Burrell and Thiel Store Robbery
Montpelier Examiner, Friday, 17 December 1915, page 1
HIS NAME WAS JIM HARDY-It has developed the man whom James Sherrod OLS night watchman, killed at an early hour last Friday morning, was Jim Hardy, a former convict in the Idaho penitentiary and a bad man generally. That Mr. Sherrod was ot the one who was killed, instead of Hardy, is due to the fact that Hardy's gun failed to work when he pulled it on Sherrod. The officers who tested the dead man's gun discovered that it did not work perfectly. The account of the shooting as related by Jim Sherrod is about as follows;
When informed by Night Policeman Buck that Burrell & Thiel's store had been robbed, Sherrod started for the west end of the yards, while Buck and Rex Huff, night clerk at Hotel Burgoyne, went in another direction. Sherrod had not been on his look out long when he saw a man standing besides a box car in a freight train which was made up and about ready to pull out for the west. As he approached the fellow, Sherrod turned on his electric flash light, when he noticed a rifle leaning against the car.
As he approached the fellow, Sherrod asked him what he was doing there. He replied he was a sheep herder and was going to ride the train to Soda Springs. When Sherrod asked him what he was doing with a rifle the fellow replied it was his and he always carried it with him when herding sheep. After a little more questioning Sherrod decided the fellow didn't size up very well as a sheep herder and ordered him to take up his rifle and go with him. They started toward the deport with Sherrod in the rear. They had gone but a few steps when the fellow attempted to turn around. Sherrod ordered him to go on and not to make any false motions or he would shoot him.
They had gone but a few steps further when the fellow whirled suddenly and stuck his revolver against Sherrod's breast and ordered him to throw up his hands. Sherrod replied, :All right, you have got the best of me." The fellow said, "You d--d right I have and I'll kill you if you don't do as I tell you." When ordered to throw up hi hands, Sherrod dropped his search light, which he was carrying in his left hand, while his right hand was on his gun in overcoat pocket. When the search light went out it left them in pitch darkness and the fellow could not see that Sherrod didn't throw up his right hand. Instead he pulled hand from the overcoat pocket, he started his automatic going, firing three shots. Which one proved to be the fatal shot, Sherrod is not certain but thinks it was the second one.
When the fellow fell to the ground Sherrod realized he had at least dangerously wounded him. Sherrod called loudly for help, but no one responded at the same time the wounded man was pleading for a drink of water. Turning him on his back, Sherrod hurried toward the depot for help. He did not find anyone until he struck Engineer Cornwall and his fireman., who was on their engine, waiting for orders to pull out. The three went back to where the wounded man was lying and attempted to carry him to the deport. Finding this impossible they got a stretcher.
The fellow realized he was fatally wounded and told the men he would not live long. They asked him what his name was and he replied Jim Hardy. When asked if he had any relatives or friends to whom they could write, he said no, and in reply to the question as to where he wished to be buried, he said, "It don't make a d---d bit of difference to me." Hardy died while he was being carried to the depot. Beside the rifle which had been stolen from Burrell & Thiel's store, a stolen revolver was also found in Hardy's clothes, in addition to the one which he pulled on Sherrod.
Believing there were more than one implicated in the robbery Officers Hillier, who had been called from his home, and Buck continued search in the railroad yards. At the break of day they discovered fresh tracks in the snow leading east along the tracks, from the east end of the yards. Buck followed the tracks and when about five miles east of town he came upon three fellows, and pulling his gun on them they submitted to arrest. Finding several revolvers on them, he hired a team to bring the prisoners to town. The guns were all recognized by Al Thiel, William McLennan and Al Jones s belonging to the Burrell & Thiel stock. As soon as the killing of Hardy was noised about town, many people called at the city hall, to which place Hardy's body had been taken, to get a sight of the dead robber.
He was recognized by one man who had served a term in the Boise prison. He said he knew the dead man as "Jimmy the Athlete." Sheriff Athay immediately wrote to Warden Snook, giving a description of Hardy and asked if any one of that description had ever been an inmate of the prison. In looking up the records, Warden Snook found that Hardy's description tallied with that of James McCenstry who was paroled from the prison on the 27th of last May. He was sent up from Bingham county in November 1909 under a sentence of from one to 14 years for grand larceny. He twice escaped from the pen in July and November 1911. He was quickly recaptured both times. After his second capture, Hardy or McCenstry, decided to be good and succeeded in obtaining a parole on the date above. He violated his parole on July 1st.
