DAN CUNNINGHAM
AND SOME STORIES FROM HIS SCRAP-BOOK
Dan Cunningham and His Slow Vengeance.
“Dan Cunningham, Huntsman of the Law,” was the title of a very
interesting article in a current number of McClure’s Magazine which
attracted considerable attention in this state about the year 1900. The
author, Samuel Hopkins Adams, author also of the pamphlet putting forth
a strong defense for Caleb Powers, goes on to show that a mission of
revenge through the instrumentality of the law dominates the life of
Cunningham.
While Cunningham was teaching school in Jackson County, West Virginia,
in 1877, his brother, Nathan Cunningham, was waylaid and murdered
by what the author called a “consolidated band”, a great secret
organization engaged in murder and moonshining. After endeavoring to
secure the conviction of Wade Counts, Joe Kiser and others of the band
and failing on account of the fear of the officials to molest the band,
Cunningham left Jackson County.
For ten years he taught school in Roane County, Putnam and Kanawha
Counties. School teaching was all he knew and he had to make a living
while learning certain things the normal school does not teach--such
as rifle and revolver shooting, wood-craft, mountain training and
tricks of the moonshiner. For Dan Cunningham was seeking a job under
the United States Government as a local revenue officer. The law that
this breed had established and defended at the risk of their lives
had failed him. He would try Uncle Sam’s Law. He shrewdly suspected
that the band would be moonshining. The band, gaining prestige from
the successful murder of Nathan Cunningham, had by terrorizing and
political weight, strengthened their hold on the county until in 1887,
they dominated it completely. They were thoroughly organized on a clan
principle with a “legal adviser” and a “spiritual adviser”. Murders of
the most brutal kind were laid to the band’s account. Robbery, arson
and other crimes were credited to its various members. Nobody dared to
testify against them; the death rate among their enemies was too high.
Their distilling industries and their land grabbing were making them
prosperous; it was fair weather for the clan.
Being successful in procuring an appointment as Deputy United States
Marshal for the southern District of West Virginia, Cunningham returned
to Jackson County, raided several stills, secured the conviction of
two of the Kiser family and one Counts and broke up the band, which
emigrated to Roane County. Cunningham followed them up and here
comes in the incident as related by Mr. Adams which will arouse some
discussion upon the part of those familiar with the subject--the murder
of Reverend T. P. Ryan, the father of J. L. and M. W. Ryan and T. P.
Ryan, well known attorneys of Fayette County. The affair is related as
follows by Mr. Adams:
[Illustration: DAN W. CUNNINGHAM]
“In the District of Harper in Roane County, West Virginia, lived
the Reverend T. P. Ryan, generally known as Father Ryan. He was a
man of clean and up-right life, a hater of crime and disorder and a
fearless preacher, therefore, the unerring instinct of the clan saw an
enemy. He was shot to death through the window of his own house and
before the murder was committed the Skeens and Counts settlements,
twelve miles distant, knew all about it. Long before the news could
have reached their settlement, the gang were armed and enroute to the
spot, to accuse and arrest the Duff boys and a man by the name of
Coon, all of whom had been associated with Cunningham in raiding the
Jackson County illicit stills. After a mock trial, in secret session,
they shot George Duff to death, hanged Coon, and cut Robert Duff’s
throat in the presence of his wife. As soon as he learned of this
Cunningham started for Roane County. Here was his chance to secure a
conviction for murder against the slayers of his brother. He collected
the evidence, even to the proceedings and the pass word at the meeting
which sentenced the victims, and was about to present them when to his
amazement he learned that a warrant had been sworn out charging him
with the murder of Father Ryan. To be taken then meant the same death
that had been meted out to his friends. For the first and only time in
his life, Dan Cunningham evaded the law. He made good his escape while
the clan was gathering. The prosecuting attorney, who had married the
niece of the consolidated gang, sent word that if the United States
Marshal would agree to keep away from Roane County the case would be
nollied. The answer was prompt, Cunningham would be there when the
case came up for trial and he would bring protection against lynching,
but not against any due process of law. The case was called. Witnesses
had been subpoenaed to swear that they saw Cunningham fire the shot.
Some fled, some were silent; no one testified, the jury returned a
verdict of acquittal without leaving their seats. Now came Cunningham’s
inning. With his evidence of the murder of Duff and Coon, he went to
the prosecuting attorney. That official refused to proceed against the
murderers. The inquest, he said, had decided that the victims came
to their death at the hands of parties unknown. “Very well,” said
Cunningham, “this is another Jackson County. I will await for them
to commit a Federal crime.” The Federal crimes were committed--post
office robberies, moonshining and counterfeiting. One by one Cunningham
got his men. Once he met on a lonely roadway one of the elder Kisers
who had borne a part in the slaying of Nathan, his brother. By way of
precaution Cunningham covered him with his revolver. Kiser fell to
his knees and began to pray. “Get up,” said the Marshal, “if I wanted
to kill you and your like, couldn’t I have done it a hundred times?
Go on and do not turn around.” Gossip was then circulated about the
countryside that Dan Cunningham was witched against bullets and poison.
Both had been tried by the band and both had failed. The bullet fired,
fired with a close and steady aim from ambush by the crack shot of the
clan which sleeps with its rifle, cut through the breast of his coat,
barely burning the skin; the arsenic skillfully prepared in an apple
by the “yarb witch” of the band he tried on a hen and watched the
hen die, and he went out and arrested two young hopefuls of the Skean
family for petit larceny.
[Illustration: _Pine-Beech Hill--Home of Dan W. Cunningham._]
By repeated arrests and minor convictions he broke up the consolidated
band in Roane County as he had in Jackson County. They split, a few
remaining in their dens, but too weakened and cowed to be any longer
a menace to their district. One faction went down into Tennessee and
effected a location there. Several times he went to the county seat of
Roane County to present his evidence against the murderers of the Duff
boys. Always with the same negative result. The entry in his diary of
one of these failures is followed by this note:
“Some day there will be another prosecuting attorney in Roane
County and I will apprehend and bring to justice my brother’s
murderers.”
There came a time when the event lay in Cunningham’s hand in
Parkersburg, West Virginia. He found lying senseless on the railroad
track the official who stood between him and his twenty year deferred
vengeance. There was a train in hearing, he had only to walk away. He
had, twenty years before, held his hand from the vengeance of murder,
so now he forewent his reckoning rather than have a life on his
conscience. He dragged the stupefied man from the track and left him
lying. If the official reads this, it will be his first knowledge of
who saved his life.
Another Case from Cunningham’s Scrap-Book.
“In the year of 1904, a most horrible and cruel murder was committed
in Putnam County, West Virginia. Never in the history of this county
did a crime so incense the residents of this section as did the foul
assassination of Thomas N. Starks, on the night of February 15, 1904.
At the time the Charleston Daily Mail reported in full all the horrible
details and from time to time recorded the progress of the officers who
were investigating the case.
Thomas N. Starks, one of the most respected citizens of the county,
was discovered by his daughter, Miss Minerva Starks, who had returned
from a visit to neighbors, lying on the floor of his room in his home,
bathed in blood from a wound in his temple that had been done by a
charge from a shot gun entering his brain. Friends were summoned and
medical attention was rendered the wounded man, but with no avail.
The shooting must have occurred about ten-thirty. Thomas Starks, who
for eighty-three years had lived without strife and turmoil, died of
the assassin’s wounds.
