A Posse in Laurel

The idea of townspeople forming a posse conjures up images of cowboys in the old west on horseback going after desperadoes who robbed a bank or the stagecoach. But in a small town like Laurel, it was still commonplace in the early 1900s. Here are three examples of a posse of Laurel citizens pursuing criminals.

1911: Posse Captures the Boy Bandit

In 1911, the Citizens’ National Bank of Laurel was a tiny brick building on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets. The original structure is still there, totally absorbed into the current building. Downtown Laurel was a sparse collection of houses and small farms, separated by vacant lots. Many homeowners had chickens, a cow, or a horse, so small barns were also commonplace.

On Sept. 8, 1911, a young-looking teenager nervously walked across the street toward the bank and donned a mask. As he bounded up the steps, he drew a handgun from his coat pocket. The Baltimore Sun published a detailed account of what happened next.

At the teller’s window, Laurel resident Harry A. Block was making a deposit to teller A. Leroy Bevans. The Kid yelled “Hands up!” and passed a bag through the window to Bevans, ordering him to “put all the money you’ve got in the drawer into that bag, and do it quick!” Suddenly, a door from the other side of the bank opened, and cashier George W. Waters stepped out with a pistol in his hand and fired a shot into the air.

With gun in hand, the Kid took off. Waters shot again, this time aiming for the robber, but missed. As the Kid ran down the steps outside the bank, his mask fell off.

The Kid ran between the houses and farms that backed up to each other from Main Street and Prince George Street. An alley ran through the middle of the block between the homes to allow trucks to empty the outhouses.

Waters’ gunshots immediately drew a crowd. Residents and police rushed to the bank to find out what happened. As described in the Sun, “Then searching parties were organized and the hunt for the fugitive began.” The posse sprang into action.

A few minutes later, some children playing near Della Cooper’s barn behind Prince George Street saw a coat covering the opening of the barn’s loft. Mrs. Cooper went into the barn with a hatchet to investigate. As she started up the ladder, a voice above said, “Don’t come up, lady, I’m here!” Mrs. Cooper ran to get help.

As soon as she was out of the barn, the Kid took off running, leaving his coat and gun in the loft. According to the Sun, as he was running from Cooper’s barn, “he was seen by Howard Smith, Jr., a strapping youngster of 18 years, who at once gave pursuit.” Smith, a member of the posse, eventually found him locked in an outhouse in the cemetery behind St. Philips Episcopal Church. The Kid meekly gave himself up to Smith.

Newspapers across the country reported on the attempted robbery. The Indianapolis Star ran the headline: “Posse Captures Youth Who Attempted to Hold Up Bank.”

After hours of interrogation, the Kid came clean with the true story. “His eyes were swimming with tears” as he told the officials that his name was John R. Morgan. He was 17, but he was from a town in Virginia near Roanoke. He ran away from his father and ended up in Laurel. As the Sun dramatically concluded its description of the interrogation: “Again the head dropped and the body twitched. Morgan said no more.”

At his trial, Morgan was found guilty and was given five years in the state penitentiary. Chief Judge Bristow, “gave Morgan to understand emphatically that the court was letting him off very easily.”

The attempted robbery was the talk of the town of months. Bank employees became instant celebrities. The Executive Board of the bank, meeting a month after the attempted robbery, voted to confiscate Mr. Waters’ pistol for shooting a hole in the ceiling.

1919: Posse Pursues Mass Murderer

On April 20, three people were shot in the Oakcrest area, which in 1919 was almost all farms. A housewife, the owner of a boardinghouse, and one of the boardinghouse tenants were shot and killed.

Joseph Englehart lived in the boardinghouse, which was owned by his sister, one of the victims. Englehart was well-known to the Laurel community as a crazy drunkard. According to the Washington Times, “Englehart was a staunch believer in the occult. He also labored under the delusion that his divorced wife had cast a ‘spell’ over him.” Englehart had traveled to Baltimore that morning, “had a séance with a Baltimore medium,” and drank whiskey all day. According to the Times, “So strangely did Englehart act on the train that his brother ventured to tell him that he believed his mind was unbalanced. ‘Joe,’ said the brother, ‘I believe you are going insane’.”

