Kate "Ma" Barker (October 8, 1871 - January 16, 1935) was a legendary American criminal from the "public enemy era", when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwest gripped the American people and press. Her notoriety has since subsided, trailing behind Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Public Enemy is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... This article is about the outlaws. ... John Dillinger John Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American bank robber, considered by some to be a dangerous criminal, while others idealized him as a latter-day Robin Hood. ...

Early life

Ma Barker was born in Ash Grove, Missouri, near Springfield, and named Arizona Donnie Clark. Her parents were conservative Christians who believed in hard work and traditional values, traits which she embraced. In 1892, she married George Barker. They had four boys, named: Herman, Lloyd, Arthur, and Fred. George Barker departed after the birth of their last son, Fred. There is indication that George Barker was considered a “worthless drunk” and was tossed out by Ma Barker.^[1] Since she was trying to raise the boys on her own, with little income, they had inadequate supervision and became juvenile delinquents. Ma Barker often kept them out of the Criminal justice system by pleading with the arresting officers, or throwing tantrums at the police station. Ash Grove is a city located in Greene County, Missouri. ... Springfield is the third largest city (pop. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles. ... United States criminal justice system flowchart. ...

Controversy

Though her children were undoubtedly criminals and their Barker-Karpis Gang committed a spree of robberies, kidnappings and other crimes between 1931 and 1935, the popular image of her as the gang's leader and its criminal mastermind is a myth. Image:Scanned Picture 2. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

The actual degree of Barker's own criminality is in doubt. However, she did likely know of the gang's activities and helped them before and after they committed their crimes and, of course, as C. Lotower notes in his popular criminal law treatise of NCCU Law fame, this would make her an accomplice. There is no evidence that she was ever an active participant in any of the crimes themselves or involved in planning them. Her role was in taking care of gang members, who often sent her to the movies while they committed crimes.

Alvin Karpis, the gang's second most notorious member, later said that:^[2] This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Many, including Karpis, have suggested that the myth was encouraged by J. Edgar Hoover^[3] and his fledgling FBI to justify his agency's killing of an old lady.^[4] She was shot dead when the FBI raided the cottage she was renting with her son Fred at Lake Weir in the area of Oklawaha, Florida on January 16, 1935. It was Fred, who was also killed in the raid, that had been the Bureau's main target. Fingerprints can refer to: Human fingerprints Fingerprints, a Leonard Cohen song. ... John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an influential but controversial director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Lake Weir is a freshwater lake located in southern Marion County, Florida. ... Oklawaha (also spelled Ocklawaha) is a town in Marion County, Florida, United States. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

