Armed black men stop bank robbery, kill two, wound another

Gene Curtis
World Staff Writer

The little bank in the quiet all-black village of Boley probably looked like an easy target to bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd's gang.

They were wrong.

Before the end of what a bank employee called "a regular war" on Nov. 23, 1932, two of the bank robbers had been killed, one by a bank bookkeeper and the other by townspeople who grabbed their own weapons and opened fire as the robbers tried to flee. All the money was recovered.

The heroes of the gunbattle were Farmers & Merchants Bank President D.J. Turner, who was killed after he set off a bank robbery alarm, and bookkeeper H.C. McCormick, who grabbed a rifle in the bank's vault and mortally wounded Turner's killer moments after Turner was shot.

The dead robbers were identified as George Birdwell, Floyd's chief lieutenant who was considered the brains of the gang, and novice robber Charles Glass, the driver of the getaway car. Robber C.C. Patterson suffered multiple bullet wounds but recovered and was sent to prison for his part in the robbery.

Floyd didn't participate in the robbery in the town that was one of 29 all-black towns established before statehood. There were reports that he had his henchmen stage the robbery as a ploy to divert lawmen's attention to allow him to visit his wife in a Tulsa hospital where she had undergone an appendectomy or at her father's house near Bixby.

Other reports were that Floyd had warned his gang members against robbing the Boley bank because there wasn't much money there, the people of Boley all had guns, knew how to shoot them and weren't afraid to use them.

There's no way to determine if the robbery was a diversionary tactic, but there's proof that the Boley residents had guns, knew how to use them and did.

Birdwell, armed with a .45-caliber pistol, and Patterson, armed with a shotgun, burst into the bank early that morning. Birdwell, always the speaker in the gang's bank robberies, announced they were robbing the bank and warned "don't pull no alarm."

Bookkeeper McCormick saw the robbers enter, slipped into the bank's vault, retrieved the rifle kept there for such events and aimed it at Birdwell as he watched the robbers scoop up cash. Turner hit the robbery alarm and Birdwell demanded, "Did you pull that alarm?"

"Sure I did," Turner admitted. Birdwell responded "I'll kill you for that," and shot the bank president to death. As Turner fell to the floor, McCormick fired a shot at Birdwell, who fell mortally wounded at Turner's feet.

Hearing the gunfire, Glass rushed into the bank, picked up the $600 Birdwell had dropped and ordered two customers to carry Birdwell to the getaway car. He and Patterson also returned fire at McCormick.

The robbers were met by a rain of bullets from a sheriff's deputy and vigilantes as they left the bank. The two customers dropped Birdwell on the sidewalk and took cover inside the bank. Patterson fell wounded, but Glass reached the getaway car and was fatally shot as he tried to drive away.

Police set a trap for Floyd when reports surfaced that he planned to visit an Earlsboro funeral home to view Birdwell's body.

Although Floyd didn't appear, his wife was one of about 50 mourners who attended Birdwell's graveside funeral service at Seminole.

More than 50 Okemah and Tulsa police officers, none in uniform, provided security at the funeral for Turner that was attended by more than 3,000. There had been rumors that Floyd would attend the funeral to claim revenge for the killing of his aide.

McCormick received a $500 reward from the state for killing Birdwell and was made an honorary major on Gov. William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray's staff. Townspeople who participated in the shootout split another $500 reward.

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