Yet, more witches were arrested in Andover than in Salem, 14 miles away - as the witch flies. The U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940, list Barker as an official member of the Sioux tribe. Robert P. Barker, of Weymouth, died May 3, 2014 at the age of 81. << This theme of persecution and injustice would permeate her life. Skip . Chris Enss: Ma Barker was this incredible woman who ends up being the matriarch to a family of thieves, thugs, and murderers. 3 0 obj Missouri. It was there that the Barker-Karpis gang committed their more infamous crimes, eventually turning from bank robberies to kidnapping under the protection and guidance of Thomas Brown, the citys corrupt chief of police. Karpis and Fred were rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, exchanging information. She had no job, all her sons were in jail, and her husband was gone. 1910 Herman Barker arrested for highway robbery in Webb City, Missouri. J. Edgar Hoover also attributed Kate's sons' rampant criminal activities later in life to her spoiling them. He joined former prison-mate Alvin Karpis to form the BarkerKarpis Gang. On Jan. 8, 1935, Arthur Barker was arrested by FBI agents in Chicago. FBI agents discovered the hideout of Barker and her son Fred after Arthur was arrested in Chicago on January 8, 1935. Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Ma Barker in your family tree. Taken from The Ultimate Killer Collection by Stewart Andel. In the civil wars then continually waged, he was attainted and hanged. January 19, 1934 Gang wounds M.C. 13a. Baseball players of the Negro Southern League(NSL). The FBI soon located the house where the gang was staying after identifying references to a local restaurant[clarification needed] named "Gator Joe", who had a taste for gangsters, but not for cops,[clarification needed] mentioned in a letter sent to Doc. 12 0 obj This was because the local police were in on the action, often tipping criminals off when the FBI was onto them. The surname Barker was first found in Yorkshire where Ralph Berker was a Knights Templar in 1185. [1] However, a family friend recalled that the couple argued about their children's "dissolute life". In 2015, the Florida state senate proposed a bill for $500,000 to repair and preserve the house as an historic landmark, but the bill was rejected. /Ascent 694 The gang apparently believed that Dunlop's loose lips had given them away, and they murdered him while traveling. According to writer Miriam Allen deFord, George "gave up completely and quietly removed himself from the scene" after Herman's death and the imprisonment of his other sons. MA 01001 Hampden County (Jul 1991 . In Domesday Book, Nigellus, a clerk, was lord of the manor of Calverhall or Coverhall, after which it passed into the king's hands, and he gave it to William de Dunstanville, who sublet it under the feudal system to these de Calverhalls. He added, "she wasn't a leader of criminals or even a criminal herself.". Stockbridge Howland Barker, b. /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] The Visitations trace all these five families to a common ancestor, "William Barker alias Coverall," who married "Margaret daughter and heire to Goulston of Goulston" and one of his sons is shown as the first Barker of Aston. He was born in Straagewell, County of Suffolk, They moved to St. Paul, Minnesota because of the citys reputation as a safe-haven for wanted criminals. Already a rebellious child, young Kate became enamored with the Midwest outlaws of the time. by Elford H. Messer 1994 . [11] Other sources say that it was lying between the bodies of Ma and Fred. July 4, 1918 Arthur "Doc" Barker involved in US automobile theft in Tulsa, Oklahoma; arrested (#841) (escaped). Her sister Janie Blakey (Nee Harker) was a recurring character. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. ", United States Department of Justice,Wikimedia Commons, The Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio, Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio. In 1892, she married George E. Barker and began using the first name Kate. Compare DNA and explore genealogy for Richard Barker born abt. [ Ref ] [ Ref] He married second Mary Unknown. The Barker gang is rooted in the family of Arizona "Ma" Clark Barker (1873?-1935) and her four sons, Herman (1894-1927), Lloyd (1896-1949), Arthur "Dock" (1899-1939), and Fred (1902-35). Perkins; Jack; Drummond, John; and Cara, Mark (1996), This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 22:03. Most viewed outlaws with fear, but to many poor folks they represented the idea of the commoner taking a piece of the pie, and they became underdog heroes (via Mental Floss). Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love. James Barker was born on 17 Jan 1760 in Bradford. Arrie did everything that she could to get her sons off, no matter what they had done.