Clay County Savings Association Building
Encyclopedia
The Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...

 was the scene of the first daylight bank robbery
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...

 which is believed to have been conducted on February 13, 1866 by members of the James-Younger Gang
James-Younger gang
The James-Younger Gang was a notable 19th-century gang of American outlaws that included Jesse James.The gang was centered in the state of Missouri. Membership fluctuated from robbery to robbery, as the outlaws' raids were usually separated by many months...

. The robbers escaped with $60,000, one of the biggest heists of the gang's robberies, and killed a student from William Jewell College
William Jewell College
William Jewell College is a private, four-year liberal arts college of 1,100 undergraduate students located in Liberty, Missouri, U.S. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other civic leaders, including Robert S. James, a Baptist minister and father of the...

.

According to the accounts of the day:
  • It appears that in the afternoon some ten or twelve persons rode into town and 2 of them went into the Clay County Savings Bank, and asked the clerk, William Bird http://www.rootsweb.com/~moclay/ht1.html, to change a 10 dollar bill, and as he started to do so, they drew their revolvers on him and his father, Greenup Bird, the cashier, and made them stand quiet while they proceeded to rob the bank.
  • After having obtained what they supposed was all, they put the clerk and cashier in the vault, and no doubt thought they had locked the door, and went out with their stolen treasure, mounted their horses and were joined by the balance of their gang and commenced shooting.
  • George Wymore, a 19-year-old student who was across the street, was killed.


Frank James
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...

 and Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...

, who lived 10 miles northeast of the bank in Kearney, Missouri
Kearney, Missouri
Kearney is a city in Clay County, Missouri, United States. The population was estimated to be 8,599 in 2008. It is most famous for being the birthplace of Jesse James, and there is an annual festival in the third weekend of September to recognize the notorious outlaw.Kearney was unofficially...

 in Clay County, Missouri, were implicated in the robbery and killing. The bank offered a $5,000 reward for recovery of the money. Articles said the gang—although from Clay County—probably disappeared into Jackson County, Missouri
Jackson County, Missouri
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...

 near Sibley, Missouri
Sibley, Missouri
Sibley is a village in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 347 at the 2000 census. It is known as the home of Fort Osage National Historic Landmark.-Geography:Sibley is located at ....

, and snow the next day covered their tracks. The Association eventually settled with creditors for 60 cents on the dollar.

The building is located at 104 East Franklin Street, a block northeast of the Clay County Courthouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1992.
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