Cora Hubbard
Encyclopedia
Cora Hubbard was a 19th century outlaw
who participated in the August 17, 1897 robbing of the McDonald County
Bank in Pineville, Missouri
. Hubbard, who was compared at the time to the more prolific female outlaw Belle Starr
, was one of only a handful of women who actively participated in the actual bank robbery
process during that era.
puts her birth year at about 1876 and the 1900 federal census, where she is listed as an inmate at a prison in Cole County, Missouri, lists her birth as being in February 1877.
Hubbard was born in Ohio to Union Army veteran Samuel C. and Elizabeth Hubbard. She was the sixth of their seven children and their third and final daughter. In the 1880 census, Samuel (1841–1919) is listed as a cross tie maker and the family is listed as living in the Cedar township of Callaway County, Missouri
. Between 1880 and 1885, Elizabeth Hubbard died and the family moved from Missouri to Kansas, living in the Spring Hill Township of Johnson County
and later Weir City.
By August 17, 1897, Cora had married and divorced one husband, James Russell, and had married her second husband, "Bud" Parker, just a month and a half earlier. At the time of her crime she was living on Parker's farm in Indian Territory
(now Oklahoma
) not far from the Kansas state line.
, where he had recently brought his new bride, Cora. Cora’s brothers Al and William “Bill” Hubbard were living in the same area around this time and John Sheets, a 23-year-old from Missouri, was working on the Parker farm as a hired hand. It is likely the arrival of 31-year-old Albert Whitfield “Whit” Tennison, who drifted into the area that August, was the genesis for the bank robbery plan. Tennison claimed he had previous experience in bank robbing and soon had the group rallied around his idea. The McDonald County Bank was chosen because Bill Hubbard had previously lived in Pineville and knew its layout. Bill Hubbard drew up the map
and Bud Parker, Sheets, Tennison and Al Hubbard were designated to execute the plan. But, when the time came for it to be put into action, both Parker and Al Hubbard backed out. Cora then left with Sheets and Tennison and reportedly told her husband that she would not live with a “damn coward.”
On their way to Pineville, the three would-be bank robbers stopped in Coffeyville, Kansas
so Sheets could buy a Winchester rifle
and ammunition. They then headed to Cora’s father’s home in Weir City. Sam Hubbard reported that when his daughter arrived she had her hair cut short and was dressed in men's clothing. After spending a couple days in Weir City, the group headed for Pineville, more than 60 miles away.
The gang arrived in Pineville on August 16, 1897 and set up camp outside the town. The following morning, Sheets and Tennison went into town and checked out the layout and to make sure there were not any notable complications for their plan. Seeing none, they returned to the camp to get Cora.
Sheets went into the bank with Manning and Shields, while Tennison stayed outside with LaMance to keep watch. Once inside the bank, Shields countered Sheets demands and Sheets knocked him to the ground with his rifle. Sheets then ordered Manning to hold a sack while Shields filled it with money. Shields filled it with all the coins and currency he could find, a total of $589.23 (the equivalent of $15,700 in 2009 on the Consumer Price Index scale).
Once they had the cash, Sheets herded Shields and Manning out of the bank ahead of him. He and Tennison then moved them down the street in front of them in an effort to keep bystanders from shooting. By the time they reached where Hubbard was waiting with the horses, Tennison had also taken Manning’s $15 silver watch.
, Sheets, Tennyson and Hubbard mounted up and headed to the northeast. A posse
quickly formed in Pineville and followed the small gang. Meanwhile, the gang changed direction and headed around Pineville, but someone reported the change in town and it was telegraphed
to Noel, Missouri
, about five miles southwest of Pineville. That afternoon, a search party from Pineville got in front of fugitives and joined another posse from Noel at the crossing of Butler Creek to lie in ambush. When Tennison, Sheets and Hubbard started to ride down a gulch toward the creek, the posse opened fire, wounding both Tennison and Sheets with buckshot, mortally wounding Sheet’s horse and shooting Cora Hubbard’s revolver
out of her hand. The gang returned fire, slightly wounding one deputy. Tennison’s horse became frightened in the clash, running away and separating him from Hubbard and Sheets. Sheets and Hubbard turned their horses around and made their way out of the gulch before Sheets’ horse collapsed and died. Tennison’s horse was later found grazing not far from the scene, but the robber was not with it. The next day, a report of a man paying for his breakfast the next morning in Indian Territory, about 25 miles from Pineville, and paid for it in pennies, which coincided with the fact that many pennies had been taken in the robbery. A posse headed by Joe Yeargain of Southwest City, Missouri
followed that tip and found Tennison wounded in a cabin 20 miles inside Indian Territory, he had a .45 Winchester, .45 revolver and $121.50 from the robbery. He was captured without incident and was taken to Neosho, Missouri
, about 30 miles north of Pineville, where he was housed in the Newton County jail. From Tennison, the posse learned that Hubbard and Sheets were from Weir City. Yeargain then headed the posse to that Kansas town.
