This Week

Donley County Sheriff Jimmy Thompson.
With the dawn of a new century and a new year comes the end of an era in Donley County and the start of a new one. Charles “Butch” Blackburn, Jr., officially became the Sheriff of Donley County on Monday, following in the footsteps of a man who has held that office for 20 years – William J. Thompson.

Jimmy Thompson was first elected in 1980 and took office in January 1981. He has weathered storms, made do with a small budget, foiled a plot to kill him, and come through with the respect of many citizens and fellow lawmen.

Among those who hold Thompson in high esteem is his successor.

“I don’t think there’s a better man in Donley County,” says Sheriff Blackburn. “He took me in as a kid and taught me the whole deal.”

Thompson had a varied career before taking the county’s top law enforcement position. He was born and raised in Donley County, quit high school in 1952, and joined the Marines in 1953. He served for four years, catching the tail end of the Korean conflict.

By the summer of 1960, Thompson was a deputy, working in Hedley. He joined the Amarillo Police Department in 1962 and stayed with the APD for 2 years before moving to Clayton, NM, to work on a ranch. He then variously farmed and cowboyed before coming home to Donley County to become a deputy under Sheriff Truett Berhens – a position he held for four years.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Department in 1981 was just a shadow of the department Sheriff Thompson built over two decades.

“When I took office we had only one deputy, no 24-hour services, no 24-hour dispatch.” Thompson said. “We have all that today.”

He also didn’t have a modern jail. What he had was a crumbling Bastille that had been built shortly after the turn of the century. In addition to housing some of the less savory characters of the county, the old jail also was the traditional home for the sheriff. Thompson lived there with his wife Aleta; his two sons, William and Walt; and Rusty – an Australian Shepherd cowdog. In fact, he moved in while still a deputy.

“There were a lot of exciting times in that jail,” Thompson said. “We lived it in until it was condemned by the state.”

It is Donley County’s new jail that Sheriff Thompson lists as one of his proudest accomplishments.

“This jail is one of the most easily operated jails in the state. It can be run by just one person under normal circumstances.”

Other accomplishments Thompson lists includes holding the line on expenses, catching a lot of “dopers” and a lot of burglars, and overseeing approximately 7,500 arrests in the last 20 years.

As with any job that deals with the public, there are always critics – people who aren’t going to be happy with the way you do the job.

“You can’t suit everybody,” Thompson said, “but I got elected five times. Some think they’re a little above the law, but I never saw that.”

One lady in particular was more displeased than others. In 1989, a woman tried to have Sheriff Thompson assassinated.

“She was mad at me,” he recalls. “She worked at the beer joint, and we were making a lot of DWI arrests.”

The woman let it be known that she would pay $5,000 to have Thompson “bumped off,” but a man tipped the sheriff off. Thompson contacted a member of the Drug Task Force and had him pose as a hit man. They got the woman on tape, and she got five years in the pen.

“I wasn’t very stirred up about it.”

Others have said stupid things, but no one else has tried to hire a hit man.

“I’ve been threatened – they were gonna shoot me or whip me. I never got too excited about ‘em. That’s just part of the job.”

He gives one example of a time when he received a domestic violence call. The man said he was going to shoot the sheriff if he came around, but Thompson went on the call anyway. As the man stuck his head out a window, Thompson put him in a headlock while a deputy went through the front door. The man did turn out to have a shotgun but never got the chance to use it.

 
Sheriff Butch Blackburn with former Sheriff Jimmy Thompson.

Enterprise Digital Photos
 
On Saturday, December 30, a crowd of about 200 people gathered in the Bairfield Activity Center to bid Thompson a fond farewell. County Judge Jack Hall presented two plaques to Thompson – one for his service as sheriff and another for his countless hours spent watching storm clouds to protect the people from dangerous weather.

Incoming Sheriff Blackburn presented Aleta Thompson with a plaque also for her many, many volunteer hours working in the sheriff’s office and always being there to help. She also received a bouquet and her own set of brass knuckles.

Jim Cockerham presented the sheriff with a certificate signed by Gov. George W. Bush praising Thompson’s 20 years of service to the county and to Texas. And Thompson’s older son, William, presented his father with a framed Texas flag motif with the sheriff’s badge under glass in the place of the Lone Star.

Thompson said he appreciates the support of the local people.

“There are a lot of good people in this county,” he said. “I enjoyed the work, and I’ve been associated with a lot of good men.”

