BANDITS GUNNED DOWN NEAR WITTENBERG 75 YEARS AGO

Today only a battery box stands across from where the Wittenberg depot used to be. It was abandoned in 1967. The train doesn't stop in Wittenberg anymore.

Southeast Missourian newspaper clippings from 1922, tell the story of the demise of Missouri's last great train robber.

This desolate road which today leads to route A and Perry County Road 444 was the last road Kennedy and Logan would ever run down. In 1922, where county road 444 enters route A there was a bridge. The bridge was used by authorities to hide under. When Logan and Kennedy came running down the road, a postal inspector called for them to halt. Logan pulled out his revolver and invited a storm of bullets and buckshot from railroad and postal agents.

Editor's note: This story was compiled from Southeast Missourian news stories from November 1922. Gilbert Theiss of Wittenberg was also helpful in pointing out where this story occurred.

The world in 1922 was much changed since John F. Kennedy's heyday of the late 19th century. The bandit's lucky streak that guided him through many an infamous scheme in the 1890s was about to run out in the middle of the night on a remote bridge near Wittenberg.

Early life of a train robber

Just as his hero Jesse James was a product of the Cracker Neck district of western Missouri, so was Kennedy. Kennedy's aspirations as a child growing up on a farm near Kansas City were of the grand scale.

No, this man from a farm near Independence, Mo., would not achieve greatness by becoming president like his neighbor Harry S. Truman or like another JFK the world came to know half a century later. This Kennedy was into train robbing.

"Kennedy's mind was always thrilled with the exploits of train bandits, and reports of holdups of Jesse James and the Younger boys were always read by him with a great deal of enjoyment. He grew up in the territory from which these bandits came and it was his great idea to emulate them.

"Kennedy was egotistical and believed in his own work. He liked to be called a train bandit and enjoyed the comment that always resulted from his work. He was never especially clever, but extremely lucky in all his operations," R.D. Greeley, a Kansas City policeman, said of Kennedy 75 years ago.

Greeley had been sent to Perryville to claim the body of the slain train robber at the bequest of Kennedy's sisters living in Kansas City at the time. They instructed Greeley to have the body buried in the county where he was killed.

The young Kennedy never did like farming despite his father's efforts. The youth would watch the trains pass through his father's farm on the Chicago and Alton Railroad and would dream of robbing the trains. Eventually, his dreams became a reality. In fact he pulled his first job on that rail line near his home.

Kennedy, born a few years after the Civil War, would try the honest life for awhile. During his teens he went to Texas and became a railroad brakeman, then a fireman and finally he'd become an engineer on the Southern Pacific.

He lost his job with the railroad in Beaumont, Texas, on suspicion he had held up employees and robbed them on payday.

"C.L. Petit of Jefferson City, a former Southern Pacific locomotive engineer, for whom Kennedy at one time fired, said Kennedy was a marvelous pistol shot, and that he had seen Kennedy, on several occasions, shoot glass insulators from cross arms on telegraph poles from the locomotive cab while the train moved at high speed," a Nov. 4, 1922, Missourian article stated.

Living the childhood dream

Well, Kennedy turned his focus on train robberies full-time in 1896. On Oct. 25, 1896, he robbed the Chicago and Alton train at Blue Cut. Then on Dec. 23 of the same year he robbed the same train again at the same place.

The following year Kennedy was back robbing the Chicago and Alton again, this time on Oct. 6, 1897 near Kansas City.

Then he robbed the Missouri Pacific train at Cracker Neck on Nov. 12, 1897.

Kennedy had not been known to shoot unless he was in danger of being captured or fired upon. But the life of an outlaw presents such a situation more often than other lifestyles.

On Dec. 8, 1897, Kennedy murdered Mrs. Emma Schumaker while he and James Redmond were robbing her store in Kansas City.

It was back to trains for the outlaw. On Jan. 4, 1898, Kennedy and his gang looted the Pittsburgh and Gulf train near Kansas City again.

The Missouri Pacific train near Leeds was robbed Sept. 23, 1898, by Kennedy and his boys.

Luck ran out for Kennedy after his gang pilfered the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis train at Macomb Jan. 4, 1899.

