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Go back to the main page. Jason Duncan (jmduncan@statesville.net) The Case Of Ransom Brooks, Alleghany Co, NC In 2001, I was loaned three rolls of microfilm by my
cousin Dennis Brooks. The microfilm was from The
Alleghany Times, the newspaper for the Sparta, NC, area and covered the
years 1933 to 1941. After a few weeks of
meticulously scrolling through every page of the newspaper and finding very
little of interest, I discovered a series of very surprising articles. The title of the first article graced the
front page on February 24, 1934, and was titled Worst Criminal Gang in
Alleghany For Years Apprehended in Recent Raid. The second paragraph begins by naming Ransom
Brooks, my great-grandfather, as the ringleader of a gang who, it later says,
had “terrorized Alleghany citizens over a period of several months”. I had no idea!
The court records and newspapers lend support to this
story. However, on February 14, 1934,
his adventures came to an abrupt halt when he was arrested that night in Sparta
along with Odell Holbrook, age 18. A
third person Vess Douglas, age 30 of Surry Co, was arrested the next day. The following article made the front page of The Alleghany Times. The Alleghany Times (Vol 9,
No 40), February 24, 1934 Pages 1, 4 Worst Criminal Gang in
Alleghany For Years Apprehended in Recent Raid Jail Keys, Policeman’s
Outfit And Parts Of Stolen Cars Among Articles Found In Possession Of Men
Arrested The State Highway Patrol, assisted and directed by
Walter M. Irwin, Alleghany County Deputy Sheriff, swooped down in Alleghany and
Surry Counties last week and frustrated what is thought to be one of the worst
gangs of criminals heard of in Western North Carolina for many years. The raid came as a complete surprise to the
people of the county and was so carefully planned that even county officers did
not know that it was coming. As a
result, Ransom Brooks, 29, and Odell Holbrook, 18, of the Bull Head section of
Alleghany county, and Vess Douglas, 30, of the Mitchell’s River section of
Surry County, are lodged in the Winston-Salem jail charged with several serious
crimes ranging from highway robbery to impersonating officers of the law. Several
thousand dollars worth of stolen property has been recovered and it is expected
that a series of holdups, automobile thefts, store breaking, etc., will be
explained. Douglas has admitted his part
in the crimes and has implicated the other parties being held. For several
months this gang has been preying upon the people of this section. Several motorists have been stopped on the
Sparta-Elkin highway and relieved of their automobiles and valuables. Several people have been stopped and allowed
to go on unmolested after having been identified by members of the gang. They have made a specialty of liquor laden
cars, and in all cases where liquor was found on the car the driver was allowed
to escape and the car and liquor confiscated. In Brooks’
home was found a complete patrolman’s uniform, including cap, badges, a John
Brown belt, hand cuffs, etc. A complete
set of perfectly fitting keys to the Alleghany county jail was in a dresser
drawer in the home of Brooks. The search
also revealed burglary tools, a large amount of dynamite taken from the road
camp near Independence, a stolen gas lamp taken from a nearby church and a set
of chains taken from the car of Mack Edwards, of Whitehead, the night before
the arrest of Brooks and Holbrook, when the car was towed four miles from his
home and stripped of tires, lights, tools, etc. Brooks and
Holbrook were arrested in Sparta Wednesday night of last week in a carefully
arranged plot. In their automobile were
found a sawed-off shotgun, one other shotgun, two high-powered rifles, burglary
tools and a coil for starting cars without a key. The car was equipped with a police
siren. A pistol was taken from the
person of Brooks, which he attempted to use when arrested by Sergeant Guy
Duncan of the State Patrol. The trio are
also charged with breaking into the Cash & Carry Store at Sparta in
November when six thousand pounds of sugar, a cash register, etc., were taken,
and Douglas has admitted his part in this theft. The body of the car of J. M. Parsons that was
stolen from Independence last fall was found within a few feet of Brooks’
residence, hidden under some brush. The
car which Brooks was driving when arrested contained parts from several stolen
automobiles. Douglas was
arrested at his home in Surry county.
