[JOSEPH LEE HEYWOOD.]
JOSEPH LEE HEYWOOD.
Robber and Hero
The story of the raid
on the
First National Bank of Northfield,
Minnesota,
By the James-Younger Band of Robbers in 1876
The Tragedy in the Bank
The Battle in the Street
The Two-Weeks Pursuit
The Final Capture
By George Huntington
Northfield, Minnesota
The Christian Way Company
1895
PREFACE.
Accounts of bank-robberies and other exploits of outlaws and desperadoes
are usually supposed to belong to the criminal-news columns of the daily
paper and to the writer of sensational literature. When the robber is the
only or the principal actor in the scene, and his prowess or brutality the
only feature worth mentioning, the less said of it the better. But when a
great crime is the occasion of great heroism, courage, fidelity, intrepid
resistance, and the triumph of virtue over violence, then there is a story
worth telling, and a lesson worth learning.
It is such a story that is unfolded in the following pages. The attempted
robbery of the Northfield bank, the refusal of Mr. Heywood to open the
safe, his brutal murder by the baffled robber, the brave and successful
fight made by the citizens, the flight, pursuit and capture of the
bandits,—all this was familiar enough to the whole nation eighteen years
ago. But such events easily pass from the recollection of men; while to a
generation of young people now growing up it has never been known. To some
of us it has seemed, therefore, that the time has come to tell the story
again, not from the sensational point of view, but from that of heroism
and loyalty to duty.
The aim of the author has been to give a correct account of the facts
involved, and leave them to convey their own lesson and inspiration.
Revolting details have been omitted. All important statements are made
upon the authority of eye-witnesses, where such testimony was accessible,
and in most cases by the collation of a number of independent accounts.
The author takes pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness for various
services and courtesies, the loan of photographs, the furnishing of
information, and many valuable aids and suggestions, to the following
persons among others:—Messrs. G. M. Phillips, A. R. Manning, F. J. Wilcox,
S. Trussell, H. S. French, Rev. J. W. Strong, D. D., and Miss M. J. Evans,
of Northfield, Minnesota; Messrs. W. W. Murphy, C. A. Pomeroy, G. A.
Bradford, W. J. McCarthy, of Madelia, Minnesota; Mr. S. J. Severson, of
Brookings, South Dakota; Col. T. L. Vought and Mr. T. L. Vought, Jr., of
La Crosse, Wisconsin; Mr. A. E. Bunker, of Chicago, Illinois; Dr. H. M.
Wheeler, of Grand Forks, North Dakota; Mr. H. M. Serkland, of St. James,
Minnesota; Messrs. S. L. Heywood, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and J. C.
Heywood, of Alta, Iowa; Hon. W. D. Rice and G. S. Thompson, Esq., of Sioux
City, Iowa; and Marshall W. K. Holmes, of Spokane, Wash. Hearty
acknowledgment is also made of the important assistance derived from Rev.
D. L. Leonard’s funeral discourse on Mr. Heywood, from files of the
Pioneer Press and Tribune of the time of the raid, and from the excellent
and accurate history of it and its related events, entitled “The
Northfield Tragedy,” by Mr. John Jay Lemon.
It only remains to say that the book herewith presented to the public is
intended both as a memorial of Mr. Heywood and as a tribute to the valor
and heroic endeavor of all those who helped or tried to help in resisting,
pursuing or capturing his assailants and their confederates. Whatever
pecuniary profits may accrue from it sale will be sacredly devoted to the
erection of a monument to the memory of Mr. Heywood.
ILLUSTRATIONS
JOSEPH LEE HEYWOOD.
BRIDGE SQUARE, NORTHFIELD. (Proposed Location Heywood Monument.)
Bank Floorplan
A. BUNKER.
A. R. MANNING
HENRY M. WHEELER.
THE ROBBERS—KILLED AND CAPTURED.
THE SEVEN CAPTORS. (From Recent Photographs).
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, NORTHFIELD, MINN. (1876).
S. J. WILCOX.
THE SEVEN CAPTORS—AS PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1876.
OSCAR SEEBORN.
Brass Tablet in Library Building, Carleton College
CONTENTS
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I. THE BANDIT SPIES.
CHAPTER II. NORTHFIELD INVADED.
CHAPTER III. IN THE BANK.
CHAPTER IV. ON THE STREET.
CHAPTER V. AFTER THE BATTLE.
CHAPTER VI. PURSUING THE FUGITIVES.
CHAPTER VII. A FAMOUS VICTORY
CHAPTER VIII. THE END OF A BAD ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER IX. THE ROLL OF HONOR.
CHAPTER X. THE HEYWOOD MEMORIAL FUND.
CHAPTER I. THE BANDIT SPIES.
In the latter part of August, 1876, a mysterious company of men made their
appearance in southern Minnesota, and proceeded to visit various cities
and villages in that part of the state. There were certainly eight of
them, and possibly nine, some of them hard, vicious-looking fellows, from
whom people instinctively shrank, others gentlemanly, handsome, and even
imposing in personal appearance. They travelled on horseback and rode like
men accustomed to live in the saddle. They had the finest of horses and
equipment, part of it brought with them, the rest purchased after they
entered the state. They had plenty of money and spent it lavishly. In
their progress from place to place they did not go like an organized band,
but wandered here and there, sometimes two by two, sometimes four or five
together. When several of them visited a town together, they went to
different hotels and avoided all appearance of collusion or of common
design. Often they avoided towns and sought entertainment at the houses of
farmers or other citizens, where they found no difficulty in making
themselves agreeable and in giving a plausible account of themselves.
