The Minor Family of Somerset

Jobe Fisher married Lucinda Warren. they had two sons, Jasper a
nd King, while living in Collin County, Texas. He went to Jac
k County and then to DentonCounty where he lived during the Civ
il War. Lucinda died about 1856 and he married Minerva. Afte
r the War, the family moved to Williamson County where his broth
er James lived. Jobe was in the cattle business and operated on
e or two freight wagons.
Minerva's health was frail so they moved to Goliad County to liv
e closer to the coast. Jobe moved several hundred Head of Durha
m cattle and his freight wagon business. However, Minerva soo
n died. Jasper drove one of the wagons with his father. Anna
, Jobe's mother, moved to Goliadto help him rear his children.
Jobe became concerned about the unsavory company King was keepin
g. About 1869, he sent King back to Williamson County to live w
ith James. King attended school and was a fairly good student a
lthoughy, reportedly, rather quiet and mild mannered. He was al
so good at fist-fighting. Good-looking and popular with girls
, he attended numerous camp meetings of the time. He began buyi
ng wild or untamed horses at cheap prices, breaking them and sel
ling them for a tidy profit.
Then he got into trouble over astolen horse. A family versio
n of the episode has King on a long, two or three Days, sleeples
s, ride. He grew tired and unsaddled the horse and lay down t
o sleep. when he awoke his horse had roamed away. King put hi
s bridleon an available horse that belonged to a Mr. Turnbow
. He claimed he was chasing his own horse. Mr. Turnbow file
d a complaint against King for using thehorse withouthis consen
t. King was captured a few Days later. Mr. Turnbow would not d
rop the charges. the story relates that Turnbow slipped Kin
g a pocket knife that he used to cut the lead rope attached to h
is horse and quickly escaped. King returned to Goliad.
Back in Goliad, he was soon in trouble.The family story hold
s that he was led astray by some men named Bruton. Official rec
ords show that he was charged with horse theft. The family stor
ystates that it was housebreaking instigated by an older man
. He was sentenced on 5 October 1870 to two years in the stat
e penitentiary but was released in February of 1871 due to his y
outh. He was only in his mid-teens! He thenbecame a cowboy i
n the "Nueches Stripi" country in South Texas where he brokehor
ses, chased Mexican bandits and learned to shoot. He often ran w
ith a motley crew of restlers and other desperadoes.
He was 5'9" tall, 135 pounds with light hari and Brown eyes
. A photograph of King shows that he was good looking and wor
e a large mustache. He began to dress rather flamboyantly. H
ewor sombreros with gold braid, embroidered vests, silk shirt
s and crimson sashes. Bengal tiger skin chaps became his most f
amous trademark. Silver mounted holsters held a pair of ivory-h
andled, silver-plated pistols. Of course,he wore silver spur
s mounted with silver bells that announted to everyone within ea
rshot the presence of King Fisher. His full name was John Kin
g Fisher and he was called King by the family from the time he w
as a child. Some have reported that he adopted the name to refl
ect his flashy dressbut this isnot the case.
He teamed up with a gang of Mexican restlers. There was an argu
ment over the division of spoils. King shot and killed three o
f them. Hetook over the gang and eventually gained control o
f several bands with membership sometimes of over one hundred an
d covering three counties. He gunned down seven more men in th
e process.
Once established he bought a ranch on pendencia Creek near Eagl
e Pass, Maverick County, Texas, across the Rio Grande River from Me
xico. King used his ranch as his base of operation. On the roa
dthat lead to his ranch he posted a sign reading "This is Kin
g Fisher's Road.Take the other one." Evidently somewhat o
f a