Newton Gang
Encyclopedia
The Newton Gang was an outlaw
gang of the early 20th century, and the most successful train robbers
and bank robbers
in history. From 1919 through 1924 the gang robbed dozens of banks, claiming a number of eighty seven banks (unconfirmed) and six trains (confirmed). According to Willis Newton, the brothers "took in more money than the Dalton Gang
, Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
and the James-Younger Gang
combined." Also according to their own claims, they never killed anyone. It's true they were never charged with any death or injuries associated with their robberies, although one daylight robbery in Toronto, Canada proved nearly fatal for one bank messenger. Notable enough for the 1924 train robbery near Rondout, Illinois (the world's largest at the time), the brothers gained a second round of fame in retirement, when they participated in a 1975 documentary film, and then a more in-depth oral history project that eventually was published in book form, possibly one of the clearest records of a criminal career of the period, as told by the participants. This second round of fame led to a feature film being produced by a major Hollywood studio, after the death of the last surviving brother.
, four sons of a large cotton farming family, sharecroppers on the newly settled great plains. Raised on outlaw stories by their mother, leader and mastermind Willis Newton entered the workforce at an early age and followed the present day exploits of outlaw Harry Tracy in the purple press of the time, as a newsboy. He says he cried when he heard the news of Tracy's suicide in Oct 1902. Willis quit school after a single year of attending classes, too proud to continue when his pants had to be patched in the seat.
It's unclear when the brothers first ran afoul of the law but sharecropping didn't seem to suit their fierce pride, and Willis Newton claims that at age twenty he was convicted for a crime he didn't commit - his brother Wylie "Dock," or "Doc" Newton (b. 1891) {Prison #639) stole loose cotton from the loading dock of one processing gin and tried to sell it at another. Unable to find Dock, local authorities arrested J. Willis Newton (born January 19, 1889) and charged him instead. A local jury reportedly convicted Willis on slim evidence and he was sentenced to a year in the brutal Texas State Prison system, where he was forced to pick more cotton. His attitude hardened quickly in the face of the inhuman conditions and his perception of the injustice of it all. Dock soon joined him, entering the prison system soon after, possibly for robbing a Post Office of stamps. (The record indicates simply it was for a theft of less than fifty dollars.) From 1909 until 1918-1920 the two brothers were in and out of the Texas penal system due to their many escape attempts, which lead to further sentences and a deeper hardening of attitudes. Eventually released, Willis began a career of petty theft, usually involving the night time theft of clothing from general stores. Brothers Jess (older) and Joe (much younger) stayed out of the penal system until later, working regularly as bronc busters and ranch hands.
In 1914, Willis Newton and an accomplice robbed a Southern Pacific Railroad passenger train
in Cline, Texas (eighteen miles west of Uvalde in southwestern Uvalde County
), taking $4,700 at gunpoint from passengers. Then in 1916 Willis robbed a bank in Boswell, Oklahoma
in the company of a gang he joined in Durant, Oklahoma
, taking just over $10,000 and escaping on horseback. In 1917, he went back to prison {Prison #83732} for burglary but eventually forged letters to secure a pardon. Upon release Willis served an apprenticeship of sorts with a crew of bank burglars with a rotating lineup due to accidental death and reckless behavior. Pride and intelligence led Willis to decide to form his own crew and eschew the wilder elements of his previous partners in crime. Joining forces with an experienced safecracker seems to have been a turning point. In 1920, operating out of Tulsa, Oklahoma
, Willis Newton formed what others eventually called "the Newton Boys," along with Brentwood "Brent" Glasscock, a safecracker and expert in high explosives, convincing his cowboy brothers Joe and later Jess to join his outfit. Dock's successful 1920 escape from prison in Texas (his fifth) enabled him to join his brothers soon after, and with this quintet as a nucleus, the crew had a good run, robbing banks across Texas
, Arkansas
, Oklahoma
, Kansas
, Nebraska
, Iowa
, Colorado
, North Dakota
, Missouri
, Illinois
, Wisconsin
, and Canada
. Other suspected robberies in Oregon and Washington state have not been confirmed.
