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Transcribed
by
Ann Selvig, from:
Allerton, Iowa Centennial,
JAMES
GANG
RIDES THROUGH ALLERTON!
On a quiet summer day, June 3, 1871, four
men stopped at the Alcorn farm near Allerton to
water their horses. They
rode into Allerton and stopped at
Sherman House to eat. Ott
and Will
Hillyard were sitting on the front porch at
Sherman House when they arrived. Will
tried to talk one of the men into
trading horses with him, but was not successful. After
leaving Allerton, they stopped at
another farm to graze their horses and rest.
The strangers rode on into Corydon, went
to the County Treasurer’s
office and prepared to rob it of its $40,000.
Two men went inside and inquired for Mr.
George W. Dean while the other
two kept guard in the street.
A lady in the Clerk’s office informed
them
that Mr. Dean was out and she thought he was at
home. One
of the men went to Mr. Dean’s home and
found that he was at the Methodist Church where
most of the population had gathered
to hear Henry Clay Dean make a Railroad speech. The
four men started for the church but
noticed there was only one person in the Ocobock
Bank, the cashier.
One man held the horses and guarded the
front
door, one guarded the back door, and two walked
in with revolvers drawn,
compelled the cashier to hand over the keys to
the safe and plundered it of
nearly $10,000.
They walked out, mounted their horses,
rode past the church shouting “We’ve robbed the
bank, catch us if you
can!” They
headed for Missouri with a
posse of Corydon men following. They
shouted at everyone along the way about robbing
the bank. They
were chased into Missouri but the four
were so well mounted and armed, the chase was
abandoned.
It was later found out that the four men
were Jesse James, Frank James, Clell Miller and
Jim White – “The James
Gang”. (From
Biographical &
Historical Record of Wayne Co. 1886 and Wayne
Co. Historical Society “Pictorial
Review of Wayne County.”) |