John Frederick Ward, "a Terror to the Neighbourhood"

Main photo: Entry for John Frederick Ward in A Calendar of Prisoners tried at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions of the Peace for 1910 [HO140, piece no. 285], Prison Registers [at Findmypast] - click on the photo to see the full image.

CLARA HALL 1857-1928
When I was young, my grandfather Jack Pearson used to tell me a story about his maternal great aunt, Clara Hall, who was attacked one day whilst out delivering letters at Stannington. Many years later I was able to uncover the story, which was a lot more harrowing than I’d been led to believe – I obviously got the child-friendly version of this tale.

Grandad’s mother was called Clara Eliza Hinchliffe, and her mother was called Jane Robson Hall. Clara Hall was Jane’s sister and had been born in Stannington in 1857. Their father Charles Hall came from the West Country where he was an Independent Minister, stationer, printer, bookseller, druggist and general dealer, but after a spell in Bodmin jail in 1834 for debt he left his wife and family and moved north. He met Emma Leach on the way, and finally settled in Stannington, Yorkshire via Oxfordshire. I can find no evidence that they ever married, although they presented as man and wife. Charles reinvented himself as a respectable (Church of England) schoolmaster and later a postmaster and became my ancestor through his daughter Jane. Charles, Emma and their son Alfred arrived in Stannington in about 1845 and Charles became the school master until he was appointed by the Post Office in 1852. The family lived at the Post Office in the village, and when she got older Clara began delivering letters for her father. On the 17th April 1874 she was attacked and raped by John Frederick Ward whilst out delivering letters. She was 17 years old.

On Monday 27th April Clara was walking through a field at Rivelin when she was waylaid by Ward. He was said to have come up behind her and thrown her down to the ground. He took her violently by the throat, “garroting” her so that she became insensible before he “effected his purpose,” as one newspaper report said, i.e. raped her. Clara was found lying unconscious on the ground shortly afterwards, and she was bleeding from her nose and mouth.

JOHN FREDERICK WARD 1852-?
John Frederick Ward was 21 years old when he attacked Clara. He had been born in 1852 at Wharncliffe Side in the chapelry of Bradfield to parents Henry Ward and Ellen Gregory. Henry was a besom maker, and he had married Ellen at Sheffield parish church in 1843. In 1861 the family were living in the hamlet of Onesacre and in 1871 they were at Oughtibridge. When the 1871 census was taken, John Frederick was, like his father, working as a “heath broom maker.”

We know what he looked like from his prison record. He had a sallow complexion, brown hair, brown eyes and he had a long face and stood 5’ 6 ½” tall. Future records give his eye colour as either blue or green, so I am not sure how accurate these descriptions were. Under the heading “distinctive marks” was written, “two moles centre throat and back and one left rib, scar back neck, right knee and two base first left finger.” A newspaper report from 1895 described him as “a strange looking man,” and in 1896 he was “prematurely aged.” By 1897 he had lost three front teeth and by 1902 he also had a scar on the bridge of his nose, a scar on the back of his right forearm, and an injury to the tip of the fourth finger on his right hand. Prison reports reported that he could not read or write. The family suffered two tragedies just before Ward attacked Clara; his brother died in 1872 at the age of 17, and in January 1874 his sixteen-year-old sister Ellen was raped by John Thomas Brook. The case came before the magistrates at the Leeds Assizes on Saturday 6th April.
The reports on the rape of Ellen Ward tell us that the family were by now living in Stocksbridge. Ellen had attended evening service at the Ebenezer Chapel, leaving there at around 8pm. This chapel stood next to where the Picture Palace is now and was demolished to make way for the shopping precinct. One report says that her brother had accompanied her to the service; he wasn’t named, and it wasn’t clear whether he had walked home with her or not. The report said that he was “of weak mind,” which matches future references to John Frederick. When Ellen left the chapel, there were several boys in the street who began bothering her. The reports said that they “began to use her somewhat roughly” and Brook offered to see her safely home. She declined his offer at first, but he accompanied her anyway. They walked along the main road (the Turnpike) for about half a mile, still being followed by the boys, before walking down a lane and across some fields, which was the quickest way to her father’s house. When they got to the first stile Brook attacked her. What is worse is that, after she screamed “Murder,” two men came up, but they had no intention of helping her, and they both raped her whilst Brook looked on, after which he raped her again. It appears that the two men were never found. No mention was made of whether her brother was there, or if he had tried to help her. The Jury found Brook guilty, and he was sentenced to seven years penal servitude.

