ADOLPH CRIXELL ON A MISSION TO FIND ANCESTOR'S HISTORY

By Juan Montoya

Come next Aug. 12, it'll be 100 years since that fateful day when City Marshal Joe Crixell – distant ancestor to local pharmacist Adolph Crixell (Vincent's brother) – was shot down in the family saloon on Elizabeth Street by a former Texas Ranger allied with his political opponents.

Adolph, who has served on the planning and zoning board, has run for public office and has labored at the Chamber of Commerce to implement grand plans for the revitalization of downtown, has made it his life's goal to find out why his ancestor was killed in those troubled times.

"We have had stories coming down from our grandfather and our father that Joe Crixell was shot in the back, and others that he wasn't," said Adolph when we ran into him recently at the Brownsville Central Public Library. "I want to find out the truth."

A variety of sources, including a narrative about his death from Officer Down Memorial Page, indicate that in the "early 1900’s, the political and racial situation in Cameron County, and in the county seat of Brownsville, was volatile. The Democrats (Blues) controlled the county offices and were predominately white, and the Independents (Reds) controlled the Brownsville municipal offices and were predominately Hispanic."

In the year previous to his death, City Marshal Crixell had run against the ticket of Blues as an independent and against the machine of Boss J.B. Wells. Wells was well known to be allied to the Texas Rangers and the Texas governor at the tiem. His machine was also known to import votes for the Brownsville and Cameron County elections from across the river in Matamoros.

The narrative continues that "At about 9:45 p.m., Friday, August 9, 1912, City Marshal Joe Crixell had finished his rounds of the city on horseback, and had returned downtown to Elizabeth Street, between 12th and 13th Streets.

"Marshal Crixell tied his horse outside a saloon owned by his brother, Teofilo Crixell. Deputy Sheriff Paul McAllister, a former Texas Ranger, was seated in a chair a short distance away in front of the Club Saloon. Crixell approached on the sidewalk, and when he was within five feet of McAllister, McAllister shot Crixell six times with a .45 caliber automatic pistol. Crixell died within 10 minutes without speaking.

Crixell’s pistol was still in his holster, and had not been fired, and no words were exchanged between the men. Texas Ranger Captain J.M. Fox and Private James B. Mercer were nearby, and arrested McAllister. McAllister was held without bail, but he gained a change of venue to Hallettsville in Lavaca County.

McAllister was acquitted on November 11, 1913, based on a self-defense argument that Crixell that previously threaten him. McAllister remained a deputy sheriff until 1915, when he became a deputy sheriff in Duval County. On July 5, 1925, McAllister, now a deputy state game warden, was involved in a shooting that resulted in his death, and that of Nueces County Pct 1 Constable Carl M. Bisbee and his deputy, R.R. Bledsoe."

Crixell has discovered through his research that the only impartial witness was a traveling salesman from Chicago who was not able to attend the court hearing in Hallettsville and therefore could not provide the only first-hand account of the killing.

We're sure that as Crixell's efforts to find the true facts behind hi ancestor's killing will produce a novel that will shed a light not only the murder of the lawman, but also on the historical context in which it happened.
Marshal Crixell was survived by his wife and four children; three brothers, one sister, and his mother. He is buried in the Brownsville City Cemetery.