Wild About Harry

My recent genealogical activity continues to revolve around the early career of my  black sheep cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  I'm finding fascinating research material in newspaper accounts of the bank robberies he and his gang pulled off in east-central Indiana in the 1924-25 period.


My dad has been putting together a booklet of newspaper articles and other web sources about Harry for our next family reunion.  Already some of my cousins have expressed interest in the fact that we have a famous, albeit criminal relative.  Why doesn't anyone get as excited about the teachers, farmers and doctors in the family?


Over the weekend, I managed to obtain 42 pages of newspaper accounts of robberies while searching at the Marion Public Library.  These robberies occurred in Marion, Converse, Upland and Noblesville in the fall of 1924.  I knew the date of one robbery was November 26th, and I followed the story forward until the end of the reel, which was December 31st.  Just researching in one newspaper, the Marion Leader-Tribune, I was able to obtain the 42 pages and learn of the robberies, and by the end of 1924, the arrest of three members of Harry's gang.


I look forward to my return to the library to seek out viewpoints covered in the Marion Chronicle, as well as follow the story up through Harry's capture in March, 1925 in Detroit.


There is much blog fodder for future "Black Sheep Sunday" posts, as well as data to update Harry's Wikipedia entry.  The fascinating story of Harry goes well beyond the Dillinger connection.  Without Harry's tutelage, no one would know the name of John Dillinger today.

Sunday's Obituary: Ord Otterbein LeMASTER (1876-1937)

Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, September 15, 1937, page 1

FORMER JAY CO. RESIDENT DIES

Dr. O.A. Lemaster Succumbs at Sidney, O., Following Operation

A.R. LeMaster, of North Meridian street, received a message this morning informing him of the death of his brother, Dr. O.O. LeMaster, at Sidney, Ohio, about 5:30 o'clock this morning. Dr. LeMaster was operated on last Saturday for obstruction of the bowels, which later caused his death.

Dr. LeMaster was a former Jay county "boy", being reared on a farm in Madison township near Salamonia.  He received his education in the Jay county schools after which he taught a few terms of school.  He then attended medical college at Columbus, Ohio.  After graduating there he engaged in the practice of medicine at Kettlershill, Ohio [sic], later moving to Sidney, Ohio where he has been associated with his brother, Dr. Vernon W. LeMaster in the practice of medicine for more than 20 years.  He was 61 years of age at the time of his death.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 o'clock p.m. (Ohio time) at Sidney.  Interment will be at Sidney.

A number of Portland and Jay county relatives will attend the funeral services.

Sunday’s Obituary – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Black Sheep Sunday: Robbers Outwit Kokomo Police

Call-Leader, Elwood, Indiana, March 28, 1925, page 1.

ROBBERS OUTWIT KOKOMO POLICE

Holdup Bank, Getting Cash and Liberty Bonds and Make Escape

THREE WITNESSES OF RAID

Kokomo, Ind. March 27 – Police were thrown off the trail of four bandits who held up and robbed the South Kokomo bank of $4,000 in cash and a like amount of Liberty bonds about 1:45 o’clock this afternoon, when the conspicuous blue car used by the bandit to make their escape was found this evening concealed in a slough about five miles southwest of the city.  A farmer reported that he saw the bandits, about seven in number, change to two small cars, a coupe and a sedan.

The bandits entered the bank singly.  While the first was having a $10 changed, the 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 ankle, and was kicked into the basement.

Stolen From Fort Wayne

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

The hold-up 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 the money.

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This perspective of the Kokomo robbery, which sent my cousin Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) to prison, was interesting in that it added details not found in other accounts.  The fact that the robber kicked the poor dog, just makes them downright mean.  This article was researched at the Elwood, Indiana Public Library.

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.