A month later John Frederick committed rape on Clara Hall. Clara must have recognised her attacker, because he was arrested and charged with the offence at the West Riding Court in Sheffield the following week. Ward’s defence argued that he had been a “lunatic” for five years. He was 21 when he committed the offence, so had apparently been suffering with mental illness since he was about 16 years old. He was committed to appear at the Leeds Assizes, where the more serious cases were heard, in August. He did not have a defence solicitor this time and the jury found him guilty. He was sentenced to penal servitude for twenty years, a much longer sentence than his sister’s attacker received. “Penal servitude” was a prison sentence with hard labour. The Criminal Justice Act of 1948 abolished penal servitude, hard labour and flogging.

John Frederick’s mother died later that year. When his father married again in 1877 to Anna Maria White nee Morton, he gave his address as Whitwell.

John Frederick served his sentence at Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight and is recorded there on the census returns for 1881 and 1891 although some reports place him in Pentonville Prison in London. He was released on the 2nd August 1894, having served the full twenty years.

CLARA HALL - LIFE AFTER THE ATTACK
Meanwhile, Clara continued to live at Stannington Post Office. Her father died the year after her ordeal, on the 26th February 1875 at the age of 75. His widow Emma carried on running the business and Clara continued delivering letters. Emma died in 1882, and by 1891 Clara, with her older sister Eva and Eva’s daughter Una were living in Tamworth, Staffordshire. The census records Eva as a dressmaker, but no occupation for Clara. They were living a street or two away from one of their other sisters, Mary.

Clara never married, and as far as I know she never came back to Yorkshire to live. She must have heard that, after his release from prison, her attacker had returned to the area, and she would not have wanted to run the risk of meeting him again. Eva had moved to Deepcar by the time the 1901 census was taken. Clara went to Cheshire, where she worked in domestic service for various people in Altrincham and Macclesfield. She died in West Park Hospital, Macclesfield, in 1928 and was said to be 73 years old though it is possible no one knew for sure how old she was (she would have been 71).

JOHN FREDERICK WARD - LIFE AFTER PRISON
John Frederick was released from Parkhurst Prison on the 2nd August 1894 having served his full twenty-year sentence. His destination after his release was the Royal Society for the Assistance of Discharged Prisoners in London. He did not leave prison a reformed character, and he was in trouble within six months of being released, having assaulted fourteen-year-old Rose Annie Needham in February 1895. He was 43 years old.

1895: February: assault on Rose Annie Needham
Newspaper reports from this time said that he was of no fixed abode, and that he was trying to earn money by going about the country playing an accordion. Rose Annie lived at Lower Forge, Wortley with her parents Edward Needham and Lucy (nee Parker). She had been walking along Soughley Road at about 5pm when John Frederick met her; he took hold of her hand and asked her to go into a wood with him. When she refused, he threatened to cut off her head. She struggled with him and he dropped his accordion, and as he was picking it up she managed to get away from him. Witnesses reported seeing Ward playing his accordion in the area around half an hour previously and he was arrested at Low Forge. When he was asked to explain what he had done, he contradicted himself. On the way to the Wortley Police Station he said, “I only got hold of the girl by the hand and asked her to go for a walk with me. I did not hurt her. She was frightened. I can’t see where they can make much out of it.” He also said “I was never there that day. I have never seen the girl. I went to Sheffield to buy a melodeon, and then I went to Ecclesfield and Chapeltown.” In court he addressed the Bench and said that if he were given one more chance he would never do such a thing again. The Chairman said the Bench had decided to commit him to Wakefield for six months with hard labour, to which he replied that his constitution would not stand for hard labour; he was told that would be for the prison authorities to decide.

1896: January, May: rogue and vagabond, theft
A year after attacking young Rose Annie Needham, Ward was in trouble once again, this time for being a “rogue and vagabond.” Historically this meant that someone was an idle and disorderly person, and the Vagrancy Act of 1824 made it a criminal offence, and specifically included begging and sleeping rough, and having no visible means of support. Ward was sentenced in January to 28 days in prison with hard labour. By May that year he had taken up with someone called Hannah Brooks, a married woman who was living apart from her husband. The couple had been seen “tramping” the Stocksbridge area and were seen to be begging at every farmhouse in Bolsterstone. Ward had also stolen a scrubbing brush and a lading can from John Harwood, a Yewden farmer. Ward was sentenced to another 21 days’ imprisonment on the 19th May and the woman to 14 days. A lading can is local dialect for a tin can, usually containing two or three quarts, used for ladling. Often used to remove boiling water from a vessel or in brewing.