The defense was represented by Attorney Stevens, of Winfield, West
Virginia, and E. L. Stone, of Jackson County.
Adam B. Littlepage, of Charleston, West Virginia, opened the case
in a statement of the theory of the prosecution. He detailed the
surroundings of the murder, and finally announced that the state was
in possession of evidence such as he did not doubt would convict the
prisoner, Charles Hawkins, of the fearful crime.
E. L. Stone responded for the defense and stated that the defense would
prove their client not guilty to the satisfaction of the court and
jury. J. L. Stevens made an additional statement for the defense, to
which Mr. Littlepage responded briefly.
The hearing of the evidence commenced in the afternoon. Miss Minerva
Starks, the daughter of the murdered man, herself a white-haired old
lady, was the first witness called by the state. She stated that on the
night of February 15th, she left her father’s house just before dark
and went about a quarter of a mile to the house of a neighbor named
Schultz. Here she remained about three quarters of an hour. When she
returned home she saw her father lying on his side in the room usually
occupied by him and his face covered with blood. She picked him up and
dragged him in the room and then ran for help. She stated that her
father frequently kept money at home, sometimes in large sums. He had
a boot jack with a hidden receptacle under it where he frequently hid
money. The boot jack was exhibited by the state. The cross examination
brought out very little except that Mat Bright had been in her father’s
employ some months prior to his death and that they had had some
little differences, the old man having accused Bright of stealing some
potatoes from his potato hole. Bright’s innocence was afterwards proven
and her father had apologized to Bright. Bright was somewhat familiar
with the arrangement of the house and the habits of her father. The
next witness called was Doctor A. Y. Martin, who gave a professional
opinion regarding the wound, its location and the angle at which the
charge was fired. Doctor Meyer, the other physician who attended the
murdered man, testified to practically the same thing. C. L. Bowyer
testified the condition under which he found Starks when he got there
just before the arrival of the Doctor. C. A. Howell, the jailer of the
county and a deputy sheriff, one of the first to reach the spot from
Winfield on the night of the murder, testified regarding the location
of furniture in the room when he arrived. He also told of the range of
the charge from the shot gun and stated that the chimney of the lamp
on the table beside Mr. Starks was also shattered by the charge. J. P.
Smith and his wife were both placed on the stand and stated that about
nine o’clock on the night of the murder, they heard two men run by
their house, which is near the bridge over Big Hurricane. J. Francis,
who resides near the same bridge, corroborated their statements.
Marion Adkins and Raymond Adkins, both of whom were at this time in
the Kanawha County jail on a charge of stealing a cow on Cabin Creek
several weeks before, were brought to Winfield to testify in the trial.
These men on the night of the 15th of February were on their way to
Parkersburg, making across Putnam County on foot from the C. & O. to
the K. & M., and saw Hawkins and Bright within a mile of the Starks
home.
This is considered a very important link in the chain of circumstances
against these men.
The most important witness in the case on trial is none other than Mat
Bright, who is under indictment for the same crime.
A month or two ago, his confession in the Kanawho County jail led to
the arrest of Charles Hawkins. It was Bright’s evidence before the
grand jury at a special term, called for the purpose of investigating
this murder, that indicted both Hawkins and himself.
The testimony of Bright, who will go on the stand Wednesday, will be
one of the most sensational ever heard.
His statements to the officers have been borne out by the other facts
secured, and when he faces the jury Wednesday and details to them how
Hawkins and he planned the entire crime, and how it was executed, and
the disposal of the pitiful returns that resulted from the crime, the
effect will be little less than terrible.
Early Tuesday morning, a party consisting of Bright, one of the Adkins,
Detective H. C. Smith, T. G. Cochran and Dan W. Cunningham and several
newspaper representatives visited the scene of the murder. The Starks
farm is a small one located about one and a half miles below Winfield,
on the Kanawha River Turnpike.
The house is a comfortable two-story dwelling with a one-story
extension in the rear. It was in the room in the extension that the
aged farmer was murdered.
Bright explained in detail how, on the night of February 14th, Hawkins
made one of his numerous visits to Bright’s home, and that there they
planned to kill and rob Thomas N. Starks on the following night.
It was agreed to meet at Hickory Post Office during the following day.
Bright was seen on the road with something done up in a paper flour
sack which was at the time supposed to have been a banjo, but was in
reality the shotgun taken apart with which on that night Hawkins did
the killing.
According to the statement of Bright the pair of plotters met at the
appointed place and proceeded across the hill to the Starks farm.
Bright waited up in a small hollow while Hawkins took the gun and
proceeded up the small knoll to the house. Bright heard the report of
the gun and the hurried footsteps of the murderer. Hawkins and Bright
proceeded down the road and across the bridge of Big Hurricane.
Finally Hawkins divided the spoils, giving Bright a revolver and
overcoat and $2.50 in money, claiming he only secured $5.00. The County
jail here, an antiquated and rather vulnerable looking building, is now
occupied by Charles Hawkins and Mat Bright, who are under indictment
for murder, and by the two Adkins boys, who are here as witnesses. The
Sheriff has the place heavily guarded at all times and especially so
after midnight. Last evening there was considerable gossip that a mob
was organizing and the jail would be broken into and the prisoners
hanged; however, this did not materialize, though a rather ugly looking
crowd had assembled near the scene of the murder. On Tuesday afternoon
there was still some talk of lynching the men and a proposition was
discussed of slipping the two men under indictment out of town and
taking them to Charleston for the night.
The sheriff considered this inadvisable and the project was abandoned.
One of the prettiest places in the Kanawha Valley marks the home of
Thomas N. Starks. Just back of his house a beautiful green knoll stands
out from the surrounding slopes; here, amid the waving grass and under
shady trees, is the grave of the murdered man.
[Illustration]
A Typical West Virginia Mountain Abode.
The picture opposite is the first house of what is now, and was then
Maben, West Virginia. Maben now is a flourishing little town on the
Virginian Railway and the center of a large lumber industry--the Ritter
Lumber Company.
In the picture may be seen a pioneer of West Virginia and his wife,
who were postmaster and postmistress, respectively, for the town of
Maben. The next in the picture is that of myself, D. W. Cunningham.
To the right of me is Charles E. Wright, former Special Agent of the
Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. To the extreme right is a man
under arrest for counterfeiting, who was apprehended by myself and Mr.
Wright.
For many years this place was a resting place for officers of the law,
as in those days the only mode of transportation was by wagon and foot
along narrow trails. The old folks shown would prepare meals for the
hungry that passed along the trail.
From a close observation you can see that the man on the extreme right
is concealing his hands in his lap, not wanting to disclose the fact
that his hands are securely fastened together by handcuffs.
[Illustration: _Log Cabin--The Pioneer Home of Maben, W.
Va._]
A Horrible Crime.
About fifteen years ago, in the peaceful, quiet little town of
Barboursville, in Cabell County, West Virginia, nine miles south of the
City of Huntington, lived a man by the name of Baker, eighty-four years
of age, who ran a small confectionery store, in the rear of which was
his living quarters.
One summer evening, while the old gentleman was asleep on his cot, some
unknown person entered his little store and home and using the pick
shown in the picture herewith, killed him in the most brutal manner,
robbery being the motive.
The assassin used the pick with such force that he drove it clear
through the head several times.
