Black Sheep Sunday: Youth Who Robbed The Cook Store Is Captured

"Youth Who Robbed The Cook Store Is Captured  article, Greencastle Herald, Greencastle, Indiana, January 9, 1922, page 1.

YOUTH WHO ROBBED THE COOK STORE IS CAPTURED

Indianapolis Thief Shoots Man, Who Catches Him In Attempt To Steal Automobile - Revolvers Stolen Here Thursday Night Are Recovered

The thief who robbed John Cook & Son's Hardware store of eleven revolvers and automatic pistols Thursday night, was captured at Indianapolis, near 8:00 o'clock Saturday night when he shot Edward Devine a contractor on the Circle, who caught the thief in the act of stealing his car.  The man gave his name as Harry L. Pierpont, age 19 of Indianapolis.

Pierpont confessed to the Indianapolis police that on Thursday he stole a car from New Jersey and Michigan streets in Indianapolis, and drove to Greencastle.  After robbing the Cook & Sons Hardware store of the revolvers, he drove to Terre Haute and then returned to Indianapolis, Friday night.  Back in Indianapolis he abandoned the automobile.  He has been dismissed from an insane asylum but shows no signs of insanity now.

Mr. Devine saw Pierpont attempting to start his car when he came out of his office on the Circle Saturday night with his wife.  He jumped in the car and caught Pierpont's arm which held a revolver and was pointed at Devine's waist and deflected the shot which struck him in the flesh of the left leg.  His wife attacked the bandit and helped hold him until the police arrived.  When caught Pierpont had four revolvers on him and a check for a parcel in the Terminal station check rooms which accounted for three more.  Although eleven revolvers are missing from Cook's store Pierpont said he only took nine.

He is held for shooting with intent to kill and vehicle taking by Indianapolis police.  He will also have a charge against him for burglary.

The revolvers are valued at more than $200 by John Cook, Jr., who investigated the robbery.  Insurance covers the loss, which will be about $80 for the four that are missing.

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Cousin Harry Pierpont (1902-1934), later famous as the trigger man for the Dillinger gang, started his criminal career shortly after being struck on the head and suffering an injury.  This is the earliest mention I've found of his criminal career. I found this through the Depauw University archives.

Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Black Sheep Sunday: Dillinger Gang Hides In The Loblolly

Source: Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, January 30, 1934, page 1.

Dillinger Gang Hides For Time In The Loblolly Near Geneva

Charles Makley, one of the Dillinger gang, who is now held in the Tucson, Ariz., jail, in telling of the movements of the gang in Indiana and Ohio after the prison break last September, said:

"We were in the Limberlost country of Gene Stratton Porter's books for a time.  It's not so wild any more, yet it has plenty of isolated spots where you can hide out for a few hours to rest.

"Once we got into Ohio, everything from then on was easy.  We had lots of gun battles, of cours, as we pulled the bank jobs, but we were never seriously threatened."

Jay county officers knew that the Dillinger gang was in this part of the state soon after the prison break.  The gang was recognized by Walter C. Krienke, who conducts the Loblolly dining car just north of Bryant, where highways 27, 67 and 18 connect.

Krienke is a former railroad detective and his years of training enables him to spot an outlaw much quicker than the average individual. He also has a retentive memory and pictures seen of criminals are retained by his trained mind.

Krienke was not an officer of the law at the time the gang stopped at his place and he could not summon help at the time.  However, officers were notified as soon as possible and a search was made in the vicinity of Bryant, but the gang was not found.  It is believed the desperadoes were on their way to Ohio when they stopped at the Loblolly.

No publicity was given at the time the gang appeared at the Loblolly dining car due to the fact the outlaws might return this way into Indiana, but state police were notified and a close watch kept.

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My paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) was a member of the Dillinger gang.  I found this article while on my last research trip to Jay County, hoping that the local paper might make mention of his connection to the area.

Whether or not the gang truly did stop in the Loblolly area, it certainly seems feasible.  Pierpont, Makley and Copeland should have been familiar with the area, and it's pretty much a straight shot over to Lima.

Krienke was made a state excise officer in 1935, according to newspaper reports found on Ancestry.com


Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Black Sheep Sunday: Kiss Thwarts Girl's Wedding With Suspect

Source: Kokomo Daily Tribune, Kokomo, Indiana, April 4, 1925, p. 2

KISS THWARTS GIRL'S WEDDING WITH SUSPECT


Same Kiss Was Also A Little Detail That Led to Hangout Of Bandit Suspects


GIRL IS NOT IN JAIL

Whereabouts A Secret - Some Mystifying Angles of Case Are Cleared Up


The fact that the arrest of Thaddeus "Ted" Skeer at Detroit Thursday, as a suspect in connection with the robbery of the South Kokomo bank, was to have been married Friday injects an element of heart interest into the daring holdup.


The girl is Miss Louise Brunner, 22 years old, whose home is at Ft. Wayne.  She was arrested at the time Skeer, Pierpont and Hayes were taken into custody but held solely as a material witness.  No charges were preferred against her.


Miss Brunner was brought to Kokomo with the prisoners but not lodged in jail.


As to her whereabouts a strange air of secrecy prevaded police headquarters today and all questions concerning the heroine of the sensational holdup were met with a reluctance that somehow managed to impart the impression that she was within easy reach of the Kokomo police and that her presence could be had on a moment's notice.


Developments in the case over night have cleared up a number of mystifying and contradictory angles respecting it.


