Judge Roy Bean
ca. 1825-1903
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In 1882 the lawlessness was so bad that
the railroad ask for help from the Texas Rangers. The closest legal authority was in
Fort Stockton over 100 miles away.
With the blessing of the Rangers and the railroad. A proprietor of a store
housed in a tent in Venagaroon was appointed as the first Justice of the Peace in Pecos
County (now Val Verde County) August 2, 1882. Roy Bean never one to
stand on ceremony tried his first case the week before the appointment. |
| In 1883 the judge moved his business and
his court to Langtry, Texas. There he built the Jersey Lilly Saloon, Court Room and
Pool Hall. Some legends cite
Bean as being a "hanging" judge, but there is no record that he ever sentenced a
man to be hanged. |
The "Jersey Lily" Langtry, Texas
"West of the Pecos there is no law; west of El Paso, there is no
God."
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Lillie Langtry "The Jersey Lily"
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The "Judge" had great
admiration and fascination for the famous English actress Lillie Langtry. She was
internationally know as the "The Jersey Lily so he named his establishment after her.
A sign painter commissioned (for food and drink) to letter the sign misspelled
"Lily". |
| The only law book the Judge ever owned
was the 1879 Revised Statues of Texas. Occasionally he actually used it. |
The "Jersey Lilly" still stands in Langtry, Texas |
Judge Roy Bean dispensed both drink and justice from behind this bar.
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One of the most
colorful stories about the Judge is true. He successfully promoted the Maher -
Fitzsimmons prize fight in February 1896. It was staged in defiance of U.S. and
Mexico law on a sand bar in the middle of the Rio Grande River. |
