Richardson.
I had planned to cover three sheriffs, and for the course of this column I have narrowed it down to two sheriffs this week. However, as you can see, Sheriff Richardson was an interesting guy. Not to mention that there is now a lot of media (newspaper) coverage of the events. Add to that important current local events. So next week we will move on to the next sheriff, John Winn. This one will also be very interesting as he was involved in an infamous part of our history.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your interest in preserving the district’s history and for reading this column. Until next time.
MARTIN GONZALES is chairman of the Atascosa County Commission. If you have information about Atascosa County history that you would like to share, you can contact him at 830-480-2741.