DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I wouldn't change a word. Thomas A. Lambeth — Delta County put this one down in 1967, and brother, it deserved the ink.
This man joined the Confederate Army at sixteen years old. Sixteen. While most boys that age were figuring out which end of a plow to hold, Lambeth was riding as a captain in the escort of General John B.
Magruder himself — Commandant of the District of Texas. That right there is a résumé opener that tends to silence a room. Then the war ends, the years turn, and by 1879 Thomas Lambeth is the sheriff of Delta County.
Now here's where the story gets its legs. During his six years as sheriff, the jail was set on fire twenty-five times. Twenty-five.
You want to talk about a man being tested — somebody, or several somebodies, really did not want to be in that jail. Set it on fire two dozen times and then some. And you know what?
Not one prisoner escaped. Not a single one. Lambeth held the line every time.
He also broke up horse thief relay stations — whole networks of them — and rid the county of cattle rustlers, which in that part of Texas was no small civic contribution. Now, you might figure a man who walked through that much fire and that much trouble had to leave a trail of bodies behind him. The marker addresses that directly.
In all his years as sheriff, Lambeth shot only one man. One. Whatever he was doing to keep order, gunplay was the last resort, not the first.
And when Sunday came around, this same man — the one who'd stared down arsonists and horse thieves week after week — taught Sunday School. The marker calls him an outstanding peace officer and a model citizen both, and after everything else it just told you, it's hard to argue the point.
What the marker says
Joined Confederate Army at 16; was captain in escort of General John B. Magruder, Commandant, District of Texas. Became sheriff of Delta County in 1879. During his six years as sheriff, the jail was set on fire 25 times, but no prisoner escaped. He shot only one man. Broke up horse thief relay stations and rid county of cattle rustlers. An outstanding peace officer, he also was a model citizen who taught Sunday School.