For one thing, police have learned that Skeer did not go from Kokomo to Ft. Wayne following the robbery to arrange the wedding with his sweetheart.  On the contrary it is now believed that Skeer made the arrangements for his sweetheart to meet him in Detroit, by long-distance telephone from that city. She borrowed the money from her mother with which to make the journey.


Crooks never know what little detail may happen to work their undoing; the wisest heads cannot anticipate everything.  In the case of the Kokomo bank bandits, it was a kiss that led the police directly to their capture in Detroit.


This is the way it worked out.


With knowledge that Miss Brunner was to join her lover in Detroit, telephone wires fairly smoked Wednesday with hurry-up calls among police officers over the state to the end that she might be trailed from Ft. Wayne to the hangout of the bandits.  The tip on the lovers meeting came from Capt. Pappert of the Ft. Wayne police department to Capt. Main of the Kokomo police, who has successfully worked on the case from almost the moment of the robbery. At the time it was not possible for any member of the local department to make the trip to Ft. Wayne in time to arrive before the girl's train departed for Detroit.  C.F. Huntington, Pinkerton operative here engaged on the case, was not at local police headquarters at the time Capt. Pappert's message came in and when he showed up shortly afterwards the tip caused him to get in immediate communication with Superintendent Miller of the Indianapolis Pinkerton headquarters.  Miller told Huntington to remain in Kokomo and to arrange by telephone to have the girl shadowed.


While this was done, it was not so simple a matter as it may appear.  The police were at the disadvantage of not being able to identify the girl, while they did know her father.


At the Ft. Wayne railroad station, at 5:15 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, Miss Brunner, starting for Detroit to join her sweetheart, turned up her face to receive her father's farewell kiss.  Detectives who had been watching the father instantly knew that here was the girl they were to shadow, and the trail was taken up.


But officers did not follow Louise to Detroit.  Word was passed along to the train conductor who, in turn, carried instructions to point out the girl to detectives who would board the train at Detroit.  Arrangements were made by telephone for the train to thus met on its arrival.


Accordingly, therefore, when the train bearing the girl who looked forward to being a bride the following Friday - yesterday - arrived in the outskirts of Detroit, plainclothes men boarded it, to whom the girl was shown.


The rest was easy. Both Skeer and Pierpont met the train at Detroit.  While the sweethearts withdrew to a waiting room for a conference, Pierpont mounted guard outside, but all three of them at the time were under the surveillance of many lynx-eyed detectives.  If anything had occurred to their suspicions escape would have been impossible.


But nothing suspicious occurred.  The three basked in perfect security - so much so indeed, that Skeer, Pierpont and the girl thought nothing of it when an extra passenger, carrying a suitcase, climbed into the taxicab with them and rode to their destination.  They doubtless regarded him merely as an extra "pickup" fare.


But he wasn't.  He was a Pinkerton man, one of the number detailed to shadow the suspects to their lair.


Thus it was that a kiss, innocently bestowed in Ft. Wayne, led the police straight to the rendezvous of the men charged with the bank robbery at Kokomo.


Furthermore the same kiss was the direct means of thwarting the wedding of the girl and Skeer, arranged for Friday.


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This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the South Kokomo State Bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.

Black Sheep Sunday: Is Hayes Innocent of Connection With Bank Holdup?

Source: Kokomo Daily Tribune, Kokomo, Indiana, Saturday, April 4, 1925, p. 1.


IS HAYES INNOCENT OF CONNECTION WITH BANK HOLDUP?


Belief Expressed That Suspected Man Had No Hand In Robbery


Now Said That Only Four Men Staged South Kokomo Holdup - Two Suspects Are Still Being Earnestly Sought By Police - Story Comes To Light Telling in Detail Just How the Crime Was Committed - Claim Evidence Connects Quartet With Three Other Recent Bank Robberies


That not more than four men participated in the robbery of the South Kokomo Bank the afternoon of March 27 seems to have been established by the Kokomo police.


This has been the theory upon which Captain Omer L. Main of the Kokomo police department has worked from the first.  Captain Main, though, says that all along he admitted the possibility of a fifth bandit being mixed up in the matter somewhere along the line.  That this has been proved not to be so is one of the newest developments in the case.  


Just how the police have obtained their information that pieces together all the circumstances leading up to the sensational robbery they will not divulge.


Whether either or both of the two men under arrest and held here at the county jail has confessed or admitted any participation in the crime, local police headquarters will neither affirm nor deny.  Captain Main said that there had been too much talk and newspaper speculation about the case already and that there was nothing new to give out.


It was admitted, however, that both of the prisoners are "hardboiled" and the impression was imparted that they showed no signs of weakening in making a denial of their connection with the robbery.


Whether Miss Louise Brunner is in any way connected with latest developments also could not be directly ascertained, but the fact that she is not in the county jail and no one seems to know her whereabouts is taken as significant as to the importance with which her relation to the robbery is regarded in police circles.


However through different sources that may be taken as authentic, it may be accepted that the Kokomo police department no longer believes that John Roscoe Hayes, known here as "Whitey", and erstwhile singer with the Sullivan entertainers, participated in the robbery, and this in spite of the fact that he is said to have been identified by "Chick" Nelson and by A.E. Gorton also perhaps.


Furthermore it has been developed that the strongest kind of evidence has been accumulated that connect Harry Pierpont, one of the men held here, and Everett Bridgewater, directly with at least three other bank robberies or attempted bank robberies of recent months.


