Freestone County, Texas
Reflections


FREESTONE PAST /PRESENT
J. R. (Sonny) Sessions

Judge Kirby - Part II

Judge Kirby always stood erect and dressed in black suits a bow tie and black shoes, 
reminiscent of the old South in the early l800’s. I got to know Judge Kirby well as a 
friend of my Daddy’s and while holding Court in Freestone Co. Been told Judge Kirby 
not a heavy drinking man but while holding Court in Fairfield when a certain man went 
to his office in the Courthouse he would call a recess and join him for refreshments. Also 
told he often performed marriages at his home late at night thru his front door with it 
closed: the license was slipped under the door and if proper the Judge signed and pushed 
it back. Also told he did not hunt or fish and anyone wanting to confer with him night or 
day could do so.
  Probably the most important ruling was made regarding the use of trucks to haul cotton 
bales and other products during the early l930’s
terrible depression with cotton al low as 5 cents a pound. The railroads had enjoyed a 
monopoly since Reconstruction Days holding the South especially in virtual slavery. In 
the early l930’s with improved trucks and roads individuals found it more economical 
than the railroads. At this time the Texas Railroad Comm. a puppet for the railroads 
enacted prohibitive regulations with trucks and even drivers seized and sometimes 
confiscated. Judge Kirby issued a Temporary Restraining Order to stop this with a Court 
hearing set. The railroads and Railroad Comm. were there with their big guns and to their 
dismay a Permanent 
Restraining Order upheld by the Appeals Courts issued. This really the birth of the 
trucking industry as we know it today
  Judge Kirby issued numerous Injunctions and Restraining Orders against the newly 
formed Dept. of Public Safety, which at that time controlled by special interests. These 
ruling affected Freestone Co. greatly as Cotton Still King here and most hauled by trucks 
to Houston and Galveston. Many had to go back roads and late nights due to severe 
enforcement of biased laws.
  Although they’re nothing in the Limestone Co. history books on this very important 
man and no attorneys left today that practiced law before him their still endless stories. It 
is my opinion that his rulings kept Limestone Co. legally wet after some of the wet/dry 
elections held.
  In the early l950’s he was attacked and seriously beaten on the streets of Groesbeck by 
an irate citizen, he never fully recovered and was limited in his actions until his death 
March l0, l952. After the attack and until his death longtime law enforcement officer 
Dave Claridge, a personal friend of mine, Freestone Co. citizen, former Constable, 
Deputy and Mexia Chief of Police, accompanied Judge Kirby.
  Judge Kirby left a small estate, I heard my Daddy say he was a poor manager and easy 
touch. He is buried in Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery; his wife is buried beside him in 
an unmarked grave.
  Imagine what it be today if we were still at the mercy of the railroads and had to depend 
on them for today’s necessities.
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