Red Berry (Texas politician)

Virgil Edward “Red” Berry (February 27, 1899 – November 24, 1969) was a Texas politician who represented San Antonio in both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate in the 1960s. He was also widely known for his involvement in gambling in the San Antonio area throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

Berry was born 27 February 1899 near Fort Smith, Arkansas, one of 13 children. As a young man, he worked as an office clerk in Fort Smith, and, later, for the Union Pacific Railroad as a machinist apprentice. In World War I, he served in the 60th Railway Transportation Corps in the U.S. Army in France. He was later stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio as an MP. In this capacity he patrolled downtown San Antonio streets for wayward soldiers.

After his departure from the Army, Berry returned to San Antonio in 1929. With his knowledge of San Antonio's seamier side, he entered the gambling business. He opened the elegant Turf Club in 1934 on Soledad Street. He was convicted for shooting Otto “Skeeter” Klaus—a bootlegger and murderer—with a sawed-off shotgun. The verdict was appealed, but no retrial ever took place, sparing Berry jail time. The Turf Club was raided by the Texas Rangers in October 1944, but the club remained open.

Berry was considered the prime suspect in the 1945 shotgun-blast murder of another San Antonio gambling kingpin, Hersel Gray, but was never indicted. He was indicted two other times for murder, but never convicted. By the time the Turf Club finally closed in 1957, Berry had moved his gambling operations twice.

The first move was to the nearby town of La Vernia, Texas. While his gambling interests were based there, Berry won—in a game of Pitch—title to an 84-acre (34 ha) tract of land southeast of Fort Sam Houston. In 1951, he constructed a 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m²) house in the style of a French chateau that included a full basement, where he subsequently moved his casino. A police raid in 1955 confiscated his gambling equipment and closed down the operation.

...
Wikipedia