Joe Ball "the Alligator Man" — Elmendorf, Texas RoadyGoat

1930

Elmendorf, Texas, just south of San Antonio. In the nineteen thirties, a man named Joe Ball ran a roadhouse called the Sociable Inn off the highway and kept five live alligators in a concrete pond out back — paid admission, drew tourists from the highway. He also employed a series of young women as waitresses, some of whom disappeared without drawing much attention. When Bexar County deputies arrived at the Sociable Inn in September of nineteen thirty-eight to ask about a missing woman, Joe Ball walked to the cash register, opened it, and shot himself in the head. Investigators drained the alligator pond. They found human remains. They found a metal drum buried in the yard with a body inside. The official victim count stopped at two; investigators believed there were more. The five alligators were sold to the San Antonio Zoo.

13.3 mi away

Armstrong, John Barclay

1875

John Barclay Armstrong, a Texas Ranger known as "McNelly's Bulldog," was born in January 1850 in McMinnville, Tennessee, the son of Dr. John B. Armstrong. After living for a time in Missouri and Arkansas he moved to Texas, in January 1871. He settled in Austin and married Mollie Durst; they had seven children. In the early 1870s Armstrong was a member of the Travis Rifles, and on May 20, 1875, he joined Capt. Leander McNelly 's company of Texas Rangers . Described as well built, with a "full face marked by heavy brows and made distinguished by a finely modeled nose and deep-set languid eyes," Armstrong wore a full beard and was something of a dandy in dress. In 1875 he accompanied McNelly to the Rio Grande and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He took part in the fighting at Palo Alto Prairie in the so-called Las Cuevas War, and in the fall of 1876 he was involved in the killing or capture of a number of suspected criminals in the area between Eagle Pass and Laredo. In February 1877 he was active in the pursuit of hide thieves on the border, and in December of that year he and a ranger named Deggs killed accused murderer John Mayfield in Wilson County. When McNelly retired from ranger service, Armstrong was named second lieutenant of the Special Force of Texas Rangers under 1st Lt. Leigh Hall , on January 26, 1877. Several of the company were outspoken in their belief that Armstrong should have been promoted to captain. He was assigned to the Eagle Pass area, where he operated on both sides of the border, assisted in the breakup of several bands of outlaws, and helped arrest John King Fisher in April 1877. While recovering from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound suffered at Goliad, Armstrong asked to be allowed to arrest the notorious gunman John Wesley Hardin . The ranger pursued Hardin first to Alabama, then to Florida, then confronted him and four of his gang on a train in Pensacola. In the affray that followed, Armstrong killed one of Hardin's men, rendered Hardin unconscious with a blow from his handgun, and arrested the remaining gang members. After considerable delay in the execution of extradition papers, Armstrong returned Hardin to Texas, where he was tried and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in September 1877. In July 1878 Armstrong was involved in the killing of outlaw Sam Bass at Round Rock. Thereafter he was stationed for a time at Cuero. After retiring from ranger service he was appointed a United States marshal. In 1882 he established the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch in Willacy County. The old ranger, known in retirement as "Major" Armstrong, died on May 1, 1913.

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Calvillo, Ignacio Francisco Xavier

1760

Ignacio (also spelled Ygnacio) Francisco Xavier Calvillo, early Spanish Texas rancher and alcalde of San Fernando de Béxar , was born in 1731 in the villa of Aguascalientes in Mexico. He was the son of José Calvillo and Lagarda (?) López de Saraz. His journey to the villa of San Fernando de Béxar is not documented, but he made his way to the area as evidenced by his marriage to Doña María Antonia de Arocha, who came from an important Béxar ranching and Canary Islander family. San Fernando Church records indicate that they married there in November 1760. Ignacio and María Antonia had five children together. These children include Francisco Antonio who died the year after his birth, María del Carmen , Juana, Francisca del Borja, and Francisco Antonio. Ignacio Calvillo spent his life in the Béxar area as a rancher. His marriage into the Arocha family likely helped him start his ranching activities as an early document indicates that Calvillo had some cattle on his brother-in-law's land. Calvillo then moved onto land that he leased and later owned which was a ranch known as El Paso de las Mujeres or Nuestra Señora de las Mujeres (near Rancho de las Cabras which was Mission San Francisco de la Espada 's ranch and is near present-day Floresville in Wilson County). A 1782 report of an earlier roundup (pertaining to 1781) noted that El Paso de los Mujeres had sixty livestock total, thirty of which were branded. This Calvillo ranching operation was smaller than the other ranches on the same list. Yet, Calvillo's ranching efforts did not remain small-scale for long. As his ranching enterprises grew, he requested permission to drive cattle to another market in Coahuila with his brothers-in-law Juan and Manuel de Arocha. Such a request indicates Calvillo's growing ranching operation and efforts to access markets for his cattle. In addition to his role as a major rancher, Calvillo's importance in the local community was marked by his public service on the cabildo . In a 1780 document, Calvillo was listed with the title procurador general indicating his membership as a cabildo member. He continued to serve, and in 1789 the cabildo elected Calvillo to the position of alcalde. He served one term as alcalde in 1789, and then due to a crisis in the local elections, he ended up serving through 1790. While serving in office, Calvillo continued to focus on ranching. It is unclear exactly when he increased his land holdings to include much of Rancho de las Cabras, the former ranch of Mission San Francisco de la Espada, but one document indicates that he filed for the title in 1809. Calvillo had been ranching (probably leasing land from Mission Espada) in the locale if not on part of Las Cabras by the late 1780s. Another segment of Rancho de las Cabras was granted to Juan Barrera. As a rancher in the Béxar area, Calvillo appeared in documents requesting permission to round up cattle, drive cattle to other markets, and in documentation that recorded a dispute in which a man was accused of illegally slaughtering cattle with the brands of other citizens. Calvillo's life ended violently in 1814 in a raid by Lipan Apaches on Rancho de las Cabras. Spanish authorities conducted interviews and found an intimate connection between one raider and Calvillo. Witnesses noted that Calvillo's grandson, Ignacio Casanova, was one of the attackers in the raid-thus suggesting a personal motive in the attack. As a result of the death of her father, the eldest surviving daughter, María Calvillo, inherited the large ranch which she owned into the 1840s.