Summary of Barker sons/gang activities

• 1910 -- Herman Barker arrested for Highway Robbery in Webb City, Missouri.
• March 5, 1915 -- Herman Barker arrested for Highway Robbery in Joplin, Missouri. {Herman and Lloyd Barker reportedly involved with the Central Park Gang of Tulsa, Oklahoma.}
• July 4,1918 -- Arthur "Doc" Barker involved in US automobile theft in Tulsa, Oklahoma; arrested {escaped}.
• February 19, 1920 - Arthur Barker arrested in Joplin, Missouri; returned to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• 1921 -- Lloyd "Red" Barker arrested for vagrancy in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• January 15, 1921 -- Arthur Barker involved in attempted Bank robbery in Muskogee, Oklahoma; arrested.
• January 30, 1921 -- Arthur Barker received at the Oklahoma State Prison; released June 11, 1921.
• August 16, 1921 -- Arthur Barker and Volney Davis involved in killing of night watchman James J. Sherrill in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (According to other sources, Thomas J. (James?) Sherrill was a night watchman at St. John's Hospital in Tulsa.)
• January 8, 1922 -- Central Park Gang involved in attempted burglary in Okmulgee, Oklahoma; shootout results in one burglar dead while Police Captain Homer R. Spaulding dies of his wounds on January 19, 1922. One gang member is sentenced to life in prison while another had his sentence overturned.
• January 16, 1922 -- Lloyd Barker received at Leavenworth Prison {#17243} after arrest for robbing mail at Baxter Springs Kansas and sentenced to 25 years; released 1938.
• February 10, 1922 -- Arthur "Doc" Barker received at Oklahoma State Prison for the murder of Sherrill.
• 1926 -- Fred Barker robbed bank in Windfield, Kansas; arrested.
• March 12, 1927 -- Fred Barker admitted to Kansas State Prison.
• August 29, 1927 -- Herman Barker commits suicide in Wichita, Kansas after being stopped at police roadblock. {Wichita Policeman J.E. Marshall} had been killed on August 9, 1927 by the Kimes-Terrill gang that Herman was associated with}.
• March 30, 1931 -- Fred Barker released from Kansas State Prison after serving time for Burglary; met Alvin Karpis in prison.
• June 10, 1931 -- Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis {alias George Heller} arrested by Tulsa, Oklahoma Police investigating burglary. Karpis sentenced to 4 years but paroled after restitution made; Fred Barker also avoided jail sentence.
• November 8, 1931 -- Fred Barker killed Pocahontas, Arkansas Police Chief Manley Jackson.
• December 19, 1931 -- Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis robbed a store in West Plains, Missouri and involved in the killing of Howell County, Missouri sheriff C. Roy Kelly.
• January 18, 1932 -- Lloyd Barker received at Leavenworth Prison.
• April 26, 1932 -- Body of A.W. Dunlap found at Lake Franstead, Minnesota; killed by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis.
• June 17, 1932 -- Fred Barker, Karpis and five accomplices robbed Fort Scott, Kansas Bank.
• July 7, 1932 -- Three members of Barker-Karpis gang arrested by FBI.
• July 25, 1932 -- Fred Barker, Karpis (with an augmented gang) robbed Cloud County bank at Concordia, Kansas.
• August 14, 1932 -- Attorney J. Earl Smith of Tulsa, Oklahoma found killed at Indian Hills Country Club north of Tulsa; he had been retained to defend one of the Barker-Karpis gang over the Fort Scott Bank Robbery, but the man was convicted.
• September 10, 1932 -- Arthur "Doc" Barker released from Prison.
• December 16, 1932 -- Fred and Arthur Barker, Alvin Karpis and gang robbed Third Northwestern Bank in Minneapolis, killing policemen Ira Leon Evans and Leo Gorski and one civilian. {One gang member in this shooting was also involved in two other police kilings.}
• April 4, 1933 -- Fred and Arthur Barker, Alvin Karpis and gang robbed Fairbury, Nebraska Bank.
• June 1933 -- William Hamm kidnapping by Barker-Karpis gang; Hamm released June 17, 1933 after ransom paid.
• August 10, 1933 -- Barker-Karpis Gang robs a payroll at Stockyards National Bank of South St Paul, Minnesota in which one policeman {Leo Pavlak} is killed and one invalided for life.
• September 22, 1933 -- Two bank messengers held up by five men identified as Barker-Karpis gang; Chicago Policeman Miles A Cunningham is killed by gang while investigating a nearby traffic accident. {Barker-Karpis gang associate Vernon Miller was allegedly involved in the killing, and reportedly also involved in the Kansas City Massacre in which four lawmen were killed}.
• January 17, 1934 -- Gang kidnaps Edward George Bremer; Bremer released on February 7, 1934 after ransom paid.
• January 19, 1934 -- Gang wounds M.C. McCord of Northwest Airways Company, thinking he was a policeman.
• March 10, 1934 -- Barker gang member Fred Goetz (also known as "Shotgun George" Ziegler, a participant in the Bremer kidnapping) killed by fellow gangsters in Cicero, Illinois.
• July 1934 -- Underworld doctor Joseph Moran last seen alive.
• January 6, 1935 -- Barker gang member William B. Harrison killed by fellow gangsters at Ontarioville, Illinois.
• January 8, 1935 -- Arthur "Doc" Barker arrested in Chicago; Barker gang member Russell Gibson killed and his colleague Byron Bolton captured at another address.
• January 16, 1935 -- Fred and Ma Barker killed by FBI at Lake Weir, Florida.
• September 26 1935 -- The supposed body of underworld doctor Joseph Moran found in Lake Erie; believed killed by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis. (However, Karpis himself said that Moran had been buried.)
• November 7, 1935 -- Karpis and five accomplices robbed a Erie Railroad mail train at Garrittsville, Ohio.
• May 1, 1936 -- Karpis and accomplice Fred Hunter arrested in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• January 13,1939 -- Arthur Barker killed trying to escape from Alcatraz Prison.