Thompson had words of praise for many of the people who had worked with him throughout his career. Among them were Game Warden Gary Hunt, DPS Sgt. Richard Gribble, Trooper Gary Davis, retired trooper Jerry Morris, Gary Henderson and Leo Hickman of the Texas Rangers, and his deputies.

Thompson singled out one former deputy as being invaluable – Charles Blackburn, Sr., the incoming sheriff’s father.

“I never had anybody that took an interest in watching the buildings and people in town as Charles did. He was dedicated and made my job a heck of a lot easier. If we had a break-in at night, he could tell you who was out. Butch will never hire a man as fine as Charles Blackburn.”

As Thompson leaves office, he says he’ll miss the job but is confident that the county is in good hands.

“I feel confident with this in Butch’s hands,” Thompson said. “He understands how to operate it and how to make a case.

“You’ll always miss things, but there comes a time when its time to leave things, and it’s my time to leave. I was 66 in October. When a man gets that old, he needs to sit around somewhere and whittle.”

The former sheriff doesn’t plan to whittle, though.

“I may work at a prison two days a week to keep from going crazy, and of course I may come around to aggravate Butch some.”

Whatever he decides to do, one thing is certain. After 20 years of service to the people of Donley County, Thompson has earned his rest.
  
 
What can you say about Jimmy Thompson?

“The thing that stands out in my mind is Jimmy’s love for kids.”

Clarendon Mayor Tex Selvidge

“This is one of the finest people I’ve ever met in my career. I have the utmost respect for him, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Texas Ranger

Gary Henderson

“Jimmy Thompson was a damn good man. He was as good a peace officer as I ever worked with.”

District Judge

 David McCoy

“Jimmy reminds me of the old saying about the man who had done so much with so little for so long that he was now qualified to do anything with nothing. He will certainly be missed.”

Game Warden

 Gary Hunt

“Jimmy reminds you of John Wayne. He has that kind of ethics.”

Former deputy

Joe Shadle

“Jimmy’s got more grit than any man I ever met.”

Sheriff

 Butch Blackburn

Donley County Commissioners approved a budget for Constable Jimmy Swinney’s office last week.

The budget, authorized during a called session of the court last Thursday, totals $5,259.41 and includes a salary of $3,170.

Swinney had submitted a budget last month that totaled $35,493.98.

“The state constitution requires us to set him a reasonable salary,” County Judge Jack Hall said.

Hall said the county had based Swinney’s budget on figures from the office of the Justice of the Peace in Precincts 1&2 and on statements from Sheriff-elect Butch Blackburn.

“We looked at the number of warrants and citations to be served out of Judge [Jimmy] Johnson’s office and the six to 12 jury trials per year that Judge Johnson holds,” Hall said. “We also based it on a statement by Sheriff-elect Blackburn that Swinney’s services would not be needed to police Precincts 1&2.

“We feel like we have provided a reasonable salary based on the services he is going to provide.”

Attempts to contact Swinney by telephone Tuesday morning were unsuccessful; but according to a report in the Amarillo Daily News last week, Swinney said a reasonable salary would be the same as the one given to Constable Mike Wallendorff in Precincts 3&4, which is $17,146.95.

Swinney filed as a write-in candidate for Constable in Precincts 1&2 in the General Election – an office vacant for about 30 years. He received 52 votes.

In other developments, Judge Hall did not administer the oath of office to Swinney during the regular swearing-in ceremony last Friday.

Hall had previously sent a letter to Swinney on December 22, saying he would not perform the service for the constable-elect in Precincts 1&2.

“That would go against my principals to do that,” Hall said.

Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson performed that duty on Friday.

One of Clarendon’s leading citizens, Wesley Carroll Knorpp, died last Thursday, December 28, 2000, in Amarillo at the age of 92.

Mr. Knorpp was born on May 18, 1908, in Clarendon and was a lifetime resident of Donley County. He married Gertrude Dorris Parr on May 19, 1932, at Longbeach, California. She preceded him in death on May 11, 1994.

He was employed at the Donley County State Bank in Clarendon from 1928 until retiring in 1995 and was a bank officer.

Mr. Knorpp was a long-time member of the Clarendon Lions Club and the Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Clarendon.

He was one of the persons instrumental in the building and development of Lake Greenbelt, serving on the board of the Greenbelt Water Association, which became the Greenbelt Water Authority. He was president of the Greenbelt board for many years.

Cremation took place at Memorial Park Crematory in Amarillo on Friday, December 29, 2000. Arrangements were under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors, Inc., and Rector Funeral Home in Amarillo.