I accompanied the prosecuting attorney of Cabell County to the awful
scene, and we found Mr. Baker as shown in the photograph, and after an
investigation located the pick. This pick was taken from the tool house
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company about one-half mile south
of Barboursville, but we failed to apprehend the man that committed
this terrible crime. Several suspects were arrested only to be released
from custody after a severe examination. The best clue ever obtained
was to the effect that a colored man from some point in Kentucky had
been absent from the construction camp a short distance away on the
Sunday night of the crime and that he did not show up until the next
evening. We tried in every way to locate this man in the State of
Kentucky and elsewhere but failed, and to this date the assassin is
still at large.
[Illustration]
Confessions of An Amateur Yegg.
During the early teens the counties of Lincoln, Raleigh, Boone,
Kanawha, Nicholas, Clay, Pocahontas and Webster were terrorized by a
series of store and postoffice robberies and safe blowing. Lincoln
county alone had in the neighborhood of forty robberies within two
weeks.
The writer was employed by the different merchants in the localities
where the robberies occurred to make an investigation. I went from
Charleston to Racine, in Boone county, where the general store had been
robbed. From this store I was able to obtain some soap with finger
prints on it which I kept and followed up this point. The postoffice
and general store at Enon, in Nicholas county, was robbed and the iron
safe, which was a four way combination affair, was hauled about three
hundred yards from the store building and residence of the postmaster
by his own sled and horse and blown open with nitroglycerin. The charge
was too heavy and blew papers and other documents in the safe several
hundred feet away. The robbers obtained nothing but a small amount of
money and one ring which had been sent by registered mail to a party at
Enon.
While at Racine on my third trip, I accidentally came across some
information in a little store by over-hearing a conversation about a
young man, whose name I do not care to mention, who had been ordering
shoes from Sears, Roebuck & Company and sending them stamps of large
denominations to pay for same.
For months I went from county to county securing information on this
gang of thieves. The young man from Racine had been sent to the State
Hospital at Huntington, West Virginia, to be given treatment for the
drug habit. I watched faithfully for his recovery and notified the
physician in charge that when he was able I wanted to be wired and
would come to Huntington to interview him. The wire came and I went to
Huntington. After questioning him, he confessed as follows:
“About one year ago I became acquainted with three men by the
names of Calvin Doe, Milton Doe and C. & O. Red, who was a
professional yeggman. We traveled from county to county robbing
small stores and postoffices, sleeping at night in barns and
in the woods. We would go into the woods and when out of
nitroglycerin, would make our ‘soup’ by boiling down dynamite.
We also carried a small quantity of peroxide to color our hair.
One morning while under the influence of drugs, tired and worn
out, in the mountains of Pocahontas county, the three above
mentioned by me prepared breakfast and they handed me a mirror
and told me to take a peep at myself. I did so and discovered
that my head of black hair had been dyed a light red color.
This process was used while I was sleeping. We all used the
hypodermic needle containing morphine when we could not get
liquor. I would make an estimate of one hundred or more stores
that we robbed. We at one time made a trip from Lincoln to
Pocahontas county and then to Webster Springs, robbing several
places as we went. While going through to Webster county we
stopped to rob a little country store in Flatwoods in Braxton
county. The little one room building had shutters and iron bars.
At this time we were carrying about one hundred pounds of seng,
which we had stolen. After we released the bars and shutters and
started to enter the room someone from the inside fired a heavy
shot through the window and we escaped, leaving the seng on the
porch of the little store. Before meeting these men I never used
drugs in any form and from my association with them I became
addicted to the same.”
The writer, after obtaining this information, secured warrants and for
several weeks was on the trail of the two men, who at this time were
living near the line between Clay and Nicholas counties. These men were
from good families. After several failures to capture them, we learned
they were in a lumber camp in Pocahontas county, selling moonshine
liquor. They were apprehended by the sheriff and others while eating
dinner. On being searched each one had a pair of revolvers of a large
caliber and plenty of ammunition, together with four gallons of liquor.
They were taken to the Pocahontas County jail, charged with moonshining
and carrying concealed weapons. I had very little trouble in convincing
the sheriff and prosecuting attorney of Pocahontas county that I had
these men indicted for serious crimes and would be able to convict
them for felonies in the United States Court. Before I brought them
from Pocahontas to Charleston, Calvin, who had a wife in Catlettsburg,
Kentucky, wrote a letter and asked her to send him a paste board book
and conceal two Black Diamond saws between the boards so that he could
saw his way to liberty. This letter was given to a trusty to mail,
Calvin giving him $5.00 for the favor. The trusty turned the letter
over to the sheriff and in a few days the book came through the mail.
Sheriff Cochran received it and took from the paste board back the
two saws which Calvin had sent for. He placed them in a solution of
acid which took the temper out of them and then replaced them in the
book. The book was delivered to Calvin. During the night a watch was
kept upon the prisoners and they labored for hours to saw the bars in
two, but the saws would only bend and it was of no avail. The next day
Calvin figured out the joke and only laughed at what had been done
to him. Milton, his brother, had not spoken in the presence of any
stranger for weeks, Calvin claiming that he was insane.
I brought both of them from Pocahontas to the Kanawha County jail.
While confined here the Post Office Inspector and myself visited the
county jail and the Inspector asked Calvin where he purchased the
signet ring he was wearing. Calvin immediately left us, walking to the
lavatory where he threw it down the commode, flushing it down. This
was the same ring which was taken after blowing the safe at Enon in
Nicholas county.
They were both tried in the Federal Court for the Southern District of
West Virginia, which convened at Webster Springs in September. They
were indicted in several cases and given a term of four and one-half
years in the Moundsville Penitentiary. Milton had already served at
least three sentences in different prisons for robbery. Calvin had
served two terms, this making his third conviction and Milton’s fourth.
Calvin, at one time, while serving a sentence in the Moundsville
prison, scaled the wall by tying together some bed clothing and
throwing a hook or loop over the wall, by this means making his escape.
He was afterwards captured and returned to the institution. He is now
confined in the Federal Prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Milton,
his brother, is a fugitive from justice, having been indicted in the
Intermediate Court of Kanawha county for an automobile theft. It is my
understanding that in case Milton is captured he will be tried under
the habitual criminal statute and if convicted will receive a life
sentence.
My reason for withholding the right names of these men is on account of
their parents, who are respected, law-abiding citizens. The young man
who made the confession is now married and no longer addicted to the
use of drugs, living a clean life.
[Illustration]
Soldiers Turn Bandits.
(The following story and data is printed through the courtesy
of Rome Mitchell, who is in the opinion of the writer, the best
and most efficient Special Agent ever employed by the Huntington
Division of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. His activities
brought to justice these murderers.)
In the summer of 1919, an interurban street car running between Saint
Albans and Charleston was boarded at Stop 19, a short distance above
Saint Albans, by three suspicious looking men wearing overalls. People
in the car afterwards stated that they felt that something was wrong
by the actions of the men, they appeared to be in such a nervous
condition. Two of the men went to the front of the car and one remained
at the rear. At an agreed signal from one of the men in the front of
the car, who fired his pistol, the other two got up and commanded the
passengers to put up their hands. The conductor started to run and one
of the men fired a shot in his direction. During the excitement that
followed Kemper Ruffner, a Charleston boy, escaped through one of the
windows of the car with over three hundred dollars in his pocket. After
searching the passengers the three men got off the car, where they
found the conductor mortally wounded. They searched his clothes and
obtained $10.00 in money, vanishing into the darkness.
