First sheriff takes long road to Kerr County

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on June 6, 2026

An early photo of San Antonio Street in Center Point. The Burney Family settled
in Center Point and descendants still live there today

In 1856, when the State of Texas granted a petition to form Kerr County, and Kerrville was named the county seat, there were only 10 families living in Kerrville. Today’s column is about one of those families, with emphasis on one of the members of that family, W.D.C. Burney.

William Dewitt Clinton Burney, known to his friends as Dewitt, was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, on Oct. 16, 1828. He was one of six children born to Robert and Lydia McCain Burney. Dewitt’s father served as Guildford County Sheriff from 1820-26.  When Dewitt was a child, the family moved to McNary County, Tennessee.

At the age of 21, DeWitt, his older brother, Robert (1833-1905) and a neighbor, Tom Saner (1826-93) decided to strike out on their own and head west. They stopped for a while in Arkansas, but wanderlust soon took over, and the young men started to make their way toward Texas.

By 1850, the men had made it to Texas and were working as field hands, making hay on a prairie near San Antonio. While working there, DeWitt was bitten by a rattlesnake. DeWitt made an account of the bite in the July 18, 1915, edition of the San Antonio Express:

WDC "DeWitt" Burney

“While (Tom) Saner and I were working on a patch of corn on a small tract of land which we had bought, Mrs. Saner brought me a gun to kill a deer. … On this occasion I had left my boots at camp, a thing which I seldom did when going any distance. While walking down the Martinez about one and one-half miles from the field, I was suddenly attacked by a rattlesnake. Before I knew of the snake’s presence, I felt a severe pain in the calf of my left leg. Just such as might be expected from the vicious bite of a big cat.

“As the snake struck me I jumped forward and loosed the reptile’s hold from my limb. I immediately un-strapped from my waist a small belt (the throatlatch of a bridle), which I strapped as tightly as I could above the wound. I then started to the field. Reaching there, I mounted my mule and rode rapidly into camp. In the meantime, Saner rode to Dr. Joe Bell’s camp and brought him to my camp. Procuring a gourd, he at once began to suck the blood from the wound, until a large part of the blood from my body was taken. From the reptile’s bite and loss of blood, I lay unconscious for 24 hours. For two months, I was unable to work from the effects of this bite.”

Family and historical accounts say that the effects of the snake bite afflicted DeWitt throughout his life and may have caused the blindness he suffered in old age.

In 1852, DeWitt and Robert Burney were working as cypress shingle makers on the Medina River, near Bandera. After working there for some time, several young men — DeWitt and Robert Burney, Sidney and Adolphus Rees, Pat Saner and Tom Saner — decided to make a scouting trip to explore the territory surrounding the camp — areas that later became Bandera and Kerr County. During that expedition, the men named many of the creeks and landmarks they saw, including Polly’s Peak, Bluff Creek, Pipe Creek and Privilege Creek in Bandera County and Silver Creek and Goat Creek in Kerr County — names that are still in use today.

After their explorations, Dewitt and Robert Burney worked for a sawmill on Verde Creek, near present day Center Point. The brothers were among the men who milled the wood that built Camp Verde.

They came to the Hill Country at a time when there was still a strong native presence in the area. One day, DeWitt Burney and Thomas Saner were cutting timber along the Verde Creek. Burney spotted a turkey and decided to kill it for dinner. When Burney grabbed the gun, it accidentally discharged. This discharge saved the lives of both men. When the gun fired, the men heard a startled rustling in the tall grasses around them. Saner and Burney immediately dropped down into the grass to conceal themselves, guns at the ready for a fight.  

Nineteen native warriors had surrounded the two men. When the gun discharged, the warriors believed they were being attacked by a larger party than what was actually there and fled the scene.

In 1854, Dewitt and Robert’s widowed mother, Lydia, came to Kerr County with her oldest son, Hance, his wife, Mary Ann, and Lydia’s two daughters, Eutencia and Julia. The new arrivals made their home in Center Point, close to DeWitt and Robert.

Both DeWitt and Robert were among the signers of the petition to form Kerr County in 1855. In 1856, when the county was formed, DeWitt was elected as the first sheriff of Kerr County, following in his father’s law enforcement footsteps. He served as sheriff for two years — before Kerr County even had a jail or courthouse. During this time, DeWitt and Robert moved into a log house in Kerrville on the banks of the Guadalupe that was originally built by Joshua Brown, the founder of Kerrville.

When the Civil War was declared in 1860, both Robert and DeWitt enlisted. DeWitt served with the Texas Rangers to defend the Western frontier against Comanche and Apache raids. Robert, who had married Elizabeth Goss earlier in the year, took his wife to Gonzales to live with her parents and joined the Confederate Army.  

Kerr County's first sheriff is believed to own the first automobile in Kerr County

On June 4, 1866, DeWitt married Martha Tatum. They had seven children. It is believed that DeWitt was the first person to own an automobile in Kerr County. 

W.D.C. “DeWitt” Burney died on Dec. 4, 1920. His wife, Martha, died on July 27, 1938.

Aside from DeWitt being the first Kerr County sheriff, the entire Burney family played a big role in shaping Kerr County. Hance Burney was Kerrville’s first postmaster and served two terms as county judge. He also served as board president of the Charles Schreiner Bank (Kerrville’s first bank) and was president of the First National Bank of Center Point. Robert Burney was the second county treasurer of Kerr County. After the Civil War, he and his wife moved to Oregon and then later to Alamogordo, New Mexico.