I stated recently on this blog that seemingly every little town in America had a bank once upon a time, and the majority of them apparently got held up at one time or another. Add Pennsboro, Missouri, a small community in southern Dade County, to that list.
On November 2, 1928, a "rough-looking" man entered the Bank of Pennsboro about three o'clock in the afternoon and, flourishing a firearm, demanded that the assistant cashier, Truman Allison, show him the money. The bandit scooped up all the readily available cash, about $900, locked Allison in the vault, and made his escape in a Chrysler automobile.
A customer entered the bank just as the robber was fleeing and soon helped Allison get loose. The men went to summon law enforcement but found that the bandit had cut all the telephone wires leading in and out of Pennsboro.
Based on a description of the getaway vehicle, the Pennsboro bank bandit was traced to Springfield and identified as local businessman B. W. Baty. While being questioned at his pressing/dry cleaning shop, Baty was allowed to go into a back room, where, unknown to officers, he secured a small bottle of poison. Arrested and taken to the central police station on the evening of November 3, he committed suicide by taking the poison. Baty's family didn't think he was guilty of the robbery, because they said he didn't need the money, but all the evidence, including the license plate number of the Chrysler, pointed to his guilt.
At the time of the Pennsboro bank robbery, the town sported a population of about 75 people and had three other businesses besides the bank: a post office and two general stores. Nowadays, it's hardly a wide place in the road. It's home to a church and a couple of residences, and that's about it.
On a personal note, I mainly write historical nonfiction, but I do occasionally write fiction and have for many years. Recently I published a western novel, Return to Dry Creek (https://amzn.to/4i8bLiR) as an e-book, and in connection with the launch of that book, I'm making the first book in the series, Wild in His Sorrow (https://amzn.to/4cso8oO), which I published a couple of years ago, free to download for the next four days.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Monday, April 7, 2025
Another Pretty Horse Thief
In my book Wicked Women of Missouri https://amzn.to/3Rq24Sh, I write about a couple of attractive young women who caused sensations in the southwest Missouri area around 1890 when they borrowed rigs from liveries, didn't pay up front, and didn't bother to return them. They were both charged with horse theft and sent to prison for short stints.
The outbreak of horse thievery among good-looking young Missouri women during that time frame apparently wasn't confined just to the southwest part of the state, though. Take Clara Graham as an example.
Clara, a tall, well-dressed young woman, worked for a family on the east side of Kansas City in early 1889. On February 13, a dispute arose between her and certain members of the family, and she quit the job or was released. The next day, having nothing else to do, she decided to take a buggy ride, and she engaged a rig from the Gordon and Schmid Livery. She picked up a friend of hers, a barber's wife, and then rode around Kansas City a while before driving to Armourdale (now a neighborhood in Kansas City, KS, where they were joined by a man named McCoy, a friend of Clara's.
According to Clara's later story, McCoy gave her something to drink that must have been laced with a drug, because the next thing she remembered was waking up in St. Joseph two days later. But she still had the horse and buggy, and there was no sign of McCoy or her lady friend. The next day, she drove on to Troy, Kansas, because she had an uncle living near the town, who, she thought, might help her out. She stayed at a hotel in Troy for several weeks and, when she got ready to leave, she sold the rig to the hotel proprietor and got enough to satisfy the debt she owed for the room and board with $30 left over.
However, Clara spent the $30 on trifles and was once again broke when she was finally traced to the Troy area in mid-March. She was brought back to Kansas City to face a charge of grand larceny. Clara did not oppose extradition.
Her arrest and appearance in the Kansas City Court on a horse stealing charge caused "a flutter of excitement." Taking note of the sensation, if not contributing to it, the Kansas City Times editorialized, "A horsethief is about as unpopular a mortal as can follow a rogue's profession. Hanging in none too good for him.... A vulgar horsethief is beneath the notice of a high-toned bank burglar or even a gentlemanly pickpocket, but when a horse thief is a woman, and a good-looking one at that, the whole aspect of things is changed."
The Times described Clara as tall, "finely formed," and "of unusual intelligence." Prior to taking the horse and buggy for a joy ride, she had "a magnificent suit of brown hair," but she had cut it short and put on a blonde wig prior to engaging the rig so that she would not to be recognized. Clara had "dark gray eyes and regular features, and while not beautiful, is quite interesting."
Another newspaper opined that Clara would "not win the first prize in a beauty show," but that "she has a pleasant and somewhat handsome face."
