James A. Brooks, Texas Ranger

Ranger James Abijah Brooks was one of the “Four Great” captains in Texas history, along with Captains John R. Hughes, William J. McDonald and John H. Rogers. Brooks was born in Kentucky in 1844 to Dr. John Stroke Brooks (1802 – 1862) and Mary Jane Kerr Brooks (1818 – 1912). His father was a doctor and a farmer. John Stroke Brooks died in 1862. In the 1860 and 1870 census forms, James was living in Kentucky with his family. He left Kentucky for Texas in 1876, settling in Collin County. There, he worked on ranches until he joined the Rangers in 1883, at the age of twenty-seven. Brooks enlisted as a private and over the years was promoted to corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant before being promoted from lieutenant to captain by Governor Sul Ross while serving with Company F in 1889.

Major highlights of his long Ranger career include helping to quell hostilities during the fence cutting war, the Reese-Townsend Feud, searching for and fighting against Catarino Garza, labor unrest in West Texas coal mines, the Maher-Fitzsimmons prize fight, pursuing the Conner Gang, combating violence in oil boom towns, and the like.

---

The Conner gang consisted of a family, Willis Conner and three of his sons (Will, Fed and John), in Sabine County. Texas Rangers were called in to help capture them. About March 31, 1877, six Rangers and the four Conners fought a gun battle near Hemphill, Texas in Sabine County. The Conner family were accused of having committed several murders and had managed to accomplish at least one jail break. At least some of the alleged crimes grew out of an earlier feud between this family and two others which may have dated back decades. At the time the Rangers were requested, Brooks was serving as a sergeant under the command of Captain William Scott. According to several accounts, the Rangers were ambushed by the Conners. When the shooting ended, one Ranger named J. H. Moore was killed along with one of the Conner brothers named William E. “Will” Conner. Captain Scott received a gunshot wound. Though he escaped, Frederick “Fed” Conner was thought to have been badly wounded. In the melee, Sergeant Brooks was also wounded, losing three fingers on his left hand to a gunshot and and receiving another gunshot in his right hand. J. H. Rogers received a flesh wound in his left arm between the elbow and shoulder.

Bloodhounds from Rusk State Prison joined the search, but the remaining members of the Conner family fled the area. Another skirmish took place in late October, 1887 when Fed Conner was killed. The pursuit finally ended after the posse set up in a shack or cabin thought to be near the hideout of the remaining Conners. When Willis Conner arrived a gun fight ensued resulting in the death of the patriarch, sixty-five year old Willis. Also killed in the battle was Conner’s eleven year old grandson, Thomas Williams, who was apparently caught in the crossfire. The other brother John had apparently left the family before the final battle, perhaps to start a new life in Louisiana. He died there of unknown causes in 1910. These individuals and other members of the Conner family are all buried in a family cemetery.

---

Catarino Garza’s name had begun appearing in Texas newspapers by the 1880s. Garza was born near Matamoros in November, 1859 and lived in Texas beginning about 1877 after which he resided in various towns along the Rio Grande. He began publishing a Spanish language newspaper in the late 1880s. One of its main focuses was opposition to the rule of General Porfirio Diaz in Mexico. Another theme was concerned with opposition to Texas Rangers, alleging abuses against citizens of Mexican descent. Garza clashed with Captain John R. Hughes who arrested Garza alleging libel over his coverage of the death of Abraham Reséndez. Reséndez had been killed on May 16, 1888 in Rio Grande City by a United States customs inspector named Victor Sebree. Venue was changed and a trial was held in San Diego in Duval County after which Sebree and another individual named Dillard were acquitted. Garza continued his editorial criticism of Sebree. Later, a shootout occurred in which both Garza and Sebree were wounded.

Garza continued his publishing for the next several years and ramped up his criticism of the Diaz rule. Followers of Garza grew into a revolutionary movement made up of a wide economic strata of Mexican individuals. Though relatively small in number, the so called Garza Revolution began to take military actions in Texas and Coahuila in 1891. The United States, under President Benjamin Harrison, was compelled to oppose the Garza faction because of existing neutrality agreements with Mexico. Garza is thought to have only had at most perhaps one thousand or so armed followers in his revolutionary army, but his actions generated sympathy and support among some area residents (Mexican and Anglo), a portion of whom were emboldened to commit crimes in Texas. The United States Army and United States marshals were called upon to oppose Garza from a federal perspective and Texas Rangers were there to enforce state laws.

Garza did cross into Mexico on numerous occasions over the following months before he fled to Central America in 1892. However his supporters, referred to as “Garzistas,” continued to violate Texas laws requiring the actions of the Rangers led by Brooks, J. S. McNeel and John H. Rogers (then a sergeant under Brooks) who led the efforts to keep the peace. Meanwhile, Garza was exiled from the United States. He continued his support of revolutionary efforts in Central America and is believed to have been killed during the Colombian Revolution in 1895.

---

Brooks is mentioned as serving in support during an event of labor issues in the mines in and around Thurber around 1894. Involvement in the Reese-Townsend Feud may have been peace keeping after 1900, after the remnants of the families continued to revive the old conflicts.

---

The Fitzsimmons-Maher prizefight was one of the next occurrences. A promoter had endeavored to organize a prizefight between “Ruby Bob” Fitzsimmons and Pete Maher to take place in early 1896 in El Paso. This controversy occurred under Governor Charles A. Culbertson and would have been a violation of Texas law. Governor Culbertson had popular support from certain groups in Texas. Accordingly, several companies of Rangers including that of Brooks, Bill McDonald and John H. Rogers, by then a captain, converged on El Paso. However, the proposed fight was relocated and took place near Langtry, allowed by “Judge” Roy Bean, who was in his final years of serving as a justice of the peace. The boxing match was finally held on an island in the Rio Grande, officially not part of the United States. The highly touted contest took only a couple of minutes to play out, with Fitzsimmons quickly knocking out Maher.

---

In November, 1906, not long after the the end of the last Ranger peace keeping mission connected with the Reese-Townsend affair, Captain Brooks resigned in November 1906. This occurred five to six years after the disbanding of the Frontier Battalion which had existed since 1874. By 1906, he was still a relatively young man in his late forties. After his resignation, Brooks moved to Falfurrias and for the next thirty-seven years he settled down to civilian life. He participated in politics serving two terms in the Texas Legislature and for over twenty-five years as a judge.

Brooks County was created in 1911 and named in his honor. The great captain passed away at the age of 88 in January, 1944 and is interred with his wife and other family members in Falfurrias Mission Burial Park.

© 2024, all rights reserved.