Black Sheep Sunday: Bandit Suspects' Plot For Escape Is Frustrated

Source: Pharos Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, April 7, 1925, page 11


BANDIT SUSPECTS' PLOT FOR ESCAPE IS FRUSTRATED


Kokomo, Ind., April 7 - Discovery of ten saws, concealed in the cells of Harry Pierpont and Thaddeus Skeer, held here on charges of looting the Southside bank, following their arrest in Detroit last week, frustrated their escape and probably a wholesale jail delivery.  F.C. Hunington, Pinkerton operative, found the saws yesterday afternoon when the prisoners were being examined in city court.  A thorough search of the entire jail failed to reval [sic] additional saws or tools for escape.  One bar in Skeer's cell had been severed.


Homer Miller, prosecuting attorney, is investigating today in an effort to determine how the saws were smuggled into the jail.


A cordon of police guards, heavily armed, has been thrown around the jail in apprehension that gangsters may attempt to release the prisoners.  Pierpont is said to have boasted when captured in Detroit that he would never face trial.


Miss Louise Brunner of Fort Wayne, whose unconcious indiscretion furnished police with the clue that led to the arrest of the alleged bandits, has been released on bond and has returned to the home of her mother.


Police deny that Skeer, said to be the lover of Miss Brunner, confessed to the Kokomo holdup to save his sweetheart, whom he feared was to be prosecuted.  In this confession it is alleged that Skeer also implicated Pierpont in the Kokomo, Noblesville, Upland and Marion bank robberies, together with Everett Bridgewater, who is still at large.


The accused men will be given a preliminary hearing in city court Thursday.


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Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934), was my maternal 2nd cousin twice removed. Later an associate of John Dillinger, Harry was finally executed by the State of Ohio.  This is one of the articles I've discovered in documenting his criminal history.

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.

Fearless Females: Heirlooms

March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

Grandma Bonnie Wright's phone

One object I remember as a child was my grandma's Mickey Mouse telephone.  She must have bought it around the time of the Ma Bell breakup.  Before this phone, I remember that she had one of those heavy, black phones that were owned by the telephone company.  I believe the Mickey phone was the first non-telco owned phone that she had.

One incident I can still remember was a repairman being at her house who needed to make a phone call back to his office.  When he asked where the telephone was located, grandma pointed him to Mickey.  The guy couldn't believe that Mickey was a "real" telephone.

I'm happy to say that he's still in use today at my parent's house, and Bonnie's great-grandchildren still are able to make and answer phone calls on the "Mickey phone."

Once again, in honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Black Sheep Sunday: Bold Bandits Rob Bank At Kokomo Today

Source: Pharos Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, March 27, 1925, page 1.


BOLD BANDITS ROB BANK AT KOKOMO TODAY


Police Here On Lookout For the Bandits Who Looted Southside Bank This Afternoon


Police here received notification this afternoon at two o'clock that five armed bandits entered the Southside Bank at Kokomo and escaped with an unestimated amount of loot following one of the boldest day-light holdups in the history of the state.


According to information available here, the bandits made their getaway in a high powered Blue Moon touring car, bearing the license number of 474-923.


The local police have dispatched patrolmen to the outskirts of the city and were on the lookout for the thieves this afternoon.  Kokomo officials could not ascertain the direction the bandits took, it is said.


The robbery occurred this afternoon at 1:30.


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Cousin Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) robbed the Southside Bank in Kokomo.  This is one of the newspaper articles I've located in retracing his criminal history.



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.