Remembering The Armed Robbery Of The Farmers Merchant Bank

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 By Echo Menges

The citizens of Memphis were rocked by an armed robbery at the local bank 60 years ago. 

Jack Luther, 69, of Kansas City remembers the excitement and chaos of the aftermath of the robbery. The Memphis native was nine-years-old at the time of the robbery living just a few blocks from the heart of the Memphis Town Square. 

 “I wasn’t on the square when it happened, but I was soon afterward because the word about the robbery spread throughout the town pretty quick. The whole town was aware of it,” Jack Luther told the Memphis Democrat. 

“It was on a Saturday morning. At that point in time the square was busy on Saturdays. People would come in to do their shopping from out in the country. The stores were open until eight or nine o’clock, most of them around the square. People would come to town, park on the square pretty early in the day and just spend the day. They would have their car there and they would shop and visit with people. People would walk from car to car. The square would have been full. In the summer on Saturday mornings there was a pile of people. The adults had the square until the stores closed, then they all left and the teenagers took over. Then the teenagers would be up there in their cars. That’s the way it worked. Adults during the day and teenagers after the stores closed.” 

Luther recalls heading to the square to see about all of the commotion. 

“I remember being uptown and there were just throngs of people everywhere. I just kind of wandered around and observed what was going on, part of the excitement of being there right after it happened,” said Luther. “I went uptown (again) to see the get-away-car that was peppered with buckshot because Mr. Lord that ran Coast to Coast, he came out with a shotgun and fired off two or three rounds at the car. So they brought this 57 or 58 Ford in and it was all peppered with buckshot. People were up in airplanes. Some of the local flying farmers were up flying around looking for these guys and I’m sure they were long gone by the time they got organized. It was quite a deal. And people were kind of nervous for a while.” 

As far as Luther can recall, the robbers were never apprehended. 

The following news article was printed in the June 11, 1964, edition of the Memphis Reveille weekly newspaper examining and detailing the armed bank robbery. The old Farmers and Merchant Bank was located on the northwest corner of West Monroe Street and South Main Street in the heart of the Memphis Town Square. 

Memphis Bank Robbery Newspaper Archives 

At 10:55 a.m. on the morning of June 6, 1964, a gray-over-white 1958 Ford coach bearing Iowa license, occupied by two men, pulled up partially on the sidewalk in front of the Farmers and Merchants Bank. The two subjects, one of which was a white male, 5’ 8” tall, slender, blond hair, fair complexioned and in his mid twenties, wearing a gray bandanna around his neck and dark gloves; the other believed to be a white male, 5’ 8” tall, slender, wearing a black mask with holes cut in it for the eyes, and dark cap and gloves, entered the bank carrying .45 caliber automatics and proceeded to rob the bank of $5,000 in ones, fives, tens, and twenties, after forcing eight employees and two customers into two different vaults. 

When the subjects first entered the bank, the masked man hid his gun in the first teller’s window, pointing it at Vernon Yoder and stated, “Get back in the vault and open the safe.” Yoder told the man he could not open the safe. At this time he also forced Darlene Drummond and Georgia Berven into the same vault. 

Herded Into Vault 

The blonde-headed man then told Sam Ross, President of the bank, and Bill Orcutt, prosecuting attorney of Clark county and his wife who were customers speaking to Mr. Ross to get into the vault with the other three. When Mr. Ross did not move at once, the man pulled a shell into the chamber of the gun. The masked man, who was in the teller’s cage, proceeded to take the money and when he dropped one drawer Cordonna Cunningham, who was in the next room, heard the noise and stuck her head around the door. Upon seeing her, the blonde-headed man forced her into another vault. 

Placed In Middle Vault 

He then noticed Harold M. Jayne, head cashier, who was standing at the rear of the bank. He went to the rear of the bank to get Mr. Jayne and observed Vesta Bondurant and Eileen Bradley working in the rear of the vault. The man placed the three of them into the middle vault with Mrs. Cunningham. He then returned to the front of the bank and the masked man stated to him, “Throw me the sack.” The masked man then scooped the money into the sack while the other man was attempting to close the front vault door. The door could not be closed due to being locked open. The men then left the bank. 

Crowd Around Bank 

There was such a crowd around the bank door that one of the robbers stuck his gun in a spectator’s ribs to get him to move. As the thieves sped away from the bank, Bob Lord, a local merchant, fired three 12-gauge shots at the fleeing car. The car was struck on the left and rear by the shots. 

Orlo Harrison, a local car dealer, pursued the car approximately three and a half miles north of Highway 15 to state route BB, where the robbers turned east. 

At this time, descriptions of the car and the subjects were put over the police radio to Missouri, Iowa, Illinois officials. 

Car Recovered 

The car was recovered at 12:20 p.m. in a garage by Gordon Duke, approximately seven miles northeast of Memphis by Missouri Troopers and the local sheriff’s department. 

Two one-dollar bills were found at the closed gap where the car had entered. An additional 23 one-dollar bills were found between the right door and front seat. 

The car was guarded and processed for fingerprints by Jim Duffey of the FBI. 

Second Car Seen In Area 

A car seen in the area which is believed to have been the pick-up car, was thought to have been prevented from making contact with the suspects at 11:15 a.m., when observed by David Forsythe, publisher of these papers, and his wife, shortly before troopers recovered the get-away car. 

The Missouri Patrol plane from Kirkwood came to the area to assist authorities in trying to locate another car which was reported to have gone north from the abandoned car. It was learned that this car was that of the Forsythes. 

Buildings Searched 

All the vacant buildings in the area were searched for the two robbers. At approximately six p.mPearl Briggs, who lives one mile northwest of the Duke farm, reported seeing two men walking half slumped-over along his fence row. A Missouri trooper spotted the suspects in a small opening. He fired one shot into the air and told them to halt. 

Fled Into Woods 

The trooper could have shot the subjects but did not fire at them not knowing that they were the ones who robbed the bank. The men fled into the heavily wooded area. Darkness overtook the search and the area was surrounded for the night by Missouri troopers, Sheriff’s officers from Missouri and Iowa, and FBI agents. 

Dog Brought In 

The plane returned on Sunday morning and a bloodhound was brought to the area from Trenton. The search continued in the heavy wooded area. The bloodhound was unable to pick up a trail due to the time element when subjects were last seen. 

Cars Stolen 

The search was still in progress Monday morning at 1 a.m. when word was received that a white-over-green 1955 Chevrolet Sedan owned by Doc Davis of Granger was reported stolen. It was later learned that the car had been stolen three hours before the authorities got the word. There were officers within three miles of Granger at the time of the theft. 

At approximately six thirty a.m. a dark green-over-light green 1953 Chevrolet sedan, owned by Roy Rice (who lives three miles east of Memphis) reported his car stolen. 

Mr. Rice told authorities that at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday night he heard a car leave his drive and he told his wife at that time “That’s my car.” 

The Rice car went east and it is believed that one of the subjects stole the Rice vehicle and went a mile east and 100 yards south to where the Davis car was abandoned on the first road west of the Drive-in Theater to pick up the second subject. 

Mrs. Wayne Parker, who heard the news over the radio, observed the abandoned car at about 8:10 a.m. and reported it to local authorities. It too was processed for prints by Jim Duffey of the FBI. At approximately 10 a.m., word was received by the highway patrol that the Rice car had been recovered abandoned in Ottumwa, Iowa. 

Editor’s Note: Much thanks is due the persons who sent food and coffee to the search parties while in the field during the manhunt. Also to the State Highway Patrolman Truman Wood, who supplied the information to the Scotland County Weeklies for the above story.