Dukes of Duval County: The Parr Family and Texas Politics
440
Dukes of Duval County: The Parr Family and Texas Politics
440Hardcover(New Edition)
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780806157719 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Oklahoma Press |
| Publication date: | 11/02/2017 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 440 |
| Sales rank: | 812,173 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.60(d) |
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CHAPTER 1
TEXAS POLITICS
Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson had an opportunity to rise even higher politically in April 1941 with the sudden death of Senator John Morris Sheppard. Texas elections had long been determined by the Democratic primary; a win assured victory in November no matter who was on the Republican ticket. But this would be a special election with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all going for the Senate seat at the same time. The official ballot listed twenty-nine names, including the formidable Governor Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, but only a plurality was needed to win.
The special election was even more enticing to Johnson because it was being held in an off year. He could run for senator and still retain his House seat if he lost. He had already astounded political observers by coming from nowhere at the age of twenty-eight to win the House seat, and this time he had the support of President Roosevelt, who allowed Johnson to announce his senatorial candidacy on the White House steps.
As the June 28 election neared, Johnson began gaining in the polls until he passed the veteran O'Daniel. Up to this point, his campaign had been meticulously run by scrutinizing key precincts. Unfortunately, when victory seemed within his grasp, Johnson's people made a fatal error. Results from each precinct were reported to the Texas Election Bureau (an unofficial group of newspapers and radio stations), where tabulations determined the winner. John Connally, Johnson's campaign manager, kept calling bosses in key precincts they dominated to report their results as soon as possible, saying, "Get your vote in. Run it up."
Election Day in Texas was Saturday, and by 1:30 on Sunday morning, the election bureau tabulated 95 percent of the votes with Johnson holding a 5,088 lead. At 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday the election bureau would issue its final report. Both the Dallas News and the Houston Post declared Johnson the winner, and the coveted seat in the Senate was virtually his. But this was Texas, and the election wasn't over until all the corrections, deletions, invalid ballots, and unreported results were in. Voting machines were being used in populous urban precincts, but rural Texas still depended on paper ballots, which took time to count, allowing for last-minute adjustment of "discrepancies" before being sent on to the Board of Elections.
With less than twenty thousand unreported votes remaining, Johnson's mistake of allowing early reporting didn't seem costly. By Monday night, "Pappy" was lagging by only one thousand votes. Before the night ended, the margin was seventy-seven votes. On Tuesday, the euphoria of becoming a U.S. senator abandoned Johnson as "corrections" whittled away more votes. By the end of the day, O'Daniel had won by 1,311 votes in a statewide election totaling 575,879 votes.
After the election, President Roosevelt summoned Johnson to the White House to console him. Roosevelt told him during the meeting, "Lyndon, apparently you Texans haven't learned one of the first things we learned up in New York State, and that is that when the election is over, you have to sit on the ballot boxes." The advice, a little late coming, may not have cheered the young congressman, but it was a lesson Johnson never forgot.
When O'Daniel chose not to run for reelection in 1948, Johnson decided his political career was at a turning point. If he ran for senator, he could not hold onto his House seat. The decision was even more difficult because his opponent would be former Texas governor Coke Robert Stevenson, who was even more popular than O'Daniel. For Johnson to win would require all the resources of a well-oiled political machine, including personnel to "sit on the ballot boxes." To accomplish this, Johnson enlisted the help of George Parr, a South Texas political boss who had backed Johnson in the 1941 special election.
No candidate achieved a majority in the July primary, so a special runoff primary was slated for August. Early results of the runoff primary had Stevenson leading by 800 votes, but by Monday evening it was 119. Tabulations and "correcting" continued until Friday, and Stevenson still held a slim 157-vote lead. That afternoon, six days after the election, another ballot box suddenly appeared with 200 votes for Johnson and only 2 for Stevenson. The corrected tally gave 494,104 votes to Stevenson and 494,191 to Johnson. In an election with close to a million votes cast, George Parr had helped Johnson win by 87 votes.