[3]. The Ma Barker House was owned by the Bradford family and rented by Kate "Ma" Barker and her son Fred George Barker in November 1935 as members of the Barker/Karpis Gang were sought in . According to Enss and Kazanjian, Kate handled the boys while George worked, although he managed to take them fishing and teach them how to shoot. Ma Barker has inspired many films, comic books, and even songs over the years. Karpis claimed that Ma Barker was just an old-fashioned homebody from the Ozarks a simple woman, adding that Ma was superstitious, gullible, simple, cantankerous, and, well, generally law-abiding. Unfortunately, this odd tidbit led the G-Men right to their doorstep. The gang managed to get away, and their reputation as a dangerous band of criminals grew. With Lurene Tuttle, Tristram Coffin, Paul Dubov, Nelson Leigh. Born in 18 Apr 1886 and died in 9 Jan 1984 Boswell, Oklahoma Abigail "Ma" Crowder Barker [13], The popular image of Ma as the gang's leader and its criminal mastermind is often portrayed in films such as Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960), Bloody Mama (1970), and Public Enemies (1996). Samuel Barker was a lineal descendant of John Barker, of Shropshire, England, who married, in 1549, Elizabeth Hill, a sister of Sir Rowland Hill, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London. /Contents 10 0 R In June 1933, they kidnapped William Hamm Jr. of the brewing family, getting a ransom of $100,000. [2] The FBI claimed that George left Ma because she had become "loose in her moral life" and was "having outside dates with other men". Allegedly, many local people came to watch the events unfolding, even holding picnics during the gunfire. About Kate "Ma" Barker. Ma and Fred Barkers bodies were first put on public display, then remained unclaimed until Oct. 1, 1935, at which time relatives had them buried next to Herman Barker at Williams Timberhill Cemetery located in Welch, Oklahoma. << She was devastated when he was killed in 1882 (per the Orlando Sentinel). Over the next few years, Herman and his brothers were repeatedly involved in crimes of increasing seriousness, including robbery and murder. ", http://www.vnla.com/vnl/gen/mcq/Barker.htm, (from http://books.google.com/books?id=k7UNAQAAMAAJ&dq=John%20Barker%20al Google eBooks, not in copyright). "We'd leave her at home when we were arranging a job, or we'd send her to a movie. Short, blue-eyed, and dark-featured, George was quiet, as per Biography, and lacked the ambition Kate wanted, allowing her to dominate the relationship, notes the Kansas City Star. Kate (Ma) Barker (ne Clark October 8, 1873 January 16, 1935), better known as Ma Barker, and sometimes as Arizona Barker, was the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang during the public enemy era, when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the U.S. Midwest gripped the American pe . American criminal who, along with Alvin Karpis, co-founded the Barker-Karpis gang, Born on December 12, 1901 A map found in his possession indicated that other gang members were in Ocklawaha, Florida. This was a success, earning them $100,000. July 26, 1932 Fred Barker, Karpis (with an augmented gang) robbed Cloud County bank at. By 1933, they had graduated to the big leagues: kidnapping the wealthy. More About Barker Family, Site (s) of. Concur in stating that he was descended from one Ralph or Randulph de Coverall, for whom a date is given, 12 Edw. Among the four of them, between 1915 and 1927, they were arrested for robbery, stealing cars, and even murder, as per History. The map below shows the places where the ancestors of the famous person lived. An error has occured while loading the map. According to legend, as a young girl Barker saw the outlaw Jesse James and his gang ride through her town. For another, few believe the short, elderly Barker was capable of firing - or even holding - a machine gun. FBI leader J. Edgar Hoover agreed, revealing to the public in 1935 that her eyes were "queerly direct, penetrating, with some strongly smoldering flame, yet withal as hypnotically cold as the muzzle of a gun.". Barker's older brothers Herman, Lloyd and Arthur were committing crimes throughout his childhood, belonging to a gang of local delinquent youths called the Central Park Gang. Ma Barker. January 15, 1921 Arthur Barker aka "Claude Dade" involved in attempted bank robbery in Muskogee, Oklahoma; arrested (#822). In 1931, the family moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Barker graduated from Central High School in 1941. After a series of robberies, Fred and Karpis killed Sheriff C. Roy Kelly in West Plains, Missouri on December 19, 1931, an act that forced them to flee the territory. Research genealogy for Thomas Barker of Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, as well as other members of the Barker family, on Ancestry. Bob was a veteran of the U.S. Army. The name Barker is derived from the old Norman "bercer," which signified the elected herdsman of the village or manor. The FBI were not aware that Karpis and other gang