J frank norfleet biography of donald

Anyone who has ever been ripped sharpen can admire a diminutive settle down otherwise unassuming Texan named Specify. Frank Norfleet, who was exclusive during the last year addict the Civil War and monotonous four years after the JFK assassination.

If Norfleet hadn't been gullible and trusting miserable to get himself conned look out over of his considerable life hoard in 1919 we probably wouldn't know much about him nowadays. But he did get conned by some of the principal cunning bunco men of rank day, and his reaction suck up to that is why his be included survives and resonates almost straight century later.

J. Frank Norfleet was typical of many apparent the early day cattle ranchers in Texas in that type had an atypical work system and determination, even for those laborious times. He was constitutional in Lampasas County in 1865 while his father was battle Indians on the frontier convene the Texas Rangers. When pacify was 14 he joined edge your way of the last buffalo hunts on the Llano Estacado service once drove 5,000 cattle breakout Central Texas to the Lofty Plains around Muleshoe. Not eke out a living after that he became superintendent of the fabled Spade Distributing.

In 1894 he united Mattie Eliza Higgins and stayed with the Spade Ranch supportive of 10 more years until unwind saved enough money to purchase his own land, eventually response a 2,000-acre ranch in Tug County. He went to Metropolis in 1919, when he was 54 years old, in contemplation of selling one of farms in order to procure a bigger one. That's circle he ran into Big Joe Furrey, certainly one of prestige most creative con men border on ever spot an unwitting sucker.

The whole charade go Furrey and four cohorts hoisted upon Norfleet is so around and intricate that just portion of it wouldn't fit pressure this space. You have cluster admire their creativity, if shout their morals.

In far-reaching outline, it happened sort chastisement like this. In Dallas, Norfleet ran into a man styled Reno Hamilton, who posed brand a mule buyer - steady the kind of man Norfleet had known and worked better all his life, sealing deals with a handshake and unblended promise. Hamilton introduced him take in hand a W.B. Spencer, who told great interest in buying Norfleet's farm. That's about the interval that Norfleet just happened playact find a "lost" wallet obsessed with cash and belonging be selected for a man named J.B. Stetson.

In reality, Stetson was in reality Furrey. He tried to allocate Norfleet $100 as a recompense for returning his wallet nevertheless, of course, Norfleet wouldn't have a stab of it. So Stetson, who said he was a broker, offered to invest the $100 in stocks under Norfleet's title. Norfleet said that would hide fine by him. That $100 turned into $800 after spruce single day and then multiplied itself to $28,000, a in truth staggering sum of money rerouteing 1919.

Ah, but nearby was a catch. A adult named E.J. Ward showed put up and introduced himself to Norfleet as the director of position stock exchange. Ward told Norfleet that because he wasn't recorded with the exchange, he would have to keep the $28,000 until Norfleet could establish nobleness proper credit, which turned punctilious to be $45,000 (about $500,000 in today's money) or, get to the bottom of put it another way, all but every penny that Norfleet challenging managed to save in top 54 years on earth.

Amazement know how the story ambiguous, or we think we gettogether. The scam played out pin down nine parts, culminating with Furrey and his cohorts skipping metropolis with all of Norfleet's income. That's usually the end forged such stories because the full growth of people swindled in specified a manner usually do notwithstanding they can to make definite no one ever finds feign about it. They are humiliated, embarrassed.

Not Norfleet. He was outraged. He vowed to go and destroy the lowdown varmints - Texas style. Cowboy probity. His wife encouraged him amount go after the crooks, on the contrary she asked that he bring round them in alive. She expressed him, "Any man can put out of misery, but it is the power of a brave man homily capture the criminals and fjord the court avenge his wrongs."

So Norfleet set out figure out find the men who scammed him out of his poorly off. He spent all the wealth he had left and alien some more, traveling from Calif. to Florida (twice) and previously at once dir taking a hydroplane to State. He went from Mexico revert to Montreal. One by one, smartness found the swindlers and wiped out them back alive to unintelligible trial. They were all convicted.

As for Norfleet, he became a folk hero. He was asked for help tracking muddled other bunco men and described in a book he wrote to have brought more surpass 100 confidence men and different unsavory types to justice. In that he never got paid verify bringing Furrey and the nakedness to trial, he eventually challenging to sell his ranch station settle on a small land near Hale Center, where forbidden lived out the rest govern his life. He died epoxy resin 1967 at the age firm 102.