Dillinger Lore

My father once told me a wonderful story. It was so vivid and detailed that I visualized it my mind as the words left his mouth. It was a story of mystery and intrigue and included a chance meeting with a notorious historical figure.

It was the story of how my family crossed paths with John Dillinger.

It's October 19, 1933, Peru, Indiana. My grandfather, John Bauer, worked for the railroad his entire career. He and his wife Margaret, along with their 11 kids, lived near the railroad tracks and not far from the rail yard.

One of the unfortunate outcomes of the Great Depression was the advent of hobos... unemployed men who would illegally travel the rails across the country looking for work.

If houses near the railroad tracks were willing to feed hobos they would put a mark on their back door. Hobo's would then knock on these marked houses and be given a meal to eat while sitting on the back stoop.

My father said that one day he was playing with his friends at the back of the house when a hobo knocked on the back door and asked for food. As she would always do, Margaret fed the man, who ate his food sitting on the back stairs. As my father and his friends watched this one particular hobo, they noticed he seemed a little different. His clothes weren't as ragged as most of the hobos that usually come along and he seemed to be cleaner than the others that had stopped by.

After the man finished his meal he walked down the tracks to the railroad roundhouse where the trains are turned around. My father and his friends continued following the hobo and hid behind a train as they spotted him get into a rather large black limousine and drive away.

He'd never seen a hobo eat a free meal and then get into an expensive car. It didn't make sense. And that's why my father remembered the story.

The next day my grandmother looked at the local paper and recognized a picture of the hobo on the front page.

It was John Dillinger.

He had held up the Peru Police Station.

My father said it was the first time he had ever heard my grandmother curse.

That's the story I remember.

Now, I don't know if it's 100% accurate, but I sure do like it. Here's what I do know...

• I know my grandfather worked for the railroad in Peru, Indiana.
• I know on October 16, 1933 John Dillinger and his gang barely escaped a raid of 100 men in Hamilton, Ohio and would have been trying to stay below the radar on October 19th.
• I know that Dillinger then held up and robbed the Peru Police Station on October 20, 1933.

What I don't know if this story sounds familiar from any of our other relatives.

For whatever reason this version of the story has stuck with me, clearly in my mind, for over 30 years. As my father told me, I saw each moment in my head as if it were happening to me. I was so enthralled with the idea as a child, with the connection to a legendary gangster, that it has stayed with me.

I am so fond of this story that I am reluctant to ask a very important question to my family...

...is it true?