1896: June, July: assault of Myra Wood and two counts of theft
Ward can hardly have been at liberty before he was in trouble yet again. On the 11th June he assaulted a seventeen-year-old girl called Myra Wood. Myra had been born at Old Booth, Wigtwizzle, the daughter of Elizabeth Wood, in 1879. When the 1891 census was taken Myra was living at Old Booth with her mother and her grandfather David Booth, who was a farmer. Living nearby, at Wigtwizzle, was John Frederick’s father Henry Ward, so perhaps he was in the vicinity visiting him, presuming they had kept up contact with each other. Myra spotted Ward on the road. Knowing his character, she crossed the road to avoid him, but he rushed towards her and caught hold of the collar of her dress and gripped her by the neck. Luckily, she managed to get away from him and asked for help from a man called William Fox, whom she saw nearby. This was probably William Fox, a gamekeeper for the Bradfield Game Association, who was living at Mortimer House, Smallfield, in 1891. Ward denied the offence in court, but Mr. Fox gave evidence to support Myra’s charge. Ward said the girl had made a mistake as he was never within four yards of her. He also faced a further charge of having stolen two spoons, a dinner knife, and a dripping pan, the property of Henry Birfield, a lodging-house keeper at Doncaster, on the 8th June. Ward, who was still of no fixed abode, had stayed at the lodging-house on the night of the 8th, and after his departure the following morning the articles were found upon him. He admitted that he had stolen them. He also faced a third charge of stealing a three-pint can containing milk from a nine-year-old boy called Emmanuel Beaumont, at East Hardwicke, near Pontefract, on 9th June. The boy and his brother had been sent to take some milk to a customer, and each carried a can. When Ward came across them, he took Emmanuel’s can from him and threatened to hit him if he cried. He denied this charge and maintained he found the can under a bush. Ward was committed to the Sessions on all three charges but as no evidence was offered in the case of the theft of the milk, this case was not proceeded with. Mr. Rimington Wilson, prosecuting, called Ward “a terror to the neighbourhood”, and that children and young girls were frightened to go near him. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for the theft, and six months for the assault, the sentences to run consecutively [a total of nine months]. Myra never married. She worked in domestic service locally and died at Canyard Hills in 1968 at the age of 89.

1897: July: stealing from his father
A year later Ward was still getting into trouble, this time for stealing from his own father. Henry Ward was now in his mid-70s and still living at Wigtwizzle and still working as a besom maker. His son was still of no fixed abode and was now in his mid-40s. Mr. Rimington Wilson’s head gamekeeper at Broomhead Hall reported to a Constable that he had seen Ward sleeping out on the moors and that he had lit a fire. The Constable went to move him off the moors, as it was feared that the fire could spread. He found that Ward had erected a tarpaulin or oilcloth to sleep under, which he had stolen from his father’s house about a week previously. He was arrested, and admitted the offence. The court heard how, since 1874, Ward had spent almost his whole time in prison, with one term of 20 years and several shorter terms. His father Henry told the court that he dared not have him in his house because of his character. Ward said he would go to the Workhouse if he were given a chance, because wandering abroad did him no good. He was remanded in custody and committed to the Sessions in October. In the end his father did not press the charge and all that happened was that his son was ordered to be imprisoned until the rising of the court. This basically means that he was released; he was detained until the day’s proceedings had been concluded.

1898: January: stealing clothes
The local newspaper reported that John Frederick Ward, of no fixed abode, had been “relieving clothes lines of their burdens.” He was accused of stealing three shirts belonging to Thomas Milnes of Yewden. The garments had been washed on 31st January and hung out to dry before they disappeared. The same day Ward appeared at White’s lodging-house in Water Lane, Sheffield, and sold them to someone called Sarah Clarke, for 9d. He was also accused of stealing a flannelette night-shirt from a washing line belonging to John Priam Crawshaw of Langley Brook Farm on the 27th January and selling it at a lodging-house. Ward pleaded guilty to both charges and offered voluntarily to go into the Workhouse and stay there. The magistrates thought he had better go to prison, and sentenced him to three months on each of the charges, the sentence to run consecutively [three months followed by three months]. Supt. Bielby expressed the hope that when the prisoner came out of jail he would keep his promise with respect to the Workhouse.

