Harvey John Bailey was born 23 Aug 1887 in Jane Lew, WV to Capt. John Hannibal Bailey (1840-1907) and Amanda Emaline Nutter (1853-1934).
Inmate: #11414 Dallas, TX Jail
Rec: 24 Aug 1933
He escaped Lansing Prison
A few facts:
Offense: KIDNAPPING & HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)
Date Received at Alcatraz:4 Sep 1934
Received from U.S. Penitentiary, Marion: US PENITENTIARY, LEAVENWORTH
Date Transferred to: 8 Sep 1946
Transferred to: US PENITENTIARY, LEAVENWORTH
Name: Harvey John Bailey
Ethnicity: White
Birth Date: 23 Aug 1887
Birth Place: Jane Lew, Lewis County, WV
Father's name: John Hannibal Bailey
Mother's name: Amanda E.
Death Date: 1 Mar 1979
Death Place: Joplin, MO
Date Received at Alcatraz: 4 Sep 1934
Incarceration Reason: KIDNAPPING & HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)
Place of Incarceration: Alcatraz, San Francisco, California
Transferred From: L
Old Box Number: B-01
New Box Number: 45 - 47
Shelf Location: 3133C
Inmate Number: 139
Here are some newspaper articles on this fella.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183826/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45179021/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45182272/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183714/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183578/harvey-bailey/
Here is a book he wrote on his crimes
https://www.buckinghambooks.com/book/robbing-banks-was-my-business-the-story-of-j-harvey-bailey-americas-most-successful-bank-robber-2/
He was called "The Dean of American Bank Robbers", had a long and successful criminal career. One one the most successful bank robbers during the 1920s, walking off with over one million dollars during that time.
Bailey robbed his first bank around 1920 and his last robbery was in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on September 9, 1933. He was in the Kansas State Prison 8 July 1932 until he escaped on 1 June 1933. He was recaptured and found guilty of complicity in the Urschel Kidnapping and was sentenced to Life in Prison on 7 Oct 1933. Originally sent to Leavenworth, he was transferred to Alcatraz on 1Sept 1934. He was returned to Leavenworth in 1946 and transferred in 1960 to Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Texas, where he remained until he was finally released on 10 Mar 1964.
One of the many possible suspects listed as one of the four assassins in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is Fred "Killer" Burke. But in his 1973 autobiography, Bailey insisted that he and Burke were planning a bank robbery together in Calumet City, Illinois, about 20 miles south of the massacre site, at the time the massacre took place.
He would steal over $2,000,000 in cash securities during his career, a resume that includes:
*Taking $265,000 from the Hamilton County Bank of Cincinnati in September of 1922
*Taking over $200,000 from a truck transferring assets to the Denver Mint in December of 1922.
*Lifting $142,000 from the Bank of Willmar, Minnesota, in July of 1930.
*Removing $2,600,000 from the National Bank and Trust Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, in September of 1930.
*Removing $40,000 out of the Central State Bank of Sherman, Texas, in April of 1931.
*Grabbing $47,000 from the Citizens National Bank of Fort Scott, Kansas, in June of 1932.
*Looting over $10,000 from the First National Bank of Clinton, Oklahoma, in July of 1933.
*Taking $6,000 from the Peoples National Bank of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, in August of 1933.
Harvey would have spent over 31 years behind bars throughout his life.
He died 1 Mar 1979 in Joplin, MO at age 91, and this is his obituary.
Rec: 24 Aug 1933
He escaped Lansing Prison
Offense: KIDNAPPING & HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)
Date Received at Alcatraz:4 Sep 1934
Received from U.S. Penitentiary, Marion: US PENITENTIARY, LEAVENWORTH
Date Transferred to: 8 Sep 1946
Transferred to: US PENITENTIARY, LEAVENWORTH
Name: Harvey John Bailey
Ethnicity: White
Birth Date: 23 Aug 1887
Birth Place: Jane Lew, Lewis County, WV
Father's name: John Hannibal Bailey
Mother's name: Amanda E.