Coroner Ashley conducted an inquest over Hardy's body, Friday. After hearing all the evidence in the case the jury, which was composed of J R Brennan, Charlie King, H B Whitman, J G Merrill, E L Burgoyne, J W Crockett and M B Cherry. Hardy's body was held until Monday morning when it was buried in the Montpelier cemetery at the county's expense.
The other three men who were implicated in the robbery gave the names of D L Ferguson, Leo Gillette and Ed Anderson, the last being a lad only 18 years old. Ferguson had been around here for several months and had worked for different parties. He accompanied Les Strong last summer when they made a tour of the fairs with his race horses. Ferguson's brother, who resides in Loveland, Colo. was notified and he arrived here Monday morning. The defendants were represented by Attorney Bagley, while Attorney Glenn looked after the state's interests.
Ferguson, thru the aid of his brother, gave bond, but the other two will be guests at Hotel Athay in Paris. According to a story which Anderson told officers, Hardy intended holding up the Bear Lake State Bank at Paris. When the four men went to divide the loot in the railroad yards, Hardy said he only wanted the rifle taken from the store as he was going to hold up the bank at Paris. He said he had been over to Paris sizing up the situation and concluded that holding up the bank there would be an easy job. Gillett and Anderson confessed they were they were the ones who had robbed the depot at Lava Station on Monday night of last week. They also stated they had met with Hardy and Ferguson at Soda Springs and the four came to Montpelier together. Hardy told them he had been here before and had a store spotted from which they could easily make a haul.
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Published by J Patrick Trilogy 1997
It was December 12*, 1915 when a gang of robbers broke into the Burrell and Thiel Store in Montpelier, taking a variety of guns and ammunition. Tracks in the newly fallen snow clearly showed the thieves headed for the railroad area. Jim Sherrod, railroad detective and watchman at the time, was alerted. While making his rounds, he spotted a suspicious looking figure crouching beside a boxcar in an effort to hide himself. Noticing a shiny new rifle on the ground beside him, Sherrod drew his own weapon and challenged the man. The man claimed he was a sheep herder from Soda Springs, hoping catch a freight in that direction so he could return to his job.
Upon further questioning Sherrod became convinced he had one of the robbers and they began marching toward the depot with the man walking ahead of him. Suddenly, in a quick cat like movement, the robber whirled and got the drop on the lawman with a pistol he had tucked in his belt.
"Now, we'll see who does what around here! Get your hands up. I'll kill you in a hurry if you don't do as I say." Sherrod did as he was told. He thrust his hands in the air. As he did so, he dropped the railroad lantern he was carrying. As he bent to pick it up, he turned sideways and pulled a small derringer from its holster, firing three times as he turned. Which shot struck the robber will never be known. He crumpled to the ground in agony. The shots quickly brought others to the scene.
Night watchman Buck and the night clerk from the hotel, Rex Ruff, arrived first. They found Sherrod leaning over the dying man, listening to him gasp his final words. He said his true name was Jim McCenstry, but that he was known as Jim Hardy. He was an escapee from the Idaho Penitentiary. In his pockets were found an address of his sister, a few small coins and the detailed plans to rob the Paris Bank with the names of D L Ferguson, Lee Gillett and Ed Anderson with their assignments, in the proposed robbery.
These three men were found huddled, half asleep around a small campfire in the hobo camp just north of Montpelier. They were arrested without problem by Police Chief John Hillier and Deputy Jack Reggi. In their possession were several more of the stolen weapons and ammunition. Thinking that McCenstry had already spilled the beans, the three confessed to their part in the Burrell and Thiel robbery and of the Lava Train Depot and a hotel in Soda Springs.
They were all returned to the penitentiary in Boise from which they had escaped the week before. And that is how a Montpelier night watchman saved the Paris Bank on December 12, 1915.
*The newspaper account clearly puts the date as December 10.