Add Bonnie & Clyde to the list of famous people with connections to Clay County
Clay County has a rich history with connections to many people and events.
It is named after a Kentucky Congressman, Henry Clay. Jimmy Hoffa, the labor leader; Orville Redenbacher of popcorn fame; Charles B. Hall of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II; and Silvester Schiele, one of the four founders of Rotary International all have ties to our county.
It seems we also have a connection to Bonnie and Clyde, the infamous duo that is known for bank robbery and murder.
Dewayne Smith of Brazil says some of the Barrow family members moved to Clay County, including his grandfather.
During his teenage years, Smith lived in Brazil with his grandmother, Anna Barrow.
She turned 92 on April 24. Smith decided to tell the family's story while submitting a birthday announcement for his grandmother.
After giving me the information about his grandmother's birthday, he said, "I have a story you might be interested in printing."
He came back to the office a couple days later to sit down and tell me his family's story.
This is a story about what happens when someone in a family goes bad and a whole family suffers the consequences.
Clyde Barrow was born in 1909 in a little town outside Dallas, Texas (Source: John Neal Phillips, 2002, "Running with Bonnie & Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults," Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.)
He was influenced to a life of crime by his older brother, Buck.
After years of allegedly robbing banks and committing murder, Bonnie and Clyde were killed in a spray of bullets on a dusty road near Gibsland, Louisiana on May 23, 1934. They had been betrayed by the father of Henry Methvin, one of their gang members. Methvin's father made arrangements with law officers to ambush Bonnie and Clyde when they stopped to help Methvin who stood beside his supposedly broken down vehicle. In return, Methvin received a promise of amnesty for his outlaw son.
During their two-year crime spree, not only was Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker sought by the law but the Barrow family members were prosecuted for aiding and abetting Bonne and Clyde, Smith said.
So, the decisions of Bonnie and Clyde and Methvin to turn to a life of crime affected not only those three and their victims but their families as well.
At least some of the Barrow family members worked in coal. After feeling persecuted by the long arm of the law, some family members, including Smith's grandfather, left Texas, moved to Kentucky and, eventually, Indiana. Smith's grandfather found work driving a truck, delivering coal for the Max Gibson Coal Company at Terre Haute.
Smith remembers his grandfather awakening at 2:30 every morning to deliver coal to schools and other customers before their day began.
While Texas is better known for oil, in 2005, the state ranked third in the nation in coal-fired power (Source: Energy Information Administration. In 2005, Texas had 20 coal fired power plants.) So it is possible some of the Barrows worked for coal companies in Texas.
Smith's great-grandfather was a first cousin of Clyde Barrow.
"We weren't allowed to tell people we were related to Bonnie and Clyde," Smith said. "Grandpa thought he would get in trouble because when they took them in, they took the whole family in."
Smith believes his grandfather and great-grandfather were not arrested because they were cousins and not part of Clyde's immediate family.
Apparently the connection with Bonnie and Clyde is well-known by the Barrow family. They continue to stay in touch with one another and that leads to another connection to Clay County.
Each year, for nearly 80 years, the Brazil Rotary Club has sponsored the fourth of July celebration at Forest Park. For many years, the celebration has included a carnival and members of the Barrow family worked in at least one of the carnival companies that came to Brazil.
The Barrow family members in the carnival let their Brazil Barrow relatives ride for free, Smith said.
In return, "They came and spent the night at the house," Smith said. "We gave them a little room, got them out of the campers, gave them a hot meal."
Smith could not recall the names of his grandfather or great-grandfather and that sounds strange but it could be because he was taught as a child to not tell anyone he was related to the famous outlaw. Nevertheless, Smith's story, whether it can be verified or not, makes an interesting addition to the lore of Clay County.
Frank Phillips is a reporter for The Brazil Times.
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register