2 minute read
Texas History Minute
U S Rep Thomas Henry Ball had represented the area in Congress since 1897 The Eighth District included much of the area of Southeast Texas just to the north of Houston A few months after Ball began his fourth term in 1903, he announced his resignation
Pinckney announced his candidacy to succeed him and ran as a supporter of prohibition like Ball The attempt to ban alcohol sales and consumption had gained momentum in the years after the Civil War Though there were many opponents to prohibition, Pinckney was a respected figure and won the election in November 1903
Advertisement
His time in Congress was short and uneventful The Democrat was re-elected to a full term easily in 1904 After he was sworn in for his new term in March 1905, he returned to Texas On April 24, he went to the Waller County Courthouse where the Prohibition League held a rally The organization had a petition to ask the Texas Rangers to come and enforce a new prohibition law The topic had become very controversial in the area, and the rally drew many opponents
Pinckney prepared to give a few remarks in support of prohibition but was shouted down A scuffle broke out in the crowd Local attorney J N Brown pulled out a revolver and began firing His own son, Roland Brown, also pulled his gun and began shooting In the chaos, prohibitionists pulled their guns and started firing wildly Pinckney dived into the crowd to stop the fighting In the process, he was shot in the back His brother Thomas was shot and killed trying to shield him from the gunfire Four men were dead, and the courthouse walls were riddled with 75 bullet holes
It lasted less than a minute
Roland Brown, himself injured, was charged with murder but acquitted No one was convicted in connection with the crazed gunfight
John Pinckney was only the third congressman to be assassinated while in office The first two, U S Rep James M Hinds of Arkansas and U S Rep Thomas Haughey of Alabama, were shot and killed during Reconstruction Other members of Congress would succumb to the wounds of assassins in the twentieth century, among them Sen Huey Long of Louisiana in 1935 and Sen Robert F Kennedy of New York in 1968
The two Pinckney brothers had lived their lives together, defended each other in war, and died together The two were buried in Hempstead Hempstead was saddled with a reputation for violence in the years afterward and given the derisive nickname “SixShooter Junction ” The courthouse itself was torn down in 1955
The Eighth District seat stayed empty for nearly eight months unti former legislator John M Moore was elected to fill the remainder of Pinckney’s term
Pinckney’s death only fueled the demand for prohibition It would come to Texas in the coming years By 1918, the state legislature had ratified the national Prohibition amendment and passed a statewide ban on alcohol The debate over local alcohol sales is still a divisive question in many Texas communities
