Britton, Francis L. [Frank] (1847–1880)

Francis “Frank” L. Britton, attorney and adjutant general of Texas under Edmund J. Davis from November 15, 1872, to January 15, 1874, was born to Thomas Pindall Britton and Eveline (Bayless or Baylis) Britton in Spencer County, Indiana. During the Civil War he enlisted in the United States Army in March 1864 and served with the Indiana Tenth Cavalry. He mustered out on August 31, 1865, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, then returned to Indiana. In December 1868 he moved to Texas, where the family of his uncle Forbes N. Britton, lived. When E. J. Davis, the husband of Frank's first cousin Anne Britton Davis, was elected governor, Frank served as Davis's private secretary, then served as adjutant general. Following this, 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. During the tumultuous Reconstruction era, newspapers noted that Britton got into numerous fights over personal and political issues. He and E. J. Davis had a series of conflicts with U.S. Marshall Thomas Purnell and his sons, Thomas, Jr., and deputy marshal Henry Purnell that as early as 1875. In January 1876 Henry Purnell and Davis crossed paths and had words on an Austin street. Purnell proceeded to beat “over the head and shoulders of the ex-Governor” with his cane, which led to another confrontation that involved the Purnells, Britton, Davis, Jacob C. DeGress, and John L. Haynes at a federal courthouse. On August 9, 1877, he and Marshal Thomas F. Purnell met in front of the Metz building in Austin and after a few words, resulted in a shoot-out that left Purnell seriously but not fatally wounded. Britton was arrested and 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. Britton was found no guilty but discharged from his position as city attorney. In the following three years, he sued the city of Austin for salary not paid.

During this time Britton had also been ill with tuberculosis, which had become significantly worse by 1876. H married Marie Rose LeClere in Galveston on January 3, 1877. He died October 28, 1880, in Silver Cliff, Colorado, a state where many tubercular people on the advice of doctors who recommended the dry climate. Frank L. Britton was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Evansville, Indiana.