D.A. (Jack) Harris

D.A. (Jack) Harris. , Jack Harris was born in Connecticut in 1834 and ran away to sea at the age of 12. In 1856 he was a member of William Walker's Nicaragua Expedition where he was captured and put in front of a firing squad before being rescued by Walker. Harris escaped to Texas and in 1860 he joined the police force of San Antonio. He served with the Confederacy during the Civil War and returned to San Antonio and the Police Department. , In 1868 he and Police Captain Penaloza started a saloon on Market street. In 1872 Harris opened the Jack Harris bar and billiard room on Main Plaza at Soledad and Commerce streets. The name was changed to Jack Harris Vaudeville Theatre and Saloon three years later. , Harris headed the Democratic party in San Antonio and dictated who ran for office in city and county government for many years. He also reigned supreme over the "sporting community." , Harris was shot in the Vaudeville Theatre on July 11, 1882, by Ben Thompson, City Marshall of Austin as a result of arguments over a gambling debt two years earlier. At Jack Harris' funeral on July 12, 1882, there were 47 carriages in the procession out East Commerce street. He died a single man at the age of 48. , The notoriety of his theatre, which reached the front page of "The New York Times." is believed to have popularized the term "Vaudeville" for variety theaters in the United States. , This marker was erected on the centennial of the shooting of Jack Harris, through the efforts of the "friends of Jack Harris" committee and the contributions of the citizens of San Antonio, July 11, 1982.