Francis Augustus "Frank" Hamer - Austin, Texas - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Frank Hamer was born in Wilson County Texas on March 17, 1884 and grew up in San Saba County. At the age of 10, the Hamer Family moved to Oxford Texas where his father worker as a blacksmith on the Ketchum Ranch. In 1905 a young Frank Hamer helps capture a horse thief while working on the Carr Ranch. As a result, the local sheriff suggested that Hamer join the Texas Rangers, which he did in 1906. After resigning from the rangers in 1908 he became the city marshal in Navasota, Texas, but rejoined the Rangers in 1915. In the 1920’s Hamer distinguished himself in restoring order to several of the oil boomtowns and by taking on the corrupt Texas Banking Association. Frank Hamer is perhaps best known for tracking down the depression era gangsters Bonnie and Clyde. In 1934, Hamer and fellow ranger Ben Gault received information that Bonnie and Clyde were in the area near Gibsland, Louisiana. On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde we seen having breakfast at Canfield’s Diner in Gibsland. Having received information that the duo would be traveling south on Highway 154, Hamer, Gault and four other law enforcement officers set up in the woods about 7-miles south of town and waited for the outlaws to pass by. Shortly after 9 a.m. Bonnie and Clyde pulled over to talk with a friend who had been planted at the scene. When the car stopped the six law enforcement officers opened fire. In less than a minute the law enforcement officers fired more than 130 rounds, killing Bonnie and Clyde. Over the next 15-years Hamer worked for various oil companies while working on and off for the Ranger. He finally retired from the Rangers in 1949 and lived in Austin, Texas until his death on July 10, 1955 from the complications of a stroke. Captain Frank Hamer is resting in the Austin Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin, Texas.
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Description: Captain Frank Hamer was born on March 17, 1884 in Fairview, Wilson County, Texas. He grew up on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County. The family moved to Oxford, Texas in 1894. Hamer worked in his father’s blacksmith shop and later as a wrangler on the ranch of Barry Ketchum. In 1905, while working as a cowboy on the Carr Ranch, Hamer helped to capture a horse thief. Afterwards, the sheriff recommended Hamer to the Texas Rangers. Hamer joined the Rangers in April 1906. He became part of Captain J. H. Rogers’ Company C, patrolling the border in south Texas. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas. He served in this position until April 1911 when he became a special officer in Harris County. Hamer rejoined the Ranger in 1915. He was once again patrolling the south Texas border from the Big Bend to Brownsville. The Rangers dealt with arms smugglers, bootleggers, and bandits throughout the area. In 1921 Hamer transferred to Headquarters Company in Austin (now part of Company F) and served as Senior Ranger Captain. In the 1920s Hamer was instrumental in helping to bring order to the oil boom towns such as Mexia and Borger. In 1928 he took on the Texas Bankers’ Association “reward ring.” Hamer charged that some people were framing others and also tracking down and killing small-time outlaws to collect the Bankers’ $5,000 reward for every dead bank robber. Once the scam was made public, the Bankers’ Association changed their policy to a reward for every legally killed bank robber. Hamer retired from the Rangers in 1932 but retained a special Ranger commission. In 1934 the retired Capt. Hamer was hired as a Special Investigator for the Texas prison system to track down gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The notorious outlaws had killed more than a dozen law enforcement officers and unarmed citizens in a crime spree spanning several states. The Texas prison system became involved when the Barrow gang broke into a State prison, freed a gang member and killed an officer. After a three-month search, Hamer and Texas and Louisiana law enforcement officers ambushed and killed the criminals near Gibsland, Louisiana. During the 1930s Hamer worked for various oil companies and shippers helping to prevent strikes and breaking up mobs. He was called again to Ranger duty in 1948 by Governor Coke Stevenson to help check election returns in Jim Wells and Duval County in the U. S. Senate race. Frank Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death in 1955. Date of birth: 03/17/1884 Date of death: 07/10/1955 Area of notoriety: Law Enforcement Marker Type: Horizontal Marker Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daily: 7a.m. - 7 p.m. Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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