Didn’t take long for the new Bank of Purcell’s safe to be blown open

The Bank of Purcell opened for business on June 15, 1906, with a capital stock of $15,000. The new bank was located at the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets in the newly established mining town of Purcell.

Bank officers were: R.E. Frey, president; S.C. Ross, vice president, and W.R. Letton, cashier. The rapidly growing town had a population of 1,500 at the time and by July plans were being made for a brick building.

Work began on the brick structure on Aug. 22, 1906. The 25-foot by 70-foot two-story building was constructed of Milwaukee brick and trimmed with Carthage stone.

On Nov. 18 of the same year, safe blowers entered the Bank of Purcell about 2 o’clock in the morning and blew open the vault door by placing explosives in and around the edges of the safe door, holding them in place with soap.

The safe was completely wrecked and the robbers secured a little less than $400. It was thought that the robbers were anticipating to find a larger sum of money due to the fact that usually the Saturday payroll for area miners would be in the safe. But Mr. Letton had been detained and had failed to bring in the usual supply of money from Carthage the day before. It was noted that $100 in silver was overlooked and left behind.

The robbers made their getaway by stealing a horse and buggy from Mr. E. Moody, who lived nearby. Many Purcell residents were awakened by the noise of the explosion but there was so much blasting in the area that no attention was paid to it even in the early hours of the morning.

Two men, George Mullens and J. C. Clemmens, were arrested in Oronogo the next day on the grounds of one day they were without money and next day they were spending money freely. They were also said to have bought soap in Oronogo and nitroglycerin in Neck City on the Friday before the robbery. The men had been seen in Purcell on Friday afternoon, and the cashier at the Bank of Alba had seen one of the men standing around for several hours outside of his bank. Even though there seemed to be ample evidence against the men, it was deemed circumstantial and the men were released on Nov. 30.

The Bank of Purcell operated until July 14, 1928, when it closed its doors due to a low volume of business. The bank merged with the Webb City Bank, turning over notes and deposits to that institution. At this time, R. J. Gisel was president, Mrs. Anna Richardson was vice president and C. Charles Kempf was the cashier. It was announced that the building would be rented or sold. Newspapers list the building as a polling place through the 1930s. It is unknown what year the building was torn down. Purcell Baptist Church is across Fourth Street to the south from where the building once stood.