Most of their heist
s were committed at night, with them breaking in and busting the bank safe without ever having to come into contact with any people or authorities. Through bribing a corrupt insurance official with the Texas Association of Bankers, Willis obtained a list of banks that still possessed older models of safes that were vulnerable to their brand of attack, which involved forcing nitroglycerin into the cracks in the square door and setting the explosive off with dynamite caps. The resulting explosions were messy and loud but the gang liked to operate in the dead of winter in small farm towns where two men armed with shotguns could keep the few townspeople at bay while the money was hustled out to waiting cars - Studebaker
and Cadillac
being the preferred makes. Prior to entering the bank, Willis usually shinnied up a pole outside the telephone office and cut the phone lines at a strategic point, thereby insuring a clean getaway once the county line had been reached. In Hondo, Texas
, the gang hit two banks the same night after discovering the first vault door open.
Occasionally the tactics would change, and the crew planned daytime robberies, like in New Braunfels, Texas
, a simple bank hold-up on March 9, 1922, or the daring and overly ambitious multiple attack on pedestrian bank messengers in Toronto, Canada, on July 24, 1923, when the Toronto Currency Clearinghouse was hit in downtown morning rush hour. A melee ensued when the bank messengers refused to surrender their bags at gunpoint, and the Newtons' reluctance to actually carry out the threats to shoot collided. Gunfire was exchanged eventually, and two messengers were wounded by Willis in the struggle and subsequent getaway. Two bags netted the gang some C$
84,000 Canadian dollars, but spoiled their reputed non-violent record. In other robberies the patrons and bank employees often described them as being extremely polite, going out of their way to make sure everyone was comfortable, etc.
The take from most bank jobs was not large, often less than $10,000 in combined cash and negotiable bonds. Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds often formed the bulk of the take, stolen from individual deposit boxes. Various bonds and other securities were fenced through underworld connections in Chicago, where Willis and Glasscock cultivated contacts. Methodical to the last, Willis insisted on carrying out even the coins from the banks. "We never get enough. When I go in to get anything, I want a get it all," he liked to brag. Ambitious, Willis invested a great deal of his money into oil wells in Smackover, Arkansas
, and Mineral Wells, Texas
, hoping to make it big during the boom times for the industry, when millionaires were being made overnight. Dock and Jess enjoyed the good life, visiting the Kentucky Derby
and the Indianapolis 500
several times, and enjoying the night life in Kansas City, Chicago and the like between jobs, eating in the finest restaurants and staying in the nicest hotels, thereby avoiding suspicion. Willis persuaded Joe to invest with him in various oil wells, all of which failed to produce. Born into poverty, the brothers did not save much. Joe joked, "Why didn't you invest that money in something that makes it grow? Why, I said, who wants a better job what we already got? That's what we thought then. I need any money, go out and rob another bank." Interstate crime was difficult to police in those years. Anonymous and fast moving, the Newton Gang received very little attention from law enforcement, despite the large number of robberies they'd committed. However, that would change when they robbed their sixth train, a postal
train
on June 12, 1924.