(OF Barker-Karpis gang/associates 18 arrested; 3 killed by lawmen; 2 killed by gangsters} This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Vernon C. Miller (August 26, 1896-November 29, 1933) was a freelance Prohibition gunman, bootlegger, bank robber and former sheriff in South Dakota who, as the only identified member of the Kansas City Massacre, was found shot to death shortly after the incident. ... Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd. ... Joseph P. Moran (1905-1934) was a doctor known for catering to the Depression-era criminal underworld in the early 20th century. ... Lake Weir is a freshwater lake located in southern Marion County, Florida. ... Joseph P. Moran (1905-1934) was a doctor known for catering to the Depression-era criminal underworld in the early 20th century. ... Lake Erie (pronounced ) is the tenth largest lake on Earth[2] and, of the five Great Lakes of North America, is the fourth largest by surface area, the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alcatraz Island is located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California. ...

• World War II -- Lloyd Barker is US Army cook, ironically at POW camp Fort Custer, Minnesota; receives US Army Good Conduct Medal and Honorable Discharge.
• March 18, 1949 -- Lloyd Barker killed by his wife; he is manager of Denargo Market in Denver Colorado; she is sent to Colorado State Insane Asylum.

Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... The Good Conduct Medal is one of the oldest military decorations of the United States military. ... A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. ...

Popular culture

The myth of Ma Barker inspired James Hadley Chase's novel No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1939), which features a mother in charge of her sons' gangster mob; this was eventually adapted to stage and screen, though with great difficulty from British censorship guidelines. Her story was adapted in the low budget film Bloody Mama (1970), directed by Roger Corman and starring Shelley Winters as Ma, depicted as a corrupt mother who encourages and organizes her children's criminality. The film featured an early appearance by a young Robert De Niro as Lloyd Barker. Book Cover: Chases first novel No Orchids for Miss Blandish published 1939 Book Cover: Mallory, published 1950 Book Cover: The Guilty Are Afraid, published 1957 James Hadley Chase is a pseudonym for British author Rene Brabazon Raymond (December 24, 1906 – February 6, 1985) who also wrote under the names... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926), sometimes nicknamed King of the Bs for his output of B-movies (though he himself rejects this appelation as inaccurate), is a prolific American producer and director of low-budget exploitation movies. ... Shelley Winters (August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Robert De Niro (born August 17, 1943) is a two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning American film actor, director, and producer. ...

Another retelling of the legend occurred in the 1996 movie Public Enemies starring Theresa Russell. "Ma Barker and Her Boys", an episode of The Untouchables, pits Federal Agent Eliot Ness against the Barker clan, and depicts Ness as leading the assault on Ma Barker and her sons at their Florida hide-out. In real life Ness was not a member of the FBI at the time of the shoot-out, and had nothing to do with the Barker/Karpis case. Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Russell in 2005 interview for the Criterion Collection DVD Bad Timing Theresa Russell (born Theresa Paup on 20 March 1957 in San Diego, California) is an American actress. ... The Untouchables is the name of a television series that ran from 1959 to 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company. ... This article describes the government of the United States. ... Eliot Ness Eliot P. Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois as the leader of a legendary team nicknamed The Untouchables. ...

