Young Brothers Massacre

by Mary H. Barrett and Paul W. Barrett

On January 2, 1932, near Springfield, Missouri, ten poorly armed law enforcement officers set out to arrest two local farm boys for auto theft. A few minutes later, six of the officers lay dead and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826206506
• ISBN13: 9780826206503
• Release Date: April 1988
• Publisher: University of Missouri Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Memories out of the past.

I read the book and can recommend it. It chronicles the greatest number of law enforcement kiiled in one incident until 9/11. It brought back memories of my youth. My grandfather Bill Brown's sister Maude was married to Sheriff Marcel Hendrix. When he was killed, she became Sheriff until an election could take place. My grandfather became an interim deputy as the deaths left them short on manpower. My father recalled his visiting the Young Brothers farm when he was a boy. Brookline was very small and so everyone knew one another. He told me the brothers could shoot a walnut swaying in the breeze form their front porch. They knew Sheriff Hendrix. When reinforcements returned, they found Marcel sitting in a chair, killed with a shotgun blast. It is believed that the Young's tried to provide some comfort to the dying Sheriff who they knew. My grandfather told me that after the Young brothers committed suicide after being surrounded by Texas Rangers, photos were sent to the Greene County SO of the deceased. Each brother had multiple gun shot wounds....it was no suicide! P.S. One of Marcel and Maude's sons Glen went on to be elected Sheriff several years later. I recall his visiting us in California when he would come out to extradite a prisoner. I also had an opportunity to visit his office and jail as a teenager. My father was influenced by his Uncle Marcel being in law enforcement. However he did not join a police agency. However, I did and retired after 40 years. My last position was Police Chief in Monterey, Ca. Law enforcement has studied cases like this one in order that the mistakes made would not be repeated. That said, we still lose officers in handling incidents like this one. Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers as they shall become the children of God". Gary Brown.

Young Brothers Massacre

I have had to research this subject. I live about 2 miles from where the massacre occured and it so happens that I started working with a musician that wanted to write an album about it. We have just finished it. We were on tv news and the nephew of the killers called me and they wanted a cd. The children of the siblings were sheilded from the fact that they were part of a family that killed the highest number of officers in a raid in the U.S. for most of their lives. So I sent them a cd and they said that from what they know about it now, the cd is right on the mark. Every song had to be from the point of view of the people who were actually involved... The Sheriff, the family, the officers, the widows and many others. I used this book for most of my research. It was the most facinating thing I've ever done. Full of emotion. Every person had their own great story to tell. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a great story.

Very Informative and Interesting...

My grandmother was married to Harry Young. After she passed away is when we really found out about him from letters, pictures, and newspaper clippings that she had. We had alot of questions and finding/reading this book answered alot of them. It is a great book.