Description
Signed Famous Texas Ranger Family Dedication East Texas Troubles The Allred<br>Rangers by Jody Edward Ginn. Appears spotless inside and out including dust<br>jacket. I would bet my life this signature is Authentic because of where I got<br>it from. This estate was full of books that were given by the Authors to members<br>of this family.<br><br>These books and many more I'll be listing shortly are from the estate of<br>multiple descendants of Homer Garrison Jr.<br><br>GARRISON, HOMER, JR. (1901-1968). Homer Garrison, Jr., Texas Ranger chief and<br>director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, son of Homer and Mattie<br>(Milam) Garrison, was born in Kickapoo, Anderson County, Texas, on July 21,<br>1901, the eldest of nine children. After graduation from Lufkin High School he<br>went to work in the office of his father, who was district clerk in Angelina<br>County. Garrison received his first experience as a law officer at nineteen,<br>when was appointed a deputy sheriff of Angelina County. In 1929 he became a<br>state license and weight inspector for the Texas Highway Department, and he<br>joined the Texas Highway Patrol when it was organized in 1930.<br><br>When the Department of Public Safety was founded in August 1935 Garrison became<br>the first assistant director. Among his initial duties was the task of<br>developing a training program for DPS officers. At the request of the governor<br>of New Mexico, he was sent to that state to help organize the New Mexico State<br>Police. During World War II he was offered an appointment by Gen. Douglas<br>MacArthur to reorganize and supervise the Japanese national police system for<br>the War Department, but he declined in deference to his duties as director of<br>the DPS and chief of the Texas Rangers.<br><br>Among the many honors bestowed upon him during the nearly thirty years he served<br>as the head of the state law-enforcement agency was the presentation of the<br>sixth Paul Gray Hoffman Award, conferred annually by the Automotive Safety<br>Foundation for distinguished service in highway safety. In 1963 Governor John<br>Connally appointed Garrison director of civil defense and disaster relief for<br>the state of Texas and chairman of the State Defense Council. The same year the<br>governor also named him director of the Governor's Highway Safety Commission. In<br>May 1966 he was elected chairman of the resolutions committee and a member of<br>the steering committee of the Southern Region Highway Policy Committee of the<br>Council of State Governments; in January 1967 he was named a member of the<br>National Motor Vehicle Safety Advisory Council.<br><br>Colonel Garrison became director of the Department of Public Safety and chief of<br>the Texas Rangers in 1938. Under his leadership numerous major programs were<br>developed, and the organization grew to a total of some 3,400 employees. The<br>programs included crime control, police traffic supervision, driver licensing,<br>vehicle inspection, safety responsibility, accident records, safety education,<br>defense and disaster service, and police training.<br><br>Garrison married Mary Nell Kilgo on June 1, 1939, and they had one son. Garrison<br>died on May 7, 1968, and was buried in the State Cemetery, Austin. A Texas<br>Ranger museum at Fort Fisher was named for him.<br><br>BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ben Procter, "The Texas Rangers: An Overview," in The Texas<br>Heritage, ed. Ben Procter and Archie P. McDonald (St. Louis: Forum, 1980).<br>Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.<br>Bill Carter<br><br>"GARRISON, HOMER JR." The Handbook of Texas Online. [Accessed Wed Aug 7 11:36:57<br>US/Central 2002].
