Evening star., 1935-08-29
j. s. CLOSES BOOKS.
0ND|LL|NGER GANG
Finding of John Hami|ton's
Body Checks Off Last
of Wanted Men.
BY REX COLLIER.

of the last name remaining on its
once-long list Of wanted members.
The final name-John Hamilton
has stood near the top of the list for
more than a year, pending intensive
efforts of the G-men to verify under
world reports that Hamilton, Dill
lingers most trusted lieutenant, was
dead
Finding by Federal agents Of Ham
ilton's body in an abandoned gravel
pit near Aurora, ILL.,, yesterday after
noon ended the long search and
brought the score of fatalities in the
war on the Dillinger gang to: Gang
sters killed, T. special agents killed, 3.
Three names were inscribed last
year on the bronze plaque in Hoover's
Office commemorating deaths of bu-
reau agents in line of duty. The
three slain in the bitter warfare with
the Dillinger gang were Inspector
Samuel P. Cowley and Special Agents
Herman E. Hollis and w. Carter Baum.
They Got Nelson First.
Cowley and Hollis were killed by
George Baby Face" Nelson and John
Paul Chase in a gun battle near Bar
rington, Ill, on November 27 last.
Nelson was wounded fatally in this
affray and his body dumped in a field
by Chase and Nelson's widow the next
day. Chase later was captured IN the
State of Washington and is serving
life term at Alcatraz Prison for the
murders of the Federal officers.
Baum, a Washington, D. c., resi-
dent. had been killed instantly by
Nelson on April %, 1884, Immediately
after Nelson's escape from the Little
Bohemia Irn near Rhinelander, Wis,
where the "G-men" shot it out with
Dillinger and his gang.
j. Edgar Hoover, director Of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, ex-
pressed the opinion that Hamilton was
wounded fatally either at the Little
Bohemia battle or in brush with a
police officer the next day near
Hastings, MINI.
The Gangs Casualty List.
The list of slain members OF the
gang, in addition to Hamilton and
Nelson, follows:
John Dillinger, killed by Federal
agents, who closed in on him on the
night of July %, 1884, as he emerged
from a Chicago motion-picture house.
Eugene Green. shot fatally by the
Omen as he sought to flee from a
house in st. Paul, Mimi, early in
April Of 1884.
Homer Van Meter, killed by police
officers in st. Paul on August %, 1884.
Tommy Carroll. wounded mortally by
police officers of Waterloo, Iowa last
Summer
Charles Makley, killed during a fll.
tile effort by Makley and Charles Pier
pont to escape from the death house
at Lima, Ohio, last October.
Others Electrocuted or Jailed.
Other members of the gang have
been electrocuted or imprisoned. Pier
pont went to the chair on October
II, 1884. Russell Clark, who, with
Pierpont, Makley, and probably Ham,
ilton, killed Sheriff Jess Sarber III de-
lvering Dillinger from the Lima Jail
early last year, is serving a life sem
tence. A long list of "aiders and
abettorS" of the gang is behind prison
bars-convicted of lending surgical
aid, shelter or other help.
According to Hoover, Hamilton was
the real brains of the Dillinger gang
Always cool in emergencies, ne di-
rected most of the strategic moves.
Hoover says it was Hamilton who
would make careful plans for a bank
robbery or arsenal raid weeks in ad-
vance, working out road routes for
escape and arranging hideouts FOR the
3ugitives.
Dillinger usually led the men in
action, with Hamilton close beside
him with q machine gun. Dillinger,
Nelson and other members of the
mob were inclined to shoot at the
least sign of trouble, but Hamilton,
Hoover asserts, knew when to shoot
and when to hold fire."
Hamilton Helped DilIinger Flee.
Hamilton attracted attention of the
gang by his banditry in Indiana and
other Midwestern States. Dillinger is
believed to have taken him into the
select circle" of crime which he dom
mated early in 1888. Hamilton first
gained widespread headline publicity
after his escape with nine other con-
victS from the Indiana State Prison
on September 26, 1888. He was serv-
ing a 25-year term for bank robbery
Among those who fed from the
prison with Hamilton were Pierpont, |
Makley and Russell Clark 1t was this
quartet which later was charged with
the murder of Sheriff Sarber in the |
liberation of Dillinger from the Lima |
Jail. |
Deeply grateful for this favor, Dill
1nger became a close friend of Ham |
tlton.
Hamilton was identified as the killer |
of Policeman William Stanley at Chi |
cago on December IA, 1888.
Stolen Auto Brought in G-Men.
With the recapture of Dillinger,
Pierpont and Makley in the Southwest,
1t is believed Hamilton made plans for
the delivery of Dillinger from the
Crown Point, Ind, Jail. Dillinger
escaped from this Jail with what has
been reported as a wooden gun, steal
ing the sheriff's automobile, and
thereby bring the G-men onto his trail
because of the interstate transporta-
tion by Dillinger of stolen car.
Three days after Dillinger's escape
from Crown Point, which occurred
March 8, 1884, Hamilton, Dillinger,
Van Meter Nelson and Carroll robbed
the Security National Bank at Sioux
Falls, S. OAK, of approximately
$4,000. A week later this same group
robbed the First National Bank at
Mason City, Iowa, of $4,000.
Hamilton then went with Dillinger,
Van Meter and other gangsters to
hide in an apartment on South Lex
ington avenue, st. Paul. Dillingers
paramour, Evelyn Frechette, and other
girls lived there with the gang. On
March 81, 1884, Oman and st.
Paul policeman went to the apart
ment, which had been reported by the
manager as SUSPICIOUS" and were