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autographs 
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autographs 
autographs |
Document 268088 CLYDE BARROW WRITES A "LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION" FOR A FELLOW CRIMINAL WHO ONCE DID HIM A FAVOR, SIGNING WITH HIS NAME AND FINGERPRINTS! CLYDE BARROW. Historic TLS: "Clyde Barrow", 1p, 8½x11. No place, no date, just the year "____ 1934". In full: "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I know Frank Hardy, having been with him on several occasions prior to 1930. Since I was paroled by Gov. Ross Sterling of Texas, Frank has not been associated with me in any manner. He is not now nor has he ever been a member of what is referred to by the news papers and public as 'The Barrow Gang'. I have not seen Frank Hardy since leaving the Eastham Farm of the Texas Prison System. That all may know that I have made this statement I am affixing here my signature and fingerprints." At the bottom of the page, Barrow has placed nine large black ink fingerprints, most of which remain very distinct. On October 16, 1929, CLYDE BARROW (1909-1934) was arrested with two wanted men, William Turner and FRANK HARDY, at the Roosevelt Hotel in Waco, Texas. Weeping before the Chief of Police Hollis Barron, Barrow claimed that Turner and Hardy had picked him up while hitchhiking, and he was unaware of their reputations. Turner and Hardy went along with Barrow's story, and Clyde was released. He never forgot what Turner and Hardy did for him. Three months later, 20-year-old Clyde Barrow was in Dallas and, in a café, met a 19-year-old waitress named Bonnie Parker (1910-1934). The romance began and the pair terrorized the Southwest for four years, robbing banks and stores and gunning down thirteen civilians and lawmen along the way. At one point, Barrow was arrested for a burglary he had committed in Waco and sentenced to two years at EASTHAM FARM of the Texas Prison System. One day, Bonnie walked into Eastham with a gun strapped to her thigh. She slipped the gun to Clyde and left. That night, Clyde escaped. He was caught and sent back to Eastham Farm where he killed his first man. A fellow inmate, Ed Crowder, told prison officials that Barrow had been gambling, against prison rules. After spending some time in solitary, Barrow used a lead pipe and smashed in Ed Crowder's head. Clyde's mother, Cumie Barrow, then launched a month-long sympathy campaign to let her poor boy out of jail. In February 1932, Texas Governor Ross Sterling granted his release. In March, Bonnie and Clyde continued their crime spree. Two years later, in 1934, while on the run from the law, Clyde Barrow repaid Frank Hardy's support in 1929 by helping relieve the heat that had come down on Hardy and all those ever associated with Barrow. This unique "letter of recommendation" had to have been written during the first five months of 1934. In May, one of the members of "The Barrow Gang", Henry Methvin, tired of his life on the run, betrayed the duo to Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and plans were made to trap the pair. On May 23, 1934, Hamer and his Rangers prepared an ambush at Gibland, Louisiana and as Bonnie and Clyde passed in their car, they were riddled in a hail of gunfire. They died with guns in their hands before they had a chance to fire even one shot. This extraordinary letter is in good condition. It had been folded five times with two horizontal folds and three vertical folds. One fold passes through the "w" of Barrow. There are six tiny holes where the folds crossed. The word "RIGHT.TH" has been hand printed (by Clyde?) at the left edge underneath one of the fingerprints possibly identifying Clyde's right thumbprint. A TRULY REMARKABLE SOUVENIR OF THE LEGENDARY CLYDE BARROW SHOWING HIS LOYALTY TO A FRIEND WHO ONCE DID HIM A FAVOR. Autographs of Clyde Barrow are extremely rare and desirable in any form. Presented not in Gallery of History style, in a leather and marbled paper presentation folder bearing images of Hardy (mug shot) and Barrow. When closed, the presentation measures 9x11½. The black binding is imprinted on the spine in gold lettering: "1934 CLYDE BARROW TYPED LETTER SIGNED w. FINGER PRINT". SEE IF DOCUMENT 268088 IS FOR SALE RIGHT NOW!!
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