The story is also probably the inspiration for the 1977 Boney M music single "Ma Baker", the character of Pa Stark (Charles B. Middleton) and his sons in the 1938 Republic movie serial Dick Tracy Returns, the Ma Dalton character in the Lucky Luke comic strip, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys characters in the Scrooge McDuck universe, and Anne Ramsey's character Mama Fratelli in the 1985 Richard Donner film The Goonies, a movie about teenage camaradarie. The pirate chief and her sons in Castle in the Sky movie also may have a connection with her story. She may also have been the inspiration for the character Ma Jarrett in the 1949 James Cagney movie White Heat, and was certainly the inspiration for Ma Barker's Killer Brood and "Ma Parker" on Batman. Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Boney M was a Eurodance, pop, and disco group, comprising four West Indian singers and dancers and masterminded by West German record producer Frank Farian, and who were successful during the 1970s. ... Ma Baker was a 1977 music single released by the Euro-disco group Boney M. The song is about legendary 1930s outlaw Ma Barker, but the lyrics are not historically accurate. ... Charles Middleton Charles B. Middleton (October 3, 1874 - April 22, 1949) was an American stage and film actor. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Republic Pictures Corporation (aka Republic Entertainment) is an independent film, television, and video distribution company that was originally a movie production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, best known for its specialization in quality B pictures, westerns and movie serials. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Dick Tracy is a long-running comic strip featuring a popular and familiar character in American pop culture. ... This article is about the comic book and TV series. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... Ma Beagle Ma Beagle is a fictional character created for the animated series DuckTales. ... The Beagle Boys are a group of fictional characters from the Scrooge McDuck universe loosely based on the popular image of Ma Barker and the Barker-Karpis Gang. ... The Scrooge McDuck universe is the fictional world where Scrooge McDuck lives. ... Anne Ramsey (1 September 1929 - 11 August 1988) was an American actress who is most recognized for two roles: as Mama Fratelli in Steven Spielbergs The Goonies; and as Mrs. ... Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg on April 24, 1930) is an American film director and also producer through the production company, The Donners Company, he and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler-Donner, own. ... The Goonies was a hit movie in 1985, directed by Richard Donner. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Laputa: Castle in the Sky ) (re-titled Castle in the Sky for release in the United States) is a film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1986. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... James Francis Cagney, Jr. ... White Heat is a 1949 crime film starring James Cagney, Edmond OBrien and Virginia Mayo. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is a concept band whose story is based on the story of Ma Barker and her sons' rise to power and then death on Jan. 16, 1935.^{[citation needed]} Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is a Christian southern rock/metal band. ...

Notes

1. ^ Bloody Mama (1970) (movie dramatization)
2. ^ Karpis, Alvin with Trent, Bill (1971) The Alvin Karpis Story Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, New York;
3. ^ Jones, Ken (1957) The FBI in Action Signet, New York;
4. ^ Gentry, Curt (1991) J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets W. W. Norton, New York, ISBN 0393024040 ;

References

• Hornberger, Francine (2002) Mistresses of mayhem: the book of women criminals Alpha, Indianapolis, IN, ISBN 0028642600 ;
• Hamilton, Sue, and Hamilton, John (1989) Public Enemy Number One: The Barkers Abdo and Daughters, Bloomington, MN, ISBN 0939179652 ;
• Winter, Robert (2000) Mean Men: The Sons of Ma Barker Routledge, Danbury, Connecticut, ISBN 1582440905 ;
• deFord, Miriam Allen (1970) The Real Ma Barker: Mastermind of a Whole Family of Killers Ace, New York;
• Perkins; Jack; Drummond, John; and Cara, Mark (1996) Ma Barker crime family values (television documentary on VHS tape) A & E Home Video, New York, ISBN 0767010604 ;

External link

• Ma Barker