Jess Sweeten
Athens, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Completing his work as a steel rigger in 1929 employed by Otis Elevator Company on the Texas Power & Light Company in Trinidad, Texas, Jess Sweeten was offered a job as a deputy constable in Henderson County. Bob King was appointed to find a new deputy constable for Trinidad and witnessed Jess break up a fight between the rough transient laborers working in the area. Jess’ tall and strong stature and his willingness to use his fists made him a good candidate. Jess formally began his career in law enforcement in 1930. Jess’ background in law started with his great-grandfather, grandfather and father who were all U.S. marshals. Jess grew up with high regard for the law and was an expert marksman. He had considerable success in cleaning up the small town of Trinidad where residents took on their own form of law and order, resulting in chaos and danger in the town. His success was documented by several newspapers. The newly-elected Henderson County Sheriff, Joel Baker, was so impressed that he hired Jess as a deputy sheriff in 1931. Jess was nicknamed “two gun Pete” by the Athens Daily Review. Because of his fame and success, jess and sheriff baker’s relationship declined until Baker asked Jess to resign. He was then offered a job as a Texas Ranger but turned it down to become the deputy constable for Athens, under constable M. G. Jepson. Jepson encouraged Jess to run for county sheriff and, in 1932, at 26 years of age, Jess was elected as the youngest sheriff in Texas at that time. Jess served as sheriff from 1933-1946 and again from 1949-1954. At age 72, Jess earned his GED diploma and became the special criminal investigator of the 3rd judicial district which included Henderson County. He died in 1980 in Athens.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Jess Sweeten came off a steel-rigging job during the Depression and, spotted breaking up a brawl among transient laborers, was recruited into law enforcement in 1930. Descended from a line of U.S. marshals and an expert marksman nicknamed "Two Gun Pete," he was elected Henderson County sheriff in 1932 at age 26—then the youngest in Texas. He served through the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and late in life earned his GED and became a district criminal investigator before his death in 1980.
Why it matters
Sweeten embodies the hard-fisted frontier lawman tradition surviving into twentieth-century Texas, when a small county still leaned on the reputation of a single sheriff.
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Related people
- · Jess Sweeten
- · Joel Baker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
1925 Henderson County Jail
Athens, TX
Henderson County recognized its need for a jail as early as 1850, building first a log "calaboose" and then successors that fire and decay repeatedly claimed. Completed in 1925 to designs overseen by Dallas architect H.A. Overbeck, with iron bars and locks from the Pauly Jail Company, this two-story American Gothic Revival building held prisoners until 1991. It later sheltered county records and now houses the county historical commission.
Courts Under the Oaks
Athens, TX
When Henderson County set its permanent boundaries in 1850, voters chose Matthew Cartwright's land for the new county seat of Athens, and this square was set aside as public ground. Before any courthouse rose, judges heard cases—murder, larceny, gambling, assault—beneath a large shady oak on this spot. The first district court term in October 1850 was presided over by Oran M. Roberts, later a Texas Supreme Court justice and governor.
Henderson County Courthouse
Athens, TX
When the Texas Legislature carved out Henderson County in 1846, its government met in private homes and scattered settlements before Athens became the county seat in 1850. A log courthouse gave way to a frame building that burned in 1885, and after another structure was outgrown, the county raised this Classical Revival courthouse, accepted in 1914. With its central dome, Tuscan-columned entries, and marble stairways, it has anchored the town square as the setting for civic life and the famous "Old Fiddlers" contest ever since.
Dulcinea Ann Holland Thompson Avriett
Athens, TX
Dulcinea Ann Holland came from Athens, Georgia, to Henderson County as a girl in 1847, and local tradition credits her with naming the new town of Athens for her birthplace. Widowed during the 1860s and remarried in 1867, she raised a family, helped found the local Methodist church, and became a respected civic leader. Her life spans the pioneer settlement and maturing of a East Texas community.