Black Sheep Sunday: Alleged Bank Bandit Leader Held

Source: Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, April 3, 1925, page 1 & 15

ALLEGED BANK BANDIT LEADER HELD

H. PIERPONT IS ARRESTED

He Is Said to Have Led in the Robbing of Two Grant County Banks

Held in Kokomo Case

Bonds Taken From the Bank There Recovered by Detroit Police

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Harry Pierpont, 24 years old who it was alleged was the leader in the robbing of the South Marion State bank and the Upland State bank last fall, was arrested yesterday at Detroit, Michigan, as a suspect in the robbing of the South Side Bank at Kokomo on Friday, March 27.   Thaddeus R. Skeer, 23, known as “Sudy” Skeer of Fort Wayne, was also arrested, as was Miss Louise Brunner, also of Fort Wayne, who is being held as a witness.

It was reported that a third man said to me, Everett Bridgewater, also a member of the gang  which robbed the Grant county banks, had also been arrested for having taken part in the Kokomo robbery, but this could not be verified last night.

Woman is in Prison

Bridgewater’s wife, Mary, is now serving a term in the women’s prison at Indianapolis for having taken part in the robberies in this county.

The three prisoners have waived extradition and will be brought back to Kokomo, probably today, where the men face charges of bank robbery and petit larceny, warrants of which have already been issued by City Judge Joseph Cripe of Kokomo.

A.E. Garton, cashier of the Kokomo bank, from which more than $10,000 in cash was stolen, went to Detroit yesterday afternoon and identified bonds, amounting to $ 7,000 which were also taken by the robbers.  A part of the cash stolen has also been recovered.

Vernon Shaw, a customer who stopped into the Kokomo bank at the time the robbery took place and who was held up and “Chic” Nelson, who was in a drug store across the street from the bank at the time of the robbery, left last evening for Detroit, where they will attempt to identify the prisoners as those who took part in the robbery.

Gives False Name

Pierpont, when arrested at first gave his name as Frank Mason, but later in the day admitted that his name was Pierpont.  Detectives from the Pinkerton agency trailed the Brunner woman from Fort Wayne to Detroit, and a short time later the woman and Skeer were arrested, when they met in that city.  Pierpont’s arrest followed a short time later.

Deputy Sheriff Woody Smith, who has been working on the case on the supposition that Pierpont and Bridgewater were implicated in the Kokomo robbery, gave a description of Bridgewater to the Detroit police yesterday afternoon, and was told that Mason had admitted that his right name was Pierpont.  Deputy Sheriff Smith stated last night that he would go to Kokomo with a warrant for Pierpont and Bridgewater and would try and get the Kokomo authorities to turn them over to him for trial in this county for robbing the Grant county banks.

With the arrest of Pierpont and possibly Bridgewater, the entire gang of robbers who are alleged to have robbed the Grant county banks will have been rounded up, the other five now serving sentences in prison.  Mrs. Bridgewater was arrested at her home in Indianapolis and brought back to this city, where she was given a sentence of from two to fourteen years.  The other members of the gang, who admitted to being implemented in the robbing of the Upland and South Marion banks, were James Robbins, arrested at Lebanon, the first member of the gang to be arrested; William Behrens, who was arrested at Monticello; Marion (Red) Smith, alias “Springfield Red,” who was arrested at Indianapolis,  upon his return from Springfield; George Frazier of Kokomo, who came to Marion and was turned over to the police by his father and Robert Morris of Indianapolis, arrested in that city, all of whom entered pleas of guilty in the circuit court and were given sentences of from ten to twenty years in prison and Mrs. Emily Morris, arrested at Indianapolis with her husband, who also “plead guilty” and was given a sentence of from two to fourteen years.

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This article from the Marion, Indiana newspaper gives a little different perspective on the arrest of my cousin Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) for the Kokomo robbery and ties him to bank jobs in Grant County that need further research.

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.

Surname Saturday: Grimes

The GRIMES surname is in Eileen's maternal line.  The origins of the surname are unknown at this time.


Stories and history:


Ahnentafel # 61: Mary Grimes (1809-1903).  Mary was born April 19, 1809 in Middleton, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  She married February 16, 1832 in Champaign County, Ohio to George Sills (1809-1880).  George was born December 1, 1809 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  They raised 6 children in Champaign County, Ohio and Wabash County, Indiana.  George died June 9, 1880 in Dora, Wabash County, Indiana.  Mary died August 21, 1903 in Huntington County, Indiana.


Ahnentafel # 122: Benjamin Grimes (bet1770-80-abt1868).  Benjamin was born between 1770 and 1780 in Pennsylvania.  He married Catherine Haynes (c1780-aft1864).  Catherine was born circa 1780 in Pennsylvania.  They had 6 children and lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Champaign County, Ohio.  Catherine died after August 1864 in Champaign County, Ohio.  Benjamin died about 1868 in Champaign County, Ohio.


Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

A Little Wiki Today

Took a little time today to learn how to update information on Wikipedia about my distant relative, Harry Pierpont.  Harry has been one of my favorite research subjects of late.


As I've blogged about before, it was Harry's page on Wikipedia that first led me to realize we may have a genealogical connection.   Since then I've enjoyed researching articles about his robberies and life of crime.  Just this week I managed to locate a few new articles for future Black Sheep Sunday posts.


Because his page was lacking documentation, I decided to add sections on his Execution and Burial.  Using information such as his death certificate from FamilySearch site and his tombstone photo at FindAGrave, I added source citations to these sections. 


Though I've had an account at Wikipedia for several years, I had never used the account to add information to a page or to create on of my own.  The process was relatively easy to do, and I hope to add sections in the future to Harry's page and update information about his Indiana bank robberies.


Update (6/17): Had so much fun that before bed, continued to update Harry's page and added information about three of his early robberies.