| |  Our Sunday paper's lead story was titled: "Public Enemy" with the subtitle "John Dillinger: 75 Years Later." This part of the Hoosier state was often visited by Dillinger during his year long crime spree of 1933-34. The article separated the facts from the exaggerations.
A couple of Dillinger's cohorts in crime were born here and one, Harry Copeland and his wife Myrtle, lived at 2121 S. Walnut exactly 4 blocks west of grandma Bessie's house, my and my mother's childhood home, at 2121 S. Madison! My mom's brother was on the police force during the 1930's and supposedly chased Dillinger after the gang robbed the "Bide-A-Wee" roadhouse a little after midnight on July 15, 1933. They got all of $70....sounds small but remember bread back then was only 5 cents a loaf. That roadhouse later became "The Oasis" and I remember going there with future husband and other college friends for cold beer and dancing the summer of 1955. It would've been more interesting if we'd known the history of the place.
Anyway, Willie "The Kid" Shaw and two other Dillinger gang members were captured at the rooming house (near our present downtown district) where they were staying, but Dillinger and Copeland managed to escape in their Chevrolet coupe. My uncle Joe was one of the local policemen involved in chasing them. Uncle Joe's police motorcycle was no match for that Chevie. Uncle Joe was an interesting, talented and courageous fellow even if he failed to catch John Dillinger that July day back in 1933.
Johnny Depp is Dillinger in the film, "Public Enemies," released this week. I wonder if my friend, Jane, will go see it. Her Dillinger family is from the same part of Indiana as this Hoosier gangster and is his distant cousin according to the genealogy research she's done. We find some interesting leaves (sometimes even a few nuts) on our family trees!
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| | Posted 6/30/2009 12:46 AM - 19 Views - 8 eProps - 7 comments
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