Melcher, a rogue mayor & "boxcar bandits" of 1922

Melcher, by now in 2022 consolidated with the neighboring village of Dallas as Melcher-Dallas, is located northeast of Chariton and southwest of Knoxville, not far into Marion County. It's a lively little town, but in 1912, the town site was a hayfield located astraddle the new Rock Island rail line just south of the pioneer village of Dallas. Ten years later, in 1922, it was a coal mining boom town.

About 1910 the Rock Island Railroad had after considerable threshing about decided to build a new north-south line from Des Moines (the southern end of its newly purchased Mason City line that ended in St. Paul) south through Chariton to connect with its main Kansas City line. A byproduct of the new line was an explosion of the coal industry in northeast Lucas and southwest Marion counties. So this was very much a company town.

And in 1922, it gained a degree of notoriety as headquarters for the "boxcar bandits," a hardy band of criminals who raided Rock Island boxcars as they paused in Melcher, collected the merchandise and then trucked it to Minnesota to be sold. Even J.F. Brown, Melcher's mayor, appears to have been involved --- although not convicted, at least of this crime.

Chariton's Herald-Patriot reported the case, citing The Knoxville Express as source, in its edition of Nov. 23, 1922, under the headline, "Melcher's Robbers Roost." Unfortunately, only the surnames of a majority of those involved were reported. Here's the report:

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Six men were sent to prison and four were heavily fined in the district court by Judge Applegate last Friday, thus breaking up one of the largest gangs that ever operated in southern Iowa. As a result of the operations of the "box car bandits" merchandise to the value of thousands of dollars was removed from cars of the Rock Island railroad and divided among the various members of the gang.

Judge Applegate sentenced Weir, Jenkins and Jacobs to Ft. Madison for a period of five years each. Schlack, Welch and Terry each were committed to Anamosa for a similar number of years.

White received a fine of $100, McCoy $350, Oldham $200 and Jacobs $200 for receiving stolen goods.

The first link in the chain of evidence which convicted the men was the finding of several pairs of shoes in an ice house by C.H. Graham, a railroad detective in the  employ of the Rock Island, who was assigned to the case. With the assistance of Sheriff Clark, the two officers finally were convinced that Schlack could throw some light on the robberies. When questioned by Sheriff Clark, Schlack readily confessed, implicating others in the crime.

In his confession he stated that he and his confederates had observed that the through freight containing interstate merchandise usually stopped in Melcher while the train crew had their lunch. While the men were absent from their train, a seal was broken on a car on the opposite side of the station and the goods removed under cover of darkness.

Welch, who was a helper at the depot, then resealed the car with a Melcher seal. This proved to be the weak link in the chair which caused the undoing of the men. When the cars reached their destination and articles were missing the seal showed that the car had been opened at Melcher and it was at this point that the officers took up the trail.

The plot had its ramifications even as far away as Minnesota, where an ex-employee of the Rock Island furnished seals from a town in that state to replace the ones broken at Melcher. When a large stock had been accumulated in Melcher a truck was driven down from Minnesota and the stolen goods hauled away.

After the confessions of the men implicated, the officers began to assemble the stolen goods. In one home under a rug more than a hundred pairs of silk stockings were recovered. In another place, cleverly concealed between the joists of the floor, hundreds of pairs of shoes were unearthed.

The men were brought to Knoxville by the officers where in the presence of the county attorney they all made affidavits confessing their guilt. The officers worked nearly all of Monday night receiving the depositions from the men in acknowledging their guilt. Later they were confined in the county jail.

Friday morning they appeared  before Judge Applegate and were sentenced. The three older men were sent to the penitentiary at Fort Madison while the youthful trio were ordered committed to the reformatory at Anamosa. The penalty for such an offense is from five to twenty years, but in view of their confession the minimum penalty was imposed.

In the case of those receiving stolen goods County Attorney Hays recommended a fine instead of imprisonment. Judge Applelgate followed the recommendation and fines varying from $100 to $359 were imposed.

The confession of the men saved the county thousands of dollars. Had the men elected to plead not guilty and stand trial it would have cost the county a large sum as it would have been necessary to try each man separately which would have taken several weeks.

Saturday night deputies from the sheriff's office removed the men to Fort Madison and Anamosa, where they have begun to serve their sentences. The arrest of the men caused a tremendous sensation in Melcher as they were prominent in the business and social affairs of the city. When the men appeared before the court on Friday, practically the entire population of the city was present to witness the closing act of the drama.

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Although not cited as one of the boxcar bandits, Melcher's mayor, J.F. Brown, also was the subject of a story on the front page of the Nov. 23 Herald-Patriot --- headlined "Oust Melcher Mayor."

The fact that three of the boxcar bandits also had been involved the previous May in a scheme to fix the city election in Brown's favor certainly suggests that the mayor had his fingers in this enterprise as well:

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The mayorality case of Melcher cam to a head last week when Judge Applegate ordered J.F. Brown to surrender the office to Peter Burk,, who was the former's opponent at the city election last spring.

The case has aroused considerable interest in the county during the past week. The first of last week George Weir, John Schlack, Tom Jenkins and Mr. Brown were arrested, charged with tampering and fixing the ballots in the last city election held in Melcher last May. The first three were arrested on the charge of robbery of freight cars on the Rock Island railroad. They were before Judge Applegate last Friday afternoon with others charged of the same crime.

No jury trial was held, Mr. Brown appearing before Judge Applegate. Lawyers for Mr. Brown pleaded his case and said he did not want the position any longer, after which Judge Applegate issued an order of court deposing Mr. Brown and placing Mr. Burt in the position as mayor of Melcher.

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Was justice done here as multiple cases were resolved rapidly and without benefit of juries? It's not likely such a course would be possible in 2022, but in 1922 it seems to have worked to everyone's satisfaction --- criminals off the street (other than Brown) at minimal cost to the county.