Imaging finding out that Public Enemy Number 1 just robbed a bank in your city. was a reality for my great grandparents John and Elizabeth Willing along with other members of their extended family. (My grandmother, Marie Willing Atwell, was married and living in Manitowoc at the time, however). John Dillinger was a life-long troublemaker who began a streak of robberies and murders across across the Midwest that eventually landed him at the American Bank & Trust on November 20, 1933. The crime spree ended when he was killed outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago by FBI agents as depicted in the 2009 movie "Public Enemies". While researching this event, I was surprised to learn that the home state of so many of my relatives became a notorious hideout for many famous gangsters. (More information can be found here regarding Wisconsin gangster haunts). Interestingly, my aunt currently lives in the vicinity of a number of the northern Wisconsin locations.
My curiosity about this event was peaked when I not only read Genevieve's mention in her memoir but also when Ancestry.com entered it as a "Lifestory" event on John Willing's timeline. Gen writes "The bank that is located on the corner next to it (referring to the Bijou Theatre) was robbed by
American Bank & Trust Company in downtown Racine.
and accomplices. I was in St. Mary's Hospital, which was located on Grand Avenue at the time, after giving birth to Laurana. There was quite a a commotion at the hospital and also around town as he escaped. I was never a customer of the bank but I knew several people who worked there, one being Fran Hahn. It is still a busy place these days." Not wanting to immediately dismiss her claim that she was in the hospital during this event, I conducted my own research and found that she was not in the hospital delivering a baby and in fact she may have been teaching in Milwaukee on that day. Family stories and memoirs are nice to have however, it's not a substitution for conducting your own research.
This website by the Weyland Family provides a thorough and interesting, account of the robbery including information on one of the hostages, bank president Grover Weyland. This incident is part of their family history and rather than write the story myself, I prefer referring you to their website.
Looking at the map here you can see the close vicinity of the Willing home and my great
grandfather's place of employment to the robbery site. I wonder how quickly news spread throughout the city without the benefit of social media Did my grandfather telephone home to check on his family? Come home from work early? Were relatives, friends and neighbors called? My guess is that as local and national newspapers hit the news stands, the citizens of Racine had plenty of stories to recount that night and for weeks regarding the day a group of gangsters came to their town.