These are the ones at Noblesville that was frustrated, the robbery of the State Bank of Upland, and the robbery of the bank at Marion, Ind.


Bridgewater is one of the men charged with the Kokomo robbery for whom the policy are searching.


No linking of the fourth man's identity, or even whether the police know who he is, has been given out.


According to the story of the robbery here, said to be established as fact, Pierpont, Skeer, Bridgewater and a fourth man, drove into Kokomo about 12:30 p.m. the day the robbery was committed in three automobiles.  One was the stolen "blue Moon" car that figured so conspicuously in the case, and the other two were, respectively, a Ford coupe and a Ford sedan.  This procession drove straight down Washington street, past police headquarters and to the entrance of the city park.


Here, at a point where the driveways diverge, the Ford coupe was parked, headed east, its occupant climbing into the Moon car.


This machine and the Ford sedan then proceeded west to a point about two miles south of Melfalfa park - where the Moon car was found abandoned - where the Ford sedan was parked and its occupant also climbed into the Moon car.


The party now circled back to the city and arrived at a point about a block west of the South Kokomo bank at approximately 1:30 o'clock on the afternoon of March 27.  The Moon car, driven by Skeer, continued east in Markland avenue and halted just clear of the alley east of the Hotel Markland, which was about 100 feet east of the bank.  Skeer then went back and joined his confederates and the robbery was perpetrated as already described.


That there was no other car in the neighborhood connected in any way with the robbery seems also to have been established.  


In making their getaway the bandits drove south in Union street dividing the loot as they went.  Division had been effected by the time they arrived at the park.  Here two men left the Moon car with their share of the booty and reentered the Ford coupe in which they made for the Range Line road by the most direct route, the other two in the larger automobile returning to the spot where the Ford sedan had been left.  The Moon car was abandoned here, having served its purpose, and the two remaining bandits drove away in the Ford sedan.


Whither?


That is a part of the story that remains to be told.  When police are scouring the countryside for an automobile as conspicuous as was the big blue Moon, it is easy for a Ford or even two Fords, to slip past unnoticed.


Other details, however, tend to show that Skeer and the unidentified fourth member of the band were unfamiliar with Kokomo, but that Bridgewater and Pierpont had the lay of the land all mapped.  It was these latter two, it is believed, who engineered the affair and that in doing so spent considerable time in Kokomo prior to the holdup.


In this connection, a brand new Nash coach found by the police in Patterson park two or three weeks ago has been traced to the bandits.  It originally carried a dealer's license and at the time it was stolen at Terre Haute had been driven only 400 miles.  When found here the speedometer showed a mileage of 3,300 miles.


Also an Oakland car belonging to Ot Pearcy and stolen from the alley back of the salesroom on the west side of the courthouse square about three weeks ago is said to have been used by the bandits at least on one trip into Kentucky where it was believed a quantity of liquor was procured.  The car was found abandoned at Indianapolis.


That Hayes will be brought back to Kokomo as soon as the Detroit authorities are through with him, seems certain.  But whether he will be held for trial charged with participation in the robbery appears doubtful.  Why such positive conviction prevails that he was not one of the bandits has not been revealed, but Capt. Main expresses confidence that he was innocent of any connection with the Kokomo bank robbery.


In this connection, it is said that the nearest Pierpont came to making any sort of admission was when Hayes' connection with the robbery was mentioned.


"He doesn't know anything about this case," Pierpont is reported to have said.


Police say this is the only comment Pierpont has made touching the robbery.


Skeer is said to have expressed surprise that Hayes was placed under arrest and to have declared positively that he never heard of Hayes and never saw him prior to the arrest in Detroit.


The re-entry into Kokomo of two men suspected of being members of the bandit gang that held up and robbed the South Kokomo bank a week ago Friday was more imposing than their swift departure after the robbery.


Heavily manacled and handcuffed to two Kokomo policemen and escorted by an armed guard of eleven men in three automobiles, the party arrived from Detroit about a half-hour after midnight this morning.


The suspects, who have been positively identified as members of the robber gang are Thaddeus Skeer, 23 years old, and Harry Pierpont, 24, both of whom are charged with the robbery of the Kokomo bank on March 27 and who are also suspected of numerous other robberies of a similar type.


With the party was Miss Louise Brunner of Ft. Wayne, 21 years old, sweetheart of Skeers, whose journey to Detroit Wednesday from Ft. Wayne, was the direct means of leading the police to the rendezvous where Skeer, Pierpont and Roscoe C. Hayes, known here as "Whitey," were captured.


Hayes was identified as a member of the bandit quartet engaged in the holdup in South Kokomo, but is said to have been held by the Detroit police as a material witness in a murder case there.


Officers Archie Thompson and Rosenbrock were the two members of the Kokomo police department who were detailed to go to Detroit and fetch the prisoners to Kokomo after recovery of bonds constituting part of the loot of the South Kokomo bank robbery had been recovered.


A.E. Gorton, cashier of the bank, "Chick" Nelson, golf professional at the Kokomo Country club, and Vernon Shaw, a victim of the bandits, accompanied the two officers to Detroit and lent cumulative strength to previous suspicion by positively identifying the trio as three of the men engaged in the robbery in this city.


Furthermore, the case against the prisoners is said to have been still further strengthened by a subsequent search of their rooms, as a result of which Liberty bonds amounting to $900, identified as part of the booty of the Marion  bank robbery some months ago, are reported to have been found.


