Homer Van Meter
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Homer Van Meter
Homer Virgil Van Meter (December 3, 1905 – August 23, 1934) was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. Biography Early life Van Meter was born to Cary B. Van Meter (1871–1918) and Julia Miller (1872–1924) in 1905 (according to other sources December 3, 1906) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of an alcoholic railroad conductor. During the sixth grade, Van Meter ran away from home, eventually ending up in Chicago, Illinois, where he worked as a bellhop and a waiter. He was arrested for the first time as a teenager, for drunk and disorderly conduct. In Aurora, Illinois, on June 23, 1923, Van Meter was sentenced to 41 days in jail for larceny. On January 11, 1924, he was sentenced for motor vehicle theft and incarcerated in Southern Illinois Penitentiary. At the time of his admission, he had a tattoo reading "HOPE" on one forearm. Van Meter was paroled in December ...
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Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Indiana after Indianapolis, and the 83rd-most populous city in the U.S. The Fort Wayne metropolitan area, consisting of Allen and Whitley counties, has an estimated population of 463,000. Fort Wayne is the cultural and economic center of northeastern Indiana. Fort Wayne was built in 1794 by the United States Army under the direction of American Revolutionary War general Anthony Wayne, the last in a series of forts built near the Miami village of Kekionga. Named in Wayne's honor, the European-American settlement developed at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee rivers, known originally as Fort Miami, a trading post constructed by Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vin ...
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Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. Michigan City is noted for both its proximity to Indiana Dunes National Park and for bordering Lake Michigan. It receives a fair amount of tourism during the summer, especially by residents of Chicago and nearby cities in Northern Indiana. It is connected to Chicago via the South Shore Line passenger train. History Michigan City's origins date to 1830, when the land for the city was first purchased by Isaac C. Elston, a real estate speculator who had made his fortune in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He paid about $200 total for of land. The now-closed Elston Middle School, formerly Elston High School, was named after the founder. The city was incorporated in 1836, by which point it had 1,500 residents, alon ...
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Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County, South Dakota, Minnehaha County and also extends into northern Lincoln County, South Dakota, Lincoln County. The population was 192,517 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and in 2023, its estimated population was 209,289. According to city officials, the estimated population had grown to 219,588 as of early 2025. The Sioux Falls metro area accounts for more than 30% of the state's population. Chartered in 1856 on the banks of the Big Sioux River, the city is situated in the rolling hills at the junction of Interstate 29 in South Dakota, interstates 29 and Interstate 90 in South Dakota, 90. History The history of Sioux Falls revolves around the cascades of the Big Sioux River. The falls were created about 14,000 years ago ...
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Eddie Green (criminal)
Harold Eugene "Eddie" Green (November 2, 1898 – April 10, 1934) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw during the 1930s, best known as a member of the John Dillinger gang. He was also associated with Frank "Jelly" Nash, Volney Davis and the Barker-Karpis Gang in his early career. Green was considered a highly intelligent criminal and expert "jug marker," widely known to employ tactics such as casing banks and planning escape routes that he drove prior to a robbery to ensure a perfect getaway. His connections with corrupt politicians and police officials in St. Paul, Minnesota made him extremely useful in setting up safe houses and provide warning from police raids.Newton, Michael. ''The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers''. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002. (pg. 121-122) Biography Early life Eugene Green, born in 1898, lived in Pueblo, Colorado, with his mother and brothers James and Frank, their father having died when Eddie was three. The fo ...
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John Hamilton (gangster)
John "Red" Hamilton (August 27, 1898 April 26, 1934) was a Canadian criminal and bank robber active in the 1920s–1930s, most notably as an associate of John Dillinger. He is best known for his lingering death and secret burial after being mortally wounded during a robbery. Early life Little is known of John Hamilton's life prior to his criminal career. He was born on August 27, 1898, in Byng Inlet, Ontario, Canada, to an Irish-Canadian father from Essex County, Ontario and a German-American woman from New York. Hamilton was nicknamed "Three-Finger Jack", having lost two of his right fingers in a sledding accident when he was young. Prison break On March 16, 1927, he was convicted of the robbery of a gas station in St. Joseph County, Indiana, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. While incarcerated in Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, Michigan City, Hamilton befriended a number of prominent bank robbers, such as John Dillinger, Russell Clark (criminal), Russell ...
