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.

Salamonia Man Killed

Source: Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, February 28, 1974, page 1.

3^rd ’74 traffic fatality

Salamonia man killed

Jay County recorded its second traffic fatality within the past two weeks, and its third of the year, when a 24-year-old Salamonia resident, Larry LeMaster, was killed in a crushing one-car accident on County Road 130 early this afternoon.

According to Jay County Sherriff Harold Loy, who’s heading the investigation, he was notified of the accident at 7:50 a.m.  He said LeMaster was found dead in the back seat of his late-model auto.

Loy said it appeared to him LeMaster, who was a Ball State University senior, had been dead for “approximately three to four hours” before police were notified.  He said the accident happened 2 ¼ miles east of the Lower Salamonie Church.

The LeMaster auto, said Loy, was located in a ditch next to a large tree, which had apparently been struck head on.  He said the force of the impact sent the driver against the windshield and then back into the backseat.  The vehicle was considered a total loss.

Loy said death may have been instantaneous, but a coroner’s examination was delayed until after noon because Jay County Coroner, Dr. James Fitzpatrick, is out of the state, and Deputy Coroner, Dr. R.E. Schenck, was in surgery.

No details of the report have been released at this time, although LeMaster’s body was taken to the Baird-Freeman Funeral Home in Portland, where it was to be examined.  LeMaster was to be transferred to the Williamson & Spencer Funeral Home, which is handling funeral arrangements.

Assisting Loy on the accident investigation are Jay County Police Captain George Meehan, and First Lt. Jerry Bell; Police Reserves: Gerald Jellison, Charles Frasher, and Floyd Life; and Indiana State Police Trooper, Walter Boguske.

Born June 8, 1949 in Portland, LeMaster, the son of John L. LeMaster Jr. and Helen (Pease) LeMaster.  On Aug. 31, 1968, he was married to Jean Shreeve.  A member of the Indiana National Guard, LeMaster belonged to the Salamonia Christian Church.  He was also a member of the Independent Order of Foresters.

Surviving besides his wife are one daughter, Lisa, and two sons, Dean and Shane, all at home; his mother, Mrs. Helen LeMaster, RR 6, Portland; four brothers, Leland LeMaster, RR 6, Portland; Terry LeMaster, RR 2, Winchester; Douglas LeMaster, Salamonia, and his twin, Gary LeMaster, Warsaw; one sister, Mrs. William (Kay) Addington, RR 6, Portland, and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John L. LeMaster Sr., Salamonia.

Funeral services are set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Williamson & Spencer Funeral Home with Paul Albertson, Port Jefferson, Ohio, officiating.  Burial will follow in the Salamonia Cemetery.

Callers will be received at the funeral home after 3 p.m. Friday.

Planting Cousin Bait

I’ve been planning out some post-dated blog posts for the upcoming New Year, planting cousin bait.  The posts are set up to be published each day, giving details regarding relatives in my family tree database, such as who was born, married or died on a particular day.

My hope is that by getting these small posts out there each day, others who are searching for these individuals will find my blog through the search engines.   In return, perhaps I will meet some new cousins and gain even more information about the family.

In doing so, I’ve discovered that for way too many individuals, I only have dates of birth, etc. and not places.  This is something I need to work on going forward.  Better documentation will help clear up unresolved family mysteries.

The first of these posts is set to start out January 1.