James Allen Walton

J. Allen Walton was born in 1876 and died in 1963. He served as Deputy Sheriff until Sheriff D.T.A. Walton, also his father, resigned in 1908.

Sheriff Walton was a member of the Mountaineers Club of Alpine, a select social organization for men. In 1916, while World War I was tearing across Europe, Brewster County Judge A.M. Turney established a Home Guard in Alpine and J.A. Walton was named Captain of the group.

Sheriff J.A. Walton was often called on to settle gunfights or to solve murders during his time in office. In one case in 1931, Mr. W.H. Lemmons and his sons were working goats, along with hired help Bernard Sherman. One evening, son
Millard Lemmons found a gun pointed at him and he turned to run, while witnessing the murder of his father and brother. Millard Lemmons escaped to a neighbors residence where he was treated for his wounds and Sheriff Walton gathered a posse to solve the case. Sheriff Walton helped to capture and convict Sherman who was later placed in a psychiatric asylum.

James Allen Walton photo courtesy of Carl C. Williams collection