Every precaution was taken to safeguard the prisoners, and not to take any chances that confederates might attempt to rescue them, the guard was strengthened when the party arrived at Peru on the homeward trip, which was made by a secret, circuitous route from Detroit.


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This article is a follow up to the robbery of the South Kokomo bank by my black sheep cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Fortunately, old copies of Kokomo newspapers are online through the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library.

Black Sheep Sunday: 1924 Moon

Researcher Dave Hudson sent me this photograph of a 1924 blue Moon automobile.  This was the same type of car used in the robbery of the South Kokomo Bank by Harry Pierpont and his gang.

Black Sheep Sunday : New Harmony Bank Bandits Elude Capture

Source: Evansville Courier, March 11, 1925


NEW HARMONY BANK BANDITS ELUDE CAPTURE


Trail of Grey Sedan Lost Near Poseyville; Left State, Belief


New Harmony, March 11 - "Shoot to kill."  This order was flashed over the entire tri-state district yesterday following the failure of authorities in more than 24 hours to apprehend the four bank bandits who shortly before 4 o'clock Tuesday afternoon held up and robbed the New Harmony Bank and Trust company of $9300 in cash and bonds.


The trail taken by the bandits, who fled from the small village in a large grey sedan, was picked up near Wadesville where the fleeing automobile was seen Tuesday afternoon.  From there it led north through Poseyville where it was lost.  Yesterday morning a report from King's Station in Gibson county said the bandit car had been seen there.


Left State Belief


Police authorities throughout the Pocket district, notified of the robbery within a few minutes after it had occurred, scoured nearby cities and towns and stationed guards on the highways throughout the Pocket.  Late last night, however, the bandits had not been apprehended and it was believed they had made good their escape into some adjoining state.


The latest clue possessed by authorities in regard to the movement of the large grey sedan and which has strengthened the belief that the bandits have left the state was received yesterday from Charles Chamberlain, a farmer living near Griffin. Chamberlain reported that he had been stopped by four men riding in such an automobile six miles south of Griffin on the Wabash river.  They asked him where they could get a boat across the river and handing him $80 in cash, telling him to keep still.


Heavily armed


The fact that the bandits were bold enough to stage a robbery in a town like New Harmony from which escape could easily be cut off, has led to the belief that they were desperate men and were prepared to shoot their way to freedom if cornered.  This fact, and the fact that they were all heavily armed, caused the warning to police officers in Pocket to take no chances in affecting a capture.


After a thorough check of the bank's funds yesterday, it was learned that the take was $ 9300  .  Of this amount, $ 4,800 was in cash, $300 in gold, and $4,000 in bonds.  All is amply covered by insurance.


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This article is another in a series of stories of Indiana bank robberies by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry Pierpont (1902-1934).   Harry later became famous as part of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger. 

Black Sheep Sunday : Officers on Trail of Bank Robbers

Source: Evansville Journal, Evansville, Indiana, March 11, 1925, page 1


OFFICERS ON TRAIL OF BANK ROBBERS


NEW HARMONY, March 11 - Charles Chamberlain, farmer living near Griffin, reported late today that he had been held up last night by four men in a grey Hudson coach at the Wabash river, six miles south of Griffin, and was commanded to tell them where they could obtain a boat to cross the river.  He claimed that the robbers gave him $80 and told him to keep quiet.


NEW HARMONY, March 11 - Scattering of guards along every road in southern Indiana with orders to "shoot to kill" marked Wednesday's developments in the state-wide search for four bank robbers who looted the New Harmony Bank and Trust company here Tuesday afternoon and escaped with $9,000 in cash and bonds in a grey Hudson coach, after locking customers and employees in the bank safe.


The trail of the bandits was picked up by authorities late Tuesday at Wadesville, through which the robbers passed on their way north from New Harmony.  The Hudson coach in which they escaped was later seen at Poseyville going toward Wilson switch late Tuesday afternoon.


Authorities temporarily lost the trail here, being uncertain whether the robbers went west into Illinois or continued along the Indiana road.


No further word of the movements of the bandit car was obtained until Wednesday morning when it was again seen with the four men at King's station, in Gibson county.  Police officers and deputy sheriffs were immediately rushed to the vicinity but no trace of the robbers could be found when they arrived.


Peace officers throughout the middle west have been wired descriptions of the men and the car with orders to "take no chances," placing them under arrest.


It is believed that the bandits are headed toward Chicago.  Officials in nearby counties are of the opinion that the coach is stolen and that it will be abandoned before the thieves are captured.


The robbery was perpetrated shortly before 4 o'clock Tuesday afternoon.  Four persons, Frank Steelman, secretary and treasurer; Mrs. Grace Schluz, assistant cashier; Rev. J.A. Sumwalt and John Watson, were in the bank when the robbers appeared.


According to Steelman, all four of the men, who were apparently all under 30 and unusually rough in appearance, entered the building at once.  When Steelman went to inquire what the first member, who entered his private office wanted, he was covered with two automatic pistols.  The second robber then covered the assistant cashier, the third Watson and the minister.  The fourth bandit stood guard at the doorway.


When Steelman failed to comply with their orders to open the safe door, one of them struck him with the butt of his gun, rendering him partially unconscious.  The rest then gathered all the available currency and bonds from various drawers.  When ordered to open the safe, the assistant cashier complied and all four of the occupants of the bank were imprisoned in it while the robbers made their escape in the auto, the motor of which had been left running.


