The Harbor Area Podcast

Episode 14. Elmer J. McCurdy

• Joel Torrez

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This episode is About Elmer J. McCurdy. Elmer was a criminal who ended up being part of one of the attractions at the Pike. Listen in to learn what attraction Elmer belonged to.

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Hey folks, welcome to the Harbor area podcast. My name is Joel Torres, and I am your host. Today's episode is really interesting. We're still here in long beach at the pike. This story is about Elmer J McCurdy. So Alma McCurdy was born in Washington, Maine on January 1st, 1880. He was the son of the 17 year old SAIDI McCurdy who was unmarried. At the time of his birth. The identity of McCurdy's father is still unknown. One possibility is Sadie's cousin Charles Smith. Who McCurdy would later use the name? Charles Smith as an alias in order to save Sadie from the social stigma of raising an illegitimate child, her brother, George and his wife, Helen adopted Elmer. After her brother, George died of tuberculosis in 1890. Sadie and Helen moved with Elmer to Bangor, Maine. Sadie eventually told McCurdy the truth about his father, which caused McCurdy to become unruly and rebellious. As a teenager, he began drinking heavily. A habit that would continue throughout his life. McCurdy moved around a lot folks. So try to track here. Eventually. He moved in with his grandfather and became an apprentice plumber. He was a competent worker and lived comfortably until an economic downturn in 1898. McCurdy lost his job. And in 1900, his mother died of a ruptured ulcer and his grandfather died of some sort of kidney disease within the span of two months. Shortly after his grandfather's death, McCurdy left main and began drifting around the Eastern United States as a lead miner in plumber. McCurdy was unable to hold a job for an extended period of time due to his alcoholism. And he eventually made his way to Kansas, where he worked as a plumber in cherry Vale. McCurdy then moved to. Lola Kansas, where in 1905, he was arrested for public intoxication. He then moved to Webb city, Missouri. In 1907 McCurdy joined the United States army and was assigned to Fort Leavenworth where he operated a machine gun and was trained to use nitroglycerin for demolition purposes. He was honorably discharged on November seven in 1910. Following his discharge. McCurdy then made his way to St. Joseph Kansas, where he met with a friend from the army. And on November 19, both men were arrested for possessing burglary paraphernalia, such as chisels hacksaws funnels for nitroglycerin, gunpowder and money sacks. The St. Joseph Gazette reported that during their arraignment McCurdy and his friend told the judge. That they were tools that they needed to work on a foot operated machine gun. They were inventing. In January, 1911, a jury found McCurdy not guilty. And after his release from jail McCurdy embarked on a career in robbery. These are some of his crimes. So this guy decided to incorporate his trainings with nitroglycerin. Into his robberies, targeting banks and trains. However he often failed to correctly determine the proper amount to use. And his robberies were often bungled affairs. After relocating to Len apol, Oklahoma in 1911 McCurdy and three other men decided to Rob the iron mountain, Missouri. Pacific train. And after McCurdy had heard that one of the cars contained a safe with$4,000. They successfully stopped the train and located the safe. McCurdy then put nitroglycerin on the safe store to open it, but use too much. The safe was destroyed in a blast. And. So it was the majority of the money. McCurdy and his partners managed to net. About a hundred to$500 in silver coins. On September 21st, 1911 McCurdy, and two other men attempted to Rob the citizen bank in. Chautauqua. Kansas after spending two hours breaking through the bank wall with a hammer. McCurdy placed a nitroglycerin charge around the door of the banks outer vault. The blast blew the vault door through the bank. Disjoined the interior, but it did not damage the safe inside the vault. McCurdy then tried to blow the safe door open, but the charge failed to ignite. And after one of the lookout men got scared and ran off McCurdy and his accomplices. Stole about$150 in coins that were in a tray outside of the safe and fled. Later that night, the men hopped on a train, which took them to the Kansas border. They split up and McCurdy made his way to the ranch of a friend. Charlie Rivard. Near Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He stayed in a haze shed on the property for the next two weeks and drank heavily. McCurdy's final robbery took place on October 4th, 1911. Near Odessa, Oklahoma targeting a Katy train, which contained$400,000 in cash that was intended as a royalty payment for the

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Osage nation.

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however McCurdy and his two accomplices mistakenly stopped a passenger train instead. The men were able to still only$46 from the mail clerk. Two jugs of whiskey, a revolver, a coat, and the conductors watch. A newspaper account of the robbery later called it. One of the smallest in the history of train robbery. Regarding the minimal amount of money that was stolen that day. McCurdy was disappointed and returned to reverends ranch on October six. Where he began drinking the whiskey stole. By this time, he was ill with tuberculosis, which he had developed after working in the mines. He also had a mild case of pneumonia and chicken. Gnosis. McCurdy stayed up drinking before going to sleep in the hayloft.