The political power George Parr wielded was well entrenched in three southern Texas counties, and through alliances with other bosses it extended even further. His power was inherited from his father, Archer "Archie" Parr, who began the political machine and trained his son to duplicate his maneuverings in a dynasty that lasted over sixty years. Unlike urban bosses like Tom Pendergast in Kansas City and James Michael Curly in Boston, Archie's influence in South Texas was made possible by provisions in the 1875 Texas Constitution.
To decentralize government, framers of the constitution gave autonomous power to local districts. Every post — from local justice of the peace to chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court — was an elected position, leaving the governor few political appointments. Tax assessment and collection, election supervision, and control of public funds were handled by county officials. This made local governments ripe for corruption and influence by political bosses with access to public funds through officials they backed for election. Voting was controlled by doling out resources to constituents. Even the power to enforce the law rested mainly with local authorities. District judges impaneled grand juries and controlled their scope. A local political boss could easily rule by handpicking candidates. Only the federal government or the Texas Rangers could investigate criminal action, and the rangers needed a specific invitation from the locally elected district attorney.
In South Texas there was even more of an opportunity to establish a power base because of the makeup of the population. Over 90 percent of Duval County residents were of Mexican ancestry. They called themselves "Mexicans" whether or not they were U.S. citizens, and most were uneducated, illiterate, and poor. At the turn of the century, Duval ranked 253 out of 254 Texas counties in literacy, with the state ranking among the lowest nationwide. In 1930 Duval's illiteracy rate was 25.3 percent, and fewer than 7 percent of residents over twenty-five had completed high school.
Since the 1880s, Anglo ranchers and businessmen controlled the vote of their Mexican laborers. The culture of Mexican peons being subjugated by wealthy hidalgo landowners remained firmly entrenched when they crossed the Rio Grande into South Texas. In Mexico they relied on their patrónes for guidance and direction; because of unfamiliarity with American culture and customs this domination passed to the gringo in Texas.
The son of George Berham Parr of Virginia and Sarah Pamela Givens of Kentucky, Archie was born Christmas Day 1860 on Matagorda Island, Texas. After the death of his father, he was forced to drop out of school at an early age to help earn money for the family. At the age of eleven, he became a ranch hand for the Fulton-Coleman Pasture Company, and by seventeen he was a trail boss on the famed Chisholm Trail, driving cattle from San Antonio to Abilene, Kansas. Arriving in Duval County at the age of twenty-three to work as foreman for the Lott and Nielson Pasture Company on their Sweden Ranch, he remained in the area for the next sixty years. At the age of thirty, he married twenty-five-year-old Elizabeth Allen of Allendale, a graduate of the teacher's college at Huntsville. With money saved from his cowboy years, Archie purchased a ranch in Benavides for fifty cents an acre. Having no political ambitions, he was content to raise cattle and father six children.
Fluent in Spanish, he became a benevolent patrón of his ranch hands and local Mexicans. A man of "even temperament and friendly manner," he was also capable of "outbursts of rage and arrogance." He entered politics when elected county commissioner from Benavides in 1898 as a Democrat. Solidifying his power base, Archie was reelected in 1900, as he waited for the right opportunity. It arrived in late 1907, when John Daniel Cleary, Duval Democratic Party leader and county tax assessor, was killed in a San Diego restaurant.
Cleary was also an oil property developer in the San Diego area. He owned land in the valuable Piedras Pintas oil field and was aggressive in securing properties for prospecting and development. Some felt his antagonistic manner may have been the reason for his death. But there was a possible political motivation for his assassination. Against protests of Anglo ranchers, Cleary opened the Democratic Party to Mexicans and supported Mexican candidates for local public office. In 1906 his faction swept the general election, claiming every county office and all of the commissioner seats. The Republicans contested the elections, and a few days after the district court upheld the Democrats, Cleary became marked for assassination.
