Florida History: Tallahassee’s Brush with Public Enemy No. 1

On January 16, 1935, FBI agents engaged in a six-hour shootout with Kate “Ma” Barker and her son Fred in tiny Ocklawaha, Florida, effectively ending the criminal reign of the notorious Ma Barker crime family and ultimately killing Tallahassee. Brush with public enemy No. 1.

J. In Edgar Hoover’s “Public Enemy No. 1” heyday, FBI agents track a notorious bank robber and kidnapper mother and her son Fred to Ocklawaha, a sleepy little village on the shores of Lake Weir in Marion County, Florida. No quick arrests.

After arriving at the rental house at 5 a.m. on January 16, 1935, and making their presence known, a gun battle ensued until 11 a.m. When the dust cleared, two suspects were killed, resulting in the longest shootout in FBI history.

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A crime family is formed

Mother Barker was born Arizona Clark in 1873 in Ash Grove, Missouri. In 1892 she married George Barker, and the couple had four sons: Herman (1893–1927), Lloyd (1897–1949), Arthur (1899–1939), and Fred (1901–1935).

His sons get involved in crimes that escalate into robberies and murders. Herman died in 1927 after robbing and killing a police officer in Wichita, Kansas. After being seriously injured, he committed suicide to avoid arrest.

In 1928, Lloyd was incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Arthur was in Oklahoma State Prison and Fred was in Kansas State Prison. At some point during this period, George, the father, left the family. He was later buried in Oklahoma in 1941 when he died of natural causes.

Chase Public Enemy No. 1

Fred Barker was released from prison in 1931. While spending time in Kansas, he met Alvin Karpis. After their release, they were arrested the same year for jewelry theft. On November 8, 1931, they encountered Knight Marshal Manley Jackson in Pocahontas, Missouri, whom they took hostage and later killed.

The story continues

During a series of robberies, Barker and Karpis were arrested on December 19, 1931 in West Plains, Missouri by Sheriff C. Roy kills Kelly and flees the area with Ma. Arthur Barker was released from prison in 1932 and joined the gang.

Continuing their heists, the gang hit the big time in June 1933, when they kidnapped William Hamm, the heir to Minnesota’s Hamm Brewery. After receiving a $100,000.00 ransom, he was released safely. In January, 1934, they kidnapped Edward Bremer, a bank president and son of Adolf Bremer, president of the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company, for a $200,000 ransom.

This was equivalent to about $4,360,000 today. Bremer’s family was linked to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who soon brought the Justice Department to investigate. George “Shotgun” Ziegler, a member of the gang who was instrumental in planning Bremer’s kidnapping, began bragging about the kidnapping. On March 22, 1934, he was shot and killed while leaving a restaurant in Cicero, Illinois. Justice Department agents found names, addresses and other valuable information in his pockets.

Longest shootout

On January 8, 1935, agents led by Melvin Purvis captured Arthur Barker in Chicago. In his possession was a map of Florida with Lake Weir near Ocala. This led the agents to the small village of Ocklawaha and finally to the rental home of Mom and Fred Barker at 13250 East Highway C-25.

Around 5 a.m. on January 16, agents led by Agent Earl Connelly surrounded the house. Upon learning of his presence, Agent Connelly told the occupants that no one would be hurt if they came out. Mother Barker shouted, “Well, go ahead!” Tear gas was fired at the residence and shots were fired.

Agents and occupants fired at each other for the next six hours, and anywhere between 950-1,500 rounds were exchanged. By all accounts, it was a slow firefight with sporadic firing. Finally, around noon, the agents entered the house and found Mom and Fred dead. Agents found machine guns, rifles, pistols and $14,293 in cash.

The story does not end there

Alvin Karpis was eventually captured and sent to Alcatraz but before that he laundered countless sums of money to various banks. He was released on parole in 1969, wrote a book and moved to Spain. He died in Spain on August 26, 1979, of an overdose of sleeping pills or of natural causes, depending on different accounts.

Undertaker Harold Martin took Mom and Fred’s bodies to Sam Pyle’s Funeral Home in Ocala. The bodies were embalmed and kept on display at the funeral home for the next eight months. High volume of curious visitors wears out the carpet.

After a public demonstration, a lawyer named Claude Kenney, an attorney in Joplin, Missouri, arranged for their remains to be interred at Timber Hill Cemetery near Miami, Oklahoma City. On the way to Oklahoma, the hearing stopped in Tallahassee on September 25, 1935. The driver boasted that he had a few real bandits with him. “Oh, don’t worry,” he continued, “they’re dead.”

The home where the shooting occurred in 2018 was moved to Carney Island Recreation Area, Lake Ware, in 2018. It is now a museum

And so, while we were visited by presidents, celebrities and a serial killer, it was our brush with Depression-era Public Enemy No. 1.

David Brandt, law enforcement coordinator for the Florida Sheriffs Association, is an occasional guest columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat and lives in St. Teresa.

This article originally appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee’s brush with public enemy No. 1 is a part of Florida history