The 1904 Attempted St. Louis Jail Break

George Collins, the second bank robber involved in the Union, MO bank robbery on December 26, 1902, attempted to escape the St. Louis Jail in January 1904.  Besides working with the other prisoners on making a hole in the wall of the jail, he also arranged with a prison guard to have saws smuggled to him.  Collins intended to use them, if he was returned to the Franklin County Jail for his execution.

George Collins struck up a friendship with Thomas Clark, a jailer.  As reported in the January 9, 1904 edition of the St. Louis Republic, Collins mentioned to Clark that he could make good use of some saws if returned to the Franklin County Jail.  Collins also intimated that he would reward someone handsomely if he was able to escape.  Collins never directly promised Clark payment for his help.

Thomas Clark received a package of saws from Hartford, Connecticut.  The package was sent to a North Broadway saloon for Clark to pickup.  Clark later claimed that he did not examine the package carefully, so he did not know who sent the saws.

Clark repackaged the saws and gave them to Chief Guard Hoffman.  He asked Hoffman to deliver the package to George Collins.  He claimed the package contained a pipe that Collins had requested when he was still a jailer.  Chief Jailer James L. Dawson discharged Clark on October 22, 1903 for undisclosed reasons.

Hoffman was suspicious and turned over the package to Dawson, who discovered the saws.  Dawson reported the matter to Chief of Police Kiely.  Kiely had Clark arrested.  The story takes a strange turn at this point.

Dawson turned over all the information to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, who were still looking for William Rudolph, the other robber who escaped the St. Louis Jail in July 1903.  He would later be captured in the Kansas Penitentiary.  Dawson turning the information over to the Pinkerton’s made Chief Kiely angry.  It may have angered the District Attorney also because I cannot find when or if Thomas Clark was convicted of the crime.  They may have felt his actions prejudiced the case.

The authorities did quash the attempted escape plot.  They repaired the hole.  Franklin County hung George Collins for the murder of the Pinkerton agent on March 11, 1904.  St. Louis Police began to prepare for the World’s Fair, which would begin in April.

Why do you think Chief Jailer Dawson turned the information over to the Pinkerton’s?  How is this case similar to events today?  You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page and Twitter profile.

Pin It