John F. Kennedy (''ca.'' 1870 – November 3, 1922) was an American

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

, described as "the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

's last notorious

train robber Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains. History Train robberies were more common in the past when trains were slower, and often occurred in the American Old West. Tr ...

"."West's Last Notorious Train Robber Dies Fighting Officers in Hold-Up", ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', November 5, 1922, p. 2.

Background

Kennedy, nicknamed "the Quail Hunter", was from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He had a record of seven train robberies within three years (1896–99), and served twelve years in the Missouri Penitentiary. He stood at liberty from 1912 until his death. Several weeks prior to his last robbery, a railway inspector ran into Kennedy near

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and learned that he was making frequent short trips on the line from Memphis to points in northern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. The inspector became suspicious and notified a colleague."Ambushed Officers Kill Jack Kennedy and Pal after Missouri Train Robbery", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', November 4, 1922, page 1 It was decided that the train to watch was the night train from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

to Memphis, which frequently carried considerable amounts of money from the

Federal Reserve Bank A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

, sent south to move the cotton crop.

Death and aftermath

Early on November 3, 1922, Kennedy and his companion Harvey Logan, a former railroad employee, stopped a southbound passenger train of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The train, traveling from St. Louis to Memphis, was forced to halt at a station 7½ miles north of

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

just outside the small community of

Seventy-Six, Missouri Seventy-Six was an unincorporated community in Brazeau Township in eastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. It was located fourteen miles east of Perryville, ninety miles south of Saint Louis, and lay directly on the Mississippi River. ...

. Logan cut the mail and express cars from the rest of the train. The engineer and fireman were ordered off the locomotive and Kennedy took the two cars down the track several miles. After stopping the locomotive, the two bandits entered the mail car. The three clerks were lined up against a wall. Kennedy inspected the mail, taking several pouches to the cab of the locomotive. The locomotive then was detached and Kennedy and Logan rode to Wittenberg. About 150 yards from the station, they jumped from the engine and left it running wild. Their automobile was nearby, and concealed in the brush along the right of way were six postal inspectors, three railroad special agents and two deputy sheriffs. An inspector commanded them to halt. In the bright moonlight the officers saw Kennedy and Logan reach for their weapons. Several of them opened fire and the robbers fell dead, still clutching their revolvers. The stolen mail, about 100 registered letters, was recovered.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Jack 1870s births 1922 deaths American outlaws American robbers Deaths by firearm in Missouri Fugitives People from Missouri People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States