Newton Gang
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The Newton Gang (ca. 1919 through 1924) was an outlaw gang of the early 20th century, and the most successful train robbers and bank robbers in history. From 1919 through 1924 the gang robbed eighty seven banks and six trains, taking in more money than the Dalton Gang, Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch and the James-Younger Gang combined. Most of this was due to one particular train robbery.
[edit] Formation and outlaw career
The Newton brothers originated in Uvalde County, Texas. By 1919, Willis Newton had already robbed a train in Cline, Texas, taking $4,700. He later robbed a bank in Boswell, Oklahoma in the company of a gang he joined in Durant, Oklahoma, taking just over $10,000. By the end of that year four of the five Newton brothers, Willis, Willie, Jess and Joe were each serving separate prison sentences for various small-time crimes. When the brothers were all released, Willis Newton formed the Newton Gang, and immediately started robbing banks across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Canada.
Many of their heists were committed at night, with them breaking in and busting the bank safe without ever having to come into contact with any people or authorities. On one night, in Hondo, Texas, the gang hit two banks the same night. However they also committed several robberies during working hours, after which the patrons and bank employee's often described them as being extremely polite, going out of their way to make sure everyone was comfortable, and always telling the people they would never hurt anyone, and they didn't in any of those robberies. Amazingly, the Newton Gang had received very little attention from law enforcement, despite the large number of robberies they'd committed. However, that would change when they robbed a postal train on June 12th, 1924.
The gang had teamed up with two Chicago gangsters, two racketeers, and a postal inspector named William J. Fahyand, using inside information to rob a postal train in Rondout, Illinois. The robbery netted them $3 million in one take. It was the largest train robbery in history. However, during the robbery, Willis Newton and his brothers fired tear gas and their guns to hasten the security personnel throwing the money bags out faster. In the confusion, Willie "Doc" Newton was wounded in the leg. The gang took the money, loaded "Doc" into a vehicle, and left the scene. While loading into the vehicle, a bystander heard one of the robbers say the name "Willie", which put lawmen on their trail. Within days, Doc, Willis, and Joe Newton had been captured, but Jess Newton had evaded capture and headed south to Texas with $35,000. Eventually all those involved with the robbery were arrested, and all but $100,000 recovered.
The gang received relatively light sentences due to no one being injured but their own gang member, and the majority of the money having been returned. The missing $100,000 was never recovered. Jess Newton had buried most of it, but being drunk when he did so, he could never remember exactly where. The brothers returned to Uvalde, Texas, where they led respectable lives, for the most part. Doc Newton was again arrested for bank robbery in 1968, in Rowena, Texas, but due to his extreme old age the charges were dropped. Willis Newton was implicated in another bank robbery in 1973, in the town of Brackettville, Texas, but there was insufficient evidence to arrest him. Authors David Middleton and Claude I. Stanush wrote the book The Newton Boys; Portrait of an Outlaw Gang, with the help of Willis and Joe Newton. The 1998 film The Newton Boys, starring Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dwight Yoakam was based on the gang.
