"Butch, I saw in "This and That" that an author is looking for the Arnolds who testified against Machine Gun Kelly and his wife Kathryn. The following is some information about the Arnolds testimony in the Machine Gun Kelly kidnapping trial in Oklahoma City. Also, is the narrative about an incident that ended in Ardmore involving one of Kelly's associates. I hope you find it interesting. The book is very interesting. There is a bank robbery described that occurred in Mill Creek." ====================================================== An interesting book, "The Devil's Emissaries" by Myron J. Quimby published in 1969, about some of the better known alcohol prohibition era gangsters has a chapter about George "Machine Gun" Kelly titled "The Hip Pocket Bootlegger." The chapter describes Kelly's initial start in the criminal world, his involvement in the smuggling and sale of alcohol (which was a prohibited substance at the time), his criminal career, and ends with his death in prison. I found one reference to Ardmore, Oklahoma, which I quote at length below. But, first some information from "The Devil's Emissaries" about the Arnolds. The book did not indicate where the Arnold's were from. page 40 "On the approach to Hillsboro [Texas], where the highway forked west to Fort Worth and east to Dallas, she spotted three forlorn-looking people, hitchhiking. They were Mr. and Mrs. Luther Arnold, and their 12-year-old daughter, Geraldine. They were migrant workers, broke and hungry. The sight of them gave Kathryn an idea, and she stopped and picked them up." Kathryn was Machine Gun Kelly's wife. This was how the family became mixed up with the Kellys. At the trial in Oklahoma City of the Kelly's for the kidnapping of Mr. Urschel, a wealthy Oklahoma City businessman, the Arnolds testified to the following information. page 57 "Mrs. Luther Arnold was the next witness, and she told how Kathryn had virtually kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter, Geraldine, and used her as a blind in their flight from the law. "I let her have my baby for a little ride," Mrs. Arnold said, "She told me she would be back the same day. It was two weeks before I saw her again. Luther [Mr. Arnold] was in Forth Worth, consulting with a lawyer of Mrs. Kelly's and getting information." "She then went on to tell how her little family had been befriended by Kathryn, while she was traveling near Waco, in an old truck. In telling of Kathryn's remarks about Urschel, Mrs. Arnold said, "I can't use the words Mrs. Kelly used." "Speak right out," the judge urged. "Well - Mrs. Kelly said they ought to have killed the er - bastard - and that she wished she could do it herself. She was referring to Mr. Urschel," Mrs. Arnold explained. "Then Geraldine took the stand, and sketched the picture of her wild dash about the country with the Kellys, while posing as their daughter. She detailed their subsequent travels, which ended in Memphis, and then told how the Kellys had sent her to Texas with Langford Ramsey. She also testified that Kelly had threatened to kill the judge, the prosecutors, and Urschel. Then she told the court that it was Kathryn Kelly who had written those lurid threats about "wiping out the Urschel family," and that she had talked Kelly into signing them." An incident that begins with a jail break and ends in Ardmore is below. This quote starts on page 41 (at the bottom) and ends on page 43. "It was now September 5, 1933, and Harvey J. Bailey - outlaw, escapee, bank robber, suspected kidnapper and killer - was securely locked up in the Dallas County Jail. Between him and freedom were seven barred doors, and numerous armed guards. Sheriff Smoot Schmidt, of Dallas County, had posted extra guards to prevent any jail delivery of Bailey by his pal Machine Gun Kelly, and gang. His bail was set at $100,000. "Only Bailey and Kelly himself knew how ridiculous the rumors were that Kelly might round up "his gang" and break Bailey out of jail. The newspapers were full of reports and rumors, as most of the nation - including the police and the FBI - awaited Kelly's next move. "Bailey knew that if he were to get out of jail he would have to do it himself. With his glib tongue, and the promise of $500, he managed to buy the services of Deputy Sheriff Thomas L. Manion, a jailer. Manion, in turn, persuaded Grover C. Bevill, of Dallas, a civilian, to purchase the necessary hacksaws, and a revolver for him to slip to Bailey. "With these instruments, Bailey sawed and chopped his way through the bars of his ninth-floor cell door, then used the revolver to take keys away from a guard. It was 7:10 a.m., when Bailey slipped down the stairs to the sixth floor. There he surprised two more guards and locked them in a cell. He then rode the elevator to the main floor, where he took Deputy Sheriff Nick Tresp hostage. They sped away from the jail in Tresp's four-year-old sedan. "Since Bailey was a prime suspect in the Kansas City massacre, hundreds of officers and many FBI agents were thrown into the man hunt. Six airplanes from Love Airfield took to the air, and the entire operation was directed from Washington, D.C. by Assistant Attorney General Joseph B. Keenan. "Now Bailey's 115-mile dash into Oklahoma was nearing its end. Sheriff Sam Randolph of Love County, Oklahoma, sighted Tresp's car on the highway just south of Marieta. He hurried to a phone and called Police Chief Hale Dunn, of Ardmore, and told him Bailey was headed his way. "Chief Dunn, with Detectives Raymond Shoemaker and Bennet Wallace, immediately drove out of Ardmore to search the incoming highway. A short distance from town, on U.S. 70, they spied Bailey at a gas station. He was busy having his tank filled, but he saw them too. Jumping into the car he tore away from the station, jerking the gasoline hose from the tank. "Bailey headed directly into Ardmore, then turned into a residential district. The police car was just behind him, and gaining ground all the time. The detectives fired at the car, but they had to be careful not to hit an innocent bystander. They had no idea who Tresp was, but naturally assumed he was a fellow escapee. "Down Washington Street - a main thoroughfare - they roared, then Bailey, in a desperate move, took a corner too close. The car smashed into a curb, and the right front wheel collapsed. In a moment he was covered by three pistols and made no move to pick up his own. Bailey had been at liberty a little less than four hours. "By now Deputy Sheriff Tresp was on the verge of collapse. He had been kidnapped, taken on a wild ride, and now, before his horrified eyes, he was being handcuffed to Bailey. "But, I'm a jailer!" he protested in a weak voice. A call to the authorities in Dallas confirmed this claim, and Tesp was released. By now he had begun to recover enough of his composure to talk with reporters. According to him, Bailey had talked very little on the 115-mile trip. He had promised Tresp that he would return his car, and then give him some money to get back to Dallas. "But he never did say where he was going, though," Tresp added, thoughtfully. When captured Bailey had only three one dollar bills on him. "As Bailey sat in the Ardmore jail, smoking a cigarette and reflecting upon his situation, he had only one thing to say to reporters, "Well! I got out, didn't I."" Many other Oklahoma towns are mentioned in this book. Scanning the index I found the following Oklahoma towns: Atoka, Bixby, Broken Bow, Clayton, Coalgate, Cookson Hills, Earlsboro, Enid, Henryetta, Hobart, Indian Hills Country Club (Tulsa), Kingfisher, Kiowa, Lexington, Love County, Marietta, Maude, McAlester (State Penitentiary), McCuratin, Miami, Mill Creek, Norman, Oklahoma City, Okmulgee, Osage County, Purcell, Sallisaw, Seminole, Stonewall, Stratford, Tulsa, Welch, and Wewoka. Many of those towns were lucky in that these criminals just passed through. Other places are the scenes of crimes. I found it surprising when I read the book that "Machine Gun" Kelly had hidden out in Stratford, Oklahoma for a time at his wife's grandmother's home.