DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm not gonna add a single word it didn't earn. T. J.
Faught — born April 22, 1847, died August 2, 1912 — and if you've got a minute, this man's story is worth every mile of road between here and Snyder. Faught came out to northeast Scurry County in 1879 as a rancher, back when this part of Texas was still figuring out what it wanted to be. Then 1884 rolls around — six months after the county organized itself into something official — and the very first sheriff of Scurry County resigned.
In disgust. Now the marker doesn't explain what disgusted him, and maybe that's its own story, but here's the thing: somebody had to step up. They appointed T.
J. Faught. He served out the remainder of that first term, then won three more.
Four terms' worth of law and order in a place that had already chased off the first man who tried it. And here's the detail that'll stay with you long after you've passed this stretch of highway — the whole time he carried that badge, T. J.
Faught never wore a gun. Not once. Whether that was nerve, or principle, or some particular brand of Texas confidence, the marker doesn't say.
But the county kept electing him, so something was working. Off the range and off the badge, Faught was a leading citizen of Snyder. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge and built the hall to house it.
The town honored him with a street bearing his name — Faught Street, known today as 27th Street. The name changed; the man didn't. Four terms, no gun, and a street that still runs through Snyder.
That's a record worth remembering.
What the marker says
(April 22, 1847-August 2, 1912) Settled in 1879 as a rancher in northeast Scurry County. In 1884, six months after county organization, the first sheriff resigned in disgust. Faught was appointed, serving remainder of that term plus three more. As sheriff, he never wore a gun. Faught was also a leading citizen of Snyder. He built a hall for the Masonic Lodge, of which he was a charter member. Faught Street (now 27th Street) was named in his honor. (Recorded--1968)