Wherever they went, they attracted more or less attention, excited the
curiosity of the inquisitive, and occasionally the suspicions of the wary;
but upon most people they made the impression of well-bred respectability.
They passed for civil engineers looking up railway routes, for capitalists
in search of land, for stockmen dealing in horses and cattle. Their outfit
and mode of travel made either of these suppositions reasonable, and their
smooth courtesy, affability and apparent frankness were accepted in lieu
of credentials of character. That they were not all that they pretended to
be many people suspected; but that they were a band of outlaws, or rather
a combination of three bands, comprising the most notorious desperadoes in
the country, laying their plans for a great robbery, no one suspected.
Still less did they themselves suspect that their career of crime was so
near its close, or that they were making deliberate plans for their own
destruction.
Of course they passed under assumed names, introducing themselves as J. C.
King, Jack Ward, etc. It is now known that the band consisted of the
following men: Jesse James and his brother Frank, Thomas C. Younger
(commonly known as Cole Younger) and his brothers James and Robert, Clel
Miller, William Stiles, alias Chadwell, and Charles Pitts, alias Geo.
Wells. Some persons maintain that there was a ninth man, but he has never
been identified, and is commonly believed to be mythical. The eight whose
names are given were all men of criminal antecedents, and some of them
with a record for deeds of the most revolting atrocity; though several of
them were connected with highly respectable families.
In prospecting for a favorable opening, they visited a number of places,
going as far north as St. Paul and Minneapolis, and as far east as Red
Wing. In each place they made a careful study of the chances for
successful operations in their line and of routes of escape, visiting the
banks on one pretext or another, and familiarizing themselves with all
facts that had any bearing on their scheme. They took special pains to
make themselves acquainted with such features of the country as would aid
or hinder them in going and coming on their intended raid; as, for
instance, the location of lakes, streams, swamps or forests, on the one
hand, and that of roads, bridges and fords, on the other. The situation
and the resources of villages, the extent of country population, and the
nationality and character of the people also interested them. With the aid
of maps, printed statements and minute inquiries, they succeeded in
gaining a large amount of information, without betraying their
purpose,—information which they found exceedingly convenient at a later
day. They also had the advantage of being to a certain extent personally
conducted. Stiles, one of their number, had formerly lived in Rice county,
and was therefore able to act as a sort of guide for the expedition, if,
indeed, he was not, as some think, its instigator. Their reliance upon
him, however, proved in the end, as we shall see, a source of danger
rather than of safety.
Finding nothing to their mind in the great cities, they turned their
attention to a group of country towns lying farther south, including St.
Peter, Mankato, Lake Crystal, Madelia, St. James, Garden City, Janesville,
Cordova, Waterville, Millersburg, Cannon City and Northfield. These,
again, divide themselves into two smaller groups, having direct or
indirect relation to the two points of attack selected by the robbers, and
all of them being on or near a diagonal line, extending about thirty or
forty miles southwest and about forty or fifty miles northeast of Mankato.
Having completed their preliminary survey, they prepared for their grand
exploit. Their first project was the robbery of one or more of the banks
of Mankato, a thriving town at the great bend of the Minnesota River. Five
of the band appeared in Mankato on Saturday, September 2nd, and, as usual,
created a sensation with their fine horses and horsemanship. They made
purchases at some of the stores, and paid a visit to the First National
Bank, where they got change for a fifty dollar bill. According to their
custom, they stayed at different hotels, at least four of them did, while
the fifth sought some other resort not identified. On Sunday night two of
them were known to be at a notorious resort on the opposite side of the
river, a rendezvous of the lowest criminals, where, as is believed, they
were in consultation with confederates with reference to their intended
raid and subsequent escape. Meantime, Jesse James had been recognized by a
man who knew him by sight, and the fact was reported to the police who
shadowed the men until midnight, and put some of the bank people on their
guard against possible burglaries; though no one anticipated an open
attack by daylight.
On Monday, the 4th, the robbers mounted their horses and rode forth to
their intended attack. Their plan was to make it about noon, when the bank
force would be reduced and the streets would be most free of citizens.
They had already arrived opposite the First National Bank, when they
noticed a number of citizens on the sidewalk, and saw one of them
apparently calling another’s attention to the approaching horsemen. The
robbers, fearing that they were suspected and watched, deferred the attack
till a later hour. On returning, however, they saw the same citizens
again, seeming, as before, to be keeping close watch upon the strangers.
Convinced now that their purpose was discovered and that the citizens were
prepared for them, the robbers abandoned their project and left Mankato as
speedily as possible. The truth was that they were at that moment the
object of no suspicion whatever. The regular weekly meeting of the Board
of Trade, and some repairs on an adjoining building, had called together
the unusual number of persons whom the robbers observed, and the man who
was supposed to be directing his companion’s attention to the bandits was
simply remarking upon the fine quality of their horses. No doubt, however,
the presence of so large a number of spectators would have seriously
embarrassed the gang in beginning operations. As it was, they sensed just
as good a purpose in repelling the attack as if they had been a company of
armed militia on duty.