Tales of Texas Heroes – Part 4 – “Sheriff Jim”By Charles Murray

The Texas Heroes Museum honors Texas veterans from the Texas Revolution to present.  We also honor other Texans who serve and sacrifice for the community, including law enforcement, firefighters, first responders, and paramedics.  We have recreated a “sheriff’s office” in the same room that was used by the first five sheriffs in the Old Jail.

Probably the most famous Fayette County Sheriff was Thomas James Flournoy, known by most as “Sheriff Jim.”  His career in law enforcement began in 1925 as Deputy Sheriff in Kennedy County.  In 1929, Flournoy became Chief Deputy in Fayette County under Sheriff Will Loessin.  In September, 1941, Flournoy resigned from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department to accept an appointment with the Texas Rangers.  During World War II, the Texas Rangers expanded their force to protect the Texas Border.  After leaving the Texas Rangers, Flournoy served as Deputy Sheriff in Wharton County.  In 1945 he returned to Fayette County when he learned that Sheriff Loessin was not seeking reelection.  He won election to become the Sheriff of Fayette County in 1946.  Sheriff Jim won every election thereafter until his health forced him to retire in December 1980.  In addition to his law enforcement career, Flournoy belonged to many civic and fraternal organizations.  He is buried in the La Grange cemetery.  In 2022, Texas Rangers dedicated a memorial cross at his gravesite.  A more complete history of Sheriff Jim’s life is in our museum.

I have heard several entertaining stories about Sheriff Jim.  Mike Klesel told me about a time when he was just starting his career as an attorney.  Mike had to interview a client who was incarcerated in the Old Jail.  When he arrived, the inmates were “raising a ruckus.”  Sheriff Jim loaded his .45 with a blank and fired through one of the five holes in the wall of the main cellblock.  You can imagine how loud that sounded inside, with the echoes bouncing off of the stone walls and metal jail cells.  Mike said “It made the inmates get real quiet, real fast.”

Sheriff Jim carried a Colt .45 Auto pistol.  Some local boys asked “Sheriff Jim, why don’t you get a modern handgun, like a .357 Magnum?”  Sheriff Jim told the boys, with his deep drawl, “Boys, I call this my freight train.  The bullet is slow getting to the target, but once it gets there, it’s hard to stop.”

I had a visitor tell me that he used to like to “burn rubber” while racing away from the high school parking lot.  One day Sheriff Jim stopped him.  He said “Don’t you be doin’ that,” to which he replied “Yes sir.”  The visitor said that warning lasted on him several months, but then he started doing it again.  Sheriff Jim caught him again, and that time he drove him to his parents’ home.  Sheriff Jim rang the doorbell, and the father answered the door.  “Sheriff Jim spanked me in front of my dad.  But that wasn’t nearly as bad as the spanking I got when I went inside.” 

I have a longer story about Sheriff Jim and the drunk tank.  It’s too long for this article, so you need to come to the museum to hear it.  Visit our museum and see memorabilia from Sheriff Jim and the other Fayette County Sheriffs.  

I love Sheriff Jim stories.  Send your stories to texasheroesmuseum@gmail.com with “Sheriff Jim Stories” as part of the subject line.

Our museum’s DBA name is Texas Heroes Museum.  Our non-profit, tax-exempt corporation name is Texans in War Museum Association, TIN 46-4084521.  Your contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.  Our Officers and Board of Directors are all volunteers.  We have no paid staff.