For several decades, the Harris family has worked to bring the gun that belonged to former Sheriff Floyd Randolph back home to Carter County.

The quest began with Jerry Harris, who came up short decades ago. The quest was picked up by his son Steven Harris, who was successful in acquiring the gun a couple of months ago at an auction in Bedford, Texas.

On a mission

In April, The Ardmoreite ran a story about Harris, who is a business owner, collector and local history enthusiast. At the time, he talked about a gun that had belonged to a county sheriff that the family had chased for several decades.

“There is a gun, that is something I have chased since I heard about it as a little kid,” he said. “My dad had a chance to buy it and to make a long story short, he didn’t get it.”

Harris said it was a touchy subject because his father felt he was cheated out of it. After his dad died, Harris thought about it and eventually made contact with the gunowner, setting off a 20-year conversation. As a result of the relationship, Harris had been promised he would get the gun if something happened.

“I was like, ‘No, I just want you to sell it to me now because I know how deals like that go,’” Harris said. “When somebody dies, unless you have got it locked down with somebody you trust, it is not going to happen.”

Fast forward a year ago and Harris said he was looking through one of the auction magazines that he receives and saw that pistol. It is about to come up at auction and Harris said he has been making preparations.

“My boy, he was like, ‘Dad, what do you do if you don’t get it,” Harris said. “It is not an option. It is literally not an option.”

Harris said he began unloading some of his non-Ardmore related items in preparation for the auction.

About Floyd Randolph

Randolph served as the Carter County Sheriff from 1935 to 1943. His family had arrived in Ardmore in 1893 with his father opening a blacksmith shop. Harris said the shop burned in 1895.

Randolph was a cowboy who performed in Wild West Shows. He even organized the first rodeo to be held at Madison Square Garden.

He ran for sheriff in 1934, won the election and took office in 1935. He was presented with a .41 Caliber Colt revolver by Vern Snow Joiner.

After eight years as sheriff, Randolph opened a saddle shop. Randolph’s badge and gun were together until 1978 when the gun was sold to a Texas collector. It changed hands once more, ending up with a collector in Maine. Harris said he decided to chase the gun down in 2001 and made contact with the owner.

Rather than being able to buy the revolver, Harris learned that the owner had died, and his collection was going to auction. Almost a year later, he finally had his chance to secure the piece of county history.

Date with destiny

The auction house in Bedford, Texas makes an immediate impression. Harris said that he and his wife Lora spent the night and went to the auction house the next morning.

“You walk into a large hallway that goes down into a room that is about 10,000 square feet,” he said. “It is set up with display cases and racks.”

The cases and racks were filled with different guns. Harris said there was stuff at the auction that he could not dream of affording. But it did not keep him from looking. There are people lined up at the cases to provide assistance. Harris said he stopped and looked at one gun that he had seen listed in different books for $150,000.

“I said thank you for showing that to me but that is completely out of my deal,” Harris said. “He said, ‘Well, sometimes if you get something in your hand, we have had people find a way.’”

Harris said he and his wife looked around for a couple of hours before the auction started. Included in the items for auction were a dozen pieces of Civil War artillery and some Gatlin Guns. There was even a tank on display.

“Walking around, we found my gun and looked at it,” Harris said. “They said, ‘Is that something you are interested in?’ I told them I might be. Luckily, it was only about 45 minutes into the auction. It would have killed me to wait all day.”

Harris had previously told his son that leaving without the revolver was not an option. On the day of the auction, Lora asked him what he was going up to on it.

“I said, I am going to buy it,” Harris said. “She said, ‘Okay, do you have a number?’ I said, I will tell you when it is over.”

When the gun came up, Harris said he held his card up for what seemed like an hour but was only three minutes. There were three to four people at the auction also bidding on the revolver.

“The craziest thing was they had a row of eight-foot tables the full length of one side that was just nothing but guys on phones, sitting in front of laptops taking computer bids,” Harris said. “The guys on the floor quit bidding and I think there was one bidder online that took a couple of licks on it.”

During the auction, Lora took a video. During that time, she told him that he had not taken a breath once he raised his card. She told him if it had lasted a minute longer, he would have passed out.

“While it was ongoing, there was determination that it was coming back home,” Harris said. “And as soon as they said, sold. I literally took a breath, and it felt like I had just run a marathon.”

That was all the bidding for Harris, who paid out and headed back home with his prize. When he got back home, he called Randolph’s granddaughter Madonna Pumphrey, who he had purchased his badge from.

“I told her that I had brought it back home and she was tickled to death,” Harris said.

She wasn’t the only one. Now, the revolver sits in a case at Jerry’s Guns, prominently displayed.

“Now it is back home, for everybody to enjoy,” he said.