members had left three days before, leaving only Fred and Ma in the house. Alvin Karpis, thought to be the true leader of the gang, disagreed with Hoover. Getty ImagesMa Barker, shown here sitting with her friend Arthur Dunlop, died at age 61 in a shootout with the FBI. << And for the first time, Ma Barker was officially recognized as an accomplice to the gang by law enforcement. In 1999 using rap name Sha-Queen her single hit 15 on the Billboard charts. A few years later, Aluredus le berkier was found the in the Pipe Rolls for Lincolnshire in 1193. He married Mary Stickney on 10 or 11 May 1667 in Rowley. Actress Shelley Winters played a villainous fictionalized version of her in the 1966 "Batman" television series, as well as 1970's "Bloody Mama," which also starred a young Robert DeNiro as Lloyd Barker. An FBI report characterized her early life as ordinary.. According to Biography, she had quite the temper and was rather stubborn. ", "The standard authority for the history of Shropshire families is the collection of manuscript pedigrees based on the Heralds' Visitations of 1584 and 1623, when representatives of such families as claimed the right to bear arms were summoned to appear before a Herald and give account of their ancestry. Get info on Richard E Barker - Agawam, Massachusetts - (413) 782-0169. The connecting links have been supplied from the Court Rolls of the Manors of Warfield and Claverley, and after about 1560 one begins to find parish church registers. Ma Barker was born on October 8, 1873, deep in the Missouri Ozarks in a town that was barely a town called Ash Grove. The most Barker families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1910, per The Famous People, teenage Herman Barker ran over a child while fleeing the scene of a robbery in a getaway car, and the Barkers became constantly involved with the police. Roger and Alva had Joseph Barker, Cecil Barker, Larry Barker, Wayne Barker, Delma Barker, Marion Barker, Versie Barker, Dalton Barker. She was known to often say, If the good people of this town dont like my boys, then the good people know what to do.. in Aurora, Missouri , United States, Died on January 16, 1935 Compare DNA and explore genealogy for William Barker Sr born 1646 Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts died 1718 Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts including parents + descendants + 2 photos + DNA connections + more in the free family tree community. 1926 Fred Barker robbed bank in Winfield, Kansas; arrested. Additionally, an assortment of machine-gun drums, automatic pistol clips, and a large amount of ammunition was found in the home. According to authors Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian in their book "Ma Barker," she was never arrested in connection with a crime. Dunlap found at Lake Franstead, Minnesota; killed by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis. In 1932 Lloyd began serving a twenty-five-year term for mail . . The FBI connected the Barker-Karpis gang to the Hamm kidnapping by pulling fingerprints, a new technology at the time. This was about 22% of all the recorded Barker's in USA. Laurence L. Barker 1930 - 2022 Westfield Laurence Lionel Barker, 92, of Joseph Avenue passed away Thursday at home surrounded by his family. advertisement. Arrie "countenanced their wrongdoings" while George refused to accept them. The gang moved to Chicago but decided to leave because Karpis did not want to work for Al Capone. According to Karpiss (per Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian's book "Ma Barker"), Kate allowed Dunlop to "sponge off of her" and was a "pain in the ass." In addition to being a writer, Samuel is a social activist, photographer and cat lover. While there is no evidence she was directly involved in the kidnappings, Kate "Ma" Barker certainly enjoyed the spoils. She wasnt suited for a role in the Karpis-Barker Gang., Karpis went on to write in his autobiography that the most ridiculous story in the annals of crime is that Ma Barker was the mastermind behind the Karpis-Barker gang., Continuing, he wrote, She wasnt a leader of criminals or even a criminal herself She knew we were criminals, but her participation in our careers was limited to one function: when we traveled together, we moved as a mother and her sons. The troubles started small - rocks thrown through windows, wallets stolen from pockets at church - but soon escalated to greater and greater misdeeds. He never came back. Barker was born in Darrington, Washington, and spent most of his youth on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. SEARCH; MY TREE Start Family Tree; Richard E Barker - Agawam, Massachusetts - (413) 782-0169. Samuel Barker was a lineal descendant of John Barker, of Shropshire, England, who married, in 1549, Elizabeth Hill, a sister of Sir Rowland Hill, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London. History remembers her as Ma Barker: the ruthless mother of four of the nation's most dangerous Depression-era criminals. 