This hold-up and murder caused considerable feeling in Kanawha and
surrounding counties. Officers of the law everywhere were on the
lookout for the culprits. The Police Department at one time during
the search for the three men arrested three deaf mutes and had them
confined in the Kanawha County jail for a period of about three weeks,
trying to connect them with the crime.
At this time Special Officer Mitchell started his investigation of
the crime and his first clue led him to believe that the three men in
custody were not the ones wanted, as passengers on the car testified
that two of the men spoke in giving commands, when only one of the
trio confined could speak. Following this up Mitchell started his
investigation at Saint Albans and from evidence secured ascertained
that two rowboats had been stolen on the night of the crime from the
opposite side of the river from Saint Albans near the Town of Nitro.
This gave him the idea that persons residing on the Nitro side of the
river had committed the crime, as tracks leading from the scene of the
crime down to the river bank further bore this theory out.
Conductor John Dame, who was killed, was struck by a 45 caliber
automatic bullet, such as is used by the United States Government, and
from this evidence Mitchell suspected some of the soldiers on guard
duty at Nitro, the Government Powder City. On making inquiries of the
officials at Nitro he ascertained the number of men who were absent
from camp on this particular night, and after a process of elimination
the number absent who could not account for their whereabouts during
their absence was reduced to three, namely: Private Doc Maddox,
Private Ralph E. Farley and Corporal Warnie Anderson. These three
men were arrested, charged with the murder of Dame and brought to
Charleston, where they were confined in the Kanawha County jail. They
were questioned several times while confined but refused to give any
information whatever regarding the crime, stoutly maintaining their
innocence.
Maddox was brought before the prosecuting attorney and questioned
at some length about the case. At first he was inclined to tell
conflicting stories, but after he had been “cornered” several times,
he voluntarily made a complete confession. Before the questioning
began, Maddox was informed that anything he might say would be used
against him in the trial, and that he did not have to answer any of the
questions put to him if he preferred to keep quiet on the matter. He
expressed a willingness to answer all questions.
Before making his written confession Maddox expressed the desire to be
alone for awhile and it was finally agreed that he could remain in the
prosecuting attorney’s office as long as he chose with only one officer
in the room, who would not talk to him.
In making a “clean breast” of the crime Maddox said that he felt guilty
and wanted to get the matter off his mind and take his punishment along
with his two accomplices. His confession is as follows:
THE CONFESSION.
“Charleston, W. Va., June 16, 1919.
“I, Private Doc Maddox, Supply Company, United States Infantry,
stationed at Nitro, West Virginia, do make the following
statement of my own free will and accord, without hope or
promise of favor and not under threats of any kind, but
realizing the full effect of my confession.
“I am nineteen years of age. I have been in the service two
years. On Monday evening, one week ago today, Private Ralph E.
Farley, Wagoner, Supply Company, ----th infantry, discussed
with me a proposition to hold up the street car running from
Saint Albans to Charleston and rob its passengers and conductor.
At first I refused; later I agreed if we could get the third
man to help. Farley later told me he had talked with Corporal
Warnie Anderson, Supply Company, ----th Infantry, and Anderson
had agreed to help us. Later, I talked it over with Anderson
and he agreed. On Tuesday, I borrowed Bugler Cooper’s (Company
E, ----th United States Infantry) 45 caliber automatic pistol
to take with me. The three of us, at Farley’s suggestion, had
agreed to go armed and wear overalls as a disguise. I borrowed
overalls. They were khaki colored, buttoning clear up to the
throat. The others also had overalls, one blue and khaki colored
also. I carried my overalls in a bundle, accompanied by Farley
and Anderson, on the ferry boat, “Sandy Valley”, about seven p. m.
of Tuesday, June 10th. At Saint Albans, I took my overalls
to the bushes on the river bank and put them with Anderson’s
and Farley’s. Later, I went there, got all of them, and went
up the river bank, met them and we all put the overalls on in
the bushes. Just before that I saw some woman and children and
a man in swimming. I did not see them again. After putting on
the overalls, we three crossed the field to the railroad pumping
station. We asked a man in charge there for water and he gave it
to us.
“We went from there to Stop 19 on the car line. We boarded
it. Anderson and I went to the front and Farley remained at
the rear. At an agreed signal from Farley, who was to shoot,
Anderson and I got up and I shot through the top of the car,
calling on passengers to put up their hands. The conductor,
whom I knew slightly, tried to run and I saw Farley shoot in
his direction as he ran. I saw Anderson at the front of the car
after the motorman. I think he struck the motorman with his gun.
One passenger jumped through the window and my gun jammed so
that I could not fire it.
“We went through the passengers and then got off. We started
down the track and came upon the motorman and conductor. Farley
shot into the ground near the motorman and told them to put up
their hands. I searched the conductor and got $10.00. He said he
was shot in the side. We then went down the river bank, took a
boat, crossed to Sattes side of the river and walked to Nitro.
We hid our guns on the way into Nitro. Later I got mine and
returned it to Cooper. We threw our overalls into the river as
we crossed it. We wore our uniforms into camp.
“I have not talked to witnesses of the car robbery, but I told
-------- after the robbery all about our intentions and what we
had done. Later I learned of an attempt to identify us at Nitro
and I left. At Lock Seven I saw the man who had jumped through
the window and turned away so he could not see me. I think
Farley shot the conductor. I shot no one and I think Anderson
struck the motorman with the butt of his revolver.
“The foregoing is written at my instance in the presence of
Thomas Cochran and others.
“It is freely given after a consideration by me of it all, being
given ample time to think it over at my request.
“(Signed) DOC MADDOX.
“Witness:
“T. G. Cochran and others.”
The above men were brought to trial, Farley and Anderson still
maintaining their innocence in view of the above confession. The trial
proceeded and when about half completed, they changed their plea of
not guilty to one of guilty and threw themselves upon the mercy of the
court. Farley was sentenced to life imprisonment, Anderson received
fifteen years and Maddox fifteen years.
[Illustration]
A Peculiar Murder.
On the west side of the City of Charleston on the hill opposite
Crescent Road, lived a family by the name of Jarrett. Jarrett and his
wife had separated and were divorced, Mrs. Jarrett later marrying a
man by the name of B. Overstreet. After living with Overstreet a short
while, Mrs. Jarrett compelled her second husband to return to the
home of her former husband and live there where she could be with her
children.
Domestic troubles frequently occurred in this home. Overstreet became
ill and could not work, Jarrett ordering him to leave the home.
Mrs. Overstreet agreed with her former husband in this respect that
Overstreet should leave. Overstreet would leave and stay away through
the day and return home at night, seemingly losing his mind on account
of his illness.
One evening about ten o’clock the writer was called by the prosecuting
attorney to investigate the circumstances surrounding what was termed
a suicide on the West Side. Being busy with another criminal matter
I turned the case over to W. M. Thomas and C. H. Martin, Constables
of Charleston District. These men went to the scene of the supposed
suicide and found B. Overstreet lying near the back porch of the
house with the top of his head completely blown off. The first thing
the officers noted was the distance the gun was lying from the body
of Overstreet. They next used their flash light in looking under the
floor and the gun was lying a distance of twelve feet from the body,
and when the gun was lifted from the ground an exact impression
of the gun was found in the dust which could not have been otherwise
unless carefully laid down in the dust under the house. This led the
officers to believe that the supposed suicide was a murder. Questioning
several people in the neighborhood they secured information that showed
Overstreet had been ordered from the home because he was unable to work
and pay the expenses of him and his wife, his wife refusing to live
with him and stay away from her children.
