Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about police history with special emphasis on St. Louis police history.
Before reading Gangs of St. Louis: Men of Respect by Daniel Waugh, I knew and wrote about Robert Creed and his brother Thomas murdering St. Louis Police Officer George Geisler on Halloween Day 1920. What I didn’t know was Robert Creed was a member of the Cuckoo Gang, an ultra violent criminal organization in the 1920s. Robert Creed was the
On February 22, 1924, unknown suspects took $20,000.00 in American Express Company money orders from the Mercantile Trust Company in Downtown St. Louis. Initially, the American Bankers Association hired private detectives. After the detectives were unable to discover any serious leads, the association turned the case over to the St. Louis Police Department. When the bank association turned over the
On January 7, 1903, St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond married 24-year-old Hannah McLaughlin in a ceremony he hoped to keep secret. The 46-year-old Desmond always said he would never marry due to the dangers of his job. However, he was clearly smitten with Hannah McLaughlin. In March 1897, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed the first rumors of an
The Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, or 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair as it is more popularly known, is the most significant event in St. Louis, Missouri history. While St. Louis was the largest city west of the Mississippi River, the World’s Fair put it on the international map. While the fair would bring notoriety, tourists and increased revenue to the city,
On Wednesday, May 9, 1900, the second day of St. Louis Streetcar Strike, a stray bullet killed Frank Liebrecht. Frank Liebrecht, a Spanish-American War veteran, was watching a strike rally at the corner of Finney and N. Taylor Avenue. During the rally, some in the crowd observed the last two streetcars for the day coming down the tracks about a
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
Before he became St. Louis Chief of Detectives in 1890, William Desmond plied his trade as a Detective with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. During February 1890, Detective Desmond’s persistent efforts to locate two confidence men paid off with the arrest of both men. “Kinch” Keegan and “Thatch” Grady were brother-in-laws and accomplices in several confidence games. On January
During the Gilded Age and for several decades after, St. Louis had the distinction of being the largest city west of the Mississippi River. Pickpockets and thieves rode the rails to ply their illicit trade in the bustling metropolis. On September 21, 1901, hotel employees overpowered a sneak thief, who attempted to burglarize a room in the plush Southern Hotel.
I have always said the St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900 was not the story of the evil streetcar companies exploiting the innocent workers. “The innocent workers” committed many deplorable acts during the streetcar strike. One of their most frequent tactics involved stripping woman in public who rode the streetcars during the strike. Amazingly, their victims were young and attractive
St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond would be primarily responsible for the security of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Prior to the fair opening in April 1904, Desmond played a critical role in St. Louis’ boodling investigation. During his boodling investigation, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Joseph “Holy Joe” Folk indicted City Councilman Charles Kratz for taking bribes or