Before making their escape, the robbers encountered Frank Steelman, son of the secretary, who was imprisoned at the point of a gun in a rear room in the bank.


He managed to escape shortly after the robbers had left and quickly released the prisoners in the bank.  Telephone and telegraph messages were sent to authorities throughout the vicinity.


William Wade, town marshal, was standing in front of the bank, along with Sheriff John Hollen, of Gibson county, less than 10 minutes before the robbery.  They had just left the vicinity when the bandits appeared.  Sheriff Hollen was visiting in the city at the time, and according to his statement, could not have been more than a block away when the robbery was effected.


A check of the bank's stock Wednesday showed that the bandits had escaped with $4,800 in cash, $300 in gold and $4,000 in negotiable bonds.  The loss was entirely covered by insurance, officials said Wednesday.


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This article is another in a series of stories of Indiana bank robberies by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.

Black Sheep Sunday: Posey Bank Bandits Get $10,000

Source: Evansville Courier, Evansville, Indiana March 11, 1925 page 1.


POSEY BANK BANDITS GET $10,000


NEW HARMONY IS SHOCKED BY BOLD DAYLIGHT ROBBERY


Four Unmasked Men Loot Trust Company of Cash and Bonds


BANK OFFICIAL IS BEATEN


Four Occupants of Building Locked In Vault; Robbers Flee in Auto


New Harmony March 10 - Four unmasked men held up the New Harmony Bank and Trust company shortly before four o'clock this afternoon, beat one of the officials of the company with the butt end of an automatic pistol, locked the four occupants of the bank in the vault, and escaped with $10,000 in cash and bonds.  The men fled in a large grey sedan, going in the general direction of Evansville on the Wadesville road.


So quietly did the bandits work that the quiet little town was unaware a bank holdup had occurred until an hour after the happening.


Four persons, Frank Steelman, secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Greg Schultz, assistant cashier, the Rev. J.A. Sumwalt, and John Watson were in the bank at the time.


Driving quietly up to the building, the four men left the motor of their car running and walked into the bank.  Three of them entered the cashier's room while one stood guard at the door.  With guns drawn, the bandits commanded the occupants of the bank to hold up their hands, then forced them to lie on the floor, face downward, while they scooped up all available cash in the cash drawer and on the counter.


Locked in Safe


Steelman was then ordered to open the steel safe in the vault, and when he refused was struck over the head with the butt of a revolver in the hands of one of the bandits.  He sustained a severe scalp wound.


Mrs. Schultz, assistant cashier, opened the door of the safe, which contained $4,000 in bonds.  The robbers emptied the safe.


All four were then ordered into the vault and the doors closed behind them.  Mrs. Schultz, overcome by the excitement, fainted and has been in a serious condition since, being under the care of a physician.


On leaving the bank, the bandits encountered Leslie Steelman, son of the secretary-treasurer, at the door.  The youth was forced at the point of a gun to enter a room at the rear of the building.  The bandits then fled in the awaiting machine, going in the direction of Evansville.


Young Steelman, within a minute after the bandits departed, opened the vault and released those imprisoned and telephones and telegraphs flashed the news to police authorities in adjoining cities and towns.


Frank Steelman, secretary and treasurer of the bank, said: "There were only four of us in the bank when the bandits entered.  Mrs. Schultz and I, and two patrons.  I was at the window of one of the cages and Mrs. Schultz was at the window of another.  The Rev. Mr. Sumwalt was at a counter.  The other patron in the bank was John Watson, ferryman.


Tells Story of Robbery


"I noticed a young man walk into the bank and enter my private office.  I walked to the door to see what he wanted and found myself covered with two automatics.  Another young man was behind him.  He immediately covered Mrs. Schultz.  The third covered the two customers while the fourth stood guard at the entrance.


"We were all forced to lie down on the floor, face downward, while the men rifled the cash drawer and took all the money on the counter.  There was about $6,000 in cash there at the time.


"They then told me to open the steel safe in the vault.  I replied that I couldn't do it and one of them struck me with the butt of an automatic causing a severe scalp wound.  Mrs. Schultz then opened the safe and then dropped to the floor in a faint.


"In the safe was about $4,000 in bonds.


"The four of us were then commanded to enter the vault.  They took the keys from us and locked the gates.  On leaving, they met my son, Leslie, at the door.  One of them covered him and took him to the rear of the building where they locked him in a room.  They then left the building, entered their car, and sped away.


"We called to Leslie and he opened the gates behind which we were locked.  I don't believe the bandits car could have been out of town by the time we got busy on the telephones calling the authorities of neighboring towns.


Escape In Grey Sedan


The car they were driving was a large grey sedan and was seen near Wadesville a few minutes after the robbery.


The story of the robbery, told by the Rev. Mr. Sumwalt coincides with that of Steelman.  The pastor said he was a customer in the bank when the robbers entered.  He said he did not see them enter the building.


"The first thing I knew of the affair was when I felt a gun punched into my ribs.  I looked up and the man holding the gun on me commanded me to hold up my hands.  I then saw the others in the bank covered.  I was forced to lie down on the floor with my face downward as were the others.  After the cash had been scooped up we were all locked up in the vault.  We were released by Leslie Steelman, son of Frank Steelman.


The loss is fully covered by insurance, Steelman said last night.


"We carried ____ insurance", Steelman said.  "I always provided for to cover _____ [last sentences illegible copy]


----
This article is another in a series of stories of Indiana bank robberies by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.

