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Mary Jo Yebernetsky Staff Writer The name Jess Sweeten may not be well-known throughout the country — yet. Jess Sweeten was a sheriff in the 1920s to the 1950s whose heroism in Henderson County, Texas, may make it to the big screen and bookshelves with a little help from Lawrence Melton, a Dallas commercial ar tist and his sister, Clearfield res ident Ginger Lines. Mr. Melton has written the screenplay ‘‘Hell’s Gate” and a book on Sheriff Sweeten’s life, ‘A Trail is Never Cold.” A close friend of the late Forrest Carter, best known for his story that became “The Outlaw Josey Wales,”’ Mr. Melton was inspired to pursue a non-fiction character whose actions were bigger than life. Jess Sweeten, who passed away in November of 1980, was, at age 24, the youngest sheriff ever elected in national history. He solved hundreds of murder cases that gained him national recognition from the FBI and presidents. He was a sharp shooter who performed for grade school children and families throughout the south. He was a certified Texas hero. Unknown to Mr. Melton, his sister had been Mr. Sweeten’s barber for several years. As if fate meddled in their lives, Mrs. Lines introduced the two. Mr. Sweeten did not have cel ebrity status in his town. Mrs. Lines, however, said she was “thrilled to have him sit in my chair.” Upon meeting, Mr. Sweeten drew his cocked and loaded Colt .45 and held it to Mr. Melton’s chest and neck, and between the eyes as a test of his reaction to pressure. Mr. Milton stood still and showed no reaction unlike another would-be biographer from a local university who fail ed Sweeten’s test by running out the door. It was said that Mr. Sweeten didn’t trust a man who couldn't handle pressure. Mrs. Lines said that she sat in the kitchen with Mr. Sweeten’s wife not knowing what was going on just yards away. Mr. Melton chose Mr. Sweeten, or perhaps one should say Mr. Sweeten chose him, as a subject because they are a lot alike, notes Mrs. Lines. They are the type of men who say,“‘Yes, ma’am,”’ and would sooner get into a fist fight than have a lady hear a vulgarity. (Mr. Sweeten was in over 100 bare fisted fights.) Mr. Melton had researched his subject for 14 years, traveling to where the sheriff had been, try ing to recapture the atmosphere. And he listened ~ for hours — to Mr. Sweeten and to recorded in terviews over and over, even on his drive to the office. Paramount Pictures is con sidering ‘‘Hell’s Gate” for pro duction. Mr. Melton is also in the process of publishing ‘“‘A Trail is Never Cold’’ with Ballycastle Publishing Company in Septem ber. Mr. Melton has since had the interest of the public. He believes the audience is out there for the Jess Sweeten story. Mrs. Lines agrees. She was captivated by Mr. Sweeten’s stories of crime solving and sharp shooting that led him to na tional and international recogni tion. “He would talk about different murder cases,’’ stated Mrs. Lines, ‘‘I was thrilled to have him sitting in my chair. I found myself taking my easy time just to talk to him.’’ Mrs. Lines scheduled in an extra hour for his appointments. “He was funny, yet serious,” she said, ‘‘And he was very mag netic.” Magnetic enough that, accord ing to Mrs. Lines, ‘‘“He would send word for people who were going to be arrested and a lot of times they would come in on their own.” Another time he sent eight men to prison. “He told them to get there the best way that they could,” said Mrs. Lines, ‘and one man called back and apolo gized for being late.” “He didn’t tolerate much nonsense. He was fair with peo ple, but tough.” Mr. Sweeten wasn’t considered a celebrity, said Mrs. Lines. He was respected by the citizens, though his most notable case pushed their limits. One of the main cases, which is the basis of the screenplay and brought Mr. Sweeten interna tional recognition, was the McGehee case. In 1933, six months after becoming the nation’s youngest elected sheriff, Mr. Sweeten met Blanch Everett, a distraught mather and citizen of Henderson County. Mrs. Everett explained that she had not heard from her daughter, Carrie McGehee, nor her daughter’s husband and two children for almost two years. She had been told by George Patton, a man sharecropping the Lawrence Melton, author of “A Trail is Never Cold” and brother to Clearfield resident Ginger Lines, spent 14 years researching his subject, Texas Sheriff Jess Sweeten. Jess Sweeten was a certified Texas hero, sharp shooter and at age 24, was the youngest sheriff ever elected. Mr. Sweeten solved hundreds of murder cases throughout Henderson County, Texas. (If Mr. Melton looks familiar, it's because he has had parts in the TV series “Dallas,” TV commercials, and in the movie “JFK” he played Detective Joe Smith.) farmland with the McGehee fam ily in