Friday, May 31, 2002
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Friday, May 31, 2002 |
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Bank robbers part of Grantville's big celebration this weekend By Forrest
W. Schultz Tomorrow's Grantville Day 2002 will include an unusual activity -- a re-enactment of the famous robbery of the Bank of Grantville which occurred in 1932. There are also some unusual matters concerning the robbery itself, which is one of the most interesting heists I have ever heard of. These constitute the "Four Ts": the Teller, the Trail of Coins, the Typewriter Repairman, and the (Mythical) Tacks. The first astonishing thing I learned about this robbery is that the bank teller, Mr. Ed Brasch, is still living: he is now 96. He resides in Grantville near the building which housed the bank. The robbery was quite a traumatic experience for Brasch because the robbers bound and gagged him and then locked him in the vault, where he remained for several hours until the combination could be found. Finally, one of the bank officials, Stewart Colley, who was located in Newnan,called in the combination by telephone to the bank. You would think that if a band of robbers went to the trouble of robbing a bank that they would be careful to secure the loot. But the robber holding the bag in the getaway car was so careless that he spilled the coins onto the floor where some of them fell through a hole out onto the road during the escape. It is unlear precisely where this trail of coins ended, but it is clear that it began in Grantville. Rozelle Glanton, who was then 14 years old and is now 84 years old, saw the falling coins while standing in her yard, went over, and picked up seven silver dollars, which she then turned over to the bank. Glanton is the sister of Tom Glanton, who also is still alive, and was the principal of the Grantville High School for many years, and in whose honor the Grantville Municipal Complex was named. The robbers exited from Grantville via Lone Oak Street, which then turns into Lone Oak Road. After passing through Lone Oak they proceeded to Greenville in Meriwether County where they were captured. One of the robbers, R. P. Garvey, who was apprehended after the chase ended in Greenville, served a prison sentence and then became a typewriter repairman. And, believe it or not, he returned to Grantville and succeeded in getting a contract from the City Clerk, O. E. Smith, Jr., to repair the city's typewriters. I learned this amazing fact from conversations with Smith's nephew, David Wilson, and with Smith's widow, Evelyn Smith, who is now 91 years old and resides in an "assisted living" facility in LaGrange. Another interesting thing about the robbery is a legend which was generated about it, namely that Fanny Smith spread tacks onto the street in front of the getaway car to try to give it a flat tire. According to Gene Wilson (nee Smith), Fanny Smith's daughter, this did not happen. It is a myth. However, some of the accounts which have reported this legend do contain a fact about Fanny Smith, namely that she was well known for the delicious taffy pull candy she made. In the chase in the murder publicized by Margaret Barnes' book "Murder in Coweta County," the chase went from Meriwether County to Coweta County where one of the criminals did the killing. The Grantville bank robbery chase reversed this: the chase went from Coweta County to Meriwether County where one of the criminals was killed, and the other two apprehended. The robbers wisely selected for their getaway car one of the fastest automobiles of that time -- the whippet. The name was quite appropriate because the dog breed called the whippet is one of the fastest of all racing dogs; it is similar to a greyhound. Although the whippet was fast, it did not look like a "hot rod" or have any such connotations but was owned by very respectable people. An owner of a whippet will bring his car to Grantville for it to be used in the re-enactment. The bank robbery re-enactment will be staged at the same building which originally housed the bank: No. 7 Griffin Street in Grantville. It will be conducted like a theatrical performance with the scripting, casting, and directing handled by Grantville resident Caroline A. Carr, who is a professional actress and playwright. Carr will consult the appropriate documents and knowledgeable persons to insure that the re-enactment is historically accurate. To help create verisimilitude for the re-enactment, the nearby streets will be lined with old model cars, and, as already mentioned, the getaway car will be a whippet. Grantville Day is tomorrow and will include other activities, such as the celebration of Grantville's sesquicentennial, which will be announced later. The time during the day when the re-enactment will occur will also be announced later. Anyone wishing further information about the bank robbery re-enactment or of the other activities of Grantville Day or of becoming a corporate sponsor can contact Darwin or Patti Palmer at 770-583-3090.
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