Black Sheep Sunday: To Identify Bank Crooks

Source: Wabash Plain-Dealer, Wabash, Indiana, April 3, 1925

TO IDENTIFY BANK CROOKS

Detroit suspects not same as entered Laketon Bank say cashier and assistant

     The Detroit bandits who have been identified as the robbers of the Kokomo bank and who are being brought to Kokomo, are not the men who robbed the laketon bank, according to a telegram received from Sheriff Summerland, now at Detroit, by the Plain Dealer.

     The message read as follows:  “Am leaving for Kokomo tonight with Pierpoint, Skeer, Louise Brunner, and Hayes.  All identified by Kokomo bankers.  Recovered $5200 Liberty bonds and $850 cash taken from Kokomo.  Bright and Miss Ogden cannot identify these men on Laketon job.  Two Kokomo officers with me.”

Failed to identify Men

E.L. Bright, cashier of the Laketon bank, and Mrs. Violet Ogden assistant cashier, accompanied Sheriff Summerland and the Kokomo men to Detroit yesterday afternoon.  A.E. Gorton, cashier of the South Kokomo bank which was robbed, and Vernon Shaw, a customer in the bank, went to Detroit and easily identified the men as those who did the Kokomo robbing.

     Those taken to Kokomo are:  Harry Pierpoint; alias Frank Mason of Indianapolis; Thadeus “Ted” Skeer, 24, of Fort Wayne; Miss Louise Brunner, 22 years old, Skeer’s sweetheat, also of Fort Wayne.

Loot is Found

     Pierpont was found with $1,000 on his person and bonds and securities totally $5,100 were uncovered in the apartment where the trio was found.  The loot originally amounted to $9,100 in negotiable securities and about $2,000 in Liberty bonds.

     Suspicion was directed toward Skeer, it is said, when it was learned that the machine used by the bandits had been stolen in Ft. Wayne a few days before.

     He was suspected of the automobile theft, and when  the robbery was reported, police began working on the theory that he was implicated.  The machine was tolen from John L. Anguish, Boy Scout executive here.

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This follow up article to the robbery of the Laketon bank, highlights that the cashier failed to identify Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) as one of the robbers.

Black Sheep Sunday: Robbery Suspects Arrested

Source: Wabash Plain Dealer, Wabash, Indiana, April 2, 1915

ROBBERY SUSPECTS ARRESTED

Two men and women nabbed in Detroit may solve both Laketon and Kokomo thefts

     There is every reason to believe that the bandits who robbed the Laketon bank have been captured.  A United Press dispatch this afternoon told of the capturing in Detroit of two men and a woman who were identified with the robbery of the Kokomo bank, and Sheriff Summerland with other officials who have been on the job are fairly well convinced that the same men that visited at Kokomo also robbed the Laketon institution.

     A United Press dispatch received by the Plain Dealer this afternoon stated that private detectives today arrested Louise Brummer, 22, Fort Wayne, with Frank Mason, 24, alias Harry Pierpont, and Thadius Skeer, 23, in connection with the robbery last week of a Kokomo bank.

     When taken Mason had $850 on his person.

     These are the names that local officials got at Kokomo on a recent trip there in connection with the Laketon robbery investigation since they were strongly of the opinion that they were after the same group because the robberies were so much alike. 

Same Methods

     “They took exactly the same methods at Laketon as they did at Kokomo,” said Sheriff Summerland.  “They went in unmasked, proceeded the same way in the actual robbing and took pennies, dimes and quarters just as they did at Laketon.”

SHERIFF TO DETROIT

     Sheriff Summerland and E.L. Bright, cashier of the Laketon bank, are to join the Kokomo bankers and officials on the 4:50 train to Detroit this afternoon to try to identify the men.

     Kokomo is of the opinion that the same men are connected with the Laketon job, according to Sheriff Summerland who telephoned this afternoon to Kokomo.

     Bright, the Laketon man, and the Kokomo bank officials are the ones who will identify the bandits since they are the only ones who got a really good look at them.

Story of Capture

     Mr. Summerland was in the police offices at Kokomo when the officials there got on the trail of the woman and two men.  The clue began when Detective Pappert at Fort Wayne telephoned to the Kokomo officials, saying that he had a tip that the woman, Louise Brummer, had left Fort Wayne on a certain train, saying that she was going to meet her friend, Thadius Skeer, who was in trouble.

     A Pinkerton detective was in the Kokomo office when the message came in and he at once telephoned to his headquarters in Indianapolis asking if he might trail her.  Permission was given and the man from Kokomo started.  He got into communication with a Pinkerton man at Detroit and the latter got on the train out of the city.  A note to the conductor was a means of identifying the Brummer woman for the Detroit detective and when she alighted at the Detroit station both men trailed her.

Get All Three of Them

     In the apartment at Detroit, to which she went they found her and the two men.  They were arrested and are held on a charge of robbery.

     The man Pierpoint is said to have been the leader of the gang that robbed the Marion bank and he was the only one that was not captured.  There were seven of them in all and every man said that Pierpoint was their leader.  Sheriff Summerland has a picture of Pierpoint and got information regarding him at Kokomo.

     “Kokomo officials will go to Detroit at once to get the bandits,” said Sheriff Summerland.  “As soon ass they bring them there we will go over at once and see whether we can connect them up with the Laketon robbery.  If so we will get them when Kokomo gets through, but that may be ten years.”

