DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it plain, but let me give it to you the way it deserves to be told. Out here in Mason County, there's a marker that carries two names — two sheriffs, two generations, and two tragedies that echo each other across the better part of a century. That kind of story doesn't need embellishing.
It just needs to breathe. Thomas S. Milligan came out of Kentucky and landed in this part of Texas in 1855.
He wasn't a lawman yet — he was running a change station for the stage line, swapping out horses so the coaches could keep moving across country that wasn't exactly tame. He was also a rancher, and he supplied beef to the soldiers over at Fort Mason. A practical man building a practical life.
Then Mason County got itself organized in 1858, and the people here looked around and decided Thomas Milligan was their man. He became the first elected sheriff this county ever had. Two years later, he was killed by hostile Indians near his home — a mile and a half to the northwest of where that marker stands.
The first sheriff Mason County ever chose didn't live to see a quiet retirement. Now here's where the story turns its collar up and gets cold. Thomas Milligan had a grandson.
Allen Thomas Murray, born in 1880. And in 1924, Allen Murray became county sheriff — the same office his grandfather had been the first to hold. Different era, different dangers, same badge in spirit.
But like his grandfather before him, Allen Murray died in the line of duty. In 1929, he was killed by a bootlegger, right near that very site. Born in 1880.
Gone in 1929. Two sheriffs. Two generations.
Both answered the call, and both paid everything. Mason County remembers them together — and that's exactly right.
What the marker says
A native of Kentucky, Thomas S. Milligan (1810-1860) moved to this area in 1855 and operated a change station for the stage line. He was also a rancher and supplied beef to the soldiers at Fort Mason. Shortly after Mason County was organized in 1858 he became the first elected sheriff. Two years later he was killed by hostile Indians near his home (1.6 mi. NW). His grandson Allen Thomas Murray (1880-1929) became county sheriff in 1924 and like his grandfather died in the line of duty. He was killed by a bootlegger near this site in 1929. (1980)