Hubbard and Sheets and stolen a horse at gunpoint near where the shootout had happened, providing them both with a means to escape. They traveled 70 miles to Parsons, Kansas
, from where Hubbard took a train back to Weir City on the morning of August 21. Sheets promised to follow in a day or two, and from Weir City the pair planned to escape to Iowa.
Shortly after Cora Hubbard returned to her father's home in Weir City the posse also arrived. City Marshal Jim Hatton went to her father’s house under the ruse of borrowing his tar kettle and discovered Cora there. As the posse was returning to the home to arrest her, they located Bill Hubbard and arrested him for his role in the robbery, which they had been informed of by Tennison. After taking Bill Hubbard to the city jail, they returned to the Hubbard home, where Cora answered the door and obediently put up her hands "like a child at play putting up its hands before a toy pistol."
A later search of the Hubbard home by Marshal Hatton turned up $161 buried in the vegetable garden, $25 in a hill of peppers and the additional $141 in a hill of potatoes. Also on the premises they found the men's clothes worn by Cora Hubbard during the holdup. In response to this find, McDonald County Sheriff Richard Jarrett and Shields, the back cashier, when to Weir City on August 26. While they were interrogating Sam Hubbard, John Sheets drove up unaware in a buggy and was quickly arrested. In his buggy they found an additional $91 and a .45-caliber six-shooter. Along with Sheets, Sam Hubbard was also arrested and taken back to Missouri because of his reluctance to cooperate with officers in their search for the loot.
— Hubbard and Sheets for 12 years each and Tennyson for 10. The Missouri governor commuted Cora's sentence the day after Christmas
in 1904, and she was released on New Year's Day
1905. During her imprisonment, the one-time bank robber had let her hair grow out but had apparently done little else to enhance her feminine allure in the eyes of the reporter who described her at the time of her release as "short in stature with ... black eyes and a greasy dark complexion."
. He is listed as married in the 1900 census, when he was in the custody of the Missouri State Penitentiary. In the 1910 census he is married to the former Emma Hogan, but had only been married to her for three years. He died on December 12, 1932 in Hudspeth County, Texas.
John Sheets was born in Missouri in December 1876. He lived for a time in Weir City, Kansas before becoming a farm hand for Bud Parker, Cora Hubbard's second husband. In the 1900 census, he is in the custody of the Missouri State Penitentiary and is listed as single. No additional information has been located on him.
Bud Parker was a farmer with a farm near what is now Nowata, Oklahoma. Though he was initially part of the plan to rob the McDonald County Bank, he eventually backed out, to the scorn of his new bride.
William "Bill" Hubbard was Cora's oldest brother who was born around 1865 in Ohio. He was the oldest child in the family and for a time lived in Pineville, Missouri and drew a plan of the town to aid in the robbery. He was arrested and later released.
Albert "Al" Hubbard was another of Cora's older brothers. He was born around 1871 in Ohio. He was living near the Parker farm when the robbery was planned and was originally planning to take part in the crime, but later backed out.
and had been a model prisoner. Now proficient at sewing, she planned to seek employment in that line of work.
In addition, Cora had previously bragged about being a member of the Dalton Gang
, which would seem unlikely since she would have been only 15 at the time that infamous gang was obliterated in 1892, but after her arrest a Colt .45 revolver with the name "Bob Dalton" etched on the handle and seven notches carved near the trigger guard was found in her father’s home. This seemed to substantiate her claims that she had been with the Dalton Gang in earlier years and that she had Bob Dalton's
six-shooter. The notches were presumed to represent the number of men killed with the Colt.
