bonnie and clyde – TEXAS HISTORY NOTEBOOK

Ralph Fults

Ralph Smith Fults was born January 23, 1911 to Audy Barlow Fults and Sophia Delia Bush Fults in Anna, Texas in Collin County. The couple resided in North Texas as early as 1900, per the federal census. Audy Fults was a mail carrier in Collin County and Ralph was the third of eight children born to the couple. Shortly after Ralph was born, the couple moved the short distance to McKinney.

Bonnie Parker’s Family

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Runnels County, Texas to Charles Robert Parker and the former Emma Krause. She was the third child born to Charles Robert and Emma. The first was a brother named Coley who was born and died in 1905, possibly of sudden infant death syndrome, while the couple was living in Young, Freestone County, Texas. Coley’s burial place is unknown.

Weapons Preferred by Bonnie and Clyde

Based on numerous books and accounts, Clyde Barrow is said to have favored the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) due to its .30 caliber bullet and rapid fire ability. The BAR projectiles could also penetrate auto bodies. The BAR (often known by its military designation of M1918) was designed by John Browning in 1917 for use in World War I by the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe as a replacement for the French-made rifles that they were first issued, though it did not come into everyday use until later.

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Murder Victims of the Barrow Gang – Private Citizens

Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are believed to have first met around January of 1930 in Dallas where they both were living. At the time, Clyde was 21 and Bonnie was 19. Clyde was arrested a few weeks later in the latter part of February for the burglary of the Motor Mark Garage in Denton. In early March of 1930, while he was awaiting trial for that burglary, Clyde was transferred to McLennan County in connection with burglary and automobile theft charges there. Barrow was indicted along with William Turner by the McLennan County grand jury for these charges. Clyde pleaded guilty to a number of them, including the theft of an automobile belonging to W. W. Cameron, a Waco lumber dealer. It’s unclear if Barrow had also been sentenced by then, but newspaper accounts say that Turner had been sentenced and was awaiting transfer to the Huntsville prison at the time that Bonnie smuggled a gun into the McLennan County jail. Turner, Barrow and another prisoner named Abernathy were able to escape with the aid of Bonnie Parker and the smuggled gun. Bonnie remained in Waco as the three escapees left Texas, but the trio were captured in Ohio and returned to the state less than two weeks later. Barrow was held a few months before being sent to the Eastham Prison Farm to begin serving a fourteen year sentence. He was paroled in February, 1932 after which he and initially his brother Buck and a number of different associates over time would operate as the Barrow Gang for a little more than two years until he and Bonnie Parker were killed in the ambush is Louisiana in May, 1934.

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Bonnie and Clyde Posse: Hinton, Oakley, Alcorn and Jordan

The Associated Press headline read “Two Former Rangers and Deputies Trail Couple to Hideout – Desperadoes Die Without Firing Shot.” Special Texas Ranger Frank Hamer was quoted as saying, “The job is done.”