The gang had teamed up with two Chicago
gangsters, two racketeers, and a corrupt postal inspector
named William J. Fahy and, using inside information to rob a postal train originating in Chicago, headed north and west and carrying large amounts of currency from the Federal Reserve commissioned for banks along the route. Boarding the train secretly in Chicago, Willis and Jess climbed into the engine and stopped the train at a remote crossing in Rondout, Illinois. The robbery netted them more than $3 million in one take. It was the largest train robbery in history. However, during the robbery, the engineer had overshot the crossing in his nervousness, and had to back the train up, causing some of the robbers to move out of position. In the confusion, Wylie "Dock" Newton was wounded five times with a .45 caliber pistol fired by Brent Glasscock, who mistook him for an armed postal worker in the dark. The gang took the money, loaded Dock into a vehicle, and left the scene. While loading into the vehicle, a bystander supposedly heard one of the robbers say the name "Willie", which was later testified to at trial. Dock and Joe were arrested first, in a Chicago tenement after police were tipped about an underworld doctor's visit to aid the wounded man. Willis was arrested when he returned to the room the next day but very nearly bribed his way out, offering $20,000 cash to the arresting officers, who wanted to take it but were double-crossed by a supervisor after the money changed hands. With Dock, Willis, and Joe Newton captured, Glasscock hid the bulk of the money and Jess Newton evaded capture and headed south to Texas with $35,000. Eventually all those involved with the robbery were arrested, and papers reported that all but $100,000 was recovered. Facing stiff sentences, the gang members agreed to testify against Fahey and the racketeers, and the prosecution played up the affair as a success for the law, having made an example of the crooked postal inspector and his mob connections. The exact amount stolen and recovered was impossible to determine, as some insurance claims were not filed, and various deals were cut behind closed doors. Glasscock very likely kept a low to mid six-figure sum of loose diamonds, untraceable bonds, etc., having eluded the law for the longest period. Having pled guilty, and supplied key testimony in convicting others (Glasscock took the witness stand in place of Willis, partially as repayment for his accidental shooting of Dock) the gang received relatively light sentences due to no one being injured but their own gang member, and the majority of the money having been returned. Chicago newspapers portrayed the "Newton Boys" as colorful cowboys due to the fact that Jess was brought to Chicago wearing rodeo clothes, having been tricked across the border into Del Rio, Texas, on a barroom bet involving a bronc ride at an independence day rodeo. The arresting officer was Texas Ranger
Harrison Hamer, a brother of Frank Hamer
.
The admitted missing sum of $100,000 was never recovered. Jess Newton had buried some of it northwest of San Antonio, but being drunk when he did so, he could never remember exactly where. Jess and Joe, lacking criminal records, received the lightest sentences, and these two brothers returned to Uvalde, Texas
, where they led respectable lives, for the most part. Willis and Dock spent years in Leavenworth, and on release Willis returned to Tulsa where he ran a series of gas stations and nightclubs and seems to have maintained criminal connections. He rarely spoke about these years in much detail, but he was involved in local "nightclub wars" and was the victim of an assassination attempt at one point, being shot through his bathroom window while shaving. He survived and prominent episodes of nightclub arson were reported in the same time period.
After the April 6, 1934 murder of Constable Cal Campbell by Clyde Barrow and Henry Methvin
in Commerce, Oklahoma
, Joe and Willis Newton allowed the Barrow Gang
to hide out in a house they owned in Tulsa. The famous fan letter to Henry Ford
purportedly from Clyde Barrow was mailed from Tulsa on April 10, 1933; it may have been written at the Newton house. Willis Newton's personal opinion of Bonnie and Clyde was quite low. He called them "silly kids" who only robbed filling stations and indiscriminately killed people.
In 1934, both Willis and Joe were sentenced to nearly ten-year sentences in Oklahoma for a bank robbery they did not commit, based on specious testimony. They served at least seven years each. Joe returned to Uvlade, having already renounced crime, in 1924. Willis returned to Tulsa and the night club life but in the early 1950s also moved back to Uvalde, where he managed to stay out of prison and the limelight for the most part. Dock Newton was again arrested for bank robbery in 1968, in Rowena, Texas
, but due to his old age the charges were dropped. Willis Newton was implicated in another bank robbery in 1973, in the town of Brackettville, Texas
, but there was insufficient evidence to arrest him.
Roughly beaten in his last arrest, Dock entered hospital and never fully recovered, although he lived until 1974, dying at the age of 83.
Willis lived to age 90, fierce and unrepentant to the end. He died of old age on August 22, 1979.
Well liked in the town of Uvalde, owner of a cafe and other small businesses, an avid horseman into his 80s, youngest brother Joe Newton died at age 88 on February 3, 1989.
Author
s David Middleton and Claude I. Stanush edited the oral history book The Newton Boys; Portrait of an Outlaw Gang, with the participation of Willis and Joe Newton. Extensive audio interviews recorded in 1976 formed the basis of the text. The pair had produced a short documentary film the previous year and wanted to expand on the project.
