By Simon V. Simek —
Six score years ago to this very week of January, a story appeared in the English-language New Braunfels Herald, while the German-language paper, Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, had run the story the previous week. They both detailed an interesting and puzzling report about how a meeting hall dedication party on Christmas night 1905, turned into a murder mystery. It was not a whodunit but a “why did they do it?”
The articles in our town’s papers were not the only ones, as various local outfits picked up the story across Texas, such as the Bryan Morning Eagle and the Galveston Tribune. Despite all of this coverage, there are still many questions left unanswered about why the incident occurred. It seems that in the early hours of Dec. 26, 1905, a heated argument ended with Mrs. Minnie Ramsey shot in the shoulder, Mr. Robert White having fired the gun, Mr. Horace Clark holding the gun after taking it from Robert, and Frank Garrison, a known peace-loving man, gut-shot and dying. Mrs. Ramsey, wife to Willie Ramsey, would survive the ordeal, but Mr. Frank Garrison, the long-time employee of state politician and Sophienburg President Somers. V. Pfueffer, would not recover from his injuries.
Horace Clark, Robert White, and Tom Clark, the father of Horace, were all immediately jailed following the incident. This was not Tom’s first time behind bars, as he and his family were infamous for their reported run-ins with the law and Sheriff Nowotny. He was released, but his son Horace was then charged with the murder of Frank Garrison, and his bond was set at $1,000 (around $35,000 today adjusted for inflation). Meanwhile, Rob White was charged with the assault on Minnie Ramsey and was bonded for $500. Making matters more interesting is the fact that Horace would go on to marry a Louisa “Leah” Ramsey in 1919. Leah Ramsey’s cousin John Branch and his family lived right next door to Minnie Ramsey’s husband, Willie Ramsey, when he was a child. The Herald-dubbed “shooting scrape” was widely reported, and was quite the talk of the town in the first months of 1906 here in New Braunfels, especially as the townsfolk awaited the coming trials in February.
While the shooting leaves many questions unanswered, the trials that followed leave even more answers to be desired. The trials began in February 1906, and despite high public interest, there is almost no official record of what was said, what evidence was presented, or what witnesses were brought forward. No official court documents or transcripts of the trials have been located, and there is no mention of the trials in either the Comal County Law Library or at the State Archives in Austin. The only official records that could be located are from a microfilm roll labeled as District Court Minutes, which provide brief details about the trials, including the defendant’s name, plea, verdict, and sentencing.
While information is limited on the unfolding of the trials, evidence of their results is still very well documented. Horace Clark’s trial ended with his sentencing to five years behind bars in Huntsville for the second-degree murder of Frank Garrison. This may indicate a lenient sentence, because next to the original article covering the shooting incident in the Dec. 28 edition of the Zeitung was the story of 78-year-old Comal County man Mat Porter, who was sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for rustling cattle. Robert White was also found guilty, despite appeal, of assault with intent to murder for the wounding of Mrs. Ramsey in the shoulder, and was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Almost immediately following these trials, Judge L.W. Moore recalled 35 of the witnesses who had testified in the two cases before the grand jury. The San Antonio Daily Light quoted him as declaring “he had never in all his official career listened to so much lying as was displayed.” Tom Clark Sr. was once again under suspicion, as was Horace’s younger brother Ananias Clark. Addie White and Viola White, relatives of Robert, were also investigated for perjury. While the Whites’ charges were dropped, Ananias was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years of incarceration, and Tom was sentenced to five years. The Clarks were joined by Charles Jones who was also found guilty of perjury and sentenced to three years. All were to serve their time with Horace and Robert in Huntsville.
They all arrived within a few days of each other and were logged into the state prison’s record book.
The prison noticed that 61-year-old Tom had several scars and had stubs on each hand where a sixth finger once was. In prison, none of the five men would serve their full sentences, as Robert White, Horace Clark, and Charles Jones were discharged early. Ananias Clark was pardoned by Texas Gov. Thomas Mitchell Campbell in October 1907 just a few months before his full sentence would end. Later that year, the governor inquired about Ananias when Comal County Attorney H.G. Henne went for an official visit. Henne was pleased to tell him that Ananias returned well, and was to be married that very day. Ananias’ father, Tom, would not be so lucky, as he would die of pneumonia in June of 1907, serving just over a year of his five-year sentence.
Besides Frank Garrison and Tom Clark, who both in the end fell victim to the shooting and its repercussions, the other involved parties went on to make successful lives for themselves and for their families. The town moved on. The story concluded and labeled old news, pushed to the side, and put away. What was lost, however, is what caused all of this: the argument, the shooting of Mrs. Ramsey, Horace taking the gun, the killing of Frank, the perjury and lying, and ultimately the debate within the courtroom. And while we may all come up with our own ideas and theories about the reasons, the unfortunate reality is we may never know the truth.
Sources: New Braunfels Herald, New Braunfels Zeitung, San Antonio Daily Express, Bryan Morning Eagle, Austin Statesman, San Antonio Daily Light, Galveston Tribune, District Court Minutes, Federal Census Records (1880, 1890, 1900, 1910), Huntsville Prison Records.
“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.
