Poplar Bluff experiences juvenile crime waves 25 years apart, with an escape artist in 1949 and a quartet of burglars in 1974. The city is also rocked by tragedy after three children die in a house fire.
Saturday
March 16, 1924 — No issues available
75 years ago
March 16, 1949
• Poplar Bluff is reeling after a fire in a condemned home took the lives of three children last night. Shirley Ann, age 11, Violet Ray, 8, and Gary, 4, were trapped in the house when the fire broke out. Their mother, Mary Burch, was visiting a neighbor when it started.
The four-room, two-family dwelling was also occupied by the Crisp family, who escaped. Father Woodrow Crisp tried to go back inside for the Burch children but couldn’t get past the padlock on the front door or the flames engulfing the rear exit.
The Woodrow Street property was condemned days ago by Fire Chief Sam Knight and the owner, Bessie Roe, was informed it was unsafe for tenants. Burch said she had planned to move her family today.
According to authorities, the Butler County Welfare Department was preparing to take custody of Burch’s children and place Burch in a mental institution.
Donations are being raised for the survivors. The city will donate three burial plots in Woodlawn Cemetery, and Frank-Cotrell Mortuary will provide the funerals and caskets at no cost.
50 years ago
March 16, 1974
• The Missouri State Highway Patrol releases its 1973 arrest summary. There were 150,430 arrests made, just 1% higher than in 1972, and over 95% of them were classified as traffic or vehicle-associated. The remainder were criminal misdemeanors and felonies.
Sunday
100 years ago
March 17, 1924
• A luxury car has rolled into Poplar Bluff. Described as “one of the handsomest automobiles seen this year,” a Flint sedan was brought from St. Louis to a local dealership. The $2,350 car runs on a six-cylinder engine and features ivory window ratchets. It was manufactured by the Flint Motors Division of Flint, Michigan.
75 years ago
March 17, 1949
• A 29-year-old believes she is the youngest grandmother in the country.
Mrs. Lucille Tracey Walker of Eugene, Oregon is the mother of Mrs. Mary Tally Gibbs of Poplar Bluff. Walker said she became a grandmother in 1947 at age 27, when Gibbs a baby at age 13.
If true, this claim beats that of the previous record holder, Mrs. Maybelle Parker of Lewiston, Idaho, by a year.
March 17, 1974 — No issues available.
Monday
100 years ago
March 18, 1924
• Relief may be in sight for a sewer problem in East Poplar Bluff. After an inspection by a Board of Public Health engineer, city engineer E.C. Nickey and city physician Dr. I.N. Barnett confirmed part of the sewer system was unfit for use, the Board of Public Health announced it will send over an expert for repairs. The repairs will likely be funded by the State Board of Public Health.
75 years ago
March 18, 1949
• A 15-year-old created a one-person crime wave after escaping jail last night.
Everett Joe Stanfield of Stoddard County was transferred to Butler County authorities after previously thwarting Stoddard jail security. He made similarly quick work of his accomodations in Poplar Bluff. At 100 lbs., Stanfield squeezed through the bars of the juvenile quarters on the third floor of the building, broke open a door to the elevator shaft, slid down a rope into the basement boiler room, and slipped away. He was recaptured this morning by a state trooper. Stanfield readily admitted to committing four robberies overnight.
This wasn’t Stanfield’s first prison break. In 1946, he broke into the Stoddard County jail by slipping through a barred window and freed two prisoners. His parole was revoked after he was arrested for robbing a Bernie store of $90 earlier this month and, apparently unprompted, added he’d previously stolen $75 from the same place.
50 years ago
March 18, 1974
• Four teens stole weapons and equipment worth several thousand dollars from Western Auto Store in Poplar Bluff but were quickly caught.
City police officer Ed Wheat was patrolling near the Black River yesterday evening when he noticed a group of boys acting suspiciously. While speaking to them, one attempted to conceal some cash and then claimed was his allowance. Wheat then spotted what appeared to be a holster with a pistol. Wheat arrested the group without incident and found each one had a loaded revolver, ammunition and knives.
Further inspection of the site revealed more guns, bringing the total to 14.
The teens, ages 15-17, confessed at the police station to using tools from the Missouri Utilities Plant to make a hole in the wall of the Western Auto Store at 10 a.m. yesterday, which was a Sunday. Among other stolen goods were gun cleaning kits, a radio, a camera, binoculars and sleeping bags, all hidden near the building for later retrieval.
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