Several truck loads of automobile parts were found around his home. It is thought that all cars stolen and
hi-jacked by the gang were taken to Douglas for re-building. Some of the cars have been traded, and
officers are making a close check-up in locating all the cars that have been in
their possession. Captain
Farmer, of the State Patrol, and L. L. Harris, of the Motor Vehicle Bureau of
Investigation, both of Raleigh, were here in person and assisted in the
round-up. Two members of the United
States Bureau of Investigation and one detective employed by insurance
companies were on the scene, also. It is
expected that the three will be tried at the May term of Alleghany Superior
Court here. [end of newspaper article] In the
March 1, 1934 issue of the newspaper, Lieutenant W. J. Croom of Greensboro said
that they were trying to find parts of automobiles stolen over the last two or
more years. The officers said, “Working
the most intricate jig-saw puzzle is easy in comparison with this job of
gathering together these scattered portions of cars.” The paper goes on to say, “By illustration,
the officers on an all-day tour last week, identified a light roadster, 1932
model, stolen in Salisbury on August 1, 1932, after locating the body of the
machine in Jonesville, the rear axle in Sparta, the motor on Bull Head
Mountain, and the wheels evidently are still revolving some place, the officers
believe.” On
March 8, the newspaper describes the carefully planned apprehension of the
“gang”. The operation included members
of the NC State Highway Patrol, the Motor Vehicle Bureau, the Automobile
Underwriters Detective Bureau, and the Alleghany and Surry Co Sheriffs Offices. When the officers arrested Douglas, in his
possession “was found a car, the motor of which belonged in a car that was
stolen from J. W. Conklin, Mouth of Wilson, VA”. After obtaining a warrant to search Brooks’
home, officers found a coupe body “stored in the woods near the home and it was
later identified as belonging to the coupe owned by Ex-Senator J. M. Parsons,
Independence, VA, which was stolen from in front of his home on the night of
last October 9. The chassis and frame of
this car was later found in the woods near Douglas’ home in Surry county.” The article goes on to say that no charges
have been filed regarding the theft of these two automobiles since these crimes
would be tried in Federal court or in the court of Virginia. Among
other items found were “about 200 pounds of dynamite, stolen from a construction
company near Independence, VA.” At
Brooks’ home they found a complete set of Alleghany Co jail keys, a pair of
handcuffs, a Sam Brown belt and holster, a uniform cap, two badges, a Coleman
gasoline lantern, a Remington typewriter, a South Bend pocket watch, a Waltham
pocket watch, and one set of pipe dies.
Also, Douglas drew officers a map showing the location of the cash
register stolen from the Cash & Carry store in Sparta. On
March 15, the newspaper reported that Holbrook was released due to lack of
evidence. However, Douglas and Brooks
were being held in the Forsyth Co, NC, jail under $10,000 bond. Nearly two months later on May 7, the Spring
term of Alleghany Superior Court opened.
On May 10, the paper reported that “a record breaking crowd filled the
town to overflowing and crowded the courthouse beyond capacity” in anticipation
of the trial. On
May 17, the newspaper announced that Ransom Brooks, “ringleader of the outlaw
band”, and Ves Douglas, “another member of the Bull Head Mountain gang” were
found guilty of multiple crimes. The Alleghany Times included an article
printed in the May 11 issue of the Greensboro
Daily News, home city of Lieutenant Croom.
The article says that “Ransom Brooks, the confessed ringleader, whose
activities earned for him the picturesque sobriquet ‘Bull of Bullhead
mountain’, pleaded guilty in all cases called against him and drew from 6 to 9
years in state prison at hard labor.”
Ves Douglas received one year of labor on the roads. The
article continues, saying, “Brooks is as picturesque a mountain character as
his nickname might suggest…. He was
charged with automobile larceny in several cases, carrying a concealed weapon,
highway robbery with firearms and impersonating a state patrolman. He pleaded guilty in all cases, as did
co-defendant, Douglas.” The article goes
on to say, “Testifying in his own case, Ransom Brooks admitted, Croom said,
that he had hijacked many a Virginia rum-runner on the border roads of Alleghany
county. Brooks testified that once,
while running 100 gallons of liquor into Virginia, he himself had been hijacked
by boot-leggers from the Old Dominion state.
His repetition of the treatment accorded him in that instance was
carried on for vengeance.” “In
this respect his work was accomplished by the aid of a state highway
patrolman’s uniform, which he unhesitatingly donned, and powerful car equipped
with a siren. ‘Brooks lay in wait only
for Virginia cars,’ Lieutenant Croom remarked.
‘Once he chased a group in a Virginia car all the way to the Sparta
courthouse before he found that the car did not contain liquor but was occupied
by a sister of Solicitor Higgins, the poastmaster at Independence, VA, and
several others.”
He
was found guilty on all of these charges.
“It is the judgment of the court that the defendant Ransom Brooks, in
this case be imprisoned, at hard labor in the State prison at Raleigh for a
term of not less than six nor more than nine years.”
Jason
Duncan jmduncan@statesville.net 222 Sundance Cir Statesville, NC 28625 Continue to a complete transcription of the newspaper articles. |