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
who participated in the August 17, 1897 robbing of the McDonald County
McDonald County, Missouri
McDonald County is a county located in Southwest Missouri in the United States of America. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 23,083. Its county seat is Pineville...
Bank in Pineville, Missouri
Pineville, Missouri
Pineville is a city in and the county seat of McDonald County, Missouri, United States. The population was 916 at the 2009 census, at which time it was a town. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. Hubbard, who was compared at the time to the more prolific female outlaw Belle Starr
Belle Starr
Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr , better known as Belle Starr, was a notorious American outlaw.-Early life:...
, was one of only a handful of women who actively participated in the actual 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...
process during that era.
Background
Though Hubbard claimed to be 28 at the time of the robbery, which would have put her birth in 1870, the 1880 U.S. Census listed her age as three, which would have meant she was born in 1877. In addition, the 1885 Kansas state censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
puts her birth year at about 1876 and the 1900 federal census, where she is listed as an inmate at a prison in Cole County, Missouri, lists her birth as being in February 1877.
Hubbard was born in Ohio to Union Army veteran Samuel C. and Elizabeth Hubbard. She was the sixth of their seven children and their third and final daughter. In the 1880 census, Samuel (1841–1919) is listed as a cross tie maker and the family is listed as living in the Cedar township of Callaway County, Missouri
Callaway County, Missouri
Callaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 44,332. Its county seat is Fulton. The county was organized in 1820. It was named for Capt. James Callaway, a grandson of...
. Between 1880 and 1885, Elizabeth Hubbard died and the family moved from Missouri to Kansas, living in the Spring Hill Township of Johnson County
Johnson County, Kansas
Johnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
and later Weir City.
By August 17, 1897, Cora had married and divorced one husband, James Russell, and had married her second husband, "Bud" Parker, just a month and a half earlier. At the time of her crime she was living on Parker's farm in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
(now Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
) not far from the Kansas state line.
The Plan
The plans for the robbery started on Bud Parker’s farm near Nowata, OklahomaNowata, Oklahoma
Nowata is a city in Nowata County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,731 at the United States Census, 2010, a 6.0 percent decline from 3,971 at the 2000 census...
, where he had recently brought his new bride, Cora. Cora’s brothers Al and William “Bill” Hubbard were living in the same area around this time and John Sheets, a 23-year-old from Missouri, was working on the Parker farm as a hired hand. It is likely the arrival of 31-year-old Albert Whitfield “Whit” Tennison, who drifted into the area that August, was the genesis for the bank robbery plan. Tennison claimed he had previous experience in bank robbing and soon had the group rallied around his idea. The McDonald County Bank was chosen because Bill Hubbard had previously lived in Pineville and knew its layout. Bill Hubbard drew up the map
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
and Bud Parker, Sheets, Tennison and Al Hubbard were designated to execute the plan. But, when the time came for it to be put into action, both Parker and Al Hubbard backed out. Cora then left with Sheets and Tennison and reportedly told her husband that she would not live with a “damn coward.”
On their way to Pineville, the three would-be bank robbers stopped in Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville is a city situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295...
so Sheets could buy a Winchester rifle
Winchester rifle
In common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...
and ammunition. They then headed to Cora’s father’s home in Weir City. Sam Hubbard reported that when his daughter arrived she had her hair cut short and was dressed in men's clothing. After spending a couple days in Weir City, the group headed for Pineville, more than 60 miles away.
The gang arrived in Pineville on August 16, 1897 and set up camp outside the town. The following morning, Sheets and Tennison went into town and checked out the layout and to make sure there were not any notable complications for their plan. Seeing none, they returned to the camp to get Cora.
