From Texas Ranger to convicted murder, Henry Baker was banned from Kerrville
Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on July 2, 2026 Hen Baker in 1924 In last week’s column, I began the tale of Henry Harrison “Hen” Baker, a Texas Ranger and sometime deputy sheriff, who became a controversial character in Kerr County History. In spite of his early years in law enforcement, in later years, he began to take the law as a suggestion rather than the rule. . I have told you about Baker’s early years — his brave service with the Texas Rangers, his marriage to Sarah Coker and how toward the end of his life, he began “borrowing” items from his neighbors, was accused of stealing cattle and pigs from area ranches and developed a hair trigger temper that led him to face the charge of murder in the killing of Newt Merrit and the charge of attempted murder in the “cutting” of Harry Stokes. Baker was fond of telling people that you never needed to bother with lawyers when you got in trouble, all you needed was two or three good witnesses. That philosophy seemed to keep him...