Pistol Packing Mamma. (original) (raw)
Mrs. Brunt�s elevation to the sheriff�s office caught the attention of Dexter, who had already written with James B. Paris �Honky Tonk Blues,� the first country song to use the term.
He soon wrote Pistol Packing Mama and recorded the song with Gene Autry�s backup band.
The song was released in 1943 and, although controversial because of its lyrics, sold one million copies in its first six months.
Over time, Dexter�s honky tonk sound lost its popularity, but in 1971 he was installed in the Nashville Songwriter�s Hall of Fame. Dexter invested in loan, motel and real estate businesses in Texas and died a wealthy man in 1984 at Lewisville, Texas.
In 1940, when Mrs. Brunt�s term as sheriff was scheduled to expired, she decided not to seek a full term and her brother-in-law, Frank Brunt, filed as a candidate for the office.
He won on November 5, 1940, and took office on January 1, 1941, at the age of twenty-seven. He remained in the office through 1954 when he resigned to accept a security position with Exxon USA in Houston.
Brunt was later transferred to Tyler, where he retired and was appointed to accept a temporary position as Smith County sheriff, leaving the office a year later.
The Brunt family legacy in the Cherokee County sheriff�s office came to a close in 1976--some 37 years after Bill Brunt�s murder--when John Bill Slover, a Cherokee County sheriff eight years, left office.
Slover, a cousin of Bill and Frank Brunt, was elected November 5, 1958, and served eighteen years.
March 7, 2009 Column
A weekly column syndicated in 70 East Texas newspapers