Historic Temple

Enforcement was a continuous challenge. For example, everyone considered City Marshal Sherman B. Williams a “quietly efficient”
law-and-order man who tried to quell the raucous citizenry. On June 2, 1899, after public pressure, he closed all gambling
houses. However, when he left on vacation two weeks later, the cards, dice and wagering returned with full vigor. Deputy Tom
Hart tried to enforce Williams’ edict. Hart told the Temple Times: “Just say that they may stay open, but they won’t find it very
profitable. I cannot compel a man to close his house, but I can compel them not to carry on games in that house. I’ll prosecute
anyone who does.” In the 1930s, Temple’s first “motorcycle cop” was Nimrod “Beans” Ham, who chased down speeders at 30 to
35 mph.
The Temple Police Department organized into a professional force in 1922. Wiley Fisher, the last man to serve as marshal,
became the first police chief. The department came under State Civil Service in 1949. One of the earliest comprehensive police
schools opened in Temple in January 1950. Sponsored by the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety and others, the school
covered almost every phase of law enforcement.
W. I. McMahon was the first city marshall in 1881. Other marshals serving prior to 1922 were Green Pattison, Sam Walker,
William Taylor, Cap Lightfoot, Sherman B. Williams, Dave Osburn, George Gamble, Pat Hunt, John L. Irvin, and Wiley Fisher.
A list of Temple police chiefs:
Wiley Fisher, 1922-1926
Lee Saulsbury, 1926-1930
Sam Hall, 1930-1934
B. G. Duncan, 1934-1936
Will I. Cooper, 1937
Frank Bouldin, 1937-1947
W. M. McDonald, 1947-1956
A. C. Berry, 1956-1957
T. R. B. Ellis, 1957-1958
A. C. Berry, 1959-1971
Leonard M. Hancock, 1971-1983
Thomas Vannoy, 1983-1995
Ralph M. Evangelous, 1995-2004
Gary O. Smith, 2004-Present
college moved from TISD buildings, a new campus
opened up on these grounds in 1957. In 1996,
officials dropped the “Junior” from the college’s
name to reflect its role as a comprehensive college,
offering transfer programs, technical education,
continuing education, career and workforce
training and cultural activities.
THE SECOND
HALF- CENTURY
After World War II, the military installation
in Killeen and military hospital in Temple had
proved to be an economic blessing to the
county. Newspaper publisher Frank W.
Mayborn, banker Guy Draper, attorney Byron
Skelton and other civic leaders teamed up as
Temple’s War Projects Committee to make
sure these remained in the county with their
fullest resources. Their goal was to make Camp
Hood a permanent military installation. That
occurred in 1950, further solidifying and
diversifying Temple’s economy. Camp Hood,
renamed Fort Hood, grew to become the
county’s largest employer.
Between 1940 and 1960, Temple again
boomed, with its population nearly doubling,
rising from 15,344 to 30,419 within two
decades. The Temple area became a convenient
place for military personnel to settle after
discharge. Temple was poised to redefine and
reestablish itself for the second half of the
twentieth century. For example, the community
boldly anticipated growth by building three new
public schools in 1950.
Perhaps no two men had impact that is more
lasting on the last half of the twentieth century
than Frank W. Mayborn and Judge Byron Skelton.
Mayborn was editor and publisher of the Temple
Daily Telegram and Killeen Daily Herald and owner
of KCEN-TV; Skelton was a Temple attorney who
later became U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge
and the only federal judge from Bell County.
Keenly attuned to the vicissitudes of the
economy and politics, Mayborn foresaw the next
opportunities for growth, all the while staunchly
boosting Temple and Bell County through his
newspaper and later his radio and television
stations. Skelton was a Democratic Party leader in
Texas, often considered by his more conservative
“The City With a Future” ✦ 53