The Deming Graphic

Deming, Luna Co. New Mexico

Friday, February 26, 1915

CAPTAIN THOMAS RABB, PIONEER,

DIED TUESDAY AT HOME ON PEARL

Stockman, Soldier, and Indian Fighter Came to This Section From Texas in 1885; Funeral Services Held at 3 O'clock Yesterday Afternoon.

Captain Thomas Rabb, 85 years old and a resident of this section since 1885, died at 10:30 o'clock Tuesday night at his home on Pearl street. The funeral services were held at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the home and burial was made in the local cemetery. The Rev. E. C. Morgan of the Methodist church, of which the pioneer was a member, preached the funeral sermon. Death was the result of age and its infirmities. Mrs. Rabb died about a year ago. Those who survive are: John Rabb and Ocie Rabb, sons; and Mrs. James L Upton, a daughter. Ocie Rabb in Mogollon and Mrs. Upton in Los Angeles.

The career of Captain Rabb is a thrilling narrative taken from the annals of the Southwest. Cowman, farmer, soldier, and Indian fighter, all were familiar roles in the life of the frontiersman. At the end of the Civil War, Captain Rabb was mustered out of Company D of the Thirty-third regiment, C. S. A., after four years and a half of service in Texas and New Mexico. Previous to the war, he had been a member of the famous organization, the Texas rangers. He was born in Horton county, Texas.

Captain Rabb took up farming and stock raising on the Upper Membres after coming to New Mexico in, what was then, Grant county. He took part in the exciting struggle with the Indians which ended in the final expulsion of the Apaches from New Mexico and the capture of their leader, Geronimo. His declining years were spent in Deming.