Houston Police Detective Joseph Robert Free, who died in the line of duty nearly a century ago, was honored for the first time this week when his name was etched on the Texas peace officers' memorial wall at the state Capitol.
The recognition was a long time coming, because not a single record of Free's ultimate sacrifice in 1912 could be found at Houston police headquarters.
Somehow his files were lost, said the Houston Police Department's historian, James Chapman.
Houston Sgt. Larry Jaskolka, who served in the color guard at this week's memorial ceremony, said Free's death is the oldest "historical" case from Houston known to have been overlooked. His name and those of two other officers who died within the past two years raised the number of Houston officers listed on the curved black granite wall to 110.
But Free's name might be forgotten still if his great-nephew, a veteran policeman in Arkadelphia, Ark., had not grown curious about the stories he'd heard about a relative losing his life in the line of duty. After all, John Free, 53, felt a strong kinship since he had chosen the same career path and come close to losing his own life in a criminal's ambush in 1993.
"Putting his name on that wall was way overdue," said John Free, who said he spent two years getting it approved.
By putting his investigative skills to work, John was able to track down the detective's gravesite in Brenham. In addition to the fading tombstone, he also found his great-uncle's grandson, Alvin, now 82, and nephew, Woodrow, now 72, who still lived there.
Story in Sepia Tones
Woodrow had kept a collection of tattered, yellow newspaper clippings, photos and an obituary documenting the Houston lawman's death. The information led John on a mission to make sure that sacrifice was remembered. He filled out a request to have his great-uncle's name honored as one of Houston's fallen heroes.
According to the old documents, Joseph Robert Free quit his job as an elected constable in Brenham after one year in order to join the Houston force in 1906. He had worked his way up to detective six years later when he was killed by a "demented, crazed" man living in a rooming house near what is now Minute Maid Park.
Photos show Free in his early days astride a horse, wearing a long military-style jacket and Stetson in front of a jail. Later he is photographed wearing a suit and Stetson, and relatives say he was even permitted to drive one of the department's first two cars to the scene where he was killed.
"He died confronting this maniac, Floyd Buckingham, a traveling photographer who had been hustling little girls," said Nelson Zoch, a retired Houston homicide detective, who plans to add Free's name to his book, Fallen Heroes of the Bayou City. Zoch was the investigator who validated the claim that Free's name belonged on the wall.
According to the news clippings, residents at the rooming house told Free and his partner that Buckingham had been acting crazy for days, making "insulting remarks and gestures," but neglected to mention that he was also armed with a large revolver.
'It's about time'
When Free entered the photographer's room, Buckingham fired his gun and jumped quickly into his bathroom. The bullet entered Free's stomach and struck his liver, but he still managed to fire several shots through the bathroom door.
One hit the cornered gunman in the breast, killing him instantly.
Free died at an area hospital five days later on Oct. 18, 1912. He was 30.
His untimely death left his wife a widow and their three children without a father (an infant son had preceded him in death).
Free's grandson, Alvin, was also never able to meet his grandfather, who was killed 17 years before he was born. "But my father went so far as to change his middle name to my grandfather's name, Joe, because he respected him so much," said Alvin, a retired Shell operating assistant.
The detective's nephew, Woodrow, a retired brigadier general for the U.S. Army reserves, agreed: "It's about time Joe Free got some recognition."
The two other Houston police officers' names added to the wall this week were:
Patrolman Eydelmen Mani, 30, who died May 19, 2010, when his patrol car crashed into a guard rail and flipped while trying to join a chase after a suspected car thief.
Undercover officer, Henry Canales, 42, who died June 23, 2009, when shot in the back during a sting operation involving stolen property.