While in Baltimore, Englehart also bought a revolver.

When the police were informed of the shootings, a posse led by Laurel Chief of Police R. Lee Nichols was quickly formed. As described in The Washington Post, “All during the night a search was conducted by county officials and neighbors. About 5 o’clock Sunday morning they heard the report of a pistol in the dense woods, and after an investigation of four hours found Englehart lying on the top of a hill in a thicket of the woods in an unconscious condition with a bullet wound in his right temple.” The Post surmised that Englehart had “sent a bullet crashing through his brain.”

Englehart was taken to a Baltimore hospital, where he died several hours later without regaining consciousness. Exactly what happened will never be known, but Englehart was considered the main suspect. As the Times put it, “Just what happened after Englehart returned to his home probably never will be unfolded as the lips of all his victims are sealed in death.”

Coroner Thomas Baldwin told the Times that “There is no doubt that Joe Englehart killed his sister” and the others.

1922: Posse Captures Fort Meade Soldiers

The headline in the Sept. 8, 1922, Laurel Leader read: “PLOT TO ROB BANK, Five Camp Meade Soldiers Captured By Posse.”

On Sept. 5, 1921, Private Charles Jones, a cook for the tank corps at Camp Meade, reluctantly drove five other soldiers in his car to Laurel. Jones later told police that he “suspected trouble” from the soldiers and carried his own gun.

While en route to Laurel, the soldiers talked of robbing the Citizens’ National Bank on Main Street. When Jones protested, “one of the men shoved a gun toward my stomach,” according to the Baltimore Sun.

Their plan was to have one soldier enter the bank and ask for change “to ascertain the ‘lay of the land’,” according to the Leader. Three other soldiers waited outside for a signal to run in and rob the tellers. Since Jones wasn’t willing to participate, a fifth soldier stayed with him in the car as a guard.

But the soldier guarding Jones fell asleep, allowing Jones to “get the drop on him” with his own gun. Jones kicked the soldier to the curb and drove to the State Police substation on A Street to notify police.

Jones hurriedly told his story to State Policeman Link, according to the Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion newspaper. “Link, unable to take the trail himself because of having recently been crippled, notified Judge Roberts, who seized the State policeman’s gun and dashed from the substation calling for help. From almost every house men and boys came forth armed with shotguns, revolvers, and rifles.”

The Leader said it was “a posse composed of Chief Bailiff James A. Scaggs, of Laurel, Deputy Sheriff R. Lee Nichols, Justice of the Peace Thomas B. Roberts, and dozens of private citizens of Laurel.” The Public Opinion said it was “an armed posse of more than a hundred men.”

But while the posse was being formed, State Policeman Link called C.E. Little, Mayor of Laurel and cashier of the bank, and alerted him to the soldiers’ plan. The soldiers, who were huddled on the sidewalk outside the bank plotting their next move, had no idea the whole town now knew what was going on. Little, assistant cashier Viola Clough, and clerk Patrick Murphy quietly closed and locked the banks’ doors.

The Washington Evening Star reported what happened next: “Not far from the bank the crowd discovered the soldiers. The men fled and the crowd gave chase. The pursuit led to the outskirts of the town and through a cornfield on the property of DeWilton H. Donaldson, a Laurel merchant, where the soldiers were captured. During the chase a number of shots were fired by the pursuers and they were returned by the soldiers.”

The Evening Star also reported that “all of the men, with the exception of Jones, were ordered committed to jail pending grand jury action, under bond of $2,500 each. Jones is being held under a $1,000 bond as a witness.”

The Leader summed up the event with “The Citizens’ Bank is well protected from such attacks and it would take experts to accomplish much there. The community is naturally elated at the failure of the men to accomplish their purpose, and is proud of the prompt capture of the would-be robbers by its local officers, aided by many private citizens.”

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Kevin Leonard is a founding member of the Laurel History Boys and a two-time winner of the Maryland Delaware District of Columbia Press Association Journalism Award.