BRITTON, FRANK L. (?-?). Frank L. Britton, attorney and adjutant general of Texas under Edmund J. Davisqv from November 15, 1872, to January 15, 1874, also served as Davis's private secretary. He was probably a nephew of Davis's wife, Anne Britton Davis. At one time he served as city attorney of Austin. A Texas legal directory listed him as a member of the Davis and Britton law firm in Austin in 1876-77. On August 9, 1877, he was accused of shooting United States marshal Thomas F. Purnell in Austin. Britton was jailed but released without bail by August 20. Conflicting testimony in court as to whether both men pulled guns made a case for self-defense.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Austin Daily Democratic Statesman, August 10, 20, 1877. H. L. Bentley and Thomas Pilgrim, Texas Legal Directory for 1876-77 (Austin: Democratic Statesman Office, 1877). Clarence P. Denman, "The Office of Adjutant General in Texas, 1835-1881," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 28 (April 1925).