On December 20, 1907, Cleary joined oil man J. F. Maxwell and a bookkeeper named Stern for a late supper at a Mexican restaurant. Cleary sat on a stool with his back to the door. Halfway through their meal, a man standing on the sidewalk fired a double-barreled shotgun loaded with duck shot through the open door of the restaurant. Cleary was hit between the shoulders by eight pellets, penetrating his spinal cord and causing instant death.
With no immediate suspects, wild rumors began spreading as to who was responsible. Archie Parr was mentioned as a possibility, but there was never any evidence to show he had anything to do with the killing. One newspaper speculated the killer was Mexican because "the act of shooting from a hiding place an unsuspecting and unprepared man" was typical of Mexicans, but, the article added, "if the work is that of a Mexican, a white man had a hand in it."
A Texas Ranger investigation uncovered a three-man conspiracy. Former deputy sheriff Candelario Saenz was arrested as the shooter, and local merchant T. J. Lawson and his son Jeff, were accused of arranging the murder. Although Lawson was a Republican Party member, a political motive could not be established because he was also involved in a dispute with Cleary over control of the Piedras Pintas oil field. Evidence against the Lawsons was circumstantial, and the grand jury dismissed the charges. Only Saenz was indicted, but before the trial, two witnesses died of natural causes. Saenz went free but four years later was killed in a political dispute.
In 2012 Saenz's grandson, named after his grandfather, told a reporter that in 1952 his father received a phone call from his uncle, the brother of Candelario. The uncle was dying and wanted to unburden a secret he had carried for years. He claimed Archie Parr was behind the murder, having hired a known assassin, Jose Estrada, to kill Cleary. Candelario Saenz, part of the conspiracy, agreed to deliver the payment to the killer, but when Saenz was arrested before the exchange could be made, Saenz's wife asked the brother to deliver the money.
Archie quickly grabbed the reins and entrenched himself within the Duval Democratic Party. He was elected delegate to the Texas State Democratic Convention in May 1908 and became a member of the State Executive Committee where he formed lasting relationships with politicos who controlled nearby counties. Reelected county commissioner, Archie began using the county treasury to solidify his paternalism by providing jobs for Mexican laborers on county roads and bridges. Poll taxes were added as an amendment to the state constitution in 1902 and became an established means of limiting the poor from voting (these taxes were declared unconstitutional in 1966). Needing votes of the poor to ensure political control, Archie had road crew supervisors deduct poll tax payments from wages and even provided for payment of poll taxes with his own money. By requiring all county employees to pay poll taxes, Archie padded the list with voters who would do his bidding on Election Day.
Ignoring state law, he ordered the county treasurer to issue checks to constituents without recording the purpose of the payments. Loyal voters counted on Archie to provide cash for food or funeral expenses or to tide them over between jobs. This unofficial system of welfare furthered his popularity, garnering more Mexican voters while at the same time reducing the political strength of the Duval Republican Party to a meaningless faction for the next sixty years. Furthering his dominance over local politics, Archie harassed voters by ordering the tax collector not to accept poll tax payments from anyone Archie targeted as a potential foe — Republican or Democrat. As a Duval County Democratic Executive Committee member, he eliminated precinct conventions to prevent opposition from rebelling party members and appointed precinct chairmen and the county executive committee — all of whom owed him their allegiance.
At the 1910 Texas Democratic Convention, Archie defended the bloc system of voting, saying "the Democrats of [Duval] got together and agreed to support the same candidates, and then cast their votes in accordance with the agreement." On election days he kept tight control by distributing pre-marked ballots to the mostly illiterate voters and assigned rifle-toting and pistol-packing guards to ensure compliance. Ballot box tampering was prevalent and with ballots marked in full view of his appointed election judges, Archie's candidates always won.
