Raymond Elzie Hamilton (May 21, 1914 — May 10, 1935) was a member of the notorious

Barrow Gang The Barrow Gang was an American gang active between 1932 and 1934. They were well known outlaws, robbers, murderers and criminals who as a gang traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known all over the ...

during the early 1930s. By the time he was 20 years old, he had accumulated a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

sentence of 362 years.

First years

Raymond Hamilton was born May 21, 1914, in a tent on the banks of the Deep Fork River in Oklahoma. Son of John Henry Hamilton -abandoned the family when he was 10 Guinn, Jeff (2009). ''Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde''. New York: Simon & Schuster. . pp 87-88- and Sara Alice Bullock. Raymond had five brothers and sisters: Lilly Hamilton, Floyd Hamilton, Lucy Hamilton, Margie Hamilton, and Audrey Hamilton. He was raised in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, where he received his minor public education. Little is known about Hamilton's childhood.

The Barrow Gang

He met

Clyde Barrow Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...

who lived in the same neighborhood when they were boys, and later joined the "Barrow Gang". Hamilton was involved in the killing of Deputy Sheriff Eugene C. Moore when Moore and Sheriff Charlie Maxwell became suspicious of the men at an outdoor country dance in Stringtown, Oklahoma. Sheriff Maxwell also sustained six gunshot wounds in the exchange, but survived. It was Barrow's and Hamilton's first murder of a police officer. Hamilton's presence in the group was often problematic, with Clyde Barrow and other members of the gang commonly referring to his girlfriend Mary O'Dare as "the washerwoman." When Hamilton was imprisoned at the Eastham prison farm north of

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home ...

, Bonnie and Clyde raided the farm to free him and four other prisoners on January 16, 1934. One of the other escapees, Joe Palmer, mortally wounded guard M. J. Crowson and caused a series of events which led to Texas Prison System chief Lee Simmons to issue a shoot to kill order against Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Simmons hired ex- Texas Ranger

Frank Hamer Francis Augustus Hamer (March 17, 1884 – July 10, 1955) was an American lawman and Texas Ranger who led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Renowned for his toughness, marksmanship, and ...

, who formed a six-man posse in order to execute this order. Hamilton left the Barrow Gang after a fight about O'Dare and was recaptured on April 25, 1934. He was in prison when Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were ambushed and killed by Hamer's posse on May 23, 1934.

Death

Hamilton was executed on May 10, 1935 at the Texas State Penitentiary, Huntsville, Texas, by

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

. Hamilton walked calmly and firmly to the chair and seated himself with the words "Well, goodbye all." He was preceded to the electric chair by Joe Palmer. Raymond Hamilton never publicly admitted killing anyone, although to his brother, Floyd, he admitted that in the case of the killing of Undersheriff Eugene Moore (August 5, 1932, Stringtown, Oklahoma) he was not so sure. "Clyde and I were both shooting," Raymond told Floyd. "It could have been either one of us. Or both." Raymond Hamilton was convicted of the murder of John Bucher of Hillsboro May 1, 1932, though he had nothing to do with it. The actual killer was Ted Rogers. Clyde Barrow and Johnny Russell (not to be confused with "Uncle Bud" Russell) were accomplices. His remains lie in Elmwood Memorial Park Dallas, Dallas County, Texas.

Bibliography

* UNDERWOOD, SID. ''Depression Desperado: The Chronicle of Raymond Hamilton''. Eakin Press, United States, (1995). 242 pages. . *BLANCHE CALDWELL BARROW and JOHN NEAL PHILLIPS. ''My Life with Bonnie and Clyde''. USA. University of Oklahoma Press; Illustrated edición, (2005). 376 pages. * ROBIN COLE-JETT. ''Lewisville''. Arcadia Publishing Library Editions (2011) . 130 pages. . *BURROUGH, BRYAN. Public ''Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34''. Reprint edición. Penguin Books; Media Tie In (2005). 624 pages.

References

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