The Robbery
Sheets, Tennison and Cora come into Pineville on the morning of August 17, 1897 and stopped about a block from the bank. Hubbard was left to hold the gang’s horses while Sheets and Tennison headed to the bank to carry out the robbery. Sheets and Tennison snuck around the corner of the bank and drew their weapons on three men sitting in front of the building, A.V. Manning, president of the bank; John W. Shields, Cashier; and Marcus N. LaMance, county treasurer. They reportedly told the three men, “we’re here for the money and we want it damn quick.”Sheets went into the bank with Manning and Shields, while Tennison stayed outside with LaMance to keep watch. Once inside the bank, Shields countered Sheets demands and Sheets knocked him to the ground with his rifle. Sheets then ordered Manning to hold a sack while Shields filled it with money. Shields filled it with all the coins and currency he could find, a total of $589.23 (the equivalent of $15,700 in 2009 on the Consumer Price Index scale).
Once they had the cash, Sheets herded Shields and Manning out of the bank ahead of him. He and Tennison then moved them down the street in front of them in an effort to keep bystanders from shooting. By the time they reached where Hubbard was waiting with the horses, Tennison had also taken Manning’s $15 silver watch.
Escape and Capture
From the stableStable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
, Sheets, Tennyson and Hubbard mounted up and headed to the northeast. A posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
quickly formed in Pineville and followed the small gang. Meanwhile, the gang changed direction and headed around Pineville, but someone reported the change in town and it was telegraphed
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
to Noel, Missouri
Noel, Missouri
Noel is a city in McDonald County, Missouri, United States, along the Elk River. The population was 1,615 at the 2009 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area....
, about five miles southwest of Pineville. That afternoon, a search party from Pineville got in front of fugitives and joined another posse from Noel at the crossing of Butler Creek to lie in ambush. When Tennison, Sheets and Hubbard started to ride down a gulch toward the creek, the posse opened fire, wounding both Tennison and Sheets with buckshot, mortally wounding Sheet’s horse and shooting Cora Hubbard’s revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
out of her hand. The gang returned fire, slightly wounding one deputy. Tennison’s horse became frightened in the clash, running away and separating him from Hubbard and Sheets. Sheets and Hubbard turned their horses around and made their way out of the gulch before Sheets’ horse collapsed and died. Tennison’s horse was later found grazing not far from the scene, but the robber was not with it. The next day, a report of a man paying for his breakfast the next morning in Indian Territory, about 25 miles from Pineville, and paid for it in pennies, which coincided with the fact that many pennies had been taken in the robbery. A posse headed by Joe Yeargain of Southwest City, Missouri
Southwest City, Missouri
Southwest City is a city in McDonald County, Missouri, United States. The population was 937 at the 2009 census, at which time it was a town. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
followed that tip and found Tennison wounded in a cabin 20 miles inside Indian Territory, he had a .45 Winchester, .45 revolver and $121.50 from the robbery. He was captured without incident and was taken to Neosho, Missouri
Neosho, Missouri
Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, about 30 miles north of Pineville, where he was housed in the Newton County jail. From Tennison, the posse learned that Hubbard and Sheets were from Weir City. Yeargain then headed the posse to that Kansas town.
Hubbard and Sheets and stolen a horse at gunpoint near where the shootout had happened, providing them both with a means to escape. They traveled 70 miles to Parsons, Kansas
Parsons, Kansas
Parsons is a city in the northern part of Labette County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,500...
, from where Hubbard took a train back to Weir City on the morning of August 21. Sheets promised to follow in a day or two, and from Weir City the pair planned to escape to Iowa.
Shortly after Cora Hubbard returned to her father's home in Weir City the posse also arrived. City Marshal Jim Hatton went to her father’s house under the ruse of borrowing his tar kettle and discovered Cora there. As the posse was returning to the home to arrest her, they located Bill Hubbard and arrested him for his role in the robbery, which they had been informed of by Tennison. After taking Bill Hubbard to the city jail, they returned to the Hubbard home, where Cora answered the door and obediently put up her hands "like a child at play putting up its hands before a toy pistol."
A later search of the Hubbard home by Marshal Hatton turned up $161 buried in the vegetable garden, $25 in a hill of peppers and the additional $141 in a hill of potatoes. Also on the premises they found the men's clothes worn by Cora Hubbard during the holdup. In response to this find, McDonald County Sheriff Richard Jarrett and Shields, the back cashier, when to Weir City on August 26. While they were interrogating Sam Hubbard, John Sheets drove up unaware in a buggy and was quickly arrested. In his buggy they found an additional $91 and a .45-caliber six-shooter. Along with Sheets, Sam Hubbard was also arrested and taken back to Missouri because of his reluctance to cooperate with officers in their search for the loot.
