Sylvan Grove Bank Robbery, 1894

Bank Robbery!

At Sylvan Grove!

Anthony McKee, of Mitchell County, Shot Dead

From the Lincoln Beacon, Nov. 15, 1894

Last Monday at about 2:15 in the afternoon two men rode into Sylvan Grove from the south and a third man rode in from the west, simultaneously. None of them wore masks or any other disguise, and none of them wore any visible arms.

At the time no one associated the first two men with the third, as their appearance in town at the same time was apparently a coincidence only.

The two men from the south stopped on their horses on Main street directly across the street (and east) of the Sylvan Grove State Bank and in the most casual way engaged the few people nearby in conversation about the weather, the road and distance to Lincoln, and other everyday talk.

The third stranger tied his horse to a stone post on the edge of the street directly opposite Bowen's livery barn, and 50 yards west and about 10 feet north of the bank, which has a north and east frontage, with the front door in the east end. He then walked down the hill, along the side of the bank, rounded the northeast corner of the building and entered the front door.

The only occupant of the bank was William D. Schermerhorn, a young man 19 years of age, who was temporarily in charge, as a clerk only. The cashier, John Calene, was away.

The stranger laid a dollar on the counter and asked young Schermerhorn for a dollar's worth of small change. When the change was laid on the counter he raked it and the silver dollar off into his pocket. Schermerhorn reminded him of the "mistake" when the stranger flopped a pistol in his face and with threats of instant death if he resisted or gave the alarm, stepped around through the wicket behind the counter. With one hand he held a sack and ordered Schermerhorn to dump all the available funds into it. Schermerhorn refused to comply, telling him to help himself though, as everything was within reach. The robber then struck Schermerhorn over the head with the pistol. The blow staggered him, and though he could have kept his feet, he thought it discreet to take a complete fall, and in doing so he fell directly across a Sharp's rifle. The robber evidently was aware that the clerk was not injured much, as he kept of a volley of vicious threats at him as he proceeded to hurriedly dump gold, silver and bills into the sack himself. The robber then went to the rear door (in the west end and fronting up the hill where his horse was tied). The latch would not yield to his fingertips and he peremptorily ordered the clerk to unlatch it. Schermerhorn arose and opened the door. As the robber stepped out he said, "If you come outside within 10 minutes you will be killed. There are seven men on the outside who will 'do' you." He then started on a quick walk up the hill.

The two men on horseback had shifted their position some, working around to the north when the third man entered the bank, evidently so they could cover his retreat when he came out of the west door. They rode at an ordinary gait up the hill a short distance behind and to one side of the man on foot (they being in the street and he coming off the bank lot onto the edge of the street).

At this juncture Schermerhorn, finding himself alone, grabbed the Sharp's rifle and ran out the east door, turned a sharp angle and took aim westward up the hill from the northwest corner of the building, at the robber, just as the latter was about 12 feet from where his horses was tied.

The report of the gun was probably the very first intimation to the bandits that anything was wrong, as the two on horseback were undoubtedly watching the back door.

The robber on foot walked straight up to the post after being hit, a distance of 12 feet, and attempted to unhitch his horse. While doing so he began to stagger about and fell in a second or two on his back without getting the horse loose.

The men on horseback then went up the hill on the run firing a fusillade of pistol shots back at Schermerhorn, who ran into the bank after a Winchester, the Sharp's having only one cartridge.

At the top of the hill the mounted men fired a dozen pistol shots in various directions, two of the shots striking the bank building. They were unquestionably badly rattled, as they failed to even unhitch the third man's horse, or pick up the sack of money which was lying on the ground with the wounded man, who, as it transpired, lived but a moment.

There was a moment of stupid, fumbling indecision on the part of the mounted robbers, who, had they been self-possessed only, without necessarily being quick, could have secured the money and the dead man's horse.

Schermerhorn was on the outside with his Winchester in time to have picked off one or two men, but though he industriously worked the trigger he forgot the lever and the gun refused to do execution. At this junction Will Brumbaugh grabbed the Winchester and took three shots at the mounted robbers, who then deserted dead man, horse and money and took to the prairie, riding northwest on a gallop.