1899: April: attempted rape of Ellen Wood
Ellen Wood was a schoolmistress at the Hoylandswaine National Schools, and at around 3.30 one Saturday afternoon she left home and headed towards Penistone. On the way she came across Ward, who asked her for directions to Penistone, which she gave, before resuming her journey. Ward followed her out of Well House Lane into Cawthorne Lane, where he grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground, and tried to assault her. She screamed and shouted for help, but no one was nearby. She must have scared him off though, because a navvy by the name of Hopkinson came up to her, and after she had pointed Ward out to him, he followed him until he ran into the arms of a police constable. In court, when he was described as a “tall, dirty-looking fellow” of no fixed abode, Ward was committed to the Leeds Assizes for trial in May. He pleaded guilty. The prison doctor described Ward as being “of very feeble intellect,” but he thought there were no signs of insanity. In answer to the Judge, the doctor said that if Ward was sent to prison without hard labour being imposed, he would have an opportunity of judging whether the man was fit to be at large or whether he could find any steps to justify his being sent to the County Asylum. The Judge told Ward that he ought to have a sentence of penal servitude imposed on him (the definition of which included hard labour), but instead he would receive six months’ imprisonment without hard labour – which was said to be a very lenient sentence in the circumstances.

1900: May: Three counts of Arson
A year later, Ward added arson to his growing list of crimes. On the 24th May 1900 he set fire to a wooden building which was used as a lunch cabin known as “Grotto Flat,” owned by the Bradfield Game Association. On the 26th May he set a fire at Cowhill Plantation, owned by Mr. R. H. R. Rimington Wilson of Broomhead Hall. Then on the 27th May he set fire to Emlin Moor, land which belonged to the Bradfield Game Association.
Mr. Rimington Wilson’s head gamekeeper Charles Ward (no relation to John Frederick) saw that the cabin was on fire and beyond saving. It was made of heather and timber, and therefore highly flammable. John Frederick was seen walking away from the cabin at about the same time, and footprints could clearly be seen. The police took casts of the prints, which matched Ward’s boots exactly. The damage amounted to about £10.
The second charge of setting fire to the Cowhill Plantation was a serious one, with damage estimated at around £100, which equates to about £12,569 today, according to the Bank of England’s Inflation Calculator. The plantation was about 100 acres in extent and contained a good deal of young timber. The head keeper was informed that the plantation was on fire, and he went to investigate, finding it burning in three separate places. About five acres had been damaged before the flames could be extinguished. Had the fire not been noticed, the whole plantation might have been destroyed. Shortly before the fire was discovered, several people had seen Ward on Loadfield Lane, coming from the direction of the plantation. Once again, footprints were visible and proved to match Ward’s boots.
The third charge was setting fire to Emlin Moor, Bradfield. A gamekeeper called Fox (probably William Fox, mentioned earlier) noticed the fire from his house, and by using a telescope he was able to see Ward near the fire. He gave chase and caught the defendant. When asked why he had set the moor on fire, Ward said he had done it to warm himself.
Ward acknowledged his guilt in the first and last cases but denied any knowledge of the damage done at Cowhill. He was committed for trial at the Leeds Assizes in July where once again he was described as a “terror to the neighbourhood.” He was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison and was recorded as an inmate at Wakefield Prison when the census was taken on 31st March 1901. He was released on the 2nd April 1901 and said that he intended to live in Goole and work as a farm labourer.

1902: March: stealing Workhouse clothing
In March 1902 Ward was in trouble for stealing clothes, this time from the Workhouse. He was found to have absconded from the Workhouse at Grenoside without returning the clothing he would have been given upon arrival (his own being stored until he left). Workhouse clothing was marked to try to discourage people stealing it. He was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment, with hard labour.

1902: March: stealing from the Vicar’s washing line
As soon as Ward was released from prison he got up to his old trick of stealing clothes from washing lines. He was living at Grenoside at this time, so perhaps he was back in the Workhouse. He stole five pocket handkerchiefs, five chemises, two nightdresses, and two bath towels which had been hung out to dry in the Vicarage garden at Bolsterstone one Monday. He was apprehended on Friday when the police found him sleeping rough in a farm building at Fairhurst, Wharncliffe Side, and two of the handkerchiefs he had stolen were found in his possession. He admitted the theft and said that he had sold some of them at lodging-houses in Sheffield. He was remanded to appear at the next Quarter Sessions. Superintendent Bielby remarked that the prisoner, who was now 50 years old, had been either in jail or in the Workhouse for most of his adult life. He appeared at the Sessions in July. Some of the stolen items belonged to the vicar, Canon Wilson, and others belonged to the staff, including Hannah Ramsden, a live-in housemaid. The day after the theft Ward went to the lodging-house at Water Lane in Sheffield and tried to sell the stolen articles to the woman at the house, but she noticed the name of Wilson on the handkerchiefs and refused to buy them. Ward told her he went round buying second-hand clothes, and that was how he had obtained them. The Chairman said they scarcely knew what to do with this prisoner who spent more time in prison than out of it. Ward was sentenced to fifteen months’ imprisonment with hard labour. He was released on the 28th July 1903 and said he was intending to move to Huddersfield where he would work as a labourer.