[Illustration: W. M. THOMAS]
George J. Jarrett was interviewed and he claimed that Overstreet had
been hunting that evening and came in and went to the back porch and
had been sitting there for a considerable time when they heard the gun
explode and running from the house to the place where Overstreet had
been sitting found him with his head blown off. The children were all
trained to tell the same story. Our investigation from time to time
showed that a wilful murder had been committed either by George Jarrett
or his son, Hamilton Jarrett.
On Sunday following the murder we issued warrants and arrested George
Jarrett, the father and Hamilton Jarrett, the son, and brought them
before G. D. Acree, Justice of the Peace, where we questioned them in
reference to the murder. After two hours sweating Hamilton Jarrett told
the story, as follows:
“Father and B. Overstreet have been having trouble for weeks,
father having ordered him away on several occasions. This
evening he came back, and father asked him if he was not going
to leave. Father had taken a shot gun from the rack and going
out the back way walked to where Overstreet was and said: ‘B,
are you going to leave here as I told you? If you do not go I
am going to shoot you.’ Overstreet replied: ‘Shoot, damn you,’
and the shot was fired and when I went out B. Overstreet had his
head blown off by the gun father had taken from the rack. Father
told us what story to tell and we all stuck to it. I had nothing
to do with the murder and father did it all.”
This same statement was also corroborated by Jarrett’s former wife
and daughter, Jarrett claiming that they had been scared into telling
falsehoods on him and denying that he was guilty of the murder. George
Jarrett and Hamilton were confined in the county jail for some time,
after which they gave bond. George Jarrett was later indicted for the
murder of Overstreet by a Kanawha County Grand Jury. The evidence
was insufficient to convict on the ground that the evidence was not
voluntary and that the family would change their statements, saying
that they were scared into telling this story by threats of being
punished themselves for the murder. This, however, was not true as
to threats. In making the investigation the only evidence obtainable
was that of the Jarrett family and under these circumstances the
prosecution was blocked.
This case is cited to show suicide is some times murder. Make an
investigation in all cases of this nature.
Mat Jarrell--Holly Griffith No. 2.
In the fall of 1915, Kanawha and Raleigh counties, West Virginia, were
terrorized by a young outlaw named Mat Jarrell, who was a coal miner by
occupation, and while working in the mines a slate fall crippled him so
severely that it was necessary to amputate one of his legs.
For years he wore a peg leg and later on a cork leg. After this
accident he would do outside work in the coal fields, such as hostler
and other light work. Jarrell had been reared by poor parents and had
learned from childhood to use mountain dew, commonly called moonshine.
While under the influence of liquor, Jarrell had committed a number of
assaults and other depredations, being feared by most everyone in the
community.
Jarrell, during one of his drunken sprees, killed one of his fellowmen
on Cabin Creek and was given a long sentence in the penitentiary. After
serving a short term he was paroled and on the day he left prison, he
made the following remark to the Warden: “Prepare the death cell for
me for I am coming back.” After enjoying a few months of freedom on
parole, Jarrell violated the conditions under which he was released
and re-commitment papers were issued by the Governor and placed in
the hands of the Sheriff of Kanawha County for execution. Before the
sheriff could apprehend Jarrell and place him under arrest, a man by
the name of Albert Webb, who had served terms in the penitentiary for
both murder and counterfeiting, engaged in a free-for-all fight with
Jarrell and during the fray, shot Jarrell five times, but not before
Jarrell had slashed Webb and his brother severely with a knife. Jarrell
was taken to the Sheltering Arms Hospital at Hansford where five weeks
later he recovered.
After leaving the hospital and on his way to see his aged mother,
Jarrell again became intoxicated in a little town called Oakley on
Cabin Creek, where he engaged in a discussion with Henry Ratliff and
threatened to do Ratliff bodily harm, displaying two large revolvers.
Ratliff seized a shot gun and Jarrell killed him instantly before he
had an opportunity to use the weapon. During this shooting scrape
Jarrell shot a young lady by the name of Belle Adams, who recovered.
After this occurrence Jarrell brandished his two guns in true western
style and swung to the pilot of a locomotive and made his escape,
getting off at Cane Fork on Cabin Creek, where he was joined by his
brother and another confederate, who at this time had secured arms and
ammunition.
Before they left Cane Fork, Jarrell was approached by Frank Nantz, a
special officer, who had learned of Jarrell’s escapades. The meeting
took place in Risk’s store. The trio opened fire on the officer,
sending three shots through his body. Nantz died in a few hours.
Rome Mitchell, Constable of Cabin Creek District at that time, and E.
E. Bragg, a Deputy Sheriff, organized a posse of ten determined men.
Mitchell notified Sheriff Bonner Hill at Charleston and he later joined
the posse.
After leaving Cane Fork, Jarrell and his pals stole a push car and went
to the house of Esau Coon, one mile below the mouth of Seng Creek on
Big Coal river. Mitchell and his men tracked Jarrell from the mouth of
the creek to the house, the tracks being very plain on account of the
cork leg worn by Jarrell. On approaching the house, Mitchell discovered
Jarrell at the window and telling his brother to stand by the fence
and if anything went wrong to pulverize the window, proceeded towards
the house. He was met inside of the fence a short distance from the
house by a young man coming from the house who informed him that he
would be killed if he entered the house. Mitchell finally gained
admission to the home and heard Jarrell up stairs. He called out to
him and asked him to surrender, Jarrell answering, saying “Alright,
don’t shoot me.” Mitchell told him that he would not be shot if he
surrendered peaceably and Jarrell told him that he would surrender to
him but no one else. Mitchell proceeded up the steps and on reaching
the top of the stairs threw a rifle on Jarrell. Jarrell grabbed a young
lady that was in the room with him and shoved her in front of him,
saying all the time, “Rome, don’t shoot me.” Two revolvers, a high
power rifle and plenty of ammunition was found in the room.
Jarrell was brought to Charleston and confined in the Kanawha County
jail without bond. He was finally tried and sentenced to hang for his
crimes. While awaiting transportation to the penitentiary his gray
haired old mother made a brave fight against odds to have her son’s
life saved, but without success, and he paid the supreme penalty for
his many crimes. Some years later his mother was buried by the side
of her “Darling Boy”, the term she used in addressing him while he was
confined in the county jail.
Jarrell, during his life, was one of the most blood-thirsty criminals
in the annals of the history of West Virginia, and on several occasions
he would draw a pistol from his pocket and compel men, women and
children to kneel in the middle of a country road and say their
prayers, all the while shooting with his pistol into the ground beside
them. While awaiting the date of his death in what is known as the
“death cell” in the penitentiary, he weakened, and wrote a letter to
Dr. O. L. Aultz, at that time county physician for Kanawha county who
had attended Jarrell at the jail. In this letter he implored the doctor
to do everything in his power to persuade the Governor to commute his
sentence to life imprisonment.
[Illustration]
CAPTURE OF WAYNE COUNTY DESPERADOES
Dan Cunningham’s Well Devised Plans Are Successful.
One of the most desperate battles between officers of the law and
outlaws in the annals of criminal strife in the Big Sandy Valley took
place shortly after daylight in the month of December, 1908, at the
home of Bill Vinson, about two miles below Webb Station in the extreme
southern part of Wayne county and bordering on the Big Sandy river. As
a result of the conflict between a posse of fourteen men, composed of
ten deputy United States marshals from West Virginia, and four deputy
sheriffs from Lawrence county, Kentucky, and the gang of desperadoes
that have been terrorizing that section, two men were instantly killed.