After the mounted men had decamped Schermerhorn went up the hill and brought back to the bank the sack of money, which was counted. Its contents were $1,490 in cash.

A violent dust storm arose a short time afterward which made trailing very difficult, though several men attempted to give chase. Among them was A.R. Buzick, president of the bank, mounted on the animal ridden by the dead robber. All returned in a few hours.

The dead man was removed to an empty room and stripped, when it was found that the ball from the Sharp's rifle had struck him about halfway from the point of the right hip to the right shoulder blade, three inches to the right of the spine. It had ranged upward and to the left, through both lungs and heart, severing the aorta, and out at the left breast. The hemorrhage was profuse.

He was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, quite spare, weighing about 135 pounds, having evidently been very lithe and active. His forehead was receding, nose prominent, eyes set rather prominent. His hair was profuse, brown in color with a yellowish tinge; mustache was large, thick and overhanging, and yellowish brown. There were two slight scars upon the scalp, and a slight scar just below the right knee.

Twenty-five dollars would cover the value of the dead man's clothes, which included two pairs of drawers and three undershirts.

A broad belt was strapped around his body reaching from below the waist to the arm pits. It contained 250 cartridges and two 44-calibre pistols, which were the only arms upon him. Besides a jackknife was a purse with four or five collars in silver, the dead man's money.

Two bottles of whisky, a bottle of liniment, several vials of medicine, and lint, cotton and bandages in profusion were stored away in his pockets. Among these effects was a slip of paper containing the following address: "Stephen McKee, Hickory street, St. Joseph, Mo." There was also a prescription signed "Garland, M.D., Morganville, Clay county."

The whole outfit showed that the owner was out as a road agent, fixed to fight, to take care of his own wounds, if he received any, to lie out in the cold, and to take all the chances of a desperado's life.

The captured horse was a fine bay mare, about eight years old, built for speed and bottom.


Sylvan Grove Bank Robbery, 1894

Bank Robbers

 

A Bold Attempt To Rob The Sylvan State Bank
Frustrated by the Presence of Mind and Good Shooting of the Cashier

