CA458

The History of Wichita Falls (J. Morgan, 1931)
(C. Avis Catalog entry #458)

p. 87

10. Reminiscences

Famous Bank Robbery of 1896. 

The history of Wichita Falls would be incomplete without chronicling the bank robbery staged at the City National Bank in 1896. At this time Frank Dorsey, cashier of the bank, was killed by Kid Lewis and Foster Crawford. Everybody in the small town knew practically every one else. Hence the feeling ran high when the incident occurred. The story is indelibly stamped on the minds of those who lived here at that time.

Crawford had worked on the Burnett Ranch. There he met Kid Lewis. They became members of the notorious Al Jennings band. Then they worked independently with their headquarters in Oklahoma. They had managed a piecemeal living by hold-ups and such like. But they decided to make a big haul and then lead an easy life for awhile. That conclusion led to concentration on the City National Bank. Such specimens of humanity were possessed with the spirit of braggadocio. In accordance, they notified the bankers from time to time to beware. Upon repeated threats, the bank officials sent for ten Texas Rangers and Bill McDonald. They remained ten days. Deciding that their presence had brought about an abandonment of the marauder’s plans, they left for Fort Worth at one P. M. on February 25. Lewis and Crawford who were at the station to see them off had spent the previous night in a dug-out in the negro settlement. The negroes had heard the threats of these two and had spread the news to the whites. The warning was unheeded.

The Robbery. 
When the Rangers were off, the two bandits rode down the alley east of the St. James Hotel, on horseback. They dismounted and waited for the appointed hour, 2:30 P. M. Then they walked to the bank, located at that time on the corner of Seventh and Ohio. Crawford entered at the Seventh Street entrance, Lewis at the front. When Crawford cried out “Up, up” to the book-keeper, P. P. Langford, and Langford failed to comprehend, he struck him over the head with his gun. The exploded bullet landed in the ceiling.

Lewis had covered the cashier and one of the directors, Dr. O. J. Kendall. Upon hearing Crawford’s gun explosion, he opened fire on the Cashier. The bullet entered the base of the neck at the right shoulder. Another shot was aimed but it hit a metal hypodermic case instead. He fell to the floor in feigned death. Mr. Langford then made a dash for the door, but was halted by Lewis.

In the meantime, Crawford was trying to collect all the money he could find. He took four hundred and sixty dollars and ten cents from the teller’s cage. Finding that they could not open the vault and secure more funds, and realizing the danger of a gathering crowd, the two made their exit. At the entrance, J. D. Davis [sic: J. D. Avis], unarmed, attempted to stop them, but they sped on and mounted the horses. One of the horses was shot from under its rider, who climbed immediately behind his comrade and make way to Holliday Creek Bridge. Luckily for them they met a fruit peddler and cut his horse from the wagon, mounted it, and managed to cross the bridge less than a thousand feet from the pursuers.

The whole town was astir. Fearless Will Skeen, upon learning of the robbery, set out with Marshall Davis to capture the bandits. Lewis and Crawford crossed the river near the Knott farm, jumping their horses down a fifteen foot bank. As their pursuers were still on this side of the river, they attacked two Bohemian farmers plowing in the field and exchanged horses. Upon arriving at a thicket in Thornberry Pasture, the robbers dismounted and attempted to escape through the underbrush. Meanwhile the posse grew, being replenished from time to time with people from the town and from the countryside.

Captain McDonald and his Rangers were notified of the event at Bellevue and took the Northbound train back to Wichita Falls. Before the close of day they were at the scene of action. When Lewis and Crawford attempted to seize two horses in a wheat field, they were detected and surrounded in a thicket. They surrendered reluctantly, were hand-cuffed, and brought to the Wichita Falls jail.

Because the angry mob threatened a lynching, the Rangers were kept on guard. The Captain left the town the next day and the mob carried out their threat. They gathered material for a bonfire at Seventh and Ohio. Frank Hardesty, the Deputy Sheriff, refused to allow them to enter the jail.  While he was arguing, men were battering down the back door with a telephone pole. They rushed to the cells where Lewis and Crawford were, seized them, tied them with ropes, and dragged them out. With them in the center, the procession moved on down Sixth Street to Indiana and from Indiana up Seventh to Ohio to the bonfire. Boxes had been placed at a telephone pole in front of the bank for the two to stand on, and with ropes around their necks, they suffered the taunts and abuses of the gathered crowd. The robbers cursed back at them. Lewis manifested much nerve and seemed to have no fear of his destiny. But Crawford begged for mercy. Getting none, he called for whiskey.

Thus on February 27th, the two men were pulled up and died with their boots on. This was the only capital punishment ever assessed in Wichita County. But it was a death knell for any others who might attempt such. There was a trial of the lynchers attempted, but those charged were dismissed as “‘not guilty.”


 Captions of photos:

1. A group of early citizens taken at a recent reunion.  How many do you know?

2. Miss Jennie Roberson and Mrs. Jake Avis as they caught the street car when its terminal was ninth Street and Kemp Boulevard - 1911