Deputy Sheriff Wylie Litteral of Louisa, a member of the posse that
surrounded the house, was shot down and instantly killed by a bullet
from the revolver of “Bill” Vinson, the father of Joe Vinson, the head
of the gang.
VINSON SHOT DOWN.
No sooner had Vinson pulled the trigger of his pistol that sent the
bullet into the body of the officer than he was made a target for the
automatic rifles in the hands of the officers and he expiated the crime
which he had committed an instant before. Seeing that it was a fight
to the finish the officers rapidly closed in around the house and
succeeded in arresting Joe Vinson, the head of the gang, the man who
had been defying arrest for many months, and with him Morris Bates and
“Bill” Vinson, Jr., a son of the man who was killed. According to a
telegram received from Deputy Marshal Dan Cunningham, the wives of the
desperadoes fought like she-devils and one of the women put a knife
through the body of the dead deputy sheriff. This woman, who is thought
to have been the wife of the Vinson who was killed, was also placed
under arrest by the marshals, and she was brought to Huntington in
company with the male desperadoes and lodged in the Cabell county jail.
Joe Vinson, the head of the gang, and the one that has probably been
responsible for the whole trouble, is wanted by the United States
authorities on several charges, having been indicted for the illicit
retailing of liquor, wanted on a bench warrant from the Eastern
District of Kentucky, and in the proceedings instituted in the Federal
Court of the district by his creditors to have him thrown into
bankruptcy. All recent efforts which have been made by the officers to
land him before the court have utterly failed, as in each instance he
would make his escape with the assistance of the members of the gang
that protected him. Only a few weeks ago, he was caught on the Kentucky
side of the river by a deputy sheriff from Louisa, who started with him
for the jail, but enroute he was overtaken by Vinson’s gang, who took
their leader from the officer and brought him back to his home on the
West Virginia side.
PLANS WELL LAID FOR ARREST.
United States Marshal Frank Tyree, with the assistance of his efficient
assistants, have been laying plans for the past several weeks to take
Vinson into custody and took the matter up with the Department of
Justice at Washington. He succeeded in securing commissions for several
special United States marshals to assist him in the raid upon Vinson’s
fort near Webb, and at night the posse was formed after the extra
men had been sworn in by Attorney J. P. Douglas of District Attorney
Elliott Northcott’s office.
Armed with automatic Winchesters, the posse, headed by Deputy Marshal
Sam Davis of this city, and Dan Cunningham, of Charleston, left
Huntington on the midnight car for Kenova. Other members of the posse
were Howard C. Smith, of the Smith Detective Agency of Charleston;
Ward Brumfield, who had many exciting experiences in the Hart’s Creek
feud; S. H. Owens, G. D. Acree, Joseph Messenger, C. H. Martin, T.
J. Cochran and others. Upon their arrival at Kenova they were joined
by Deputy Sheriff Litteral, of Louisa, and three other officers, the
posse numbering in all sixteen men. They left on the train for Webb
and arrived there before daylight the next morning. Just as the light
of a new day was dawning, the posse reached the home of Joe Vinson,
and surrounded the house. Vinson and his gang were not surprised, for
they had been notified by some one from Louisa of the coming of the
officers and were in waiting. After having surrounded the house, the
men called for Joe Vinson to come out, and in an instant a volley of
shots poured forth from various parts of the house. Their answer to the
summons was “fight”. The officers, who had their guns in readiness,
instantly answered the volley, and the battle began. Not less than
fifty shots were fired. Two of the men who were in Vinson’s house,
it is believed, made their escape while the officers succeeded in
arresting three of them, Joe Vinson, Morris Bates and “Bill” Vinson,
Jr. The senior Vinson was killed. Blood-hounds belonging to Howard
Smith of Charleston, one of the members of the posse, were placed on
the trail of the two men that are supposed to have escaped from the
house, and there will probably be another battle if the dogs succeed in
following up the trail. The body of Litteral was brought to Fort Gay at
noon today enroute to Louisa, the home of the unfortunate man. Litteral
was a young man of only twenty-five years and had only recently been
married. The men who were taken in charge were disarmed, shackled, and
brought to Huntington in custody of the officers. They were placed in
the county jail for safe keeping.
THE RECORD OF JOE VINSON.
For the past ten years Joe Vinson had owned and operated a general
store about two miles below Webb, and enjoyed an extensive and
profitable trade. His bills were always discounted and he was regarded
by wholesalers as a customer of first rating. A few months later he
bought a plot of ground in the village of Webb, erected a storehouse
thereon and had no difficulty in filling it with goods. He explained,
when purchases were made, that he would be unable to pay cash as he
had formerly done on account of the expense he had been put to in the
erection of the new store. He had in all about twenty-five hundred
dollars worth of goods in the new store at Webb, but when the bills
for the goods fell due, the wholesale people were unable to make
collection. Finally one hardware firm, which had credited Vinson to
the extent of about five hundred dollars, instituted proceedings in
bankruptcy, and a seizure warrant was issued, authorizing the creditors
to take charge of the stock pending the consummation of the bankruptcy
proceedings. The papers were placed in the hands of deputy United
States marshals for service, but Vinson would always avoid service by
crossing the Tug river into Kentucky on the approach of the deputies.
Joe Vinson had also been indicted in the United States court both in
Kentucky and West Virginia for illicit retailing of whiskey. Deputy
Sheriff Litteral of Kentucky, who was killed, placed Vinson under
arrest, but Vinson’s father, brothers and friends forcibly took him
from the custody of the officer. A short time later deputy sheriff
Litteral, accompanied by Roland Sammon, again arrested Vinson, and
took him to Louisa, where he gave bond for his appearance before the
United States court. Vinson resisted arrest at this time and there were
several shots exchanged, one man being shot in the shoulder.
When the proceedings in bankruptcy were instituted it was discovered
that Vinson had placed the property, where the second store was
located, in his wife’s name, and as soon as the trouble arose he sold
the stock of goods to the Currys, who live within a mile or two of
Webb. The Currys are desperate characters, and for years had terrorized
the part of Wayne county in which they lived. These goods were in turn
sold by the Currys to various families in the neighborhood.
The immediate cause of the battle was the attempted arrest of Joe
Vinson by the deputy marshals, and a posse of officers, on the charge
of violation of section 3292 United States Statutes, which covers the
illicit retailing of liquor. Vinson had sold liquor in this way for
years, he and his friends being a law unto themselves, and officers
attempting to serve warrants did so at the risk of their lives. Bill
Vinson, who was killed, is the father of Joe Vinson. All the members of
the family have been indicted at various times on various charges in
Kentucky and West Virginia, but they had never been brought to justice.
[Illustration]
The Capture of Robert Darrow, alias “Big East”
In the month of July, 1915, Henry Voirs, a Deputy Sheriff of Cabin
Creek District, Kanawha County, West Virginia, residing at Ronda on the
Cabin Creek Division of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, was searching
freight trains for booze runners, and came in contact with a noted
colored bootlegger, Robert Darrow, alias “Big East”. This colored man
had a large quantity of liquor on a freight train going up Cabin Creek
and Voirs was notified of this fact and searched the train at Ronda.
