Mary Northern Kinder (August 29, 1909 – May 21, 1981) was a
Prohibition era
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...
gun moll, most noted for being the girlfriend of
Harry Pierpont
Harry "Pete" Pierpont (October 13, 1902 – October 17, 1934) was a Prohibition era gangster, convicted murderer and bank robber. He was a friend and mentor to John Dillinger.
Described as handsome and soft-spoken, Pierpont was a bright, natural-b ...
and associate of
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...
. Along with
Pearl Elliott
Pearl Elliott (October 21, 1887 – August 10, 1935) was a notorious madam of Kokomo, Indiana, United States. She was best known as an early associate of the Prohibition era gangster Harry Pierpont and later of the bank robber John Dillinger. A ...
, she was one of two women listed by the Chicago Police Department's Public Enemies list in 1933.
At one time, her brother,
Earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
, husband Dale Kinder, and sweetheart
Harry Pierpont
Harry "Pete" Pierpont (October 13, 1902 – October 17, 1934) was a Prohibition era gangster, convicted murderer and bank robber. He was a friend and mentor to John Dillinger.
Described as handsome and soft-spoken, Pierpont was a bright, natural-b ...
were all inmates at the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City, Indiana. Her other brother, Charles, as well as her brother-in-law, William Behrens, were also convicted bank robbers.
Early life
She was born August 29, 1909, in Indiana, the daughter of Lewis W. and Viola J. (Tansey) Northern.
By the 1910 census, the family was residing in Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana, where Mary's father's occupation was not listed.
By the 1920 census, the family was living at 1060 West McCarty Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Mary's father's occupation was listed as an engineer at a factory.
Earl Northern Trial, Howard County, Indiana Circuit court, 1925
Mary testified as a defense witness at her brother
Earl Northern
George Earl "The Kid" Northern (1903–1936) was a Prohibition-era bank robber and early associate of Harry Pierpont. He was the older brother of Pierpont's girlfriend, Mary Kinder.
Early life
He was born in 1903 in Morgan County, Indiana, the so ...
's trial that Northern was in attendance at a dinner party held by her aunt on March 27, 1925, giving the names of those in attendance.
[Lively Scrap Jars Calm In Northern Trial article, Kokomo Daily Tribune, Kokomo, Indiana, June 4, 1925, p. 1.]
Suicide of father, 1925
Mary, along with her mother, discovered her father's body at their
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
home after hearing a report from a shotgun blast in the early morning of November 12, 1925.
Michigan City prison break, 1933
On September 26, 1933,
Harry Pierpont
Harry "Pete" Pierpont (October 13, 1902 – October 17, 1934) was a Prohibition era gangster, convicted murderer and bank robber. He was a friend and mentor to John Dillinger.
Described as handsome and soft-spoken, Pierpont was a bright, natural-b ...
,
Charles Makley
Charles Omer Makley (November 24, 1889 – September 22, 1934), also known as Charles McGray and Fat Charles, was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger.
E ...
,
John "Red" Hamilton,
Russell Clark, Walter Dietrich,
James "Oklahoma Jack" Clark, Edward Shouse, Joseph Fox, Joe Burns, and Jim Jenkins escaped from
Michigan City, using pistols that
Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dill ...
had smuggled into the prison. The escape had been carefully planned before Dillinger's parole by Pierpont, Hamilton and Dillinger.
After the prison break, Kinder was sought by police for her connection with the escapees. Authorities believed that she drove the automobile who brought the convicts to the home of Ralph Saffell, where they received food, clothing and shelter
[2 Women Figure In Search For Escaped Felons article, The Vidette Messenger, Valparaiso, Indiana, October 12, 1933, p. 3.] Mary's sister, Mrs. Margaret Behrens, wife of William Behrens, had been held as an accomplice for three days.
Named to Public Enemies List, 1933
Mary was one of two women, known to be associated with the
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...
gang, named to the Chicago Police Department's Public Enemies List.
[Chicago Names Dillinger As Chief Enemy Article, The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, December 29, 1933, p. 1.]
Association with Pierpont and Dillinger Gang
Mary accompanied Harry Pierpont during his subsequent flight from authorities. Pierpont was known to have a volatile temper and Mary was one of the few people that could make "the trigger man keep his cool". She accompanied Pierpont, along with John Dillinger, Billie Frechette, Russell Clark, Opal Long, and Charlie Makley to Tucson, Arizona in January 1934. The gang was attempting to lay low after a robbery in Chicago in which gang member John Hamilton was wounded. On January 22, 1934, a fire broke out at the Hotel Congress, where Makley and Clark were staying. They paid firemen $20 to retrieve their bags, which were loaded with weapons. The firemen were suspicious, as that was a large amount of money at the time and the bags were heavy. They subsequently saw Clark and Makley's pictures in a true detective magazine and alerted the police. The Tucson police pulled Pierpont and Kinder over and told Pierpont he had to accompany them to the police station to register his car, as it was a law that all cars had to be registered in Tucson. Pierpont inexplicably willingly followed them back to the station where they were then arrested. Kinder was held in jail but eventually allowed to post bond. Pierpont was sent back to the Michigan City Indiana prison he escaped from. Then they transferred to Lima Ohio to stand trial for the murder of sheriff Jess Sarber. The sheriff had been killed during the gangs break out of John Dillinger from the Allen County Jail on October 12, 1933. Pierpont was sentenced to die in the electric chair. Kinder did shows and interviews to raise money for his appeal, including participating in a carnival show. She attempted to shield Pierpont and downplayed his role in criminal activities. Pierpont and Makley attempted to escape from death row September 22, 1934. Makley was killed in the attempt and Pierpont was severely wounded. He was kept alive long enough to execute him and the date of his execution was changed so they could execute him before he succumbed to his injuries. He was carried to the electric chair, and was executed October 17, 1934.
Later life and death
Mary struggled with alcoholism throughout her life. She began drinking while running with the Dillinger Gang. She died of emphysema and heart disease May 21, 1981 in
Plainfield,
Hendricks County, Indiana
Hendricks County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 145,448. The county seat is the town of Danville.
Hendricks County is the third largest county in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderso ...
. Mary died penniless and is buried without a marker.
Notes
References
*Girardin, George Russell (2009). ''Dillinger: The Untold Story'', Indiana University Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinder, Mary
1909 births
1981 deaths