[Crime]. [Missouri]

[Group of Ten Small Mugshot Photographs or Studio Shots of Criminals in Kansas]

[Kansas City, Mo. 1895-1899]. Ten carte-de-visite photographs, 4 x 2.5 inches or slightly smaller, on thick cardboard mounts, four with partially-printed "rap sheets" on verso, completed in manuscript. Occasional edge and surface wear, as well as generally light dust-soiling. A nice group. Very good. Item #5150

A group of ten fabulous mugshot photographs or studio portraits featuring criminals in the last few years of the 1800s in Kansas City, Missouri. Four of the photographs are particularly interesting for the personal and criminal history information recorded on their versos. These photographs are pre-printed with a list of fields to be filled out by the criminal or perhaps the jailer. The combination of fields varies slightly on three of the four cards, but generally they all ask for similar information, including name; aliases, nationality, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, complexion, occupation (or "Criminal Occupation"), the pertinent crime, place of arrest, arresting officer, date, date of arrest, and distinguishing marks (or "Peculiarities of Build, Features, Scars, Marks, etc.").

One of the mugshots is that of James Carrington Francis (1869-1892). At the bottom of his card is written: "Killed at Pleasanton KS for Pacific Ex Robbery Jan. 23, '92." Francis had indeed taken part in the robbery of the Frisco Express out of St. Louis on the night of November 30, 1891. During the robbery, two masked men boarded that train as it was leaving St. Louis. They remained in seclusion until they had traveled a few miles, and then presented pistols to the heads of the engineer and fireman. They ordered them to stop at the point where two accomplices of the highwaymen were stationed. The engineer and fireman were then ordered from the cab and kept covered while the party proceeded to the express car, where the robbers demanded admission, but were refused by the messenger. The robbers then set off a stick of dynamite and blew in the side of the car, seriously injuring the messenger. They then entered, blew open the safe, and after taking $10,000, made their escape. The Pinkerton Detective Agency and Chief of Detectives Desmond of St. Louis investigated the case and gathered evidence which convinced them that the robbers were Marion Hedgepeth, Dink Wilson, Adelbert Slye, and James Francis.

The other three men whose photographs are supplemented with personal information include Frank Norris, Patrick Raine, and George Conley. Oddly enough, the crimes of all four men are not stipulated on the present photographs. Norris was a baker by trade with a scar on the palm of his hand and a "knuckle knocked down" who was arrested on October 5, 1895. Patrick Raine was a waiter with a forearm tattoo and "2 vax scars on left arm" arrested on January 24, 1899. George Conley (alias George Baker or George King) was a brakeman arrested on July 12, 1897. The remaining photographs do not include identifying information (save for two with penciled names on the verso and one with a studio stamp from J.V. Dabbs in Fort Scott, Kansas) but were found with the previous four photographs, and would likely reward further research into the Wild West criminal world of late-19th century Kansas.

Price: $750.00