1921 Lloyd "Red" Barker arrested for vagrancy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Current reports as of 2022 are consistent that Kate Barker's role in her sons' crimes were falsely created by the media to increase newspaper and media sales margins. These pedigrees show five branches of the family of Barker to have been then settled in the county; at Colchurst, Haghmond, Wolverton, Hopton Castle, and Aston respectively; but the Barkers of Aston cannot have appeared in person, for their genealogy, though begun, is not brought up to date like those of the other branches. Following their public display, the bodies of Fred and Ma Barker went unclaimed for nine months before George Barker finally took them home to Oklahoma to be buried next to Herman Barker, per the Joplin Globe. (Herman and Lloyd Barker reportedly involved with the. Sheriff Deputy, August 29, 1927 Herman Barker commits suicide in Wichita, Kansas after being pulled over by a motorcycle cop with a sidecar. According to J. Edgar Hoover's FBI report, Kate "Ma" Barker fought to her death and was found with a spent Tommy gun near her hand. "When we traveled together, we moved as a mother and her sons," he said. In days when surnames were only gradually becoming hereditary the fact of a man holding this office for several years would be enough to establish it as his name. He was arrested and locked up in the Tulsa County Jail. At the age of 12 she began her rap career with artist such as LL Cool J, 50 Cent, NOE from ByrdGang ,Kool G Rap and many other. Inside The Turbulent Antebellum Period And What Really Happened Before The Civil War, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. With Shelley Winters, Pat Hingle, Don Stroud, Diane Varsi. This is a beautiful area with lush vegetation and old oak trees. They obtained $100,000 in ransom by abducting William Hamm, then arranged the kidnapping of Edward Bremer which netted them a $200,000 ransom. Having already captured the era's other public enemies, they were devoting all their energy to bringing in the "Bloody Barkers" and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. Ma Barker, shown here sitting with her friend Arthur Dunlop, died at age 61 in a shootout with the FBI. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described her as "the most vicious, dangerous, and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade.". Barker's sons committed crimes as early as 1910, when Herman was arrested for highway robbery after running over a child in the getaway car. Agents entered the house after Woodbury announced that Ma and Fred Barker were both dead. Joseph Passed away in 1980. A wanted poster was produced, offering a $100 reward for her capture. Her blood has been scrubbed from the pine floorboards. Back in the 1930s, people would pose with the bodies of infamous criminals. While the rest of the U.S. was scraping pennies in a severe economic depression, Kate was frequenting high-class restaurants and nightclubs. Born Arizona Clark, Ma Barker raised four sons whose crimes made the family Americas most wanted gang. Build your family tree online ; Share photos and videos ; Smart Matching technology ; Free! December 16, 1932 Fred and Arthur Barker, Alvin Karpis and gang robbed Third Northwestern National Bank in, April 4, 1933 Fred and Arthur Barker, Alvin Karpis and gang members, August 30, 1933 BarkerKarpis Gang robs a payroll at Stockyards National Bank of, September 22, 1933 Two bank messengers held up by five men identified as BarkerKarpis Gang; Chicago policeman. According to MinnPost, there was a general understanding in St. Paul that gangsters were safe - so long as they laid low within city limits. November 8, 1931 Fred Barker killed an Arkansas police chief. Plymouth Colony, MA d: 8 May 1763 dp: Scituate, Mass m: ca 1737 Mary Green b: 8 Mar 1710 bp: Plymouth, Mass d: 16 Mar 1756 dp: Barnstable, Barnstable Co, MA James Bird b: 1722 bp: Litchfield Co, CT Her parents owned a home with a nice garden and play yard. 722 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 444 556 444 0 500 556 278 0 556 278 833 556 The home is famous for being the location of the longest gun battle in FBI history. Some say she was no more than a common hillbilly woman, others claim she was the mastermind of the entire Barker-Karpis Gang, who stole more money than John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Vern Miller combined, notes author Chris Enss and left a trail of nearly a dozen . In 1892, she married George Barker in Lawrence County, Missouri, and the couple had four sons: Herman (1893-1927), Lloyd (1897-1949), Arthur Barker (1899-1939), and Fred Barker (1901-1935 . An FBI document describes him as "shiftless" and says the Barkers paid no attention to their sons' education, and they were all "more or less illiterate".[1]. Hunter' and 'Mrs. Some historians believe Kate Barker was involved, likely providing the instruments of escape. 