Private John Dudley White, Sr.

John Dudley White, Sr.

Privates John Dudley White and Walter Rowe went to the home of Bose (or Boze) Williams near White City in San Augustine County to arrest two of his sons who were deserters from the U.S. Army. They searched the house, but the boys were not home. The rangers decided to wait for them on the porch outside the house. About 2 a.m., Rowe heard a noise and then a shot rang out. A second shot struck him in the right thigh and he fell on the porch. White stood and emptied his pistol in the direction of the gun fire. A third shot hit White in the back, killing him instantly. Rowe said he saw one of the sons, Sam Williams, shooting at White.

Mrs. Williams, mother of the boys, came out and refused to assist Rowe because she claimed he had come to kill her boys and they needed her. Rowe lay on the ground wounded for seven hours until officers arrived at the scene and transported him to the hospital at Beaumont. Samuel M. Williams and Daniel H. Evans were convicted and sentenced to death. Their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.

White had turned 39 years old on June 25. He had been a Texas Ranger off and on from 1907-1911, 1913 and re-enlisted in 1916. In the interim, he was a Houston policeman and U. S. Mounted Customs Inspector on the Mexican border. He was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in the Oak Hill area of Austin in Travis County. He was survived by his wife and three children, one of whom, John Dudley White, Jr., would also serve as a Texas Ranger.

White's father served as Travis County sheriff, county judge, Austin mayor and Travis County road commissioner. His three brothers were all Texas Rangers.