1904: March: criminal damage
Whether Ward ever went to Huddersfield, I don’t know, but he was soon back on his old territory and up to his old tricks again. He was still “of no fixed abode,” and had broken into a shooting box on Broomhead Moor belonging to Mr. Rimington Wilson of Broomhead Hall. The head keeper Charles Ward saw smoke issuing from the building, which was a mile and a half from the road, and on going to investigate he found that a window had been broken, and a curtain pulled down. Several boards in the basement had been taken up and removed to the ground floor, and they were well ablaze when he arrived on the scene. He discovered John Frederick asleep on the floor. The head keeper extinguished the flames, but in the meantime, Ward made his escape. It wasn’t long before he was arrested in Sheffield. He admitted breaking into the shooting box and setting fire to it and he was remanded in custody for a week. There was some debate about whether he should be charged with arson, but there was no proof that the building was actually on fire, though it might well have been if the gamekeeper had not been there. John Frederick was described as a “wanderer on the face of the earth, spending a good deal of the summer on the moors and the winter in workhouses.” He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, with hard labour.

1904: June: begging and assaulting a police officer
True to form, Ward was in trouble as soon as he was released from prison. He was charged with begging at Swithen (near Kexbrough, Barnsley) on the 8th June, and also with having assaulted a police officer. PC Walton was on duty, in plain clothes, and noticed Ward going from door to door, begging. When he was refused alms he got abusive and used bad language. When PC Walton spoke to him, he ran off. Walton followed him to Kexbrough Bridge, said to be a lonely part of the road, where Ward turned round and threatened Walton, saying that he would “lay him out stiff” if he followed him any further. Ward then went to the hedge, and seizing a huge piece of timber from the fencing aimed it with some force at the policeman’s head. Walton managed to move his head but was hit on the shoulder. Ward then kicked him on the shins, and picked up stones to throw at him, but Walton managed to get out of the way. Ward then pulled a knife out of his pocket and attacked him. The Constable was able to grip Ward by the throat, and they struggled for some time, Ward kicking and biting all the time. He managed to get away and jumped over a wall and when he was recaptured, he lay down on the ground and refused to walk. Walton tried to carry him but was kicked and bitten again. Another policeman, Sergeant Whiteley, came on the scene and it was with some difficulty that Ward was finally taken to the Barugh Police Station. Sergeant Whiteley said he was called to the place by a civilian, and saw Walton being assaulted. Ward insisted that he was simply walking quietly along the road when the policeman interfered with him, but The Bench said it was evident he was not fit to be at large, and committed him for one month for the begging, and two months for the assault.

1905: February: arson
On the 9th February 1905 Ward set fire to a haystack at Wharncliffe Side, causing damage amounting to £16. Daniel Wragg, the owner of the stack, saw the hay burning, and saw Ward running away from it. He chased after him and caught him, and Ward told him it was revenge because Wragg had once threatened to lock him up. He was sent on remand to Wakefield Prison to face trial at the following month’s Leeds Assizes, where he would also face charges of breaking 9 panes of glass at a shooting box on Broomhead Moor. He was found guilty and was sentenced to six years with hard labour, which were spent back at Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight. His intended release date was the 15th March 1911 but he was released early, on 22 September 1909, supposedly to live and work in Leeds assisted by the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society.

1910: October: theft
On 2nd October 1910 he stole 3lbs of beef from Herbert Scott of Thorne near Doncaster. He was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment with hard labour. It was noted that he had time remaining of his original sentence of 1 year and 174 days. So it was back to prison for Ward, and he would be released on the 16th October 1911, or, with remission, on the 18th August 1911. He was recorded as an inmate at Wakefield Prison when the census was taken in 1911; he was said to be 56 years, old, but he’d be 58 or 59.

