The Wortham Police Department normally employs a chief of police and two full time officers carrying on the historic tradition of law enforcement. However at this time we are seeking ti fill the chief vacancy.
The city has (3) three cutting edge patrol vehicles and Wortham enjoys a low crime rate.
Sgt. Scott Sykora
2
A Police Department With Colorful Past & Proud Tradition City Marshal Jackson T. Barfield End of Watch: Monday, December 3, 1877
Marshal
Jackson T. Barfield responded to a disturbance at a store owned by J. J. Stubbs.
Alfred "Alf" Rushing, Frank Carter and Harvey Scruggs, all armed with shotguns,
were accusing Stubbs of taking a pistol from their saddlebags left in the store
a few days earlier. Marshal Barfield talked to the men and seemed to be
pacifying them. The three men mounted their horses and Marshal Barfield turned
to walk away. Alf Rushing fired his shotgun striking the marshal in the back,
killing him instantly. The three men attempted to escape but a posse of citizens
gave chase and wounded and captured Frank Carter. Court records show that
Rushing, Carter and Scruggs were all charged with murder, but the file is
missing and the disposition of the charges is unknown. Rushing was reported at
large as late as 1898 with a $1,000 reward for his arrest and detention.
No survivor information was located on Marshal Barfield. He is buried in the
Crouch Cemetery in rural Limestone County.
City Marshal Charles Powers End of Watch Monday September 23, 1878
On Saturday, September 21, 1878, Frank Polk, who lived in the Pisgah Ridge community in Navarro County about eight miles northwest of Wortham, Freestone County, was arrested by Wortham City Marshal Charles Powers for a misdemeanor. Polk was a noted desperado who was friends with John Wesley Hardin. Polk was released on bond and stayed in town until Monday, September 23, 1878. Shortly before his trial he rode out of town. Marshal Powers and Constable Wingfield rode after him and arrested him. He was brought back to town and paid his fine. Polk left town but returned around 6:00 p.m. and rode back and forth in front of the store of Mayor W. M. Seely, who was also a Freestone County deputy sheriff. Polk dismounted with his Winchester rifle outside the store. Marshal Powers and an unnamed assistant city marshal approached Polk and told him to surrender his weapon. Seely then came out onto the street armed with a Winchester rifle. Polk started backing up with the lawmen following him. Suddenly Polk fired on Marshal Powers. Powers returned fire as he fell. The assistant city marshal shot Polk two times and Seely fired seven shots, hitting Polk three times. Both Powers and Polk died instantly.
In June, 1917, the Wortham City Council
voted to build a city jail at a cost of $400 and the County agreed to pay $300.
Just one block away from our current Police Department stands this old jail. The
jail is a two cell building which still has the cell doors and metal cots inside but now has no
roof.
The exploration for oil in Wortham was finally received on Thanksgiving Day in
1924. The Boyd Oil Companies Simmons
number 1 blew in over the top of the derrick. Overnight, Wortham became a "boom
town". The population increased from approximately
1,000 to 20,000 in a few weeks. Law enforcement was very difficult. By late
December 1924 the city employed a City Marshal, Chief of
Police and 6 policemen. By the early 1930s the oil was depleted and the oil boom
was over.
Webmaster