| Ben Thompson |
| Ben Thompson, gunfighter and lawman, was born in Knottingly England on November 2, 1843, and was taken as a child with his parents William and Mary Ann to Austin, Texas. Ben was the eldest of four children, William a brother and sisters Mary Jane and Frances. In 1856, Thompson left Texas and� got a job as an apprentice printer at the New Orleans Picayune. He spent much of his money and free time in the notorious Latin Quarter. While there, he interfered with a man who some say was trying to force his attentions on a woman. The man, a Frenchman named Emile de Tours, challenged him to a duel. As Thompson being the� challenged, he got to pick the weapon. Ben his usual self decided to make it interesting and chose to fight blindfolded in a dark room, with knives. Thompson won the fight, but had to leave town immediately. � Thompson went back to Austin, where returned to work for the Southern Intelligencer, a local daily newspaper where he had worked before leaving Texas |
| 1842 - 1884 |
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| With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Ben enlisted with the Confederate Army. He joined the regiment of Colonel John R. Baylor. His service was confined to the battles fought around Texas and Louisiana which, in comparison, were very small and had little bearing on the outcome of the war. He appears to have spent more time quarreling and shooting at other Confederate soldiers than he spent battling the Union forces, killing a Confederate soldier and wounded several others, then shot a teamster in Austin for allegedly stealing an army mule. �� On the 24th November 1863, Ben married Catherine Moore, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth Moore.�� Ben and Catherine had at least two children, Benjamin and Katherine. � On June 2, 1865, the Confederates formally surrendered and laid down their arms. Ben, who was stationed in Waco, Texas at the time, returned home and found Austin too peaceful, so he immediately set out for Old Mexico, where Maximilian was having a lively time maintaining himself in his position as Emperor of Mexico. After getting on Mexican soil Ben lost no time in reaching the headquarters of Maximilian's army, where he tendered his services on behalf of the invader's cause. He was instantly accepted and commissioned a captain and was soon wearing the uniform of the Emperor's army. Ben, however, was not given much opportunity to achieve distinction in the invading army. In June 1867, Emperor Maximilian was captured, tried for treason and executed. Ben was lucky to escape from the Mexicans with his life and he eventually returned home to his family in Austin after an absence of almost four years. |
| On or around the 2nd September, 1868, Ben became involved in a confrontation with his brother-in-law, James Moore, with some unconfirmed reports stating that James had been abusing his sister. James was shot and killed and� Ben was charged murder and� with threatening the life of Justice of the Peace, W. D. Scott. Ben had asked for Scott's assistance over the annoyance that his brother-in-law was causing him, but Scott refused. When Ben became aware that Scott was now� in the process of drawing up a warrant to have him arrested, Ben could hold back his outrage no longer, and threatened the magistrates life. He was found guilty on both charges and sentenced to four years hard labor in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville where he served two years of his sentence before being released. ��� Ben and his brother Billy frequented the many gambling halls around Texas and across the Mexican border. Ben was a gambler and his habit got him into many duels and brawls that were the hallmark of many a gambling man. He eventually abandoned his job as a printer and began to gamble full time, relying on his skill, as applied to the law of luck and chance, to make a living for himself. In 1871, he took his skills to Abilene Kansas, and with an old Civil War friend and fellow gambler Phil Coe, opened� the Bull's Head Tavern and Gambling Saloon. This was reportedly a huge success which became a favorite haunt for the Texas drovers and earned Ben a small fortune. �� October 5, 1871, Coe was involved in a shoot out with Wild Bill Hickok and was killed. Some say that Thompson was in Kansas City, others say he was at the saloon when Coe was killed. Some say that Thompson threatened Wild Bill, others say he never accosted him. Either way two of the best gunfighters that ever lived narrowly missed a gunfight. I firmly believe that neither man wanted to face the other or it would have happened. � In June 1873, Ben and his brother Bill went to Ellsworth, Kansas, another cow, where he opened another saloon. On August 18, 1873, Ben got into a dispute with gambler Happy Jack Sterling and Edward Houge. The trouble originated over a game of cards. One or two blows were given and the parties rushed for their guns. Ben and Bill Thompson obtained their arms, went into the street calling out: "Bring out your men if you want to fight."