In 1911 Archie attempted to gain control over county politics by having the county seat relocated to Benavides. The scheme met fierce opposition from Anglos in San Diego who feared that Archie's already growing power over Mexican bloc voting would increase. When this idea failed, he attacked the San Diego power base by arranging an election on May 18, 1912, to authorize San Diego to be incorporated. Both Republicans and independent Democrats vehemently opposed the plan that would allow Archie access to a new city government, which would provide him with additional funding to further his paternal handouts.
Tensions were high on Election Day as men filed into the courthouse to cast their votes. A group of Democrats suspecting fraud tried to gather affidavits from voters but were denied admission to the courthouse. An argument broke out between Democratic county chairman C. M. "Neal" Robinson, who opposed the incorporation, and county clerk Pedro Eznal, who favored it. As the confrontation became heated, Constable Antonio Anguiano, a friend of Eznal's, drew his pistol and aimed it at Robinson. Three Anglos — Dr. Sam A. Roberts, a prominent San Diego physician, Charles K. Gravis, ex-sheriff and Duval County ranchman, and Frank G. Robinson, brother of Neal — drew their guns and opened fire. When the shooting ended, Anguiano lay dead on the street. Eznal, mortally wounded, died thirty minutes later. A third Mexican, Candelario Saenz, candidate for sheriff in the election scheduled two months later, heard the shots. The unarmed Saenz ran to the scene and was shot twice and killed by Gravis. Ironically, Saenz was the same man indicted four years earlier for the murder of John Cleary.
Roberts, Gravis, and Frank Robinson made no attempt to escape and were all arrested by Sheriff Antonio W. Tobin. Unarmed at the time, C. M. Robinson was not arrested. As tensions in the community rose and local Mexicans geared up for a race riot, automobiles arrived loaded with sixty armed white men from nearby Alice. The shooting occurred at 9:00 A.M., but Sheriff Tobin feared a "general feud would begin before noon." To help quiet the situation, Texas Rangers were ordered to San Diego. To help ease the rising tide of emotions, after putting his family on a train to Corpus Christi to get them out of harm's way, Archie headed back to San Diego. Encountering Mexicans bent on retaliation, Archie urged them, "Put up your guns, mis amigos, and let the law take its course."
After the grand jury indicted the three men for murder, bail was set at fifteen thousand dollars each. Arguing that the "affair had gained such notoriety," Judge W. B. Hopkins transferred the case to Austin so the defendants could receive fair trials. Difficulty in having witnesses travel to Austin, plus a crowded docket, resulted in the cases being transferred again. They finally came to trial in Richmond in Fort Bend County. In his charge to members of the jury, Judge Norman G. Kittrell told them to return a verdict of not guilty. Heeding his instructions, they acquitted Robinson. The other two defendants were tried separately, but with the same results. After the verdict Kittrell reportedly said, "Gentlemen, if I had my way I'd give you all Winchesters and tell you to go back and finish the job."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Dukes Of Duval County"
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Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Part I Birth of a Dynasty
1 Texas Politics 3
2 The Duke of Duval 12
3 George Parr's Early Years 27
4 George Becomes the Duke 39
Part II The Peak of Power
5 The 1948 Senate Election 51
6 Investigations and Court Battles 66
7 Bill Mason 79
8 Gathering Forces 89
9 Buddy Floyd 98
10 Empire under Attack 112
Part III Treading Water
11 Uncovering the Hidden 143
12 Court Time 155
13 Fighting to Keep Control 167
14 Indictments, Trials, and a Pulitzer 181
15 Awaiting Trial 194
Part IV Derailed by Civil and Criminal Cases
16 Civil Suits 207
17 Mail Fraud 220
18 Politics and Trials 232
19 Texas Tries Parr 245
20 Mail Fraud Redux 256
21 Regaining Power 273
Part V End of the Dynasty
22 A Routine Tax Audit 287
23 Closing in on the Duke 300
24 Tax Evasion Trial 312
25 Death of the Duke 323
26 After the Duke 335
Notes 351
Bibliography 407
Index 411