In October 1980 Joe Newton, aged 79 appeared on The Tonight Show
and was interviewed by Johnny Carson
.
The 1998 film
The Newton Boys
, starring Matthew McConaughey
, Skeet Ulrich
, Ethan Hawke
, Vincent D'Onofrio
, and Dwight Yoakam
was based on the gang.
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...
gang of the early 20th century, and the most successful train robbers
Train robbery
Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
and bank robbers
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...
in history. From 1919 through 1924 the gang robbed dozens of banks, claiming a number of eighty seven banks (unconfirmed) and six trains (confirmed). According to Willis Newton, the brothers "took in more money than 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...
, Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch was one of the loosely organized outlaw gangs operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming during the Old West era in the United States. It was popularized by the 1969 movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and took its name from the original Wild Bunch...
and 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...
combined." Also according to their own claims, they never killed anyone. It's true they were never charged with any death or injuries associated with their robberies, although one daylight robbery in Toronto, Canada proved nearly fatal for one bank messenger. Notable enough for the 1924 train robbery near Rondout, Illinois (the world's largest at the time), the brothers gained a second round of fame in retirement, when they participated in a 1975 documentary film, and then a more in-depth oral history project that eventually was published in book form, possibly one of the clearest records of a criminal career of the period, as told by the participants. This second round of fame led to a feature film being produced by a major Hollywood studio, after the death of the last surviving brother.
Formation and outlaw career
The Newton brothers came of age in Uvalde County, TexasUvalde County, Texas
Uvalde County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 25,926. Its county seat is Uvalde. The county is named for Juan de Ugalde, the Spanish governor of Coahuila. Uvalde County was founded by Reading Wood Black who also founded the city of Uvalde,...
, four sons of a large cotton farming family, sharecroppers on the newly settled great plains. Raised on outlaw stories by their mother, leader and mastermind Willis Newton entered the workforce at an early age and followed the present day exploits of outlaw Harry Tracy in the purple press of the time, as a newsboy. He says he cried when he heard the news of Tracy's suicide in Oct 1902. Willis quit school after a single year of attending classes, too proud to continue when his pants had to be patched in the seat.
It's unclear when the brothers first ran afoul of the law but sharecropping didn't seem to suit their fierce pride, and Willis Newton claims that at age twenty he was convicted for a crime he didn't commit - his brother Wylie "Dock," or "Doc" Newton (b. 1891) {Prison #639) stole loose cotton from the loading dock of one processing gin and tried to sell it at another. Unable to find Dock, local authorities arrested J. Willis Newton (born January 19, 1889) and charged him instead. A local jury reportedly convicted Willis on slim evidence and he was sentenced to a year in the brutal Texas State Prison system, where he was forced to pick more cotton. His attitude hardened quickly in the face of the inhuman conditions and his perception of the injustice of it all. Dock soon joined him, entering the prison system soon after, possibly for robbing a Post Office of stamps. (The record indicates simply it was for a theft of less than fifty dollars.) From 1909 until 1918-1920 the two brothers were in and out of the Texas penal system due to their many escape attempts, which lead to further sentences and a deeper hardening of attitudes. Eventually released, Willis began a career of petty theft, usually involving the night time theft of clothing from general stores. Brothers Jess (older) and Joe (much younger) stayed out of the penal system until later, working regularly as bronc busters and ranch hands.
In 1914, Willis Newton and an accomplice robbed a Southern Pacific Railroad passenger train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
in Cline, Texas (eighteen miles west of Uvalde in southwestern Uvalde County
Uvalde County, Texas
Uvalde County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 25,926. Its county seat is Uvalde. The county is named for Juan de Ugalde, the Spanish governor of Coahuila. Uvalde County was founded by Reading Wood Black who also founded the city of Uvalde,...
), taking $4,700 at gunpoint from passengers. Then in 1916 Willis robbed a bank in Boswell, Oklahoma
Boswell, Oklahoma
Boswell is a town in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 703 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Boswell has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 1.43% is water.-Climate:...
in the company of a gang he joined in Durant, Oklahoma
Durant, Oklahoma
Durant is a city in Bryan County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 15,877 at the 2010 census. Durant is the principal city of the Durant Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 42,416 in 2010...