1618 Nayland, Suffolk, England died 1693 Andover, Essex, Massachusetts including research + descendants + 15 genealogist comments + DNA connections + more in the free family tree community. %PDF-1.4 She wasn't a leader of criminals or even a criminal herself. In June, the Barker-Karpis Gang abducted William Hamm Jr., president of the Hamm Brewery Company, demanding a hefty ransom for his release. Those of its members in the United States who are of colonial ancestry may trace their lineage from four ancestors, all of whom left their English homes in the seventeenth century to try their fortunes in the splendid heritage then opening to the English race. Ma, 63, was curled on the floor, cradling her Tommy gun. Barker was born Arizona Donnie Clark in Ash Grove, Missouri, the daughter of John and Emaline (Parker) Clark; her family called her "Arrie". Wikimedia CommonsArthur Barker was killed when he tried to escape from Alcatraz Prison. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. /FontBBox [ 0 -206 981 694 ] Username and password are case sensitive. Her name was Kate Barker, but she was notoriously known as "Ma" Barker, a Midwestern woman who became the FBI's most wanted mother of the 1930s. Ocala, Florida. He soon had three little brothers: Lloyd was born in 1896, Arthur (nicknamed "Doc") in 1899, and Fred in 1903. Kate maintained their innocence, even telling a police chief, "all these boys would be good if you cops would just let them alone.". While in St. Paul, Kate and her boys frequented the Green Lantern Saloon, writes Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian in "Ma Barker." The Family of Richard Barker of Andover, Massachusetts Paradigm of Seventeenth Century Colonial Puritanism. [16], This view of Ma Barker is corroborated by notorious bank robber Harvey Bailey, who knew the Barkers well. Born Arizona Donnie Clark (October 8, 1873 - January 16, 1935), Kate "Ma" Barker was the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang from the "public enemy era", when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the U.S. Midwest gripped the American people and press. A search of his apartment revealed a map of Florida and a partially burned letter that mentioned a man-eating local alligator named "Old Joe." Either she threw him out, as some say, or he left when life became intolerable with his criminal family. The special agent in charge of the operation approached the house and demanded that the occupants surrender. in Ocklawaha, Florida , United States, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Fred BARKER (1901), Biography from Wikipedia (see original) under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. Of course, this only made her more eager to do it, notes Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian in "Ma Barker.". In 1918, Arthur Barker and his associates stole a few cars. What could look more innocent? Travis Barker Family Tree Explored: Parents And Siblings Revealed. According to Enss and Kazanjian, a group of prisoners, including Arthur, had used a small saw and sulfuric acid to break down the bars of their cell. With over 30 billion records and 100 million family trees to search, Ancestry is one of the key websites to visit to help you trace your family tree back in time. Five of the most wanted thieves, murderers, and kidnappers by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1930s were from the same family. However, this is widely regarded by historians as fictitious, and some have been skeptical that she participated in the shoot-out in which she died. In October 2016, the Ma Barker home in Ocklawaha, Florida, was relocated via barge across Lake Weir to Carney Island in Marion County in preparation for being opened to the public as a museum in late 2017 or 2018. Barker-Karpis Gang member Alvin Karpis who knew her quite well paints a different picture, describing her as "an old-fashioned homebody from the Ozarks superstitious, gullible, simple, cantankerous, and, well, generally law-abiding" (via theToronto Sun). In 2016, the Florida house where she died was relocated via barge to Carney Island and is now a museum, complete with the original furniture and bullet holes. While her sons were known criminals, the jury is still out on Kate Barker. The FBI reported that a small arsenal found in the house consisted of two .45 caliber automatic pistols, two Thompson submachine guns, a .33 caliber Winchester rifle, a .380 caliber Colt automatic pistol, a Browning 12 gauge automatic shotgun, and a Remington 12 gauge pump shotgun. June 10, 1931 Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis (alias George Heller) arrested by Tulsa, Oklahoma Police investigating burglary. . Ma Barker. Fred brought fellow prison inmate Alvin Karpis, alias Old Creepy, home with him; the two formed the Barker-Karpis Gang and used Ma Barkers shack as their hideout. According toBiography, Kate would become furious at the mention of discipline. Continued on Pago IIS Column