From the Lincoln Sentinel, 15 November 1894

The latest Kansas town to fall into line with the prevalent bank robberies is Sylvan Grove, a small town in this county, about 15 miles west of Lincoln.
About 8 o’clock last Monday afternoon three men, well armed and mounted on fine horses, rode into Sylvan Grove. One of them at once rode up to a stone hitching post in the rear of the Sylvan State Bank, and directly in front of A. Karlowske’s blacksmith shop. He dismounted and hitched his horse to the post and then leisurely walked into the bank. In the meantime his companions had halted in the middle of the street in front of the bank and accosted two or three chance passers by with inquires as to the best road to Lincoln, thus preventing attention being attracted to anything that might happen in the bank. The desperado who had entered the bank at once walked up to the cashier’s window and requested small change for a silver dollar. Will D. Schermerhorn, assistant cashier, was in charge of the bank, the cashier, John Calene, being absent in Dickinson county. Mr. Schermerhorn complied with his request and counted out ten silver dimes. Several remarks were made about the scarcity of small change and then Mr. Schermerhorn remarked that he could let him have a half dollar in exchange for another dollar. The desperado said all right, and the second change was passed over to him. He, however, failed to give up the second dollar until Mr. Schermerhorn drew his attention to the supposed oversight. The man then made several commonplace remarks about the weather and acted as if he was about to leave the bank. This, however, was evidently only a ruse to see how matters were progressing in the street. He then, while standing by the front window, with his back to the cashier, threw open his coat and drew a revolver, and wheeling suddenly presented it at the cashier’s head, with the exclamation, “Don’t holler, or g—d--- you, I’ll blow your brains out.” He then walked around the counter and producing a canvas bag or sack held it out to the cashier and ordered him to open it and shove the money in. Mr. Schermerhorn refused to do so, and after a little parlaying the fellow suddenty struck him on the foreheard with the revolver. Although not hurt very much Mr. Schermerhorn ahd the good sense to at once drop to the floor – a very unforunate thing for the robber, as his body covered from view a Sharp’s rifle which lay on the floor. The robber then hurriedly helped himself to $1,734, overlooking a $2,000 package which lay further back in the safe. After the money was put in the sack the robber enquired if the back door was unlocked, and upon ascertaining that it was not, he compelled Mr. Schermerhorn at the point of the revolver to unlock it for him, and then after threatening to shoot him full of holes if he raised any alarm for ten minutes, left the bank and walked towards his horse. The other two robbers were now also making their way slowly to the same place, covering his retreat.
In the meantime quick-witted, courageous young Schermerhorn had picked up the Sharp’s rife, run out of the front door, stepped around the corner of [the] building, and taking aim at the desperado just as he flung the sack on the saddle of the horse, fired the only load in the rifle. A steady hand and a brave heart, however, made up for the lack of ammunition, and one more desperado was ushered into eternity.
The ball entered the man’s body just back of the right arm and came out at the left side of the breast near the nipple, passing through the heart, killing him instantly, the hitching post being completely bespattered with blood.
The two other robbers now commenced firing rapidly at Schermerhorn, and also made frantic efforts to get possession of the sack of money and make the dead robber’s horse jerk loose, but Schermerhorn kept dodging around the corner of the building, snapping his empty rifle at them. Several of the robbers’ shots struck the building. Wm. Brumbaugh, one of the proprietors of Brumbaugh & Bowen’s livery stable, had heard the firing, and grabbing a revolver that had been kept in the stable for emergencies, now commenced firing at them. This attracted their attention, and compelled them to give up all hopes of securing the dead robber’s haul, and putting spurs to the horses they galloped off in a northwesterly direction. Before leaving, however, they fired several shots at the body of their fallen companion, undoubtedly upon the principle that dead men tell no tales. Schermerhorn at once secured the bank’s money, and the first bank robbery in Lincoln county was a failure.
The dead robber was at once taken into an adjoining vacant building and searched for evidence as to his identity. Two medical prescriptions for wound liniment, dated Oct. 10, 1894, given by Dr. Grattan, of Morgansville, Kan., were found, also a slip of paper having the following address written upon it: “J.S. McKee, 1613 Hickory street, St. Joseph, Mo.” Two flasks of whisky with St. Joseph labels on the bottles, two large Colt’s revolvers, a cartridge belt which covered the entire body, containing nearly 300 cartridges, bandages and liniment, two large plugs of “Horse Shoe,” tobacco, $25 in gold and several dollars in silver. He was fairly well dressed. Everything about the fellow showed the desperado. The bandages and liniments indicate that he fully realized that he carried his life in his hands. He was five feet eight inches in height, and weighed about 145 pounds, wore a large, heavy red moustache [sic] with about a week’s growth of beard on his face.
