February 2004                                                            The Megaphone                                                                   Page 5

Elwood's Gun Girl

  Part Two

Submitted by Nancy Sumner EHS/FHS ‘66

September 24, 1934

Gun Girl is Shot in Leg.

London, Ohio -- Isabelle Lorraine Messmer, 19, girl train rider of Elwood, Ind., was held in county jail here today while under treatment for a pistol wound in the left leg, assertedly suffered aboard a Big Four freight train on which she was riding to Columbus. The girl told Sheriff Maxwell a bullet from her own revolver struck her in the leg as she fought off four Negroes who attempted to molest her. She was taken from the train by persons who heard her screams as the train stopped here for a block signal.

January 29, 1938

Elwood Gun Girl is Under Arrest in Newark , N.J.

Elwood’s ‘two-gun’ girl, Isabelle Messmer, was arrested yesterday afternoon in Newark , N.J. after a ten-mile chase by police, according to a report received here. The young woman, who has figured in several escapades in different sections of the country, is reported being held on charges of resisting an officer and molesting men. The latter is said to be a serious offense in New Jersey!

According to the report she disregarded warnings of traffic police to stop and a ten-mile chase followed. Officers are said to have fired five shots during the chase, which ended with her automobile being forced to the curb. When taken into custody she is alleged to have told authorities that her father was ‘a big shot politician’ in Washington, D.C. She is said to have been carrying a large sum of money.

The Elwood girl is said to have been driving a large LaSalle roadster. During a visit at home here some months ago she was driving the same machine.

Miss Messmer has tangled with the law on several occasions. She encountered difficulty in Miami, Fla., where she was alleged to have taken $900 from a married man who visited her hotel room. She was later released.

February 25, 1938

Elwood Girl is sent to Prison

Told by a judge that “You have been relying too long on a pretty face, and you have a vicious character,” Isabelle Messmer of Elwood, Ind., was sent to Clinton Reformatory today, taking with her the secret of the identity of a man with her when she knocked down a policeman with her auto as he tried to question her.

Asked by Judge Hartshorne to tell the name of the man who jumped from her car as police pursued it, she declared “I’m a lady and a lady never tells!” Citing the girl’s difficulties with police in Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Washington and Baltimore, Judge Hartshorne imposed an indeterminate sentence after finding her guilty of atrocious assault and battery. Weeping the girl pleaded for a chance “to go back home to Indiana.” She told the judge she thought the two detectives who waited in front of her apartment on Jan. 28 to question her were gangsters. The judge pronounced her story utterly incredible.

January 23, 1939

Local Young Girl Escapes Prison in New Jersey.

Miss Isabelle Messmer, 23, of Elwood, Ind., escaped from the New Jersey reformatory for women at Clinton, according to a message received by local police authorities.

The Elwood girl and Peg Winnie, 25, of Massillon, Ohio are said to have escaped by walking out of the institution’s unwalled grounds.

Officials at the New Jersey reformatory said the women were reported missing Friday night. They are said to have gone to a movie on the institution grounds but failed to return to their cottages. Both women are said to have worn overcoats to cover their institution uniform clothes. They were serving indeterminate sentences. The Ohio woman was sentenced for larceny and the Elwood young woman was sentenced for atrocious assault and battery.

Newark police arrested Miss Messmer following reports she was wanted on various charges in Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Common Pleas Judge Richard Hartshorne sentenced Miss Messmer last February 24 and said other charges pending against her included intent to kill a police officer, leaving the scene of an accident, speeding and a statutory offense.

When Newark police sought to arrest her, Miss Messmer sought to escape in an automobile. Police followed in an 80 mile an hour chase, during which police charged she swerved her car in an attempt to run down a mounted patrolman, Ray Morterson. Repeated revolver shots brought her to a halt, police added.  

                                                                                                                (Continued next month)

Submitted by . . .

Nancy Sumner, EHS/FHS '66