Interesting collection of items related to Depression-era outlaw Wilbur Underhill Jr. and his gang of bandits from Cookson Hills, Oklahoma. The collection includes three original 8 x 8 United States Bureau of Investigation wanted notices for Underhill, Robert ‘Big Bob’ Brady, and Jim Clark, each of which bears their printed fingerprint marks, mug shots, facsimile signatures, physical descriptions, and criminal records. The notices are accompanied by period glossy 5.25 x 3.5 ‘Reward’ postcards bearing their mug shots on the front and the reverse listing information related to their group escape from Lansing State Penitentiary on May 30, 1933; the Underhill photo is stapled to an unused fingerprint card. Includes ‘Reward’ postcards for additional Lansing escapees Frank Sawyer and Lewis Bechtel.
Also included: six typed letters from the Kansas State Penitentiary, each signed by Chaplain Fred B. Benson, dated between September 24, 1932, and March 1, 1933, addressed to Underhill’s mother Almira granting her emergency remittances from the prison’s Chouteau Aid Fund, which is granted to the families of prisoners, who are expected to pay back these loans after their release; a group of six vintage glossy photographs of Underhill’s mother, brother, and sister; and an “Indexed” wanted notice for ‘Big Bob’ Brady, listing his alias as “Bob Ross” and bearing an affixed newspaper image of the escaped convict. In overall fine condition.
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