, taking just over $10,000 and escaping on horseback. In 1917, he went back to prison {Prison #83732} for burglary but eventually forged letters to secure a pardon. Upon release Willis served an apprenticeship of sorts with a crew of bank burglars with a rotating lineup due to accidental death and reckless behavior. Pride and intelligence led Willis to decide to form his own crew and eschew the wilder elements of his previous partners in crime. Joining forces with an experienced safecracker seems to have been a turning point. In 1920, operating out of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Willis Newton formed what others eventually called "the Newton Boys," along with Brentwood "Brent" Glasscock, a safecracker and expert in high explosives, convincing his cowboy brothers Joe and later Jess to join his outfit. Dock's successful 1920 escape from prison in Texas (his fifth) enabled him to join his brothers soon after, and with this quintet as a nucleus, the crew had a good run, robbing banks across Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, 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...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Illinois
Illinois
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,...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Other suspected robberies in Oregon and Washington state have not been confirmed.
Most of their heist
Heist
A heist is a term used to describe a robbery from an institution such as a bank or a museum, or any robbery in which there is a large haul of loot.Heist in fiction may refer to:*Heist , directed by David Mamet...
s were committed at night, with them breaking in and busting the bank safe without ever having to come into contact with any people or authorities. Through bribing a corrupt insurance official with the Texas Association of Bankers, Willis obtained a list of banks that still possessed older models of safes that were vulnerable to their brand of attack, which involved forcing nitroglycerin into the cracks in the square door and setting the explosive off with dynamite caps. The resulting explosions were messy and loud but the gang liked to operate in the dead of winter in small farm towns where two men armed with shotguns could keep the few townspeople at bay while the money was hustled out to waiting cars - Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
and Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
being the preferred makes. Prior to entering the bank, Willis usually shinnied up a pole outside the telephone office and cut the phone lines at a strategic point, thereby insuring a clean getaway once the county line had been reached. In Hondo, Texas
Hondo, Texas
Hondo is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Texas, United States. According to the 2000 Census, the population was 7,897...
, the gang hit two banks the same night after discovering the first vault door open.
Occasionally the tactics would change, and the crew planned daytime robberies, like in New Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...
, a simple bank hold-up on March 9, 1922, or the daring and overly ambitious multiple attack on pedestrian bank messengers in Toronto, Canada, on July 24, 1923, when the Toronto Currency Clearinghouse was hit in downtown morning rush hour. A melee ensued when the bank messengers refused to surrender their bags at gunpoint, and the Newtons' reluctance to actually carry out the threats to shoot collided. Gunfire was exchanged eventually, and two messengers were wounded by Willis in the struggle and subsequent getaway. Two bags netted the gang some C$
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
84,000 Canadian dollars, but spoiled their reputed non-violent record. In other robberies the patrons and bank employees often described them as being extremely polite, going out of their way to make sure everyone was comfortable, etc.
The take from most bank jobs was not large, often less than $10,000 in combined cash and negotiable bonds. Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds often formed the bulk of the take, stolen from individual deposit boxes. Various bonds and other securities were fenced through underworld connections in Chicago, where Willis and Glasscock cultivated contacts. Methodical to the last, Willis insisted on carrying out even the coins from the banks. "We never get enough. When I go in to get anything, I want a get it all," he liked to brag. Ambitious, Willis invested a great deal of his money into oil wells in Smackover, Arkansas
Smackover, Arkansas
Smackover is a city in Union County, Arkansas. According to the 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city stands at 1,929.The name Smackover comes from an anglicization of the French "Sumac Couvert" which translates to "covered in sumac"...
, and Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,946 at the 2000 census. The city is named for mineral springs in the area, which were highly popular in the early 1900s...