Voirs located Darrow on the top of a car, having his liquor concealed
on the same train. When Voirs sighted Darrow he ordered him to come
down from the top of the car. Instead of obeying the command of the
officer, Darrow told him to “come up and get me.” Voirs started up the
ladder at the side of the car and just as he reached the top Darrow
shot him through the neck just below the chin, killing him instantly.
The next morning C. & O. Special Officer Rome Mitchell and others
were on the trail of “Big East” and about two o’clock a.m., while
searching an empty box car train in the Saint Albans yard they came
upon a car with the door about six inches ajar. Mitchell shoved the
door back and with a flash light in his hand looked into the car. He
had no sooner done this than a shot rang out, a bullet barely missing
Mitchell’s nose. After several shots were fired, Darrow succeeded in
making his escape. Darrow seemed to have a charmed life, as three of
the officers, including Mitchell, fired over fifteen shots at him.
After this fray with the officers, Darrow was next seen near Leon,
West Virginia, with a pistol in his hand. He was later arrested in
Huntington, West Virginia, on a charge of carrying concealed weapons.
On searching Darrow’s belongings at his room, several letters were
found addressed to him from a woman in Cincinnati, Ohio, living at
404 Johns street. Mitchell went to Cincinnati and interviewed this
woman and found out that she had been a “lover” of Darrow but that
he had “turned her down for another woman.” She said that if she was
given $50.00 she would locate Darrow for them. Twenty-five dollars
of this amount was paid to her and she was told that as soon as she
located Darrow the other $25.00 would be paid. About ten days later
a letter was received from her stating that Darrow was working in
Erie, Pennsylvania, hustling freight in the depot there. Darrow was
arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment in the West Virginia
Penitentiary at Moundsville and is now serving that sentence.
Darrow was a giant, being five feet eleven inches in height and
weighing two hundred and twenty pounds. His wrists were so large that
a pair of Peerless handcuffs cut his wrists so severely they had to be
removed, as they would stop the circulation when fastened in the last
notch. He was a highly educated colored man, having a patent pending
in Washington, D. C., for the super-heating of locomotives. After his
sentence this patent was turned over to his brother.
Missing Shoe Heel Convicts Murderer.
During the fishing season in 1906, there lived at Lamont on Cabin Creek
a huge colored giant by the name of William McCoy. He was a saucy,
impudent, overbearing negro and tried to be master among his race.
McCoy married a widow, who had a beautiful daughter. Soon after the
marriage domestic troubles started, as McCoy thought more of the
daughter than of the wife. In order to avoid trouble and publicity the
mother gave her daughter’s hand in marriage to a young colored man,
but after this marriage McCoy would insist upon going to call on his
step-daughter, she refusing to see him.
McCoy’s heart became full of hatred and jealousy, so he planned to get
rid of his step son-in-law. He arranged a fishing trip going by the way
of Orange, West Virginia, to Coal river and down into Boone county.
McCoy invited his step-daughter and his step son-in-law, together with
his wife and a deacon in a church, to accompany him on this trip.
After they had been in camp for a few days, McCoy asked the younger
man to trade shot gun shells with him, giving the boy a shell loaded
with No. 8 bird shot and asking in return for a shell containing No.
2 shot usually used in hunting turkeys. The trade took place in the
presence of the deacon. After the trade was consummated, McCoy pulled
his knife from his pocket and cut a ring around the lower edge of the
shell just between the powder and the shot. The old deacon on seeing
this operation, and knowing the ill will which McCoy bore toward the
younger man, left the camp and was not located for some time afterwards.
A couple of days after this occurrence, McCoy and his step-son-in-law
were returning from a fishing trip, both carrying their shot guns.
Before reaching the camp, McCoy deliberately fired the shell loaded
with the No. 8 into the head of the younger man scattering his brains
in every direction.
McCoy returned to the camp alone and when questioned by his
step-daughter as to the whereabouts of her husband, McCoy stated that
he had left and was not coming back and had told him the reason he was
going was that he did not like his wife. McCoy produced a note from his
pocket and handed it to the girl, stating that it was a note from her
husband.
The young wife worried for days about her husband and finally employed
the author to see if he could not be found. At this time I was acting
in the capacity of peace officer in the coal fields along Cabin Creek.
After I started my investigation the circumstances were such that I
suspected foul play and after I had obtained considerable facts in
the case, a farmer by the name of Black Cooper came in to see me on
horseback and notified me that he had found the body of a colored man
on Coal Fork. I then went to the home of William McCoy and placed him
under arrest and made him accompany me to the place where the body was
found. I at this point turned him over to George Hendricks, a constable
of Boone county, who had considerable trouble on account of mob
violence in taking him to the county jail at Madison. I then found the
shot gun shell near the body which no doubt was the one that contained
the fatal charge that killed the colored lad. My next step was to
measure tracks which led, to the body from the main road. These tracks
when measured compared favorably with a No. 12 shoe, which William
McCoy wore, and I discovered from one print that the heel on the right
shoe was missing. A search of McCoy’s home revealed the pair of shoes
which he wore on the fishing trip and the right heel was missing. Upon
these circumstances an indictment was made charging McCoy with the
murder. The missing shoe heel connected the missing link in the chain
of circumstances surrounding the killing.
McCoy was tried at Madison, the county seat of Boone county and
convicted of murder in the first degree and was given a sentence of
fifteen years at hard labor. While being taken from the court house to
the jail McCoy made this remark: “Clendenen, I will serve my sentence
and I will settle with you in full when it is over.” To this date this
account has never been settled and I hope it never will.
[Illustration]
Restrictions Governing a Private Detective.
The public may define the word “detective” little or much. It does
not always mean that the man bearing that title is invested with
special privileges, power or rights. The public is apt to classify
all detectives under the head of special police officers. This is not
a fact, as detectives are classified under several heads; that is,
Federal, Police and Private. But it is not the purpose of this article
to deal with the rights, duties, privileges and restrictions of but one
class, the Private Detective.
The private detective has no powers of arrest unless deputized by some
bonded officer to assist him in making an arrest. The above applies
to all private detectives, even those operating under the well known
bureaus such as the William J. Burns and Pinkerton Agencies, as well
as those belonging to local bureaus or acting as individuals. He is
subject to the same restrictions that govern the ordinary citizen. He
must conform to the same laws and is liable for the infractions of
those laws as though he were a private citizen, which in fact he is.
It must also be remembered that the private detective has no legal
standing as such, and being a member of a detective agency does not
give him any authority to carry fire arms, make arrests, etc., unless
armed with proper papers giving him the authority. (The above to
conform with the laws of the State of West Virginia.)
He becomes liable if he restrains in any manner the personal liberty
of any citizen. In West Virginia and other states the law recognizes a
few cases in which any citizen may make an arrest. These crimes are
burglary, murder, and other felonies. In some states a bonded officer
such as a constable or deputy sheriff, may enter a building forcibly
if he first demands and is refused admittance, or in case of extreme
emergency he may not make such demand, but the private detective has
no such right and is himself liable to arrest if he forcibly enters a
building unless armed with a warrant from the proper authorities.
The law considers it a felony to compound one. The same law applies
to a misdemeanor charge. Many private detectives and other officers
purposely refrain from reporting a fraud and other charges for the
purpose of gain, but, in doing so, it is distinctly unlawful and makes
them liable to arrest and prosecution. In the larger cities the private
detective is called upon to make investigations where the police
department is not at all interested. These charges are such as selling
liquor, bribery, blackmailing, political trickery and others of the
same class. Making these investigations is the duty of the private
detective. In a secret way he may aid in planning a crime, but must not
take part in the actual commission; he must not suggest a crime; he
must not gather evidence under the false pretense that he is a regular
constituted and bonded officer. He must at all times respect the rights
of private citizens.
