Robbery of the Bank of Pennsboro

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.