Sand Flat, that they had moved to Oklahoma with friends of the husband in the middle of the night to work in the oil fields, supposedly Seminole, Okla. Mrs. McGehee’s mother con tinuously tried to find the family, but found no one who could give her any information. She was concerned and bewildered be cause it was not like her daughter to leave and not tell her mother anything. Finding no answers in Seminole, Okla., Mr. Sweeten followed his instincts. He con tinued his investigation back in Athens. He questioned Mr. Patton again. He didn’t believe Mr. Pat ton was telling all he knew. Mr. Sweeten continuously showed up at Mr. Patton’s farm, interrupting his farm routine at different intervals with ques tions. Mr. Sweeten arrested him though he had no evidence, not even proof that a murder took place. The people in town considered Mr. Patton a poor but trustwor thy farmer. They turned against their young sheriff, interfering with his personal life as when bankers turned him down for a loan. Mr. Sweeten would then drive Mr. Patton across the county lines; “he would kidnap him, more or less,” explained Mrs. Lines, ‘‘He knew if he could just stay on him, he (Mr. Patton) would break.”’ After three years, he did. Mr. Patton showed the townspeople where to dig, under the cattle gate where the grass didn’t grow. “He sat with his head in his hands,’’ said Mrs. Lines, ‘‘and as each one came up, he would tell the story of how he killed them.” The youngest McGehee was 2 years old, said Mrs. Lines. He was found with acorns in his pockets that he placed there at play that day. He had been buried alive by Mr. Patton. Mr. Sweeten, she said, leaned over the fence and cried. “It was the only time he believed he ever cried, she stated. In Mr. Sweeten’s years of public service, his family ac cumulated a 15-inch scrapbook which contains citations from J. Edgar Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, Ralph Yarborough, and ran let ters from all over the world. One letter was from Holland and only addressed: Sheriff Jegs Sweeten, USA. But some of the better stories would not capture the attention of the FBI. Some of the hometown characters give the best chuckles, as in the time Mr. Sweeten saw a man walking home with several chickens. He knew that the chickens were not his, but the man insisted, ‘‘Mr. Jess, I was just walkin’ and these little bitties started followin’ me home. I was just gatherin’ them up, takin’ 'em home.” According to Mrs. Lines, Mr. Sweeten knew it was food for the man’s family. Telling the man to take them back, he pointed at the ear of corn by the man’s foot and added, ‘‘and have your wife sew up your pants pockets, you're los ing your bait.” The book is only a small tribute to a life that spans 25 years in law enforcement. It has already caught the attention of Dallas media and is working its way na tionally. Many members of the Dallas police force with whom Mr. Sweeten worked closely have already placed their orders for the book, said Mrs. Lines. Mr. Sweeten’s wife and family still survive in Henderson Coun ty. According to Mrs. Lines, his wife Hazel stood by his side till the end, Mrs. Sweeten accompanied her husband as he traveled through the country as a shooting exhib itionist. His partner, always a man, would allow him to shoot a cigarette from his lips. He would perform shows for school kids throughout the south and southwest and join in the popular “‘shoot-outs” held in the streets. Mr. Sweeten never let anyone harm his family, though there were tough times. He kept his life quite private. His daughter, Jessie Nell Sweeten, followed in his footsteps; in 1954, she became the first police woman in Athens, Texas. Not that this went un noticed, the police chief and the rest of the force quit. The county jail would not take her prisoners; she would travel to the next coun ty to use their jails. She wasn’t allowed to have a short-wave radio. After working alone for one year, she, like her father, was certified as a Texas hero. The family has been pleased with the book, said Mrs. Lines, and they can’t believe that Mr. Melton has captured Mr. Sweeten so well. She has already taken orders from Clearfield area residents whom she has told about it. Anyone interested in placing an order for the hard back book, ‘‘A Trail is Never Cold” can order one by sending $19.95 plus $1.50 postage to Jessie Nell Sweeten, Rt. 2, Box 2735, Athens, Texas, 75751 or to Mrs. Lines, P.O, Box 205, Clearfield. Mrs. Lines is pleased with her brother’s success and that she could be the one to introduce the two men, ‘When you come across something good,’’ she believes, ‘you share it,”
Newspaper Details
Clearfield Progress
Clearfield, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Jun 24, 1995
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Alva H.