The private detective who belongs to an agency must remember that
principals are held responsible for their agent’s acts, and he must not
over-step his powers, as by so doing he not only makes himself liable,
but also embroils and brings discredit upon his agency. He should also
remember that an agent is held responsible for an act which brings loss
or discredit to the firm which he represents. In case of violent and
unlawful attack, the private detective may protect himself even to the
extent of killing his assailant, but he must be able to prove that the
killing was done in self-defense. He must be careful not to provoke
attack by threats or the use of force and he must not wilfully take
part in any fray.
Many of the states have laws governing the licensing and operation of
such bureaus, but no state can confer special police power upon such
bureaus. Special police powers, however, may be and often are conferred
by county and city police authorities. Colorado has an especially
severe license law requiring the applicant to give heavy bond and
pay a yearly fee of fifty dollars. This however, applies only to the
agencies. Georgia does not require a license for the private detective,
but has an Anti-Pinkerton Law which states that no police officer of
the state may deputize a man who is not a resident of the state, and
no person may assume any police powers, duties or privileges who has
not received his appointment from a lawfully constituted authority. A
violation of this act is a misdemeanor.
A large number of states require no license for a private detective,
but the very fact that they do not require a license is evidence of
the fact that they do not give any privileges or immunity to men
engaged in private detective work. In the following states the private
detective is not required to take out a license: Alabama, Arkansas,
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Michigan,
Montana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oregon,
Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The states mentioned above have a severe law for the punishment of
persons carrying concealed weapons and interfering with the business or
private life of an individual by impersonating an officer.
In conclusion, it must be understood that a private detective is
not an officer of the law and has no right to make arrests or carry
concealed weapons unless he has a license or permission to do so from
the proper authorities. He cannot be appointed and is not elected and
has no official capacity at all; therefore, the private detective is
only a private agent and unofficial investigator. He only offers to the
public his skill in investigation and detection, and his success is
entirely dependent upon his own initiative. His great power is for good
and if he succeeds, he becomes a friend of society and an enemy of the
evil-doer. As a general rule private detectives are intelligent, useful
and law-abiding citizens. I take off my hat to those that are sincere,
also for the good they have done and are doing. One curse of the
private detective profession is the rank amateur, the badge flasher,
the gun man and the ignoramus who brings discredit upon those that are
sincere and trying to do the right thing. To him, I say read this over
again, study it thoroughly and make use of the information I give you
for it is used here for your guidance.
With a few more remarks, I end my task. The great herd of mankind pass
their lives in listless inattention and indifference as to what is
going on around them, but the detective who is alert does not allow
anything to escape him; consequently I would say that the key to
success in the detective game is observation and attention to seemingly
little things. So many men fail to succeed as they are too ready to
imagine those cases wherein they might have shown their trustworthiness
and integrity. The more minute and trivial opportunities of being just
and up-right are constantly occurring to those engaged in the detective
profession.
Honesty, in this profession, as in all others, is the best policy, and
bear in mind “that which ye sow, ye shall also reap.”
THE END
[Illustration]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 5
Chapter I.--The Detective Profession in Full 7
Chapter II.--Preliminary Generalities 21
Chapter III.--Elementary Principles 28
Chapter IV.--Origin of Criminals 31
Chapter V.--Methods and Procedure of the Profession 40
Chapter VI.--The House Man or Hotel Detective 48
Chapter VII.--Industrial Detective Work 52
Chapter VIII.--Insurance Detectives 56
Chapter IX.--Criminal Slang--Used by all Classes of
Criminals 59
Chapter X.--Scotland Yard Detectives 67
Chapter XI.--Legal Phrases of Criminal and Civil Law 70
Chapter XII.--Tricks of the Up-to-date Crook 77
Chapter XIII.--Private Detectives 83
Chapter XIV.--Description, or How to Describe Person Wanted 86
Chapter XV.--Modern Methods of Detecting Crime 91
Chapter XVI.--Proof of Positive Identifications--The
Finger Print 95
Jennings Case 95
The Charles Crispi Case 97
Flatbush Case 98
Coppersmith Case 99
San Francisco Case 100
STORY SECTION.
Author’s Announcement 101
Professional Bootlegging (1915–1921) 103
Prohibition Amendment 113
Webb-Kenyon Law 113
Postal Regulations--Parcels Post 114
Gunnoe Murder Case 116
Strange Creek Case 120
The Smith Gang, or the Lucky Thirteen 124
A Railroad Theft 129
Holly Griffith--West Virginia’s Most Noted Criminal 133
The Confession 140
A Moonlight Tragedy 148
An Investigation I Feared 155
Dan W. Cunningham and Some Stories from His Scrap-Book 159
Dan Cunningham and His Slow Vengeance 159
Another Case from Cunningham’s Scrap-Book 168
A Typical West Virginia Mountain Abode 174
A Horrible Crime 176
Confession of An Amateur Yegg 179
Soldiers Turn Bandits 184
The Confession 186
A Peculiar Murder 190
Mat Jarrell--Holly Griffith No. 2 195
Capture of Wayne County Desperadoes--Dan Cunningham’s
Well Devised Plans Are Successful 199
Vinson Shot Down 199
Plans Well Laid for Arrest 201
The Record of Joe Vinson 202
The Capture of Robert Darrow, Alias “Big East” 205
Missing Shoe Heel Convicts Murderer 207
Restrictions Governing a Private Detective 210
Advertisements 218–219
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Rufus H. Clendenen 3
Stills--Products of West Virginia Mountains 109
Holly Griffith, alias F. S. Rose 135
Check--One of Holly Griffith’s Forgeries 145
Dan W. Cunningham 161
Pine-Beech Hill, Home of Dan W. Cunningham 165
Log Cabin--Pioneer Home of Maben, West Virginia 175
A Horrible Crime 177
W. M. Thomas 191
CLENDENEN DETECTIVE SYSTEM
[Illustration]
ESTABLISHED 1900
LADY ATTENDANT IN OFFICE
[Illustration: RUFUS H. CLENDENEN, Principal
22 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE]
801½ KANAWHA ST.
CHARLESTON, WEST VA.
No commissions or badges sold.
Reliable service in all branches of legitimate detective work, finger
print cases and dictagraph work a specialty.
Commercial, industrial, criminal and civil detective work, adjustments,
inquiries, investigations, information and private affairs.
We furnish nothing but expert operatives--male and female.
We cater to high grade business only. We do not operate for rewards.
We furnish watchmen to protect life, property and do duty for
corporations. We maintain a staff of trained and experienced operatives.
We can furnish best of reference.
Careful reasoning--through probing and a complete knowledge and
understanding of our business has given us an unusual success in
handling civil and criminal investigations for our clients.
We are prepared to do service for banks, coal companies, railroads,
street car companies, bonding concerns, wholesale houses, retail
stores, manufacturers, attorneys and individuals.
We have correspondents in all principal cities.
Efficiency, Reliability, Promptness.
Correspondence solicited. Consultation free.
NOTICE
This Manual sent prepaid to any address for $2.00.
CLENDENEN DETECTIVE SYSTEM
Lock Box 239
CHARLESTON, WEST VA.
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been
corrected silently.
2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the
original.
3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have
been retained as in the original.
4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.