, hoping to make it big during the boom times for the industry, when millionaires were being made overnight. Dock and Jess enjoyed the good life, visiting the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
and the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
several times, and enjoying the night life in Kansas City, Chicago and the like between jobs, eating in the finest restaurants and staying in the nicest hotels, thereby avoiding suspicion. Willis persuaded Joe to invest with him in various oil wells, all of which failed to produce. Born into poverty, the brothers did not save much. Joe joked, "Why didn't you invest that money in something that makes it grow? Why, I said, who wants a better job what we already got? That's what we thought then. I need any money, go out and rob another bank." Interstate crime was difficult to police in those years. Anonymous and fast moving, the Newton Gang received very little attention from law enforcement, despite the large number of robberies they'd committed. However, that would change when they robbed their sixth train, a postal
Postal
Postal may refer to:* Mail, the postal service* The Postal Service, a band* "Going postal", the U.S. slang phrase meaning a killing spree* Going Postal, a 2004 Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett...
train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
on June 12, 1924.
The gang had teamed up with two Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
gangsters, two racketeers, and a corrupt postal inspector
Postal Inspector
Postal Inspector is a 1936 American film directed by Otto Brower.- Cast :*Ricardo Cortez as Inspector Bill Davis*Patricia Ellis as Connie Larrimore*Michael Loring as Charlie Davis*Bela Lugosi as Gregory Benez*Wallis Clark as Inspector Gil Pottle...
named William J. Fahy and, using inside information to rob a postal train originating in Chicago, headed north and west and carrying large amounts of currency from the Federal Reserve commissioned for banks along the route. Boarding the train secretly in Chicago, Willis and Jess climbed into the engine and stopped the train at a remote crossing in Rondout, Illinois. The robbery netted them more than $3 million in one take. It was the largest train robbery in history. However, during the robbery, the engineer had overshot the crossing in his nervousness, and had to back the train up, causing some of the robbers to move out of position. In the confusion, Wylie "Dock" Newton was wounded five times with a .45 caliber pistol fired by Brent Glasscock, who mistook him for an armed postal worker in the dark. The gang took the money, loaded Dock into a vehicle, and left the scene. While loading into the vehicle, a bystander supposedly heard one of the robbers say the name "Willie", which was later testified to at trial. Dock and Joe were arrested first, in a Chicago tenement after police were tipped about an underworld doctor's visit to aid the wounded man. Willis was arrested when he returned to the room the next day but very nearly bribed his way out, offering $20,000 cash to the arresting officers, who wanted to take it but were double-crossed by a supervisor after the money changed hands. With Dock, Willis, and Joe Newton captured, Glasscock hid the bulk of the money and Jess Newton evaded capture and headed south to Texas with $35,000. Eventually all those involved with the robbery were arrested, and papers reported that all but $100,000 was recovered. Facing stiff sentences, the gang members agreed to testify against Fahey and the racketeers, and the prosecution played up the affair as a success for the law, having made an example of the crooked postal inspector and his mob connections. The exact amount stolen and recovered was impossible to determine, as some insurance claims were not filed, and various deals were cut behind closed doors. Glasscock very likely kept a low to mid six-figure sum of loose diamonds, untraceable bonds, etc., having eluded the law for the longest period. Having pled guilty, and supplied key testimony in convicting others (Glasscock took the witness stand in place of Willis, partially as repayment for his accidental shooting of Dock) the gang received relatively light sentences due to no one being injured but their own gang member, and the majority of the money having been returned. Chicago newspapers portrayed the "Newton Boys" as colorful cowboys due to the fact that Jess was brought to Chicago wearing rodeo clothes, having been tricked across the border into Del Rio, Texas, on a barroom bet involving a bronc ride at an independence day rodeo. The arresting officer was Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
Harrison Hamer, a brother of Frank Hamer
Frank Hamer
Francis Augustus Hamer was a Texas Ranger, known in popular culture for his involvement in tracking down and killing the criminal duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934...
.
The admitted missing sum of $100,000 was never recovered. Jess Newton had buried some of it northwest of San Antonio, but being drunk when he did so, he could never remember exactly where. Jess and Joe, lacking criminal records, received the lightest sentences, and these two brothers returned to Uvalde, Texas
Uvalde, Texas
Uvalde is a city in and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,929 at the 2000 census.Uvalde was founded by Reading Wood Black in 1853 as the town of Encina. In 1856, when the county was organized, the town was renamed Uvalde for Spanish governor Juan de...
