LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25257

Extremely Rare Clyde Barrow ALS

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:12,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Extremely Rare Clyde Barrow ALS
<B>Extremely Rare Clyde Barrow Autograph Letter Signed,</B></I> 1 p., 6.5" x 8.25" in pencil on blue-lined paper, to his mother, Cumie Barrow, from his prison cell at the Eastham Prison Farm near Huntsville, Texas. Barrow writes (in full): <I>"Dear Mother. got your Sweet letter glad to know that every one is fine. When are you going to Auston. Be sure you talk </B></I> ? <I> yourself sure hope I can get out of hear. Tell </B></I> ? <I> to write to me. Make S.C. bring you down real soon to see me. I sure do want to see you. You asked me if I needed anything. Nothing but to come home. Give every one my love Come soon Your son Clyde Barrow"</B></I> <BR><BR>At this time, Clyde was serving a 14-year sentence for a string of robberies committed between Texas and Ohio. Unbeknownst to Clyde, his mother Cumie had nearly secured an amazing act of leniency from District Judge R.I. Monroe in Waco, reduce Clyde's sentence from 14 to just 2 years. <BR><BR>But Clyde grew impatient. Between the date of this letter and February of 1932, Clyde became despondent over a number of things: the state's delay in reducing his sentence, his rocky relationship with Bonnie (she had started to see another man while Clyde was in prison), and his inability in keeping up with the workload in the fields of the prison farm. Turning to an inmate friend, he conspired to get off the farm and into regular prison by persuading a fellow convict to chop off two of his toes with an axe. As expected, prison officials moved him to the Huntsville Prison Hospital for treatment. With Judge Munroe's recommendation and his mother's pleadings, Governor Ross Sterling agreed to the parole. It was a fateful decision. <BR><BR>Clyde was released on February 8, 1932, and shortly thereafter he and Bonnie, reunited, embarked upon their infamous crime spree across the South. The two first began traveling with Raymond Hamilton, a young gunman. Hamilton left them several months later, and was replaced by William Daniel Jones in November 1932. <BR><BR>Clyde's brother, Ivan M. "Buck" Barrow, was released from the Texas State Prison on March 23, 1933, having also been granted a full pardon by the Governor. He quickly joined Clyde, bringing his wife, Blanche, so the group now numbered five persons. The gang embarked upon a series of bold robberies that made headlines across the country, and their activities made law enforcement efforts to apprehend them even more intense. During a shootout with police in Iowa on July 29, 1933, Buck Barrow was fatally wounded and Blanche was captured. Jones, who was frequently mistaken for "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was captured in November 1933, at Houston, Texas, by the sheriff's office. Bonnie and Clyde continued on together. <BR><BR>After a number of highly-publicized robberies and homicides an FBI Agent, through investigation in the vicinity of Ruston, Louisiana, obtained information which definitely placed Bonnie and Clyde in a remote section southwest of that community in April, 1934. A safe house (the home of Henry Methvin) was not far away and the Agent learned of visits there by Bonnie and Clyde, and that the two were currently en route to that location. <BR><BR>Before dawn on May 23, 1934, a posse composed of police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana. In the early daylight, Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an automobile and when they attempted to drive away, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly in a maelstrom of gunfire. <BR><BR>A timely letter from Clyde Barrow, written just before his release from prison and the resumption of his life of crime. This is the only genuine ALS of Clyde, written in letter format, known to exist! Some age toning; otherwise, in fine condition. Accompanied by a handwritten letter of provenance from Barrow's sister, Marie, who states that Clyde wrote the above ALS to their mother while in prison. <BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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