� At this time Sheriff Whitney came over to them and asked them to stop the fussing, and� started back towards Brennan's saloon. Ben remained outside, walking up and down the street, with a rifle in his hands. Then Ben� pointed his rifle up street towards Beebe's store at Happy Jack Sterling, who was standing in the doorway and fired. The bullet hit the door casing, which saved Happy's life. The next moment Bill Thompson came out of the saloon with a double barreled shotgun, which he pointed, and fired� with Sheriff Whitney receiving the charge. ��� � After the shooting Bill Thompson went back into the saloon, and soon afterwards went across the street� towards the Grand Central. Ben met him there, gave him a pistol and said: "For God's sake leave town you have killed Whitney."� Bill replied that he did not give a damm that he would have shot "if it would have been Jesus Christ!"� He then rode slowly out of town cursing and inviting a fight. Ben Thompson retained his arms for a full hour after this, and no attempt was made to disarm him. Mayor Miller was notified of the disturbance and� went� to Thompson, and only after disarming Happy Jack and Houge did Thompson give up his gun. |
| After the shooting the brothers were forced to leave Kansas and in 1875 Ben Thompson moved to Fort Elliott in the Texas Panhandle, where he befriended Bartholomew (Bat) Masterson. When Masterson shot an army sergeant in a fight over a woman, Thompson stepped in to prevent Masterson from being killed by other soldiers. After this altercation, Thompson and Masterson were hired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in a right-of-way dispute with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. On this unusual occasion the conflict was settled in the courts rather than in the streets or saloons. Thompson earned several thousand dollars, some diamonds, and the lifelong friendship of Masterson. Bat Masterson later wrote that he considered Thompson to be the best gunfighter of them all. Others missed at times, but Ben Thompson was as delicate and certain in action as a Swiss watch. �� Ben returned to Texas and acquired the concession to operate the Faro Tables above the Iron Front Saloon, Congress Avenue, Austin. In 1879, in an effort to gain social acceptance, he announced his candidacy for City Marshall of Austin. Before the election, he was involved in a shooting at Mark Wilson's Senate Saloon and Variety Theater. Wilson had been about to throw him out when Thompson killed him with four shots, and when a bartender tried to help, he was shot and later died of his wound. When Thompson was brought before the court for the two deaths, he was acquitted. �� In December, 1880 Ben won the election as marshal of Austin in a field of five candidates, and the town was delighted. From the moment he took office the crime rate dropped and so did the number of arrest. Just his appearance on the streets was enough to keep the peace. Ben was easily spotted by his silk stove pipe hat, dapper suits and carefully waxed mustache. When things got a little to quite Ben would sometimes get drunk and shoot out the street lights. The citizens didn't mind they elected him for a second term the next year. Only when he gunned down an old enemy Jack Harris in a shoot-out in San Antonio did they feel that he had gone a little to far and reluctantly accepted his resignation. Thompson continued to ride high in Texas although he was no longer the marshal his presence could still inspire both awe and fear, and could clear a room by simply stepping into it. �� On March 11, 1884, Ben and fellow gunslinger J. King Fisher went to the Vaudeville Theater and gambling hall in San Antonio. Why they chose to visit there that day is not known because the owner of the theater was Joe Foster, the partner of Jack Harris whom Ben had killed two years previous. Inevitably a gun fight ensued and when the smoke had cleared, Ben and Fisher were both dead. Although the inquest concluded that both men were shot in self-defense, stories later surfaced stating that they had been murdered by hired gunmen. Autopsies supported these theories by showing that the bullets had been fired from above their table although no one was ever made accountable for the murders. �� Ben Thompson was buried in Oakwood cemetery on Thursday 13th March 1884.� His personal possessions are currently in the care of family members although there is mention of possibly displaying some of them in a museum in Austin. |
| Marshal Ben Thompson admitted to 32 killings as a private citizen. Though he always killed openly and manly he met his own end in an ambush by hired assassins. Bat Masterson |
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