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Public Enemy (term)
Public Enemy is an American hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as American racism and the American media. Their debut album, ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'', was released in 1987 to critical acclaim, and their second album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' (1988), was the first hip hop album to top ''The Village Voice''s Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Their next three albums, ''Fear of a Black Planet'' (1990), '' Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black'' (1991), and '' Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age'' (1994), were also well received. The group has since released twelve more studio albums, including the soundtrack to the 1998 sports-drama film ''He Got Game'' and a collaborative album with Paris, '' Rebirth of a Nation'' (2006). Public Enemy has gone through many lineup changes over the years, with Chuck D and Flavor Flav remaining the only constant ...
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Brainerd, Minnesota
Brainerd ( ) is a city and the county seat of Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with the Crow Wing River, having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above the confluence. Brainerd is the principal city of the Brainerd, Minnesota micropolitan area, Brainerd Micropolitan Area, a United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area covering Cass County, Minnesota, Cass and Crow Wing County, Minnesota, Crow Wing counties and with a combined population of 96,189 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is well known for being the partial setting of the 1996 film ''Fargo (1996 film), Fargo''. History The area that is now Brainerd was formerly Ojibwe territory. Brainerd was first seen by European settlers on Christmas Day in 1805, when Zebulon Pike stopped there while searching for the Source (r ...
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John Paul Chase
John Paul Chase (December 26, 1901 – October 5, 1973) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was a longtime criminal associate of the Karpis-Barker Gang and most notably Baby Face Nelson who later brought him into the John Dillinger gang. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover once referred to Chase as "a rat with a patriotic-sounding name".Newton, Michael. ''The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers''. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002. (pg. 55-56) Chase and Nelson continued to rob banks with John Dillinger until Dillinger's death in July 1934. After the death of Nelson in November 1934, Chase fled back to California where he was arrested a month later on December 27, 1934. Chase was sent to Alcatraz where he became one of the longest-serving inmates; (March 31, 1935 – September 21, 1954).Heaney, Frank and Gay Machado. ''Inside the Walls of Alcatraz''. Palo Alto: Bull Publishing, 1987. Biography John Paul Chase was born in San Francisco, California on De ...
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Grand Haven, Michigan
Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River (Michigan), Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Grand Haven had a population of 11,011. The city is home to the Grand Haven Memorial Airpark (3GM) and is located just north of Grand Haven Charter Township, Michigan, Grand Haven Charter Township. Grand Haven's ZIP code also serves most of Grand Haven and Robinson Township, Michigan, Robinson townships. History The Potawatomi and Ottawa (tribe), Ottawa Native Americans lived in the area for centuries and used the river as a trade route into the interior of Michigan. Some of the long cultures of the Ottawa tribe is being revealed through the excavation of archeological artifacts. The city dates its European-American founding to French colonial settlers. A fur trading outpos ...
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Tommy Carroll (criminal)
Thomas Leonard Carroll (November 28, 1900 – June 7, 1934) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. A boxer-turned-criminal, he committed numerous robberies during the 1920s and 1930s, and was a longtime member of the Dillinger gang.Newton, Michael. ''The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers''. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2002. (pg. 50-51) Biography Early life and criminal career An ex-boxer, who once had his jaw broken in the ring, giving him a "lantern-jaw" appearance, Carroll served in World War I. He was first arrested on January 24, 1920, and served 60 days in the Douglas County, Nebraska jail "for investigation." On October 24, 1921, Carroll was arrested for larceny in Council Bluffs, Iowa and remained in jail for nearly four months before his conviction on February 7, 1922. Sentenced to five years imprisonment, he spent a year in the Anamosa state reformatory before his parole in March 1923. He continued to have run-ins with the law duri ...
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Baby Face Nelson 1931 Mug Shot
In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms. A newborn is, in colloquial use, a baby who is only hours, days, or weeks old; while in medical contexts, a newborn or neonate (from Latin, ''neonatus'', newborn) is an infant in the first 28 days after birth (the term applies to premature, full term, and postmature infants). Infants born prior to 37 weeks of gestation are called "premature", those born between 39 and 40 weeks are "full term", those born through 41 weeks are "late term", and anything beyond 42 weeks is considered "post term". Before birth, the offspring is called a fetus. The term ''infant'' is typically applied to very young children under one year of age; however, definitions may vary and may include children up to two years of age. When a human child ...
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