Young Brothers Massacre

3. Youngs Accused of Boxcar Burglary

3 YOUNGS ACCUSED OF BOXCAR BURGLARY On April 14, 1924, R. E. 'fiuman, special agent, filed a complaint before the clerk of the federal court, the unyielding Tony Arnold, in his additional capacity as a United States commissioner. The complainant's solemn affidavit stated that Oscar Young, Harry Young, Jennings Young, and Mrs. J. D. Young, in violation of the Dyer Act, a 1913 act of Congress, had broken into a freight car moving in interstate commerce and had stolen a quantity of merchandise.1 This was the first time that Harry Young, then twenty years old, had been mentioned in criminal proceedings. It was also the first time that anyone had ever accused Oscar, who was later to become a respected farmer and a custodial officer at the United States Medical Center in Springfield. Furthermore, it was the first time that Willie was officially, and improbably, charged as an accomplice with her sons. The accusation came as no surprise, however, to at least one person. Comer Owens, uncle and foster-father to baseball player Mickey Owens, was always willing to tell his view of his relatives, the Youngs, "as I heard it," or "as it was told to me." He told of visiting them and feeling with dire intuition , "1 didn't like what I saw."2 Fortunately, J. D. had died in 1921 and so had to face only the humiliation of the first convictions of Paul and Jennings in Ozark. R. E. uuman, who filed the complaint in 1924, was then a special agent (a security officer) for the St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad. Known as Generaluuman in later years, he was a first cousin of President 'fiuman. An 16 Youngs Accused of Boxcar Burglary 17 intimate of the TIuman family, Colonel Rufus Burrus, said in 1984 that "he was more a brother than a cousin." He is represented in the TIuman Library in Independence by a niche and his two-star general's flag.3 To his detractors and the irreverent, he was known as "Snapper" TIuman, and he lived up to that image with gusto. Once an overexuberant guest leaving the lounge in the Colonial Hotel in Springfield announced loudly to some convivial companions that "TIuman [the president] is a sonof -a-bitch." The unsuspecting stranger had the honor and distinction of being decked by a right fist to the jaw by a redfaced , enraged retired major general.4 Reputedly, it was his personal challenge to violent protesting pickets that broke the railroad strike in 1923. He was single-mindedly devoted to duty and law enforcement . On 'frumans death, Senator Stuart Symington noted that he was "a veteran of four wars," beginning with his enlisting at age eighteen for the Spanish-American War. "He served with distinction in the Philippine Insurrection, the Mexican Border Wars and in World War I," said Symington.5 The Independence Examiner reported that, in the Battle of the Argonne, "he received a battlefield promotion to Major."6 General TIuman was a sturdy, square-shouldered man with a natural military manner. His hair was reddish-blond, and his glasses were always sparkling clean in typical TIuman fashion. His hat was always precisely and squarely set on a perfectly tonsured head. General 'fruman hated cowardice and weakness of character. For petty thievery, in his book, the sole remedy should be extirpation. It is not known what proof General 'fruman had to support his 1924 complaint against the Youngs. Some direct evidence must have connected Jennings, at least, with stolen merchandise ; but if General 'fruman had more than mere suspicion to connect Oscar, Harry, and Mrs. Young with the offense, that cannot be documented. He may have heard the rumor, circulated by one visitor to the Young home, that when he "stepped in the living room, he was ankle-deep in 18 Young Brothers Massacre carpets." This rumor falls into the class of hearsay observations , such as those given by Comer Owens. General lhlman may have thought that joining and charging Oscar, Harry, and Mrs. Young even on slight evidence would force cooperation, perhaps even a confession, from Jennings. On the basis of the complaint, the commissioner issued warrants charging all four accused Young family members with breaking the seal on a freight car and stealing specified merchandise. Bonds of $5,000 were fixed for Oscar, Harry, and Jennings to appear in court on October 1, 1924. Mrs. Youngs...