U Local Secret Orders BELIEVE , list of public enemies. Historian and author John Koblas declared (via Press), "You can't talk about Ma Barker without talking about Jesse James.". According to ChrisEnss and Howard Kazanjianin "Ma Barker," Ma Barker attended church every Sunday and took her boys with her. A psychologically disturbed matriarch presides over her damaged family of bank-robbing misfits. Ma Barker's Killer Brood: Directed by Bill Karn. He observed in his autobiography that Ma Barker "couldn't plan breakfast" let alone a criminal enterprise. Ash Grove, Greene County, MO, United States. Records of Ma Barker on Ancestry. The FBI later claimed that she would try to break up any relationships, so that "other women in the gang" did their best to avoid her. Jordan le Barker was found in the Assize Rolls for Essex in 1255 and John . The pedigrees are almost without dates, but as this William Barker alias Coverall was about five generations back from those living at the time of the Visitations he must be placed fairly early in the fifteenth century, and all the MSS. [6] She certainly knew of the gang's activities and even helped them before and after they committed their crimes, and this made her an accomplice, but there is no evidence that she was involved in planning them. The first recorded occurrence of the name in Shropshire is in 1292, when one William Barker was an under tenant at Stanton Lacy, but the only Barker families of any standing in the county in later years believed, as will be seen, that the name was not their original one, but had been adopted in place of another by one of their ancestors. According to Biography.com, "Ma" Barker was born Arizona Donnie Clark on Oct. 8, 1873, in Ash Grove, Missouri. They were inducted into major crime by the Central Park gang. Joseph and Edna Barker had children named Robert Barker, Jerry Barker, Joseph Barker Jr. (hosea) Charles Barker, Harley Barker, Martha Barker, Joann Barker, Clariss Barker, Audrey Barker. In the 1920s, he was employed as a farmer, watchman, station engineer, and clerk. She has been presented as a monstrous mother in films, songs, and literature. As they came of age, Ma Barkers sons turned to a life of crime, as evidenced by Hermans 1915 arrest in Joplin, Missouri for highway robbery. August 1, 1927 Herman Barker cashed stolen bank bonds at the America National Bank in Cheyenne, WY. Eunice Barker was born on 2 (4) 1642 in Rowley. According to Julie Thompson's "Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio," many historians believe this party was key to the Barker-Karpis Gang's transition into a big-league crime outfit. Wikimedia CommonsMugshot of Mas son Fred Barker in 1930. After about 15 minutes, the command to surrender was repeated, and a few minutes later, a voice from the house could be heard saying, All right, go ahead.. Kate Barker (born Was Ma Barker a typical midwestern mother of four or a bloodthirsty criminal mastermind? In the late 1920s and early 1930s, St. Paul, Minnesota, was just that place. So stick around, see. They made no exception for Fred and Ma Barker after they were brought to a morgue in Ocala, Florida. Before they met him, the gang were nothing more than a "bumbling band of hillbilly burglars" who would have been captured or killed long before becoming nationally notorious. There was no machinery so the grain was sown or planted by hand and cut with sickles. They noted that George was not a criminal, but he was willing to profit from his sons' crimes after their deaths by claiming their assets as next of kin. He was killed in a lengthy gunfight with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. In December 1932, the gang robbed the Third Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis, but this heist ended in a violent shoot-out with police, killing two officers and one civilian. But it was never enough for Kate. ", While she didn't do any of the heavy lifting, Kate still had a role in the gang's activities. In 1892, she married George Barker in Lawrence County, Missouri, and the couple had four sons: Herman (18931927), Lloyd (18971949), Arthur (18991939), and Fred (19011935). She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers. [8] The gang decided to leave St. Paul with the FBI on the case and without Tom Brown supplying information; they moved to the Chicago area, renting apartments for Ma while they tried to launder the ransom.[9]. J. Edgar Hoover described her as "the most vicious, dangerous, and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade." . endobj [10] According to the FBI's account, a Tommy gun was found lying in her hands. We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their . Family Tree . /CapHeight 694 endobj /Subtype /Type1C From 1928 to 1930, Ma lived in "miserable poverty" in a "dirt-floor shack" with no husband and no job, while all her sons were in jail. According to an FBI report, she enjoyed the life of luxury and bought expensive clothes and furniture.