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From: "donrunnels" <>
Subject: Re: [RUNNELS] Randolph "Ran" Runnels
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:48:21 -0600
References: <014501c75603$0f136b50$6401a8c0@celeron2k>


Attached is from the book "Runnels and Their Relationships" written by me.
In it you will find documentation of the Governors line including his
family. If I can help further please let me know.

Don Runnels

-------------------

RANDALL (RAN) RUNNELS 1830/7-7-1882

This information was supplied by Joan Braun Runnels

This information was recorded from Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography -
University of Nebraska Press.

Randall Runnels, adventurer (c. 1830 - July 7, 1882). Born in Mississippi of
a family that moved there from Georgia. Ran Runnels was a nephew of Hiram
George Runnels (1796-1857), onetime Governor of Mississippi and probably a
brother of Hardin Richard Runnels (1820-1873), Governor of Texas. He was
said to have served as a Texas Ranger and the famous Ben McCulloch referred
to him as "my companion in arms in the Mexican War", reporting he had known
him favorably for years. In 1850 Runnels accepted an assignment to recruit
followers and put down rampant lawlessness in Panama, then used as a
land-bridge by Gold Rush migrants to and from California. He entered the
freighting business in Panama as a cover-up, packing by mule across the
isthmus. He covertly recruited 40 men, as tough as the desperados they were
pitted against. After months of under-cover work the Runnels force in
January 1852 picked up 37 men they considered the worst of the outlaws and
hanged them all that night. Quiet settled over the Isthmus, but it was
short-lived. In October 1852 Runnels and two of his men hanged 41 men in a
single night. In March 1854 a vigilance committee was formed and when this
failed to clean up the Isthmus Runnels came forward and by March 1855 it was
sanitized for good. Runnels said he was present at the Panama massacre of
April 15, 1856 and was "personally acquainted with all the particulars of
it", although what action he took during that affair is not known. He
married a niece of the governor of Panama. Ran Runnels was appointed "from
Texas" U.S. Consul to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua March 30, 1859, assumed
charge May 23 and left the post October 15, 1861 (perhaps because of
Confederate sympathies during the American Civil War). He became U.S.
Commercial Agent at San Juan del Sur December 21, 1874, assumed charge March
31 and retired May 26, 1877. He died of consumption at Rivas, Nicaragua.

John H. Kembie, "Law and Order in the Tropics Texas Style: The Career of Ran
Runnels". Los Angeles Westerners Branding Iron 135, June 1979; Dept. of
State Records (Record Group 59), Letters of Application and Recommendation,
1853-1861, 1869-1877, Nat. Archives.



----- Original Message -----
From: "John W. Carlson" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 3:55 PM
Subject: [RUNNELS] Randolph "Ran" Runnels


> good morning...
>
> this is john carlson - from panama (where the canal is)...
>
> i am the president of the panama historical society (founded 1986)...i am
> researching (for some time and, i must say, a bit unsuccessfully) hard
> information on "Ran" Runnels for a biogrphy and/or a screenplay...Runnels
> was a figure quite famous in panama history, but about whom little real
> information is known...also, many previous-published stories are
> apparently apocryphal and of little serious import...
>
> i am trying to link "ran" with his family(ies)...and it seems that your
> outfit has a good handle on the texas "runnels" clan(s)...
>
> "ran" reportedly (we have no hard info) was born in mississippi but moved
> to texas with his family (and the family of ex-governor of mississippi
> Hiram George Runnels, who was either his father - or his uncle)..."ran"
> was, apparently, a Texas Ranger (the ranger association denies this, as
> they have no record of him); he reportedly also served in the
> mexican-american war under Colonel John "Coffee Jack" Hays, who WAS a
> ranger...he later came to the isthmus of panama, where he was instrumental
> in clearing the isthmus of a bunch of bandits; he later served the US
> Government as Consul at San Juan del Sur in nicaragua...as a matter of
> fact, "ran" is buried at Rivas, Nicragaua (we have fotos of his
> tombstone), and nowhere - the tombstone, any records in panama, the
> association of texas rangers, the US Army records of the mexican war, does
> anyone have anything on this guy...
>
> i think perhaps his full name was "hiram r. runnels", with the "R"
> standing for "randolph"...i would appreciate knowing the names of his
> parents, his cousins (hardin richard runnels, for example), and his
> siblings...
>
> thank you very much for your time and efforts...
>
> jwc
>
> john w. carlson
> president
> panama historical society
> www.panamahistoricalsociety.org
>
> -------------------------------
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