Bosque County Sheriff's Office, Texas
End of Watch: Tuesday, June 9, 1874
Age:
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 9, 1874
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: M.H.
On Tuesday, June 9, 1874, Bosque County Deputy Sheriff Jabez C. Pierson was transporting prisoner M. H. "Bud" Galbreath by horse and wagon from Comanche to Meridian where Galbreath was to be tried for rape. Galbreath was chained. Somehow during the trip along the Bosque River, Galbreath gained possession of Deputy Pierson's pistol, then shot and killed Deputy Sheriff Pierson. Pierson's body was found in the wagon.
M. H. "Bud" Galbreath, 17 years old, AKA: Gelbrath and Galbraith, had been running with the notorious John Wesley Hardin gang when he was arrested by Texas Rangers in Comanche County. Galbreath escaped from the scene where he murdered Deputy Pierson and fled to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
Galbreath was arrested in the Indian Territory in 1897. He was brought back to Meridian and tried in 1898, twenty-four years after the murder of Deputy Pierson. The jury gave the following ruling: "We the Jury find the defendant guilty of manslaughter and as the offense was committed more than three years prior to the finding of this indictment we find him not guilty of that offense, signed Ed M. Kisick, Foreman". and "It is therefore considered ordered and adjudged by the court the defendant M. H. Galbreath be immediately discharged from all further liability upon the charge for which he has herein been tried and that he go hence without delay".
Jabez C. Pierson was a Confederate War Veteran. He served in Co. B, 31st Texas Calvary C. S. A. In 1875 Bosque County Sheriff John A. Biffle while writing about Galbreath said...."he killed one of the best men in Texas [J.C. Pierson]". Jabez C. Pierson is buried in Section M, Meridian City Cemetery, Meridian, Texas.