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This article details capture of Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) and his gang who robbed banks in Indiana during the 1924-25 period.  Harry later rose to fame as part of the Dillinger "Terror Gang".  He was suspected in the robbery of the Laketon bank.

Black Sheep Sunday: Saws Are Found In Cells Of Alleged Bandits At Kokomo

Source: Marion Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, April 7, 1925, p. 1.


SAWS ARE FOUND IN CELLS OF ALLEGED BANDITS AT KOKOMO


Kokomo, Ind., April 6. - Escape of Harry Pierpont and Thaddeus Skeer, charged with bank banditry in connection with the South Kokomo bank robbery, is believed to have been frustrated this afternoon when search was made of their cells at the Howard county jail where they are being confined.


Bar Partially Severed.


Ten saws, of which four had been used, were found concealed in the jail, and a bar was found partially severed.  The prisoners had been held but two days before the alleged plot to escape was discovered.


Prosecuting Attorney Homer H. Miller has ordered an investigation of the escape attempt.  Sheriff Joseph M. Lindley asserts that no visitors have been allowed in the cell house.  A heavy guard is being maintained at the jail, day and night, by local authorities, who fear friends may attempt a delivery.


Miss Louise Brunner of Ft. Wayne, who is held as a witness, was released under bond tonight and allowed to return with her mother.  Skeer and Pierpont were taken into city court today ad the date fore their preliminary hearing set for Thursday.  Attorneys have been engaged to fight the charges against the prisoners.


Pierpont's parents arrived in Kokomo yesterday.  Pierpont's attorneys do not yet admit his name is any other than Frank mason, the name he gave in Detroit.


E.L. Bright, cashier of the Laketon State Bank, which was robbed Monday of $1,968, and Violet Odgen, assistant cashier, saw Skeer, Pierpont and Hayes in Detroit, but were unable to identify them as the Laketon bandits.


A hardware dealer from Lebanon, who sought to identify the suspects as bandits who held him up several weeks ago and took a number of pistols and firearms, was unable to identify them yesterday.


Fort Wayne police, investigating the activities of "Ted" Skeer, Pierpont and "Whitey" Hayes, have strong evidence that the trio was involved in the holdup of the A & P store there March 21, according to Associated Press dispatches from that city.


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This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the South Kokomo State Bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.

Black Sheep Sunday: Did Not See Bank Bandit

Source: Marion Leader-Tribune, April 3, 1925, p. 7


DID NOT SEE BANK BANDIT


But Deputies Did Make Kokomo Trip


Deputy Sheriffs John Schell and Woody Smith, who were at Kokomo yesterday on business, denied that they had met Harry Pierpont, arrested at Detroit, in connection with the robbing of the South Kokomo bank March 27, and wanted here for taking part in the robbing of the South Marion and Upland banks, and identified the man as Pierpont, as was stated yesterday.  The local officers went to Kokomo on other business with the Kokomo police department and did not see the alleged bank robbers, which were brought back from Detroit.


The Kokomo police in their investigation yesterday learned that Pierpont took part in the attempted robbery of of a Noblesville bank last fall, as well as having taken part in the Grant county bank robberies.


Roscoe C. "Whitey" Hayes, arrested at Detroit, as a suspect, who last fall was a member of the Pete Sullivan orchestra, was not one of the Kokomo bank robbers, in the opinion of the police.  Thaddeus Skeer of Fort Wayne, the other bandit, under arrest, has told the police at Kokomo that Hayes does not know anything about the Kokomo robbery.  Hayes was arrested after A.F. Gorton, cashier of the Kokomo bank had picked Hayes out of a photograph of fifty men of Company G, 152nd infantry, of which Hayes was a member, as the bandit who stood in the doorway of the bank while the robbery took place.


Pierpont, Skeer and Miss Louise Brunner of Fort Wayne, who is being held as a witness, were brought back to Kokomo yesterday morning under a guard of eleven armed men.  They came by train to Peru and from Peru the trip to Kokomo was made by automobiles.  The route taken and time of their arrival at Kokomo was kept carefully guarded until the party arrived at the Kokomo jail.


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This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the South Kokomo State Bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.

Black Sheep Sunday: Police Lose Trail of Kokomo Bandit Gang, Blue Car Found

Source: Marion Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, March 28, 1925, p. 1.


POLICE LOSE TRAIL OF KOKOMO BANDIT GANG, BLUE CAR FOUND


Marion police have been asked to aid in the search for bandits, who held up and robbed the South Kokomo bank of $4,000 in cash and a like amount in Liberty bonds yesterday afternoon, and whose trail was lost when the conspicuous blue car, used by the bandits, to make their escape, was found concealed in a slough five miles southwest of Kokomo.


A farmer reported he saw the bandits, about seven in number, change to two small cars, which were a coupe and a sedan.


Many Reports Received


In the meantime many reports had come from Grant, Madison and other counties telling of blue cars which had been seen.  This information became of no value when it was found the bandits had abandoned this car.


The bandits entered the bank singly.  While the first was having a $10 bill changed a second entered and waited at the cashier's window.


The third suddenly displayed a gun and ordered A.E. Gorton, cashier, Miss Winifred Dimitt, assistant cashier, and Miss Frances Gorton into the rear room. Gorton was forced, with a pistol at the back of his head, to open the inner vault.


"Speedy," a small terrier, boldly attacked the burglar's ankles, and was kicked into the basement.


