I once overheard Barry County described in a barbershop as a black hole that always pulls you back in after you thought you were out.
I bet the Barry County Jail detainees who recently tried to vacate the vicinity early also feel this way. As long as there have been prisons, prisoners have tried to escape, and the Barry County Jail is no exception to this rule.
Back in 1900, six prisoners escaped the custody of Sheriff J.A. Stephens. As you may remember, the county jail at that time was located on the third floor of the old Barry County Courthouse. Somehow, the prisoners were able to open the cell door and make their way to the south window, where they proceeded to make a hole through the brick wall beneath the window.
They then tied blankets together and secured one end to the bars and climbed down to the ground on a Friday night. That would have been some sight, if anybody was around to witness, a group of prisoners swinging down the side of the Barry County Courthouse in the middle of the public square.
Most of the escaped prisoners were recaptured in short order, but murder suspect Charles Baker made his way to Utah before apprehension six months later. Baker was being held for the murder of his Harvey House co-worker Ira Williams in Monett, who he stabbed several times with his pocketknife after an altercation.
But eventually, even Charley Baker made his way back to Barry County. Two years earlier in 1898, Jake Chambrones also escaped the custody of Sheriff Stephens in a similar fashion, by digging out bricks from the side of the courthouse on a Friday night, but he was recaptured by Sunday two miles south of Monett.
In 1905, William Bowman escaped Sheriff Charles Thomas’ custody twice in the same year. On the first occurrence, Bill Bowman and Az McCawley were working on the county road near the poor farm under the supervision of Deputy Ed Newman.
Even though both prisoners only had a short time left on their sentences, McCawley for gambling and Bowman for disturbing the peace, they felt the need to skedaddle. The following weekend, the escapees were recovered in Fayetteville, Ark., without resistance. Two months later, Bowman escaped again, this time by cutting a hole in the floor of the county jail located in the courthouse.
The newspaper stated that the jail at Cassville must be “easy” to get out of and that “one of the most dangerous traps in the courthouse is the jail.”
A month later a note believed to be from Bowman was found written on the blackboard of the Rock Creek schoolhouse that read, “I am gone Mr. Thomas, you need not look for me.”
Five months after his escape, Sheriff Thomas caught Bowman while the wanted man was visiting his folks near Monett.
Brothers Clifford and Chris Taylor escaped from the Barry County Jail under Sheriff Ed Roberts back in 1924. This would have been the jail built in 1908 that was located at 8th and East in Cassville.
The brothers were being held for the destruction of books and papers and taking pencils at the Hazel Dell school. To make their escape, the brothers pried open a bar in one of the windows that had previously been sawed through and then repaired with a weld.
In 1945, five youths escaped from the Barry County Jail during Sheriff George Roden’s tenure. In 1959, Edvin Kergalvis, a soldier from Fort Leonard Wood, escaped the Barry County Jail during Sheriff Bill Hemphill’s term by assaulting the jailer.
In 1971, five escapees broke out of the Barry County Jail and the hid in the attic of the Christian Church before being recaptured by Sheriff Dummitt.
A new Barry County Jail was constructed in 1974 at its current location, but the new jail still had the same old problems.
In 1983. Johnny Wall and John Evans, of Monett, escaped by using the keys during Sheriff Jimmy Hopkins term. Wall was a trustee at the jail and used the opportunity of emptying trash to make an escape, only to be captured in Springfield after being wounded by shotgun pellets during a fight.
In 2003, during Mick Epperly’s time as sheriff, Donald Collins escaped and was recaptured two weeks later.
Time and time again, prisoners attempt escape, and time and time again history repeats and they find themselves back in good ol’ Barry County again.
Jeremiah Buntin is a historian at the Barry County Museum. He may be reached at jbuntin@barrycomuseum.org.
