“The north end of Erath County has secured more refugees from justice than any other portion of the county,” wrote the editor of the Stephenville Empire on October 3, 1885. Local historian, James Pylant, has pieced together the story of a crime syndicate based near what became Thurber, under the leadership of a tall, blue-eyed, blond-haired man in his early thirties named John Glenn and Bill Gilbreath. The syndicate reached Indian Territory, Williamson County, and Louisiana. ‘They would steal a horse, say in Louisiana, travel by night to Thurber, and then on to Indian Territory, and then to another station back in Louisiana,’ wrote Henry Gilbreath. John Gilbreath promised voters that if they would elect him as sheriff, he would break up the gang – and eventually he succeeded.” “Bill Gilbreath, overconfident in his cousin’s election, celebrated by gathering with friends and becoming intoxicated. ‘I came here to take in this town!’ Gilbreath proclaimed to the citizens of Stephenville. ‘Cousin John is sheriff, and I am going to take it in.’ The boozed Bill was sadly mistaken. It took Sheriff Gilbreath and several others to apprehend Stephenville’s self-appointed ruler. The arrest of Bill Gilbreath had a profound effect upon organized crime; it cracked the band’s powerful hold on Erath County. ‘That broke it up,’ recalled the sheriff’s son, Henry Gilbreath. The ring said, ‘Well, if he would jail his own cousin, guess he would jail us.'”

James Pylant. Sins of the Pioneers: Crimes and Scandals in a Small Texas Town, Stephenville: Jacobus Books, 2019.