The bandit's car was stolen from Ft. Wayne Thursday night, and carried the license plates of a phaeton belonging to Barrett M. Woodsmall of Indianapolis, stolen from there March 11, and found here riddled with bullets Thursday night.


Holdup is Watched


The holdup was watched by three young men in a drug store across the street from the bank, but they were prevented from calling police because of fear of a stranger who stood in the store and watched them closely.  The alarm was not sounded until the bandits had escaped with their money.


The bandits, at least several of them, have been seen twice in Kokomo recently.  They took lunch at a small cafe in the south part of town last Sunday, and previously tried to get rooms in the hotel above the restaurant.


Cashier Gorton had some difficulty in working the combination of the safe, and this angered the bandit who held the gun over him, and he threatened "to blow his brains out."  The men were in the bank about ten minutes.  Only one customer tried to enter, Vernon Shaw, and he was slapped by one of the men and later robbed of $18.


The bandits tore the telephone from the wall, and also broke a shotgun and took away the extra cartridges.


The impression was that the bandits had gone to Indianapolis, but after they abandoned the blue car it was difficult to determine which road was taken.  Reports came from many places of seeing cars travel at a fast rate of speed, but none were definite.


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This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the South Kokomo State Bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.



Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Black Sheep Sunday: Father Surrenders His Bandit Son

Source: Marion Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, January 11, 1925, p. 1.


FATHER SURRENDERS HIS BANDIT SON


KOKOMO YOUTH IS SENT TO PRISON


George R. Frazer Says That Women Were Not Innocent of Bank Raids


One Visited The Bank


Got Change to See Lay of Ground and Reported the Conditions


"Is this the captain?" inquired a man of Capt. Jake Campbell at police station yesterday afternoon.  "It is," replied Captain Campbell. "Well here is one of the bank robbers," replied the stranger, who was R.A. Frazer of 1224 So. Washington street, Kokomo, who turned over his son, George R. Frazer, 23, as one of the bandits who robbed both the South Marion and Upland banks and who admitted to being a member of the gang, which attempted the robbery of the Noblesville bank.  After turning over his son to the police, the father broke down and cried and at the request of the bandit son, returned to Kokomo at once.


Following the Upland robbery, Frazer fled to Canada and returned to his home at Kokomo late Friday night.  His father learning that his son had been implicated in the robberies and that he was wanted by the authorities, left Kokomo shortly after noon yesterday with his son for Marion.  After the police station was reached, Frazer told Captain Campbell that he would have the chance that he would "blow his (Frazer's) brains out," and precautions were taken to see that Frazer did not get hold of a gun.


Women Knew Plans.


When questioned later he said that the two women, Mrs. Mary Bridgewater and Mrs. Emily Morse, who have been sentenced, knew all about the plans for the robbery at the South Marion bank and that a short time before the South Marion bank was robbed, the Bridgewater women went into the bank to get a bill changed and while there, sized up the bank, getting the number of persons in the bank and the lay of the land.


Frazer was taken to the court house, where a warrant was sworn out and signed by Chief of Police Frank Brandon, charging Frazer with automobile banditry, for having been implicated in the South Marion robbery.  Judge J. Frank Charles was notified that another bank robber was waiting to be arraigned in circuit court and arrived in court a short time later.  A plea of guilty was entered by Frazer and after being questioned at some length by Prosecuting Attorney Jay Keever and Judge Charles, was sentenced to from ten to twenty-five years in the reformatory near Pendleton.


Frazer said that he was born in Kokomo and his home address was 1224 South Washington street, Kokomo, and that he had no regular occupation, having worked at the machinists' trade when he could get work, but had been out of work for several months.  He admitted to having been sentenced from Kokomo in 1918 or 1919 for thirty days on the penal farm for attempted robbery and also was sentenced to the reformatory for from five to fourteen years on a charge of November 20, 1920, from Kokomo, and is now out on parole, hoaving been out of prison since March, 1924.


Looking for Work.


He stated that on the morning November 26, the day of the South Marion bank was robbed, that he was looking for work, when four men, whom he knew in prison, met him in a machine and told him that they were looking for some place to "stick up," but had not decided on the city.  Two women were in the machine, he said, but he did not know them.  Frazer said he told them he was out of work and disguested [sic] and that they asked that they asked him if he knew of a good place to hold and rob and he told them he did not.  He jumped into the machine and came to Marion.  One of the men said that they would drive over to Marion and see if they could see some place that "would look reasonable."  They drove to South Marion and seeing the South Marion bank, decided that this place would probably be all right.  The machine stopped a short distance of the bank and Mrs. Bridgewater got out of the machine and went into the bank where she asked for some change from a paper bill.  While in the bank, she counted the number of people in the bank, noted the location of the side door, the location of the safe and other details, according to Frazer.  She then returned to the car and reported things as being favorable.  A few minutes later the party then drove up to the bank, the men getting out of the machine and going in the bank, while the two women remained in the car.


Robberies Planned.


Frazer told Judge Charles, in reply to a question as to whether plans had been made by members of the gang, while in prison, to rob banks, said that they had talked things over, but had made no definite arrangements.


Frazer is the seventh member of the gang of nine persons, seven men and two women, who took part in the robbing of the Upland and South Marion banks, to be arrested and sentenced to prison.  Sheriff Bert Renbarger holds a warrant against Frazer on a charge of automobile banditry and also against the two persons who have not yet been arrested.


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This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the Upland State bank and South Marion bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.



Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.