Chapter XVI (3)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Introduction 5