A unique memorial service was held Saturday, December 30, 2000, in Robertson Chapel of Memories with Dr. Buddy Hudson, family friend of Hurst, conducting.

“Got any good deals today?” Hudson asked, implementing a phrase that was a trademark of Mr. Knorpp. He used to ask that rather than say hello, friends recalled.

Friends and co-workers of Mr. Knorpp told stories of his life and praised him for his generosity, for being a man whose word was his bond, and for his warm heart wrapped by a gruff voice.

“He really wasn’t a big man,” said Hudson. “It just took all that skin to hold his big heart.”

Mr. Knorpp was credited with closing all of Clarendon’s banks on Saturdays. Prior to his influence, local banks stayed open until noon on Saturdays.

He was said to have considered his employees as his kids and provided them with insurance and retirement benefits.

“Carroll was my boss, and he was my friend,” said bank employee Mary Neal Risley.

Clarendon attorney William J. Lowe also counted Mr. Knorpp as a friend, saying he had given him one of his first jobs when he became a lawyer in the late 1940s. Lowe accompanied Mr. Knorpp on many trips to Childress for Greenbelt board meetings.

“I never saw Carroll get mad, and I never heard him say a bad word about anybody,” Lowe said.

There were no sermons, and no funeral songs were sung. The memorial service was rather a gathering of family, friends, and admirers who had come to say goodbye to a great man by praising the good things about him and his life.

Mr. Knorpp is survived by one daughter, Dorris Bliss Knorpp of Clarendon; one son, Wesley Parr Knorpp of Rowlett; three grandchildren, Niki Walker of South Lake, Laurie Shafield of Santa Barbara, California, and Michele Davis of Palestine; and ten great grandchildren including, Kesley, Logan, and Miranda Walker of South Lake.

The family respectfully requests that memorials be made to BSA Hospice, PO Box 950, Amarillo, Texas 79176-0950.

The commissioners’ court will decided what a restored Donley County Courthouse is going to look like next Monday.

 
County Commissioners will be deciding which style seating will be put in the district courtroom as part of a $2.9 million restoration of the 1890 building. The bench in front is one of the original fixtures. The theater seats behind it are some that were installed circa 1913. And the church pews in the background is the seating used today.

Enterprise Digital Photo.
 
Deliberations will focus on the orientation of courtroom. According to local recollections, the room was originally situated with the judge’s bench in the north. Physical evidence in the courtroom supports this theory, but for most of the building’s history the bench has been in the south.

Also at issue will be the seating in the courtroom. Last month, project architect Chris Hutson pulled some of the old wooden theatre seats from the courthouse attic. But this was not the original seating. He also found a bench, similar to a park bench with a folding seat. Records indicate that these original benches from the courtroom were sold to the Goldston School in 1912.

Hutson says going with the original benches may be cheaper since another courthouse project in the state is having similar benches recreated at the same time. However, the theatre style seats are more attractive, and many of them are in the attic.

When commissioners meet on Monday, they also will be determining what time period the building should be restored to as required by the Texas Historical Commission. Based on previous decisions, that date will be prior to 1914. Whether they shoot for 1913 or 1912 will be decided in large part on what seating is chosen for the courtroom.

Once the target date is set, decisions regarding paint colors, lighting fixtures, etc., will be made in accordance with that time period.

In other courthouse project news, Hutson says his company, the Austin-based Volz & Associates, may be on the trail of the quarry where stones for the 1890 building were raised. A stonecutter in Colorado has led the architects to a quarry in Kansas – a quarry known to have sent large amounts of stone to Texas in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Hutson wants the stone tested to make sure it won’t have the same problems that currently plague the stones in the courthouse.

The county has also discovered a second hidden fireplace. The first had been found sealed up in the elevator shaft on the second floor, and this new one was in a corresponding place on the first floor. Hutson says plans are to take the fireplaces apart and use them to restore or rebuild other fireplaces in the building.

Officials say the courthouse project is on schedule, and the county is tentatively scheduled to advertise for bids on the abatement of asbestos and bat guano in a couple of weeks. Bids for construction are expected to be let in late March with construction slated to start in April.

A target date of April 22, 2002, has been set to complete the project.

State Rep. Warren Chisum will be in Clarendon Friday, January 5, 2001, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the CHS Auditorium.

The state legislator has planned 24 town hall meetings in early January to hear from the voters and to provide an overview of what to expect from the Texas Legislature.