Clara claimed she wrote to the livery in Kansas City on more than one occasion while she was on the lam trying to explain the circumstances of what had happened, but that she did not hear back. Authorities were skeptical of the claim and even more skeptical of her claim that she had been drugged.
Clara pleaded not guilty to the charge of horse stealing, claiming she had no intention of stealing the rig but had planned to return it from the start. She cited the fact that she'd left most her belongings in Kansas City as proof that she meant to return. The fact remained, however, that she had sold a horse and buggy that did not belong to her, and she was indicted on the grand larceny charge. She remained in jail in lieu of $1,000 bond.
Clara was scheduled for preliminary examination on March 22. She waived examination when the appointed time came, beseeching the judge only that he reduce her bond so that she might stand a chance of getting out of jail, where she had been thrown side by side with "women of notorious character." The judge reduced the bond to $500, but Clara remained in jail.
At her trial in early May, Clara was found guilty and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. She was transferred to Jefferson City in early June, and a number of people began working on her behalf almost immediately to have her sentence mitigated. In early December, the governor granted her a full pardon, and she was released to the custody of her father, after serving only about six months of her two-year sentence.
The outbreak of horse thievery among good-looking young Missouri women during that time frame apparently wasn't confined just to the southwest part of the state, though. Take Clara Graham as an example.
Clara, a tall, well-dressed young woman, worked for a family on the east side of Kansas City in early 1889. On February 13, a dispute arose between her and certain members of the family, and she quit the job or was released. The next day, having nothing else to do, she decided to take a buggy ride, and she engaged a rig from the Gordon and Schmid Livery. She picked up a friend of hers, a barber's wife, and then rode around Kansas City a while before driving to Armourdale (now a neighborhood in Kansas City, KS, where they were joined by a man named McCoy, a friend of Clara's.
According to Clara's later story, McCoy gave her something to drink that must have been laced with a drug, because the next thing she remembered was waking up in St. Joseph two days later. But she still had the horse and buggy, and there was no sign of McCoy or her lady friend. The next day, she drove on to Troy, Kansas, because she had an uncle living near the town, who, she thought, might help her out. She stayed at a hotel in Troy for several weeks and, when she got ready to leave, she sold the rig to the hotel proprietor and got enough to satisfy the debt she owed for the room and board with $30 left over.
However, Clara spent the $30 on trifles and was once again broke when she was finally traced to the Troy area in mid-March. She was brought back to Kansas City to face a charge of grand larceny. Clara did not oppose extradition.
Her arrest and appearance in the Kansas City Court on a horse stealing charge caused "a flutter of excitement." Taking note of the sensation, if not contributing to it, the Kansas City Times editorialized, "A horsethief is about as unpopular a mortal as can follow a rogue's profession. Hanging in none too good for him.... A vulgar horsethief is beneath the notice of a high-toned bank burglar or even a gentlemanly pickpocket, but when a horse thief is a woman, and a good-looking one at that, the whole aspect of things is changed."
The Times described Clara as tall, "finely formed," and "of unusual intelligence." Prior to taking the horse and buggy for a joy ride, she had "a magnificent suit of brown hair," but she had cut it short and put on a blonde wig prior to engaging the rig so that she would not to be recognized. Clara had "dark gray eyes and regular features, and while not beautiful, is quite interesting."
Another newspaper opined that Clara would "not win the first prize in a beauty show," but that "she has a pleasant and somewhat handsome face."
Clara claimed she wrote to the livery in Kansas City on more than one occasion while she was on the lam trying to explain the circumstances of what had happened, but that she did not hear back. Authorities were skeptical of the claim and even more skeptical of her claim that she had been drugged.
Clara pleaded not guilty to the charge of horse stealing, claiming she had no intention of stealing the rig but had planned to return it from the start. She cited the fact that she'd left most her belongings in Kansas City as proof that she meant to return. The fact remained, however, that she had sold a horse and buggy that did not belong to her, and she was indicted on the grand larceny charge. She remained in jail in lieu of $1,000 bond.
Clara was scheduled for preliminary examination on March 22. She waived examination when the appointed time came, beseeching the judge only that he reduce her bond so that she might stand a chance of getting out of jail, where she had been thrown side by side with "women of notorious character." The judge reduced the bond to $500, but Clara remained in jail.
At her trial in early May, Clara was found guilty and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. She was transferred to Jefferson City in early June, and a number of people began working on her behalf almost immediately to have her sentence mitigated. In early December, the governor granted her a full pardon, and she was released to the custody of her father, after serving only about six months of her two-year sentence.
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