a) Large Mounted photograph Heck Thomas and fellow lawmen, seated.
b) Large Mounted Photograph of Heck and fellow lawmen, Lawton, Okla. 6 5/8" x 8 1/2" image on 10" x 12" card Wade Photo.
c) Cabinet Card of Belle Thomas, Heck's first Wife. Written in ink on verso, "Mrs. Heck Thomas / Mrs. Belle Gray Thomas / about 35." Image size 6" x 4", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4".
d) Mounted photo of woman and child. Probably Heck's first wife, but unidentified (lost with missing portion of card). What can be read is "Frances" and "__1, 1901." Image size: image is 5" x 3 1/2" oval, mount size 8" x 6" at largest.
e) Cabinet card of John Carroll. 6 1/8" x 4, mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4".
f) Cabinet card of Heck's daughter from his first wife. 6" x 4", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4". Written on verso: "Mary Jane Age 2 1/2 years.”
g) Cabinet card of Heck's daughter from his first wife. 6" x 4", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4".
h) Cabinet card of Heck's son from his first wife. 6" x 4", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4".
i) Cabinet card of W.H. Sandels. 6" x 4", mount size 6 3/8" x 4 1/4".
j) Cabinet card of Heck Thomas. Notations front and back for "Uncle Heck" - Henry Andrew Thomas. 5 3/4" x 4", mount size 6 1/2" 4 1/4".
k) Cabinet card of Heck Thomas and woman. 5 1/2" x 3 7/8", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4". Heck with rifle and double gun belts, standing with one of the two Hitchcock sisters who were clerks in the Marshal's office. Heck is carrying his Winchester rifle, Colt Single Action in holster, and wearing his famous crescent and star badge on his chest.
l) Cabinet card of Heck Thomas and woman. 5 1/2" x 3 7/8", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4". Obviously taken during the same sitting as the other Swearingen photo, this time Heck is wrapped head-to-toe in a blanket, and the woman is wearing the gun belts and holding the rifle. Heck was known to have had a good sense of humor.
m) Cabinet Card of Heck Thomas. 7 1/2" x 4 3/4", mount size 8 1/4" x 5 1/4". McCubbin: "This is my 'second favorite' photo of Heck. This one came to me from his daughter Beth. Her signature, 'Mrs. J.B. Meeks' is on the back, and the date 1891 is penciled beneath the photo."
n) Photograph of Heck Thomas and son. 6 5/8" x 4 5/8", mount size 10" x 8". Written on verso: "Heck Thomas / H.G. Thomas Sr. / Papa / Brother / Taken out West when Brother went to see Papa."
o) Photograph of Heck in a one-horse buggy. 3 1/4" x 3 1/4", mount size 4" x 5". On typed card affixed to back: "Heck Thomas About 1905…"
p) Cabinet card of Bill Doolin in death (killed by Heck Thomas). 5 1/2" x 4 3/4", mount size 6 1/2" x 4 1/4".
q) Photograph of Madsen & Tighlman. 4 1/2" x 3 1/2". Written on back, " 'Bill' Tilghman (at right) and 'Chris' Madsen" Other writing on back illegible.
r) Photograph of Heck and sons. 7 1/2" x 5 1/4", mount size 7 1/2" x 6 1/2".
s) Photograph of Heck Thomas and Texas Express Officials. 7 1/8" x 8 1/2". Heck Thomas front and center, with notations on front and back. In ink on verso: "This picture was taken in Fort Worth, Texas, about 1878. / I do not know the names of any of these men except Sam Findlay - they were all friends and fellow huntsmen of my father."
Robert McCubbin: “In 1998 a friend put me in touch with Colin S. Monteith III, a great grandson of Heck Thomas, Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory Deputy Marshal in the 1890s. I arranged to visit him at his home in Atlanta to have a look at the photo album he inherited from his great grandmother, the first wife of Heck Thomas. We reached an agreement for me to buy all the original photos and other items in the album and I would provide copies to be put in the album to replace the original photos. This was one of the best additions to my collection. I was especially pleased because Heck Thomas was the best of all the lawmen of the West in my opinion. I had previously visited Heck’s daughter Beth Thomas Meeks, still living in Norman, Oklahoma, at the age of 91. She was the youngest of the children of Heck and his second wife. She generously gave me a photo and a letter that I particularly liked.”
Lot 218, Brian Lebel's Old West Auction - January 25-26, 2019. Mesa, AZ.
Sold $4,720.