In the absence of the coroner J.O. Phillips, justice of the peace, at once empaneled a jury and the usual verdict in such cases was at once returned.
The store at Tipton, a small place about 25 miles northwest of Sylvan Grove, was robbed the night before and $200 taken, presumbly the work of the same band. ***
The above was written Tuesday morning and subsequent development necessitates further details.
About noon an old gentleman named McKee, living near Elmira, in Mitchell county, right in the Blue Hills region, arrived at Sylvan Grove. He was accompanied by a woman and four children. They inquired for the dead robber and upon being shown his body, the old gentleman at once identified him as his youngest son, named Anthony McKee, and husband and father to the woman and children. Upon being questioned as to their knowledge of his death they answered that two unknown men had called them up at midnight and informed them that “Anthony was killed at Sylvan Grove.” They denied any knowledge of his conneciton with the other robbers, but said that he had left home three months ago, and that they did not know what business he had been engaged in. By this time, Mr. F. Scidmore, cashier of the Tescott State Bank, which was robbed by four men of $1,000 on Sept. 14, had arrived at Sylvan Grove. Since that time Mr. Scidmore had been indefatigable in his efforts to find the robbers, and satisfactory evidence had been obtained by him and the Banker’s Protective Association to conclusively establish the fact that the robbers’ headquarters were in Mitchell county, that Anthony McKee was one of the leaders, that he was planning other robbers and had a well-organized, well-armed, desperate gang to assist him. All this evidence had been known to the sheriffs of Ottawa and Mitchell counties for several weeks, but for some unaccountable, unexplainable (probably, though, that the reward offered for the apprehension of the men should not be divided too much) Sheriff Hoover had been kept in the dark. Everything now evidenced that the robbers were in the vicinity of Elmira, and on Tuesday night a plan was laid which it was hoped would result in the apprehension of death of the outlaws. Telegrams were at once sent to the sheriff of Ottawa county to at once take the train from Minneapolis to Barnard with a posse, and drive from there to Elmira, a distance of about 30 miles, and to reach there at 11 o’clock. Mr. Scidmore, accompanied by A.R. Buzick and Chas. Shafer of Wilson, Under Sheriff Tom Boyle, Joe Jackson and Geo. D. Abel, left Lincoln about 6 o’clock to meet the Ottawa county posse at the same time and place. The sheriff of Mitchell county and a posse of ten men were also to be there from the north, and the Tipton force from the west. Everything took place as planned, except that the robbers could not be found. The McKee residence and the entire neighborhood was searched but it was fruitless.
Sheriff Hoover, accompanied by Harry Leaf, had followed the trail all day, and without even knowing the dead robber’s name, had tracked the two fleeing robbers right up to the door of the McKee residence, having for their only guide the peculiar horse shoe points of the desperadoes’ horses. Sheriff Hoover is to be greatly commended for the vigilant search, which he has made without the assistance and knowledge which others possessed, and which he had a right to be in possession of. If he and the posse which first went out, consisisting of Tom Lovin, Alf Reed and Fred McElhaney of Lincoln, and Messrs. Buzick, Brumbaugh, Wilson and others, of Sylvan Grove, had known the single name McKee and all that it meant, the other robbers at this writing would have been either lying in their coffins or the Lincoln county jail.
Anthony McKee, the dead robber, is a brother-in-law to the notorious outlaw Starr, now lying in jail at Fort Smith, Ark. Another brother-in-law, John Morrison, and a member of this gang, is a fugitive from numerous states, and rewards aggregating $33,000 are offered for his arrest dead or alive.
The Blue Hills country was thoroughly scoured by the different posses. A wilder, rougher country does not exist in Kansas. As a typical robbers’rendezvous in a civilized country it beats the world.
Mrs. McKee, the wife of the dead robber, was held in custody at Sylvan until Wednesday morning, but was released as it could not be proven that she was connected with the gang. McKee was buried at the Vesper cemetery on Wednesday.
Lack of time and space this week prevents us giving further particulars but in the near future we promise a complete write-up and history of this gang of criminals and their many depredations.

