Deputy Sheriff Mat Green

Mat Green

In March of 1867 Lamar County Deputy Sheriff Mat Green went to levy an attachment on property belonging to Robert B. Anderson. Anderson armed himself with a six-shooter and shot and killed Deputy Green. Anderson then escaped by crossing the Red River into the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

In 1878 Anderson was located in the mountains of north Arkansas. Attorney Fred W. Minter of Paris, Texas, wrote a letter to the Governor of Texas requesting a reward be offered for the arrest of R. B. Anderson. The Governor offered a $ 400.00 reward for the arrest of Anderson. Lamar County Deputies Hansley and Barnett arrested Anderson and returned him to Lamar County to be tried for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Mat Green.

On March 21, 1916, much of Paris, Texas, along with the Lamar County Courthouse and newspaper office, was destroyed by the "Great Fire." No Lamar County District Clerk records or newspapers remain to reveal the outcome of Anderson's trial.

Sheriff Green was survived by his wife and four children.