DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell you this one just like the marker tells it — so buckle in, because this stretch of Wise County road carries one heavy piece of American history. The Prohibition Era had a way of turning bad impulses into full-time careers. While Al Capone ruled the streets and Bonnie and Clyde swept across the country, another name was quietly building toward infamy.
George Francis Barnes Jr. Born July 17, 1900, in Chicago. Raised in Memphis.
For a time he had a job, a family — something like a normal life. But divorce came, the job went, and Barnes slid into bootlegging. He got jailed.
Numerous times. His reputation grew nastier with every arrest, and by the late 1920s he was headed westward. Then, in 1930, he met a widow named Kathryn Thorne.
Now there's a name the marker does not let pass by without notice. Kathryn was, by all accounts, a good shot with various firearms. The two eventually married, and together they went on crime sprees of higher and higher magnitudes — robbing banks across the south and midwest.
And at some point, Kathryn bought her husband a Thompson machine gun. That purchase earned George Barnes a new name. From then on, the world knew him as George B.
Machine Gun Kelly. For years, George and Kathryn robbed banks. Large amounts of money.
Large amounts of notoriety. But robbing banks, apparently, wasn't enough. On July 22, 1933, the couple set out to kidnap a man named Charles Urschel — an oil baron out of Oklahoma City.
They took him and held him at a farmhouse. Not just any farmhouse. The farmhouse of Kathryn's stepfather, Robert Shannon — known around these parts as Boss Shannon — right here in Wise County.
They held Charles Urschel there until a ransom of two hundred thousand dollars was paid. Two hundred thousand dollars. But August came.
And with it, the couple was caught and arrested. What followed was one of the first court cases tried under the new Lindbergh law on kidnapping. George, Kathryn, and much of the Shannon family received life sentences in prison.
Boss Shannon was eventually granted clemency — but only after eleven years. George Francis Barnes Jr., Machine Gun Kelly, died of heart disease in Leavenworth Prison on July 18, 1954. And here's where the story lands in Wise County for good.
When George died, nobody from his immediate family claimed the body. Boss Shannon — the man whose farmhouse had been the hiding place, who'd done eleven years because of what happened there — Boss Shannon buried George Barnes right here. There's something in that worth sitting with for a mile or two.
What the marker says
During the Prohibition Era, organized crime increased. Big-name gangsters like Al Capone ruled the streets while public enemies such as Bonnie and Clyde swept across the country. One of the most infamous criminals of this time was George Francis Barnes Jr., also known as George B. "Machine Gun" Kelley. Born on July 17, 1900, in Chicago, Barnes grew up in Memphis. He briefly held a job and family, but following divorce and the loss of his job, he fell into bootlegging. He built up a nasty reputation, being jailed numerous times, and headed westward by the late 1920s. In 1930, he met the widow Kathryn Thorne. They eventually married, and joined together to go on crime sprees of higher and higher magnitudes, robbing banks across the south and midwest. Kathryn was known to be a good shot with various firearms, and eventually bought a Thompson machine gun for her husband, earning him his nickname. George and Kathryn robbed banks for years, gaining large amounts of money and notoriety. On July 22, 1933, the couple set out to kidnap Charles Urschel, an oil baron in Oklahoma City. They held him at the farm house of Kathryn's stepfather Robert "Boss" Shannon in Wise County until the ransom of $200,000 was paid. However, in August the couple was caught and arrested. During one of the first court cases under the new Lindbergh law on kidnapping, George, Kathryn, and much of the Shannon family were given life sentences in prison, although boss was granted clemency after 11 years. George died of heart disease in Leavenworth Prison on July 18, 1954. George Barnes was buried here by Boss Sannon as nobody from George's immediate family claimed the body.