He had been indicted by grand jury for several train robberies but he had escaped capture. He and Redmond had been indicted for the murder of Mrs. Schumaker, but he eluded detectives. Many of Kennedy's gang were captured by authorities and prosecuted, but Kennedy escaped until the Macomb job.

A nickname that stayed with him

One time before the Macomb theft he was captured by the police after his horse slipped and fell at 16th Street and Broadway in Kansas City. Kennedy was thrown from his horse and knocked unconscious. A crowd gathered around and took him to a nearby drugstore. Police recognized him as Kennedy and when he came to, they questioned him.

They had found he was carrying a sawed-off shotgun, two revolvers, a red lantern and a mask. When questioned Kennedy quickly said he had been quail hunting and from then on he held the nickname "Quail Hunter."

Time to pay the piper

But the Macomb job landed him in a courtroom and he and William Jennings, Joe Sheppard, Louis Nye and Jake Fagley were convicted of robbing the train at Macomb. For the crime Kennedy was sentenced to 17 years in prison at Jefferson City penitentiary.

He began his sentence Feb. 3, 1900 and he served until Oct. 22, 1912 when he was pardoned under the three-fourth rule. One fourth of his time was cut off for good behavior.

Life after prison

He was in St. Louis for a time where he was watched closely by police. He was arrested by St. Louis police when they recognized him as the notorious train robber. Kennedy explained that he had just gotten out of prison for his train robbing past. They set him free. He was later picked up in connection to a gang killing, but he was released for lack of evidence. In 1914, he was again questioned by police, this time for loitering near a movie house. He explained to the officer he was looking to interest a promoter in a film about his life.

Kennedy got his wish to have his life portrayed in the movies. He starred in the 1915 nation-wide release "Beating Back." It was the story of a train robber going legit. The film showed locally in Chaffee, where Kennedy was known by the locals due to his work as a railroad engineer.

He returned to Kansas City and lived for a few months before going west and lecturing at motion picture shows.

He dropped out of sight for awhile. He is known to have gone to Mexico and enlisted in Pancho Villa's army.

Once a bandit always a bandit

He returned to the United States and made his new base of operations in Memphis, Tenn. Kennedy's adventures with Pancho Villa must have struck some nostalgic chord in the aging bandit. Because when he arrived in Memphis he began to recruit a new gang.

He was suspected of several southern train robberies from 1920-1922. Surveillance of Kennedy and his gang went on without the outlaws ever knowing that they were being watched.

Postal sleuths, Memphis detectives and special railroad agents were watching "Quail Hunter" and his gang.

The Missourian articles in 1922 only named the law enforcement officials by their last names. Inspector Griffin, Special Agent Monroe and Post Office Inspector Ward acquired intelligence on the gang's activities and staked out an area west of Memphis where the bandits had planned to gather after robbing a train.

A posse of 20 men armed with pump shotguns surrounded the area where the bandits had planned to meet after they looted a train at Marion, Ark.

But the gang decided not to rob the train at Marion, instead they decided to stake out another location.

The change in plans came because Kennedy thought the plans were too crude and too near Memphis. Before the planned heist west of Memphis the gang had plans to rob a train north of Sikeston which also were scrapped.

Kennedy was also concerned with the amount of money they could take from the train. Surveillance revealed Kennedy saying "We must get $200,000 worth of swag. Simply because our plans for the Brooks Junction holdup were spoiled, the idea now prevails that we met to rob a train and we're just going ahead and rob any old train. I'm out of this, unless you can arrange a more profitable job, with the minimum of danger."

Still following the gang, inspectors were ready again with three posses formed to foil Kennedy's plans.

Kennedy and his gang stockpiled guns, dynamite, masks and other articles in Arkansas and returned to Memphis.

A Post Office inspector caught up with the group at New York Cafe at 546 South Main Street in Memphis. The inspector surveilled the group again planning another train robbery.

But no definite plans were made. A day before the group tested their pistols outside the city limits. The authorities were also testing their pump shotguns at the Memphis Gun Club almost at the same time.

The final plans are set

Kennedy wanted no chance holdup to be made and he wanted to make sure a money shipment was on board the train.

They kept a tab on the shipment of money from the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis to the branch in Memphis.

They made a tentative decision to hold up the No. 805, the St. Louis-Memphis limited, which left St. Louis on the Frisco at 9 p.m., Thursday Oct. 19, 1922.