, where they led respectable lives, for the most part. Willis and Dock spent years in Leavenworth, and on release Willis returned to Tulsa where he ran a series of gas stations and nightclubs and seems to have maintained criminal connections. He rarely spoke about these years in much detail, but he was involved in local "nightclub wars" and was the victim of an assassination attempt at one point, being shot through his bathroom window while shaving. He survived and prominent episodes of nightclub arson were reported in the same time period.
After the April 6, 1934 murder of Constable Cal Campbell by Clyde Barrow and Henry Methvin
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were well-known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934...
in Commerce, Oklahoma
Commerce, Oklahoma
Commerce is a city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,645 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Commerce is located at ....
, Joe and Willis Newton allowed the Barrow Gang
Barrow Gang
The Barrow Gang was an American criminal organization of the 1930s active between 1932 and 1934. They were well known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who as a gang traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide...
to hide out in a house they owned in Tulsa. The famous fan letter to Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
purportedly from Clyde Barrow was mailed from Tulsa on April 10, 1933; it may have been written at the Newton house. Willis Newton's personal opinion of Bonnie and Clyde was quite low. He called them "silly kids" who only robbed filling stations and indiscriminately killed people.
In 1934, both Willis and Joe were sentenced to nearly ten-year sentences in Oklahoma for a bank robbery they did not commit, based on specious testimony. They served at least seven years each. Joe returned to Uvlade, having already renounced crime, in 1924. Willis returned to Tulsa and the night club life but in the early 1950s also moved back to Uvalde, where he managed to stay out of prison and the limelight for the most part. Dock Newton was again arrested for bank robbery in 1968, in Rowena, Texas
Rowena, Texas
Rowena is an unincorporated community in southwestern Runnels County, Texas, United States.Paul J. Baron designed the town in 1898.According to the US Census, the population was estimated at 483 in 2000, an increase of three percent from 1990s 466 Rowenans...
, but due to his old age the charges were dropped. Willis Newton was implicated in another bank robbery in 1973, in the town of Brackettville, Texas
Brackettville, Texas
Brackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County...
, but there was insufficient evidence to arrest him.
Death of Newtons
Jess Newton died on March 4, 1960, having lived out the remainder of his life as a cowboy in Uvalde. A veteran of the Texas Brigade of World War One, he died in a VA hospital. He never was able to remember where the buried money was, and often complained about the country being taken off the gold standard since he apparently lost a great deal of money when stolen bonds were left unredeemed.Roughly beaten in his last arrest, Dock entered hospital and never fully recovered, although he lived until 1974, dying at the age of 83.
Willis lived to age 90, fierce and unrepentant to the end. He died of old age on August 22, 1979.
Well liked in the town of Uvalde, owner of a cafe and other small businesses, an avid horseman into his 80s, youngest brother Joe Newton died at age 88 on February 3, 1989.
In media
Dock's 1968 arrest for bank robbery at age 77 made national news and was later the subject of an article in LIFE on April 19, 1968.Author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s David Middleton and Claude I. Stanush edited the oral history book The Newton Boys; Portrait of an Outlaw Gang, with the participation of Willis and Joe Newton. Extensive audio interviews recorded in 1976 formed the basis of the text. The pair had produced a short documentary film the previous year and wanted to expand on the project.
In October 1980 Joe Newton, aged 79 appeared on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
and was interviewed by Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
.
The 1998 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Newton Boys
The Newton Boys
The Newton Boys is a 1998 drama film based on the true story of the Newton Gang, a family of bank robbers from Uvalde, Texas. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dwight Yoakam. It was filmed in Austin, Bartlett, New Braunfels, and San Antonio,...
, starring Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
, Skeet Ulrich
Skeet Ulrich
Bryan Ray Trout , best known as Skeet Ulrich, is an American actor best known for starring in the CBS drama Jericho as Jake Green and for portraying Billy Loomis in Scream...
, Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
, Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
, and Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
was based on the gang.