[From the same edition] Will D. Schermerhorn, the hero of the Sylvan State Bank affair, is a son of Lon Schermerhorn, a former resident of Lincoln county, but who now lives at Ogden, Kan. The elder Mr. Schermerhorn is remembered by old settlers as a man of strong convictions and undaunted courage, and the son, although scarcely 20, is a chip of [sic] the old block.

 

Two Children Perish in Fireworks Fire


Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, June 30, 1953

The following account of a tragic accident appeared in a Sylvan Grove paper [Sylvan Grove News] carrying the date July 6, 1905:

On Wednesday afternoon, June 28, the people of Sylvan Grove were startled by one of the most horrible catastrophes that ever befell a small town. Usually the fatal results of fireworks are not seen until on or after the Fourth of July, but already Sylvan has had such a terrifying exhibition in the deadly work of patriotic explosives that doubtless there will be little desire for the final display of pyrotechnics hereafter.

In the south window of Raffety Brothers� store there was the usual amount of Fourth of July goods which the careful merchants had thought to guard by arranging a double counter running to the window. Unfortunately three small children were back of the second counter where one of the clerks was showing the goods. Two of the children were daughters of William Mahoney of Pottersburg, the third was their cousin, Luella, daughter of Ernest Andresen of Denmark.

When the deadly stuff began to explode the clerk hurried the children away from the fire while they were yet unharmed. He started them toward the door in safety, then hastened with the other clerks to the rear of the store after water to extinguish the fire.

Bewildered by fright and blinded by the fire and smoke of the deafening explosions, Susie and Honora Mahoney ran up between the two counters to the window, while the little Andresen girl ran into the passage to the door and escaped uninjured. The misfortunate Susie and Honora, seeing their mother on the outside leaped into the window in the midst of the fire and tried in vain to break the window, while the frantic attempts against the unyielding glass was continued until the despairing children left the window lost in flame and smoke within. In the meantime the Raffety Brothers and clerks, ignorant of the human distress so near at hand, were working with all possible strength and rapidity to save the building.

It was not long before the figures of the fated children, rapped in cruel flames, darted into the open air from the north door. The sight of those two innocent victims of the fire, was enough to wring the stoniest heart and melt into tears those whose eyes had long been unused to such evidence of pity.

As soon as the children were seen men rushed to their rescue and extinguished the fire in their clothes. They were carried immediately to Mr. Mollenkamp�s rooms, where they had all the medical assistance that could be procured and the careful attendance of kind friends. A telephone message was sent to Mr. Mahoney who came as soon as possible to the bedside of his suffering children, where the scene was one of the most sorrowful ever witnessed and was only made more touching by the pitiful pleadings of the little ones in their tender solicitude for their parents.

Although every available means was used to spare the lives of the two children, they gradually succumbed to the fatal injuries received in the fire and explosions, enduring the pain of the frightful burns with angelic patience and martyr-like endurance, they clung to life until 6 o�clock Thursday morning when unwelcome, yet merciful, death unlocked the door and with gentle hand, led the eldest, Honora, into a quiet peaceful rest of a new and glorious life and at noon, six hours later, ushered the little sunbeam, Susie, into the same fair land where a number of sisters and a brother waited in the presence of the loving Father.

The Sylvan people showed immeasurable kindness toward the family stricken by so great a calamity and the Raffety Bros., in whose store the sad accident occurred, hesitated at nothing that could be done for the bereaved ones.

The problems of fare cannot be solved; just why such an accident should have happened cannot be explained. It is true, however, that accidents of this order are sadly frequent and will continue as long as the Fourth of July is celebrated by the use of modern fireworks.

In the case of Sylvan�s disaster there should be no blame attached to anyone, for the catastrophe was purely accidental, and no one was responsible for the sad results. For rather than have had such a tragedy occur, any man would have risked his life had he been aware of the immediate peril of the young lives involved.

It is to be earnestly hoped that this will be the last of fireworks in Sylvan Grove, and that the sale of the dangerous goods will be suppressed throughout the country.

The above story recalls to Mrs. Chris Lehmkuhl of Denmark very vividly an experience in her life she is not likely to ever forget as she was the Luella Andresen mentioned in the article. Fireworks were banned from sale in Sylvan Grove after the accident, and as far as Mrs. Lehmkuhl knows the ban was never lifted.


Calene Mercantile Destroyed in Fire


Sylvan Grove News, 15 February 1912

The Calene Mercantile Co.’s store suffered a heavy loss by fire Wednesday. The fire started by the spontaneous combustion of cotton batting stored in the cellar and from there rapidly spread into the flooring overhead where it brote through and crept up the shelving in the Dry Good Department on the first floor. The fire had gained such headway by the fire department arrived that the entire building was so filled with smoke so dense that it was difficult to located the fire and hindered the firemen greatly in their work.
The loss will reach between 10 and 15 thousand dollars as much of the stock was so badly damaged the smoke and water that it will be a total loss.
The Calene Mercantile Co. was one of the biggest mercantile establishments in the town and carried a stock of $25,000, which was partially covered by insurance.
For a time it looked as though the entire section was doomed and the Saenger Bros. hardware was removed from the building. The stock in Raffety Bros. clothing department was also carried out and at one time the Sylvan State Bank was thought to be on fire.
The Fire Department did heroic work fighting this fire and it was greatly handicapped by being a new organization just organized last Tuesday and for the first time using the new fire equipment which they were not familiar with and the fact that our new water system is still in an “uncompleted condition and no pressure being maintained in the mains it required considerable time to close gates in the mains and get up direct pressure before a stream could be played on the flames. After the pressure was up it was short work getting the fire under control and the fire that bade fore to have wiped out the entire business section of our little city was squenched [sic].