The "Seventy-Six" station in Perry County was picked. The robbery crew left Memphis the morning of Oct. 17. They were bound for Cape Girardeau.

They were trailed to the Harahan Bridge by Post Office inspectors who stopped at this point for fear of alerting the bandits of their presence.

Inspector Griffin observed the gang crossing the wooden viaduct. He observed they were dressed as laborers. In Arkansas, they picked up a bundle, it contained a high-powered rifle and two sawed-off shotguns. They drove on to Cape Girardeau.

Surveillance moves to Cape Girardeau

The gang reached Cape Girardeau and drove out to "Seventy-Six" on Wednesday the 18th and again on Thursday to survey the scene.

A second posse of postal inspectors waited in Cape Girardeau and picked up surveillance there.

Here R.E. Truman, a special agent for the railroad, was charged with the responsibility of capturing the train robbers. Postal Inspectors R.A. Ward, H.H. Wasson, W.L. Noell, D.F. Elliot, F.D. Flora and B.M. North would assist Truman and other Frisco agents Ed Monroe and R.E. Seitz. Deputy Sheriffs Tom Scott and J.H. Beisswiggert also assisted in the surveillance.

Truman was first tipped off of plans to rob the train at Brooks Junction, near Sikeston, weeks earlier.

The train robbers were watched night and day. Thursday night Oct. 19 passed without incident. Truman and his men were waiting for the robbers, but the train passed on schedule and the officers realized no holdup occurred. Apparently, Kennedy and his gang got lost in the woods and missed the opportunity to rob the train.

During this time, Gilbert Theiss of Wittenberg recalled stories of Kennedy camping out near Frohna. Kennedy and his gang spent time in the Idan-Ha Hotel in Cape Girardeau and also in a tent outside Frohna.

Truman told the Missourian that Oct. 26 was the next planned train robbery but it did not occur again. Truman said he thought the robbers lost their nerve.

A date with fate

Then Nov. 2 arrived and Truman told the Missourian:

"Indications were good Thursday that the job would be pulled. The moon was shining brightly, the weather was favorable and the roads were in good condition. We figured that this would be the time. We saw the men leave the hotel, in an automobile at noon Thursday and then we left Thursday night, shortly after dark.

"We were not sure the job would be pulled and the men would leave the train, but from their former actions, we supposed that their car would be left at Wittenberg, the only exit overland from that town. Arriving at the place about 10 o'clock we posted our men and after secreting ourselves in ambush, waited."

Kennedy boarded the train at "Seventy-Six." Kennedy made his way past the coal tender where he commanded the engineer and fireman of the No. 805 to reach for the sky. Kennedy ordered engineer George Kay of St. Louis to bring the train to a halt a mile down the track, where 23-year old Harvey Logan, a member of Kennedy's gang was waiting.

The engineer and fireman were ordered out of the train. The engine, two baggage cars and the mail cars were cut from the remainder of the train. Kennedy pulled the train another 100 yards down the track.

Kennedy and Logan took a pouch of registered mail and, unhappy with what they had found, ordered postal clerks Ed Jamison and Clifford Cravens to assist them in finding the rest of the registered mail.

They ordered the two postal clerks out of the car and jumped into the engine. Kennedy and Logan cut the cars loose of the engine and sped down the track towards Wittenberg.

Kennedy slowed the engine down at Wittenberg so Logan could jump off. Logan was reported to have shouted "Let her go Jack!" Meaning open the throttle and jump off. Kennedy did just that and the two bandits raced toward their automobile that was supposed to be in a secret place.

Unbeknownst to the bandits the road to their car was surrounded by law enforcement officers, postal inspectors and railroad agents.

Truman recreated the next events for the Missourian the morning after the robbery.

"Time for the train to pass came, and it did not arrive. Then we were sure the 'job' was being 'pulled.' We waited for sometime, then finally saw the headlight of the engine. Noticing that it did not stop at the station in Wittenberg, and seeing the locomotive not attached to the remainder of the train, we knew they had 'made the grade,'" Truman said.