Death Date: 1 Mar 1979
Death Place: Joplin, MO
Date Received at Alcatraz: 4 Sep 1934
Incarceration Reason: KIDNAPPING & HOLDING FOR RANSOM (URSCHEL)
Place of Incarceration: Alcatraz, San Francisco, California
Transferred From: L
Old Box Number: B-01
New Box Number: 45 - 47
Shelf Location: 3133C
Inmate Number: 139
Here are some newspaper articles on this fella.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183826/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45179021/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45182272/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183714/harvey-bailey/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45183578/harvey-bailey/
Here is a book he wrote on his crimes
https://www.buckinghambooks.com/book/robbing-banks-was-my-business-the-story-of-j-harvey-bailey-americas-most-successful-bank-robber-2/
He was called "The Dean of American Bank Robbers", had a long and successful criminal career. One one the most successful bank robbers during the 1920s, walking off with over one million dollars during that time.
Bailey robbed his first bank around 1920 and his last robbery was in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on September 9, 1933. He was in the Kansas State Prison 8 July 1932 until he escaped on 1 June 1933. He was recaptured and found guilty of complicity in the Urschel Kidnapping and was sentenced to Life in Prison on 7 Oct 1933. Originally sent to Leavenworth, he was transferred to Alcatraz on 1Sept 1934. He was returned to Leavenworth in 1946 and transferred in 1960 to Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Texas, where he remained until he was finally released on 10 Mar 1964.
One of the many possible suspects listed as one of the four assassins in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is Fred "Killer" Burke. But in his 1973 autobiography, Bailey insisted that he and Burke were planning a bank robbery together in Calumet City, Illinois, about 20 miles south of the massacre site, at the time the massacre took place.
He would steal over $2,000,000 in cash securities during his career, a resume that includes:
*Taking $265,000 from the Hamilton County Bank of Cincinnati in September of 1922
*Taking over $200,000 from a truck transferring assets to the Denver Mint in December of 1922.
*Lifting $142,000 from the Bank of Willmar, Minnesota, in July of 1930.
*Removing $2,600,000 from the National Bank and Trust Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, in September of 1930.
*Removing $40,000 out of the Central State Bank of Sherman, Texas, in April of 1931.
*Grabbing $47,000 from the Citizens National Bank of Fort Scott, Kansas, in June of 1932.
*Looting over $10,000 from the First National Bank of Clinton, Oklahoma, in July of 1933.
*Taking $6,000 from the Peoples National Bank of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, in August of 1933.
Harvey would have spent over 31 years behind bars throughout his life.
He died 1 Mar 1979 in Joplin, MO at age 91, and this is his obituary.
Hi Gwen, I am reading your blog with interest as I am a biographer and currently am writing about Alcatraz. You have linked Harvey John Bailey with Georgia Bland Windon but she was not his wife. You also state that Bailey had two children and he had no children.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at who is correctly listed as her husband James Harvey Bailey, the birthdate and death dates do not match the outlaw.
This is Georgia Bland Bailey's findagrave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131706133/georgia-bland-bailey
Her husband on findagrave is
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80512271/james-"harvey"-bailey
As you can see the birth and death dates do not match.
In 1966, Harvey John Bailey married Esther Farmer, the widow of Herbert "Deafy" Farmer.
He died March 1, 1979 at age 91 and she died 2 years later in on March 3, 1981. They had no children.
This is his correct findagrave site where Esther is listed as his wife.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6352523/harvey-bailey
and here is Esther's
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66354600/esther-mary-bailey
As you can see, the dates match.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Thank you for your comment when I have some time I will look into this and make the corrections. Thank you for your help.
DeleteI made the corrections thank you
DeleteHarvey John Bailey was born John Harvey Bailey in Jane Lew, Lewis County, W.VA in 1887. His family moved to Sullivan County, MO. In 1908 he married Mattie Mae Martin and by 1915 were living in Fort Dodge, IA where their son Von Dwight Bailey was born in 1914. At this time Harvey was listing his occupation as locomotive fireman. After beginning his life of crime he used various aliases such as J.J. Brennan and operated several successful businesses financed by proceeds from robberies. During this period the family used aliases. At some point after his outlaw activities became widely known, Mattie divorced Harvey and resumed her maiden name. In 1942, Von applied for a delayed birth certificate, entered the US Army and served in the Corps of Engineers in the Asiatic/Pacific Theater, and was honorably discharged in 1946. Von visited his father Harvey in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary during a stopover between San Francisco and the Pacific. Von, like his father, married a Sullivan County girl, Betty Detwiler, and they remained married until his death in 1995 in Kirksey, KY. Mattie Mae Martin died in 1969 in Kansas City, MO and is buried in Sullivan County, MO. Betty Detwiler Bailey died in 2005.
Delete