On the 23rd January 1912 he was transferred from Wakefield Prison to Parkhurst. There is a note in Wakefield’s Register of Convicts that says his licence was revoked, meaning his supervised release was ended and he would have to serve his original sentence. The Habitual Criminals Register recorded that his intended release date was the 7th February 1913 and that he was actually released on the 4th October 1912, “Second Licence.” His intended address was Shrewsbury.

Scrawled across this Register in red ink are the words “Presumed Dead 18.9.36,” although the Register for 1901 has a different date, 18.6.37. I think these dates would be a later addition, not the actual date of death. John Frederick Ward disappears from the records after his release in 1912, and given his track record I would have expected to find some mention of him in the criminal records and newspapers, but apart from two newspaper articles for a “John Ward” in 1915, which could have been him, there is nothing. There is no sign of him on the 1921 census, but given that he was “of no fixed abode” all his adult life, I would only have expected to find him if he was in an institution.

And so it seems that he faded into obscurity, probably not mourned by anyone, and perhaps if he died far from home where no one knew him he became one of the many John Does buried in a pauper’s grave, no name, no identity.

NOTE:
As ever, the newspaper reports could be wildly inaccurate, so I have had to use every available record to try to ascertain the correct facts. Ages, names and locations can all vary between the different newspapers whilst reporting on the same cases. John Frederick’s given age varied by quite a lot in the records, as did his eye colour! Newspapers muddled up the names of witnesses and corroborating evidence had to be found from other sources such as the census returns.


POSTSCRIPT

CHARLES HALL, CLARA'S FATHER
For decades, the descendants of Charles Hall’s first family had wondered what happened to him after he left the West Country. As records became available online, several likely contenders emerged, but there was absolutely no proof to tie any of them into Charles-from-Plymouth, just several census returns which said Charles-of-Stannington had been born there. No proof, that is, until a lady in the States called Diane Hall saw my DNA results pop up as a distant match to her. There is no way that we can be related through any other person given the locations involved. We share a very small amount of DNA - less than 1% - (37cMs), but the proof is there, and Charles “The Vanishing” Hall can now be confidently identified as Charles-of-Stannington. And thanks to his prison record, we know that he had large sandy whiskers!

A GANGSTER IN DETROIT!
Charles Hall had been born in Plymouth in 1799 and he married Elizabeth Malvina Marshall. He also lived in Cornwall. They had several children including Diane’s ancestor, the wonderfully named Charles FitzLouis Dieu don Hall in 1824. The latter had a grandson, Reginald Marshall Hall (Diane’s grandfather) who emigrated in the 1920s. A great many stories were told about him, some of which read like a Hollywood film script! Diane doesn’t know how many are true, but he certainly sounds as if he was an interesting man. He was very handsome, educated, talented and well-liked, “too brilliant for his own good.” With his gleaming red hair, quick wit and love of living in the fast lane, Reginald was in his element in Detroit in the late 1920s. It was the time of breaking the rules, living on the edge, being invincible. He was supposed to have been involved in the Purple Gang, the Mafia leaders of Detroit.
It is said that Reginald was Babe Ruth’s (of baseball fame), connection to the “ladies” when in Detroit, and the provider of the endless supply of illegal liquor needed for the parties after the baseball games. Reginald enjoyed participating in these parties and rubbing shoulders with all the baseball legends of the time. He is also said to have had a counterfeiting machine and supposedly hid money in various places in case he suddenly had to flee.
It seems likely that Reginald really was involved with everything from moving weapons and whiskey, prostitution and drugs, and money laundering and scams. He may even have been involved with Al Capone, the infamous Chicago Mafia gang leader. In fact, Al Capone worked in cooperation with the Purple Gang, the controlling Mafia of Detroit, rather than fighting for control of the Detroit territory. He felt it wasn’t worth the fight, and they could help each other make better profits.
Reginald went by the name of Red, and his main involvement in the Detroit underworld was bootlegging. He loved the thrill of running whiskey back and forth from Windsor, Canada and then transporting it to Ohio, Kentucky and Chicago, Illinois. He would bring the whiskey into Ecorse, Detroit by river, in a speedboat that was able to outrun pretty much everything else. He’d then use a Dodge car to deliver it. Not much is known about the latter stages of his life.
Additional information © Diane Hall


SOURCES
Criminal Records at Findmypast and Ancestry
Vital Records, parish registers, Census Returns etc. at Findmypast and Ancestry
Newspapers at Findmypast, also available at the British Newspaper Archive

© 2025 Claire Pearson