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Helm, John Jackson [Jack] Marshall

1869

John Jackson [Jack] Helm (Helms) was born in Missouri between 1836 and 1839 to George Washington and Ruth Mayo (Burnett) Helm. The family relocated to Texas by October 1841, and settled on 640 acres of land in Lamar County on February 7, 1842. During the Civil War he enlisted for twelve months in Company G of the Ninth Texas Cavalry under Capt. Lorenzo D. King at Camp Reeves on October 14, 1861. In 1862 George and Jack participated in a vigilante group that tried and hanged five men for Union sympathies. He deserted on April 14 in Des Ark, Arkansas. After the war he became captain of the State Police under Edmund J. Davis , and was said to have worked for Abel Head (Shanghai) Pierce as a cowboy. In June 1869 he was appointed a special officer to assist Capt. C. S. Bell in attacking the "Taylor Party" in the Sutton-Taylor Feud . Helm went to Austin and became the leading figure in the band of special officers spoken of by nonmembers as "regulators." He married Margaret Virginia Crawford in DeWitt on December 28, 1868. Through July and August 1869 they carried on a reign of terror in Bee, San Patricio, Wilson, DeWitt, and Goliad counties. The Galveston News reported that they killed twenty-one persons in two months and turned over only ten to the civil authorities. On August 23, Bell and Helm arranged a second attack on Taylor's ranch, in which Hays Taylor was killed and Doboy Taylor was wounded. He was elected sheriff of DeWitt County on December 3, 1869, and took the oath on April 27, 1870. After the founding of the State Police on July 1, 1870, Helm was appointed one of the four captains. On August 26, 1870, his detachment arrested Henry and Will Kelly of the Taylor faction on a trivial charge and shot them. Women of the Kelly family were witnesses, and their story caused such a public outcry that Governor Davis could not ignore the outrage. Helm was suspended in October and dismissed in December. He continued to be a menace for some time because he was serving as sheriff of DeWitt County during and after his incumbency as captain of State Police. When the police force was abolished in April 1873, Helm moved to Albuquerque, Texas, where he worked to perfect a cotton-worm destroyer that he had invented. He received a patent (no. 139,062) on May 20, 1873, for a new and improved version of the device. He was shot and killed by Jim Taylor and John Wesley Hardin at his blacksmith shop on July 18, 1873, and was buried in McCracken Cemetery in Wilson County.

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Cemetery of Canary Islanders

1731

Predates church built 1732 by colonists who arrived 1731, led by Juan Leal Goras. They farmed and raised stock. Their villa, San Fernando, was first municipality in Texas. Among unmarked graves is that of flamboyant Dona Maria Cavillo. Site now county-owned. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.

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Wright, Capt. Will L. - Texas Ranger and Sheriff

1890

(February 10, 1868-March 7, 1942) A fearless, colorful, cultured man whose honesty and diplomacy often prevented bloodshed. An 1890s Wilson County Deputy Sheriff. In Frontier Battalion, Texas Rangers. Sheriff, Wilson County, 1902-1917. At request of Texas Adjutant-General, he organized and commanded Co. D, Texas Rangers, 1918-1939. Gained great fame along Rio Grande. Married Mary Ann Brown. Their seven children included two who became law officers. Recorded, 1967

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Lodi

1720

Community in an area known by 1720 as land of the Cayopines, a Coahuiltecan Indian tribe. The site was important to Spanish missions of San Antonio, since here along the river their herds were pastured. For the herdsmen, adobe huts were built. After the Apache Indians began to raid the area in 1731, the herdsmen took refuge across the river within the stronger walls of the Mission Cabras. The Pena brothers had Rancho San Eldifonzo Del Chayopin here from 1756 to 1787, and a nephew applied for title when mission lands were secularized in 1794. However, award was made to Simon and Juan Arocha. Their neighbors (descended from Canary Island colonists of 1731) included Jose Maria Flores and Erasmus Seguin. Stephen T. Cook settled here in 1858, putting in a store and securing office of postmaster. He may have named Lodi for a town in Mississippi, his old home state. Wilson County was organized in an election held Feb. 13, 1860. Samuel W. Barker (husband of local aristocrat Josefa Flores) became the first sheriff of the new county. Improved roads were built here. After the Civil War, Wilson County voters on Dec. 8, 1867, designated Lodi county seat--an honor lost to Floresville in 1872. Area then reverted to ranching. (1971)

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Joe Ball "the Alligator Man" — Elmendorf, Texas RoadyGoat

Armstrong, John Barclay

Calvillo, Ignacio Francisco Xavier

Helm, John Jackson [Jack] Marshall

Cemetery of Canary Islanders

Wright, Capt. Will L. - Texas Ranger and Sheriff

Lodi

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