"Logan was the first to jump out of the cab, yelling at Kennedy to 'open her up.' Kennedy leaped out of the cab; and the engine seemed to fairly jump forward. They came running down toward us. Logan in the lead. When they were a short distance from us, R.A. Ward, a postal inspector, jumped up and called 'halt,' Logan pulled at his gun and we fired. When Ward called halt, Logan seemed to jump several feet, so badly was he shaken. They didn't think anyone was near them...," Truman added.

After Ward yelled "halt" Logan drew his revolver and apparently got off one shot before he and Kennedy succumbed to the shower of bullets unleashed by the authorities.

Logan dropped instantly, Kennedy, 53 at the time of his death, reeled and appeared to step when he fell dead.

"I don't know who killed them-everybody fired," Truman said.

The outlaws' automobile was only 50 feet away from the scene of their demise. It was on a side road near the bridge where the officers gunned down Kennedy and Logan.

A .44-special revolver was found clutched in Kennedy's hand, while another big caliber pistol was found in Logan's hand with one chamber discharged.

Justifiable homicide was the verdict of the investigating coroner. Logan and Kennedy had no identification on their person or in the getaway car, but the authorities were sure of who they were.

Kennedy and Logan both died from shots from revolvers. Kennedy was also riddled with buckshot from the shotguns.

Loose ends

The bodies were taken to Leukel Undertaking Parlor in Perryville where they awaited someone to come forward and claim them.

Kennedy's sisters received word of their brother's death and sent officer Greeley to Perryville to make the arrangements. Kennedy was buried Nov. 6, in Home Cemetery.

"Little ceremony marked the passing of the last of Missouri's one-time famous train bandits. Unaccompanied by either minister or friends. The body was taken to the little cemetery, where in a grave, unmarked except a headpiece bearing the name 'John F. Kennedy,' it was laid to rest. A few curious onlookers witnessed the burial." A Nov. 6, 1922 account in the Missourian reported.

No one had come forward to claim Logan. He was later buried in a pauper's grave.

The burial of Kennedy in the cemetery in Perryville caused an uproar in the community and citizens wanted his body removed. They did not want a man who was shot to death while violating the law buried in a graveyard with their relatives, but others declared it made little difference and the decision to move Kennedy or not was left up to Kennedy's family.

After the robbery other evidence surfaced in various places. The remains of the 12-gauge shotgun Kennedy used in the holdup was found in the fire box of No. 805. The breech and barrels were unharmed, an investigation was under way to find out who sold the gun to Kennedy.

Five caps and fuses were found with dynamite later. Kennedy and his gang decided not to use the explosives during the hold up of the train. The caps and fuses were thrown into the Mississippi River by postmaster H.H. Haas. The postmaster didn't want to take any chances with the explosives so he requested he be allowed to dispose of the fuses and caps.

Two Altenburg residents got a first hand look at the train robbery down the barrel of a double-barreled shotgun, it was later reported.

Arnold Meyr and Arthur Mueller were on board the train. Meyr thought the train was stopping at Wittenberg. When he prepared to get off the train, which hadn't yet made its destination, a shotgun was pushed against his mid-section. Meyr realized he was better off waiting inside the train car. He told his story to Arthur Mueller who was also on the train.

Mueller was curious as to what was going on, so he stuck his head out of the passenger car and came face to face with the double barrel shotgun. Mueller also stepped back inside the passenger car.

Louis Boehme and Charles Holschen also would never forget the night the bandits were gunned down. They had left the home of Otto Petzoldt and had crossed the railroad bridge just before the bandits came along with the engine. They ran into the authorities waiting for the action. And the sight of a dozen men confronting them with shotguns was a bit unnerving for the two men, it was reported in the Missourian.

Explanation of the crude plans set by "Quail Hunter" Kennedy and how the agents knew the gang's every move was given by Truman and others; as Kennedy was never adept at making good plans and he was just a lucky bandit who had escaped more times than he had been caught.

In this particular instance, Kennedy and his gang never knew they were being followed and their plans still depended on luck to pull them through.

Still it's amazing how this notorious outlaw and his gang who left Memphis to stop in the Idan-Ha Hotel in Cape Girardeau never knew they were being followed. The time before the holdup, hundreds of people in Cape Girardeau already knew of what the bandits had planned.

"Kennedy and his associate were entirely ignorant of the widespread knowledge of the scheme," the Nov. 6, 1922, Missourian reported.