John J. "Chief" Clinton

Born:  Aug. 2, 1848 , in Dublin , Ireland

Died: May 31, 1922 , in Abilene , Texas

Edu cation: St. John’s Military Academy , Little Rock , Arkansas

Family:  Wife, Mary “Mother” Clinton; no children

Occupation:
Abilene Deputy Marshal from 1884-86,
Town Marshal (the title was later changed to Police Chief) 1886-1922;
Volunteer Fireman, 1886-1889;
Volunteer Fire Chief 1889-1922.

John J. Clinton was the type of tall Texan that legends are made of.

And like many legendary figures, some tales of his past may have been made up.

“Though he had the courage of a lion, he also had the heart of a woman,” Robert Bassetti wrote of Chief Clinton in his master’s thesis for Hardin-Simmons University in 1941

“He won the love and respect of everyone; even his prisoners admired him,” Bassetti wrote. “It is said that he gave more to charity in proportion to his means than any other man in Abilene . He befriended the downtrodden and unfortunate. At the home of the distressed could be seen his old horse ‘Charlie’ waiting for his master to return.”

Much of what we know today about Clinton comes from Bassetti’s thesis and from Clinton ’s obituary. The authors of each became well respected in the community. Bassetti became an educator and now has a school named in his honor. The obituary writer was Frank Grimes, who became editor of the Abilene Reporter-News.

Abilene was 3 years old in 1884 when Clinton happened to pass through the county driving a herd of cattle. He stayed when he was offered the job of deputy marshal. In 1886, he ran for town marshal, but lost to W.A. George. Several months later, however, George resigned and Clinton was appointed to the top job. Clinton never lost another election. His title was later changed to police chief, a position he held until his death May 31, 1922 .

He also headed the volunteer fire department. Clinton , Bassetti wrote, “was the spirit of the Abilene Volunteer Department personified. For thirty-eight years he answered the call of distress in Abilene . … The nights were never too cold nor the days too hot or rainy for him to rush to his post as commander and leader.”

Another unique trait about Clinton was that he never failed to attend a funeral in town. At times, he and the undertaker were the only people present.

Chief Clinton, however, is best known for a tradition he started in 1885. Warned that a group of cowboys planned to shoot up the town on New Year’s Eve, Clinton declared that all saloons should close at midnight . As a signal to the saloons, Clinton stood at the corner of South First and Chestnut streets and emptied his ivory-handled revolver into the air. There was no trouble, and the firing of the revolver became an Abilene tradition on New Year’s Eve — even after Abilene voted itself dry. After Clinton ’s death, the tradition was carried on until 1951 by his friend Jinks McGee. A state historical marker now commemorates Clinton at the site.

Though he was well-respected in Abilene , some questions about his past remain unanswered.

“He was a nice fire chief. He was a nice chief of police. He was a nice guy. But as for his past before he came to Abilene , he was a fraud,” said Denny McFarland, a member of the Taylor County Historical Commission who has done research on Clinton .

McFarland questions a couple of the stories Clinton told about himself — that Clinton was marshal of Dodge City, Kan., and that he fought at the Battle of Adobe Walls. A historian who wrote a book on Adobe Walls found no evidence that Clinton had been involved in the battle, McFarland said.

Also, McFarland said he called the Dodge City museum and no one found any records to indicate Clinton was ever marshal there.

Born in Ireland

Clinton was born Aug. 2, 1948 , in Dublin , Ireland . His family moved to Wisconsin when he was seven, and when he was 15, in the midst of the Civil War, he went to St. John’s Military Academy at Little Rock , Ark. He enlisted in a Confederate cavalry unit made up of boys under 19.

He fought in the battle of Chapel Hill , N.C. , which occurred after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered and was captured by Union troops. (Newspaper stories about Clinton say that he was fond of wearing a Confederate medal throughout his tenure in Abilene .)

After the war, Clinton worked as a government scout, first coming to West Texas in 1867. As a scout he met Col. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Clinton ’s obituary states that Cody would visit Clinton whenever he brought his Wild West circus to Abilene .

Clinton ’s wife was known to everyone as “Mother Clinton.” In fact, her tombstone gives her name only as “Mother Clinton.” It took some research by local historian and funeral director Jack North to uncover that her given name was Mary. The Clintons didn’t have any children, but were “parents” to the “boys” in the fire department and looked after children in need. The Chief took part in the first Mother Hubbard Anti-Empty Stocking Campaign in 1912 and urged that others do the same. Today, that Christmas charity continues as Goodfellows.

The late Katharyn Duff, who suggested that the city erect a statue to Clinton as a Bicentennial project, interviewed people who knew Clinton and retold their stories in her Abilene Reporter-News column.

One person told of the time Clinton went to arrest a drunk who had holed up in a warehouse and was shooting at people.

“Chief Clinton went over to get him out … the chief always went himself on any dangerous job. He tried to argue the drunk out, but the drunk kept shooting so finally the chief went in.

“It was pitch dark — remember, things weren’t so well lighted then. But the drunk got a glimpse of the Chief or shot at his voice or something. When he did the Chief shot from his hip at the flash of the drunk’s gun and killed the fellow.”

Another story she retold gives an insight to his appearance.

“This cowboy had come to town on a Saturday night and hit the saloons. He got to raising sand, yelled out so everybody around could hear him, ‘I’m a big, bad wolf with an eight-foot tail and it’s my night to howl.’

“All at once the Chief showed up, dressed in his uniform with all the brass buttons, wearing the medals he had won. He looked down on the carousing cowboy and asked him, ‘What did you say, son?’”

“The cowboy looked up at Clinton in all his splendor, turned a little white and stammered in a small voice, ‘I said I’m just a little ol’ coyote.’”

When Clinton died, Mayor Dallas Scarborough summed up the town’s feeling for the chief, calling him “one of the noblest characters God ever created.”