Sylvan Grove Hotel Is Torn Down


Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, 25 September 1997

The ghosts of many travelers will no longer walk the halls of the Sylvan Grove Hotel. It is thought to have been built sometime between 1891 and 1895. Now, after 100 years, the historical old building has been torn down. It will remain only in the memories of local residents and, perhaps, within the pages of personal journals, written to record visits and time spent there.
One such journal remains in the keeping of Richard Urban, Ellsworth, and his brother Doyle Urban, Sylvan Grove. It is a genealogical record of their ancestors, the Boyle family. A little bit of reading revealed that their grandparents, Isaac Newton and Emma Catherine Boyle, ran the hotel for 16 years in the early 1900s.
Journal entries indicate I.N. Boyle was born in 1845 in Ohio. In 1861, at the age of 16, he enlisted at a Union soldier in the Civil War. He was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, and was “mustered out Oct. 17, 1864, by reason of expiration of enlistment.” He then visited a sister in Plattesville, Ohio, where he met his future bride Emma Beezley. They married in 1868 and lived in Ohio and Illinois before moving to Graham County, Kan., in 1879. They farmed near Hill City.
In 1907, the Boyles traded their farm in Graham County for the Sylvan Hotel in Sylvan Grove. They managed the hotel with the help of their daughters, Ina and Frances. Frances graduated from Sylvan Grove High School and in 1917, married George H. Urban at Lincoln.
The journal entry concerning the Boyles ownership indicated, “Mrs. Boyle was an excellent cook and Mr. Boyle became a capable hotel manager. The family was active in church and community affairs and Mr. Boyle, who was a staunch, ‘Stand Pat’ Republican, continued his interest and activity in current political issues.”
The Boyles celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1918 during their stay in Sylvan Grove. An account of the event was printed in the Dec. 5, 1918, issue of The Sylvan Grove News. The article expounded the couple’s proprietorship of the hotel, saying “It is not everyone who can keep a hotel … they made it a home for travelers. They treated folks so kindly that two of their boarders, E.C. and Charley Raffety, have been with them eleven years … Mr. Boyle seemed a father to so many that a number of his friends affectionately called him Dad.”
The anniversary celebration as described in the 1918 article, was “a royal Thanksgiving feast” prepared at the Cozy Theater. Close to 80 friends from Hill City and Sylvan Grove joined together to observe the couple renew their vows.
Five years later, in 1923, the Boyles celebrated their 55th anniversary. It was the last weeding anniversary they would celebrate while owners of the hotel. I.N. Boyle broke his hip in a fall in the summer of 1924 and died shortly after in January 1925. His widow Emma died three years later in 1928. They were both buried in Hill City.
According to dates in the journal and references to newspaper articles, the ownership of the hotel then passed on to Reinhold W. Wohler. Wohler is believed to have owned the hotel for the longest period of time.
Ownership of the Sylvan Grove Hotel has changed hands several times over the years. Other owners include Mr. and Mrs. Fred W. Van Wie; Reinhold W. Wohler; Fred Meyer Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. George C. Corbett; Christine Reinert; Maxine Palmer; Eunice Oller; Dorothy Naegele; Thelma Warth; and the current owner, Paul Seirer.
Seirer and a work crew dismantled the hotel in early September. Future plans for the vacated lot have not been disclosed.

Part 1, Business and Industry in Sylvan Grove
Part 2, Business and Industry in Sylvan Grove
Part 3, Business and Industry in Sylvan Grove