“State government works best when the public participates,” Chisum said. “I intend to spend more time listening than talking.”

Chisum typically files several bills based on concerns brought to his attention at town hall meetings.

“Austin is pretty far from the Panhandle,” Chisum said. “I want to make sure people have the opportunity to tell their government what they expect right here at home.”

Chisum was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1988 and will report to Austin for his seventh term in 2001. He represents the 88th House District, which includes Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Sherman, and Wheeler counties.

The 2001 Donley County Junior Livestock Show will be held in Clarendon on Saturday, January 13.  The young people have worked hard to have their project animals ready.

Setup for the show will be Wednesday, January 10.  All parents and anyone else interested in helping setup for the show should come to the Clarendon Community Centeron Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.  setup includes constructing the pens and laying the carpet for the show ring.

Everyone is welcome to attend the show.  Any volunteer help is appreciated.

Clarendon got its white Christmas. The day after was white too, and so was the day after that.

Reports from the Donley County Sheriff’s Office put the total snowfall on December 25 and 26 at about 18 inches, making travel extremely hazardous and keeping deputies and reserve deputies busy with rescues.

“People call to ask about conditions and you tell them it’s dangerous and that travel is discouraged,” said dispatcher Vicki Burrell. “Then they will say, ‘Well, do you think I can make it?’”

Burrell said more than a hundred people had called the sheriff’s office inquiring about condition to either come through or leave Clarendon. Others got stranded and called for help.

Local deputies have been hauling people out in 4-wheel drive military surplus vehicles, and Burrell said stranded travelers have found refuge at the Church of Christ, the First United Methodist Church, Owens Bed & Breakfast, and the First Baptist Church’s Downtown Ministry Center. The VFW Hall was also made available, she said.

Local wrecking services were running, but Burrell said, “We could have used a lot more.”

Tuesday night alone saw six wrecks, she said.

Official measurements put the city’s snowfall at 12 to 15 inches, according to Tommie Saye, a cooperative observer for the National Weather Service.

Six inches fell on Christmas day and night, Saye said. Another six inches fell Tuesday.

“The snow blew and drifted, so you could easily say we had 15 inches in some places,” he said.

Total precipitation was 1.31 inches officially.

State and city crews stayed busy trying to keep major thoroughfares open, but travel was still strongly discouraged as of Wednesday afternoon.

As of press time, forecasters in Amarillo were predicting slightly warmer weather for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday with a chance for more snowfall on Saturday and Sunday.

Currently underway and lasting through mid March, the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District will be conducting its annual winter water level measurement program throughout the District. 

The following counties will have winter water level measurements taken from them: Armstrong, Carson, Donley, Gray, Hutchinson, Potter, Roberts, and Wheeler.

Winter water level measurement’s help not only the District, with vital data and information for their records, but it also helps out the general public, farmers, and ranchers.

Winter water level measurements are gathered by using an E-line or a steel tape down the casing of the well.  An E-line consists of a long measuring tape with a battery-powered circuit running through it.  The end of the E-line that is first placed in the hole purposely has a short in it.  When this short is submersed into water, a buzzer will sound on the reel relaying to the operator that it has found the water level. 

The steel tape is used in much the same way.  The tape is first covered with a blue or yellow chalk for four to five feet.  This end is then inserted into the casing.  The operator must know what the previous depth was, in order to put the right amount of tape into the well.  The tape is then pulled back out of the well.  The operator then finds the area where the chalk has been washed off the steel tape.  From this reading, the operator can than calculate the water level.

The benefits that come from gathering this data includes that the PGWD will be able to make saturated thickness maps that are useful in locating the amount of water under the ground in a particular place. 

Many farmers and ranchers use these maps to locate the best places to drill irrigation wells or windmills.  Other maps prepared from this data are water level and depletion maps.  The water level maps tell where the present water level is located.  The depletion maps tell how many feet the water table has risen or fallen in the last year. 

The depletion maps used to determine the amount of depletion are the same maps used for those landowners who are eligible for depletion allowance on their income tax returns.

The PGWD has been measuring water levels on many different wells throughout the District.  On some wells, as much as 40 years worth of data has been collected.  The main goal is to be able to provide useful and accurate information to farmers, ranchers, and anyone who may have a question about water in our area. 

If you see a red pickup on the road with groundwater district decals on the door, don’t worry.  They are just doing their job the best they can, so they will be able to provide the people of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District with the best information they can collect.

For answers to your questions or for more information, call 1-800-320-3536.