HUGH BOONE

 

 

The fourth sheriff of McClain County was Hugh Boone. He was born December 29, 1871 in Clay County, Texas and died May 14, 1960 in McClain County of a heart attack. An early rancher, he moved to the area from Texas with his cousins, the David Alexander Young family and his sister, Mrs. Dora Patterson and her family.

 

 

In 1894, the Purcell Register announced that he had "married Florence Crow last week in Pottsboro, Texas and the young couple were to live at Jolly, Texas", but their plans changed and they moved to Purcell. The couple had one daughter, Ina, who married Francis Rawn Smedley, and two grandsons, Rawn Jr. and Bill.

He was elected to the post of County Treasurer in 1915 and then to County Sheriff in late 1916. According to the Purcell Register of November 9, 1916, p1 c2, "Hugh Boone, who has filled the office of County Treasurer with so much credit to himself and satisfaction to the people of the county, will for the next two years and probably longer, be the sheriff of the county, and as such, will see that all the laws are executed, so far as his office is concerned, without fear or favor."

 

 

However, one term was his limit, and he returned to his ranch and family. Upon retirement, he turned his energies to a beautiful flower garden. His entries won prizes at many flower shows. Hugh died May 14, 1960 and was buried beside his wife in Hillside Cemetery. She had died in 1947.