Conviction
Sam and Bill Hubbard were released at Pineville on August 28, the day of the preliminary hearing for the three bank robbers. Cora Hubbard, John Sheets and Whit Tennyson were bound over for trial and returned to the Newton County jail in Neosho. They were convicted of bank robbery in January 1898 and sentenced to the state prison at Jefferson CityMissouri State Penitentiary
The Missouri State Penitentiary, also known as "The Walls", was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri that operated from 1836-2004. It was a prison of the Missouri Department of Corrections. Before its closure it was named the Jefferson City Correctional Center . Before its closure it was the oldest...
— Hubbard and Sheets for 12 years each and Tennyson for 10. The Missouri governor commuted Cora's sentence the day after Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
in 1904, and she was released on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1905. During her imprisonment, the one-time bank robber had let her hair grow out but had apparently done little else to enhance her feminine allure in the eyes of the reporter who described her at the time of her release as "short in stature with ... black eyes and a greasy dark complexion."
Accomplices
Albert Whitfield Tennison was born in either September 1865 or on November 25, 1863 in IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He is listed as married in the 1900 census, when he was in the custody of the Missouri State Penitentiary. In the 1910 census he is married to the former Emma Hogan, but had only been married to her for three years. He died on December 12, 1932 in Hudspeth County, Texas.
John Sheets was born in Missouri in December 1876. He lived for a time in Weir City, Kansas before becoming a farm hand for Bud Parker, Cora Hubbard's second husband. In the 1900 census, he is in the custody of the Missouri State Penitentiary and is listed as single. No additional information has been located on him.
Bud Parker was a farmer with a farm near what is now Nowata, Oklahoma. Though he was initially part of the plan to rob the McDonald County Bank, he eventually backed out, to the scorn of his new bride.
William "Bill" Hubbard was Cora's oldest brother who was born around 1865 in Ohio. He was the oldest child in the family and for a time lived in Pineville, Missouri and drew a plan of the town to aid in the robbery. He was arrested and later released.
Albert "Al" Hubbard was another of Cora's older brothers. He was born around 1871 in Ohio. He was living near the Parker farm when the robbery was planned and was originally planning to take part in the crime, but later backed out.
Later life
Little is known about Cora after her release from prison. She is listed as being divorced in the 1900 census, making it unlikely that she went back to her second husband, Bud Parker, after her release. But a small note in a Jefferson City newspaper did remark on her release in 1904. It said she had been employed as a seamstress during her incarcerationIncarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
and had been a model prisoner. Now proficient at sewing, she planned to seek employment in that line of work.
Legacy
As one of only a handful of female bank robbers, Cora Hubbard’s legacy has survived, even though her known life of crime only included a single bank robbery. As soon as it was originally reported that one of the member of the gang was a woman area headlines called her the "Second Belle Starr" and proclaimed "Female Bandit Rivals the Daring Deeds of Belle Starr and Kate Bender." Further enhancing this legacy is the only known photo of Cora, which shows her dressed in the men’s clothing she wore during the robbery and holding her rifle alongside coconspirators Tennison and Sheets.In addition, Cora had previously bragged about being a member of the Dalton Gang
Dalton Gang
The Dalton Gang, also known as The Dalton Brothers, was a family of both lawmen and outlaws in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of...
, which would seem unlikely since she would have been only 15 at the time that infamous gang was obliterated in 1892, but after her arrest a Colt .45 revolver with the name "Bob Dalton" etched on the handle and seven notches carved near the trigger guard was found in her father’s home. This seemed to substantiate her claims that she had been with the Dalton Gang in earlier years and that she had Bob Dalton's
Bob Dalton (outlaw)
Robert Reddick Dalton , better known as Bob Dalton, was an American outlaw in the American Old West. He led the ill-fated Dalton Gang raid on two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas. Ambushed by town citizens Bob, Bill Power, Grat Dalton and Dick Broadwell were all killed.-Early life:The Dalton family...
six-shooter. The notches were presumed to represent the number of men killed with the Colt.