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The following morning, he had been implicated in the robbery. And there was a$2,000 reward out for his capture.

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October seven, a posse of three deputy sheriff. Brothers, Bob. And stringer Fenton and Dick Wallace tracked McCurdy to the hay shed with bloodhounds. They surrounded the Haitian and waited for daylight. In an interview. Sheriff Bob Fenton recalled. It began just about seven o'clock. We were standing around, waiting for him to come out. When the first shot was fired at me, it missed me and he turned his attention to my brother, stringer, Fenton. He shot three times at stringer. And when my brother got undercover, he turned his attention to Dick Wallace. He kept shooting. And all of us for about an hour. We fired back every time we could. We do not know who killed him, but we found one of the jugs of whiskey, which was taken from the train. It was all about empty. McCurdy who was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest, which she sustained while lying down. McCurdy's body was taken to the undertaker of Pawhuska Oklahoma, where it went unclaimed. Joseph Al Johnson, the owner and undertaker, and bombed the body with an arsenic based preservative typically used in that era to preserve bodies for a long period of time when no next to Ken were known. He then shaved the face, dressed the body in the suit and stored it in the back of this funeral home. As McCurdy laid unclaimed Johnson refused to bury or release his body until it was paid for, until his services were paid for. Johnson then came up with an idea and he decided to exhibit McCurdy to make money. He dressed the corpse in street clothes placed a rifle in the hands. And stood it up in the corner of the funeral home. For just a nickel, Joseph allowed visitors to see the bandit who wouldn't give up or the embalmed bandit. The bandit became a popular attraction at the funeral home and drew the attention of carnival promoters Johnson received numerous offers to sell McCurdy's corpse, but refused. However on October 6th, 1916, a man calling himself aver contacted Joseph claiming to be McCurdy's along law's brother from California. Abraham had already contacted the Asage county sheriff and a local attorney to get permission to take custody of the body and ship it to San Francisco for proper burial. The following day, Eva arrived at the funeral home with another man calling himself Wayne, who also claimed to be McCurdy's brother. Johnson released the body to the men who put it on a train, which was supposed to be going to San Francisco. Instead McCurdy's body was shipped to Arkansas city, Kansas. The men who claim to be McCurdy siblings were in fact, James and Charles Patterson, the former. Of whom was the owner of the great Patterson carnival shows a traveling carnival. After learning from his brother, Charles, about the popular embalmed banded exhibit. The two concocted, a scheme. To take possession of the body in order to feature it in James carnival. McCurdy's corpse would be featured in Patterson's carnival as the outlaw, who would never be captured alive until 1922. When Patterson sold his operation to Louis sunny. So in this next part, we're going to talk about how McCourty. Corpse was passed back and forth between different. Museums and attractions. So Sonny used McCurdy's corpse in a traveling museum of crime, which featured wax replica as a famous Outlaws, such as bill Doolin and Jesse James. In 1928, the corpse was part of the official sideshow. That accompanied the trans American foot race. And in 1933, it was acquired for a time by director Dwayne Esper to promote his exploitation film, narcotic. The corpse was placed in the lobby of theaters as a dead dope fiend. By the time Esper acquired McCarty's body, it had become mummified. The skin had become hard and shriveled causing the body to shrink. And in 1964, the corpse was lent to filmmaker David F Friedman resulting in a brief appearance in Friedman's film. She freak in 1967. And in 1968, the body was sold to spoonie scene. The owner of the Hollywood wax museum. Seeing had bought the figures for two Canadian men who exhibited them at a show at Mount Rushmore. Being exhibited there, the Corp sustained some damage and the two men re. Turned the corpse back to seeing who decided that it looked too gruesome and not lifelike enough to exhibit anymore.

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Seeing then sold the corpse to add lurch.

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Well guess what folks. Ed lurch. Was part owner of the pike amusement zone in long beach, California. What the heck in December of 1976, universal studios, camera crew arrived at the new pike amusement park in long beach to film an episode of the television action show, the$6 million man. And while preparing the set one of the guys on the set moved the hanging man causing one of the arms on the prop to come off. Inside of it was a human bone. This was no prop folks. This was the dead corpse of Allmer Jay McCurdy.

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Well, that's all I got for you folks today. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

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Hey, thank you for listening today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to click download. Let me know if you have any stories to tell about the Harbor area.

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The podcast now has a phone number for listeners to call in and share their thoughts and ideas. That's right now, listeners can call in and share an idea for an episode or a favorite memory, a place or thing that you love about the Harbor area. Grab a pencil pen or your phone and take this number down. It's four to four. Two to 6, 6, 7. One eight that's four to four. Two to 6, 6, 7. One eight

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Take care and remember to treat each other kindly.