I have always had a fascination with outlaws. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker top my list. So, when John Fioravanti posted on his blog today that March 24th was Clyde’s birthday, I decided to tell some little known facts about him.
Clyde’s middle name was Chestnut. (I’d love to know where that came from)
He was the fifth of seven children, born in a small close-knit farming community of Telico, Texas, just north of Ennis in Ellis County. It was said that the Barrow’s farm failed from drought and his father moved them to Dallas.
He was a small unassuming boy and attended school until sixteen. Â He had ambitions to become a musician, playing guitar and saxophone.
He was first introduced to crime by his older brother with petty thievery, then advanced to stealing cars. By the time Clyde was 20, he was a wanted man and fugitive.
He met a nineteen-year-old waitress, Bonnie Parker in 1930 and it is said that he was immediately smitten.
But, their romance was interrupted by Clyde’s arrest and prison conviction. (Sounds like a similar story – one I wrote)
Bonnie smuggled a gun into prison to Clyde during a visit and he made an unsuccessful escape attempt. When he was released in 1932, they began their crime spree that would last only a mere two years before they were both killed.
They were known as a friend to the poor and many harbored them over the two years they robbed and killed.
What they did was irrefutably wrong on every level, but there is no question as to their love for each other and maybe that is the part of the story that pulls me in. After all, I am a hopeless romantic. Thanks for stirring the pot, John F.!
Interesting, I was talking to someone about this kind of thing yesterday. It’s complicated – they were wrong, but also complicated. Thank you for the post, made me think.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! I agree. They were wrong, but also complicated and quite possibly a product of the times.
They definitely made their stamp on history. I remember seeing the moving when I was kid, but I don’t know much about them so these tidbits were intriguing–especially “Chestnut” How unusual!
I thought so too, Mae. Thanks for stopping by!
Good follow-up, Jan. Loved the photos. Good job.
Thanks, John. I loved the photos as well. They were less common ones.
🙂
Fascinating! Stories abound…
Thank you for stopping by, Gwen! Hugs!
Jan- I have always been fascinated with Bonnie and Clyde and I’ll let you know that I am a very distant relative to Bonnie. My great grandmother’s sister was Bonnie’s grandmother according to all my family’s documentation. There was an article written here where I live in Kansas in Hugoton that Bonnie and Clyde stayed here one year he worked out in the fields and she waitress at a café and there are photos of it and no one knew who they were because of course they were under aliases but I thought that was always a really cool story. Love this article thanks for always sharing fantastic ones with us.
Love: Tonya
Thank you so much for sharing your story and lineage, Tonya! Bonnie is such a huge facet to the story and I didn’t want to write a book. 🙂 Thanks as always for your support and for sharing! Hugs!
Thanks for plugging my blog today, Jan. I figured these Texas outlaws might appeal! Great post!
Of course and thank you for reciprocating!
Reblogged this on Words To Captivate ~ by John Fioravanti and commented:
Jan Sikes provides us with more facts about Clyde Barrow on this anniversary of his birth. Bonnie and Clyde certainly became a highly romanticised outlaw couple! Please, read on…
Thank you, John!
My pleasure, Jan!