STE. GENEVIEVE.
Ste. Genevieve! To many it calls up sweet memories, and in many
hearts the name is sacred and holy. The very words sound as if full
of gentleness, and love, and purity. And yet, in the very midst
of the Ste. Genevieve of Missouri, acts of wickedness have been
committed which from, their very nature, startled the whole people
of the West.
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, is an old, old town. More than a century
ago it was a beacon light of civilization, in the midst of the
vast wilderness then called the "far West." And the people of
Ste. Genevieve are quiet and sedate, and still preserve, with
the traditions of the venerable past, the grand, courtly ways
inherited from their ancestors from the banks of the Rhone and the
Saone. When spring-time comes, Ste. Genevieve is redolent with the
perfumes of many flowers, and when the sun climbs higher toward the
northern parallel, Ste. Genevieve reposes amid gardens of summer
roses. Why should brigands dare place their unhallowed feet on the
dust in these ancient streets? If they were not brigands, they
would have loved to inhale the perfumed air of the old gardens. But
being brigands, they preferred to handle the gold which the fathers
of some generations of men commenced to hoard. And for this cause
they came to Ste. Genevieve. Brigands are not a sentimental race of
beings.
Tuesday morning, May 27th, 1873, was lovely, as such spring days
are, when the sun is bright, and the flowers blooming, and the
air balmy. Mr. O. D. Harris, cashier of the bank known as the
Ste. Genevieve Savings Association, being a gentleman of fine
sensibilities, thought so as he sniffed the delicious aroma of the
perfume-laden air, when he wended his way to the bank, and so he
said to his friends who saluted him by the way. Arriving at the
bank--it was just about the hour of opening--he was joined by young
Mr. Rozier, a son of General Firman A. Rozier, then president of
the bank. As Mr. Harris was about to enter the bank office, his
attention was momentarily engaged by the appearance of two men who
were walking on the street in front of the building, and looking
up at it with an intense interest. They were just passing it,
when suddenly they turned, and came back as though they intended
to enter. They approached the steps and commenced to ascend them,
preceded by Mr. Harris, who, having reached the front office,
started at once to go behind the counter. He had not progressed
half the distance when he was suddenly arrested by a harsh,
authoritative command:
"Stop! Surrender, d--n you!"
Of course Mr. Harris stopped, but could not turn round, because the
fellow who had given the command had two pistols, with muzzles
against his temple.
The other fellow presented a pistol at the head of young Rozier,
and called out:
"You keep still, you d--d little rat, if you don't want to die in
an instant."
"I? for what?"
"Not another word, young chap! That's enough! A blabbing tongue can
be stopped d--d easy."
Fearing to remain, and impelled by a sudden and overpowering desire
to take his departure, young Rozier sprang down the steps, near the
landing of which he was standing, and fled swiftly from the place.
As he ran away, the fellow fired at him, the bullet cutting its way
through his coat on the shoulder, and just grazing his person.
A neighbor across the way saw the robber with his pistols at the
cashier's head, and started to get his gun. Just at that moment the
other robber fired at Mr. Rozier, and the wife of the neighbor,
seeing the predicament of Mr. Harris, dissuaded her husband from
attempting to fight them, because she feared resistance would
inevitably lead to the shooting of Mr. Harris. Young Rozier, after
his escape, gave the alarm to the citizens, who at once began
preparations to make an attempt to capture the bold marauders.
Meanwhile Mr. Harris, without arms, was helpless, and could only
comply with the demands of the robbers.
"Open that safe!" thundered out one of them.
"Certainly, sir. I cannot do otherwise," said Mr. Harris. The safe
was opened.
By this time the other robber, who had pursued young Rozier, joined
his comrade in the bank. A money package, containing upwards of
$3,600, was secured. Then the thief took the coin box, containing
between three and four hundred dollars, principally in gold. By
this time the town was aroused, and men began to move toward the
bank. The robbers had no time to waste. Turning to Mr. Harris, they
emphatically commanded:
"D--n you, come with us!" Mr. Harris obeyed. What else could he do?
When they had gone about fifty yards along the street, they turned
to the little knot of women and boys collecting about the bank
building, and shouted:
"Hurrah for Sam Hilderbrand!" and continued to move rapidly away.
Two hundred yards from the bank they came to two other men equally
well armed, and all having superb horses, who awaited their coming.
Here, perceiving that Mr. Harris wore an elegant gold watch, one of
the robbers took it from him, and transferred it to his own person.
Then all four of the men started to get on their horses. Just at
that time one of the horses got loose and ran off. A German farmer,
in a wagon, happened to be passing. Him they compelled, under the
most dire threats of immediate extermination, to go after the
horse. The German caught the horse and brought him back to where
the robbers still held Mr. Harris. Then they all mounted and rode
rapidly away, not forgetting to fire a salute at the crowd of
citizens who had started in their direction. By this time fully a
dozen citizens had armed themselves, and taking horses, were ready
for pursuit. They followed the robbers rapidly, and soon came
up with them. But it was at once evident that the four men were
desperadoes, who would not submit to arrest. They fired at the
pursuing posse, and compelled them to fall back. Then the whole
population turned out, and went in pursuit. But they never came up
with them, and soon lost even the trail which they followed.
Some miles from Ste. Genevieve the robbers met a farmer going
toward the town. They informed him that he would find something
valuable, which belonged to the bank, in the road ahead of him. In
accordance with their statement, the farmer found the empty coin
box and a lot of papers scattered about. The robbers had taken away
a number of valuable papers belonging to the sheriff and others,
for which they had no use, and these they had considerately thrown
away.
This was one of the boldest robberies which had ever taken place
at that time in the West. The "Ste. Genevieve Savings Association"
building was situated in the most populous part of the town of Ste.
Genevieve, with a population of about three thousand souls. The
street through which they passed to reach the bank was the most
traveled thoroughfare in that part of the country. It happened in
broad daylight, when all the people of the village were engaged
about their ordinary concerns.
Of course a deed like this was calculated to create a sensation.
The citizens of Ste. Genevieve pursued the bandits, but lost them,
and even all traces of the route which they had taken. What could
be done? That was the question.
Mr. Harris went up to St. Louis on the 28th of May to see the
police authorities in that city. General Rozier, at that time
a State Senator, and on duty at Jefferson City, as a member of
the State Board of Equalization, was advised of the robbery, and
went down to St. Louis to confer with Mr. Harris and the Chief of
Police. Then the hunt was commenced, and prosecuted with a great
show of vigor for a time. Theories as to who the robbers were
appeared in the public journals almost every day. Some said it was
Sam Hilderbrand--who was not known to be dead then--and his gang
of desperadoes; some said that it was Cullen Baker's crowd from
Arkansas; others thought it might possibly be the James Boys and
Younger Brothers who "put up the job," but were far from satisfied
that they "were the lads who did it." In those days there were
a vast number of very respectable people who, while admitting
that Frank and Jesse James, and Coleman and James Younger, were
dangerous men, so far as taking the life of fellow-beings was
concerned, would at the same time repel any insinuations that they
might possibly raid a bank or flag a train. No, they were too
honorable and honest for that sort of business. While the people
were discussing these questions, the band, of which the James Boys
were the leading spirits, was enjoying life on the spoils of Ste.
Genevieve.