Hi Gary,

Yes, John Clark had two wives and maybe 3, if he was married before.

Spouse #1 is N. P. Jane Fowler married Dec. 15th 1859 Fannin Co. TX. Her real name was Eunice B Jane Fowler. I know this is his wife because "The Call of San Saba" mentions his mother-in-law Mrs. Fowler.

Spouse #2 is Sarah Jane Tow from the 1880 Burnet TX. Cenus
She was the widow of James Henry Miller who died in a Confederate Hospital. J.Henry Miller died of brain fever on 2 Nov 1863 at Camp Nelson, Ark...Age 26. He, and cousin by marriage, James Tow, eldest son of William, both belonged
to Co.E, Captain Seth Mabry's of the 17th (Allen's) Regt. of Texas Infantry. Sarah was the wife that was murdered with him between 1881 and 1884.

Yes, you are very perceptive. I am not sure he isn't the sheriff of Mason, in fact I think there is a lot of evidence that he may be. However, I can not prove it. But he fits the description very well.

1. Texas Ranger
2. In Mason at the right time
3. Left Mason area at the right time
4. Murdered and all traces removed

I have checked into the information about John Clark, Sheriff of Mason County Texas and find no proof that he was from out of state, as others suspect. I have also found many "holes" in the "proof" that Sheriff Clark was who some of the researchers think he was.

In a letter from one of John Clark's sons to the other, they were reminiscing about "the time Father moved cattle through Mason town to Kimble County" and about a particular time when they played on the edge of Mason town and found a pocket knife. So they did live near Mason but not right in town.
This was in the mid 1870's...and then suddenly they moved back to Burnet (at the same time Clark leaves Mason) and are on the 1880 Burnet census and were killed shortly thereafter.

John Ringo was held for the murder of Jim Cheney until late in 1878, eventually acquitted. He had thresatened the life of Sheriff John Clark many times.
My John Clark is the only John Clark in the area that wound up murdered.
In 1874 Ringo was in Burnet, Texas. On December 25, 1874, John Ringo was seen shooting his pistol in a public square. Charges were filed against him. While in the Travis County Jail, his conviction for threatening the Burnet Sheriff and his deputy in December 1875, was reversed by the appellate court. Sometime around April 1881, John Ringo left Arizona and went to Texas. He was reported as being at Austin on May 2, 1881. So he was certainly all over the area that my Clark moved to. John Ringo left Texas and at some point traveled to Missouri. On July 12, 1881, the Tombstone Nugget indicated that Ringo was staying at the Grand Hotel and that he just returned from Liberty,Missouri. I am guessing that he came back through Texas. So he had plenty of opportunity to kill John Clark.

Jan. 21, 1877 the Mason County courthouse burned in an obvious case of arson destroying all the legal records of the Hoo Doo War. Also other courthouses in the area were burned.
That would certainly explain why all traces of John clark and his wife's death and probate were removed from the courthouse.
Some of the townspeople and members of my family who lived in that Burnet/Llano/San Saba area were so scared that they would not even speak of the deaths until recently and all detail has been lost.

If you would like more information on this aspect of my John Clark you may email me at cvranch@verizon.net. I am new to this forum and don't know if they mind other off-topic subjects.

Warmest regards,
Cheyrl Velten