Royalston native Joseph Lee Heywood was filling in for a fellow employee, bank cashier George M. Phillips, at the First National Bank of Northfield in Northfield, Minn., on Sept. 7, 1876, when the James-Younger gang robbed the bank. Heywood’s attempt to thwart the robbery and his subsequent death as a result made him a hero there.
The nation was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by holding a Centennial Exhibition World’s Fair in Philadelphia, the first to be held in the United States. The two had made an arrangement where Phillips would go to the Centennial in Philadelphia and Heywood would fill in for him; then, when Phillips got back, Heywood would take his family, which consisted of his second wife and 5-year-old daughter, to the event.
Heywood was born in Royalston, and raised in Fitzwilliam, N.H., according to Travis Farrington, collections manager and museum operations assistant at the Northfield (Minn.) Historical Society. His first wife, Martha Ann Buffum, also came from Royalston and the two had a child together, Lizzie May. His first wife died on May 3, 1872. Martha’s dying wish was that Heywood marry her best friend and their daughter’s namesake, Lizzie Adams, which he did. Along with being a cashier at the bank, Heywood was also treasurer of Carleton College in Northfield, City Treasurer of Northfield and was involved in civic affairs in town.
As for the James-Younger Gang, this was not their first trip to Northfield, Minn. The had visited a month earlier to plan the attack. “They passed themselves off as cattlemen and businessmen passing through,” said Farrington. The gang’s planning also involved information gleaned from an article in the local paper that the bank had gotten a new safe that had a time lock on it.
On the day of the raid, the gang of eight outlaws split up, with Frank James, Bob Younger and Charlie Pitts, whose actual name was Samuel Wells, entering the bank. Cole Younger and Clell Miller stood outside watching the street. Jesse and two others were by the square by the river in case something went wrong. Once they got the money, the plan was to ride over the bridge, cut the telegraph wire and ride out of town.
The bank was located on a street corner in the Scriver building, which also housed a dry goods store and hardware store. About 2 p.m., James, Younger and Pitts walked into the First National Bank and jumped over the counter. Employees at the bank, along with Heywood, were Alonzo Bunker and Frank Wilcox, all former New Englanders, who had no idea who these men were.
The three robbers quickly determined Heywood was the cashier, as he was the oldest at 39, and demanded he open the safe. Heywood replied it was on a time lock. James knew he was bluffing, as likely by this time of the day, he thought, it would be opened as employees would have had to get in and get cash to complete transactions. Frank James walked through the vault door to the safe. When he did, Heywood tried to close the door and lock him in but it didn’t work. James then came out and pistol-whipped Heywood, knocking him to the floor, then roughing him up. Charlie Pitts puts a knife to Heywood’s throat to try to scare him, drawing blood although the wound was not serious. “At about this point, Heywood begins to yell, Murder! Murder! Murder!” Farrington said.
Meanwhile, townspeople, a few of whom were watching Cole Younger and Clell Miller outside the bank door, were beginning to get suspicious. J.S. Allen, the proprietor of the hardware store, decided to go to the bank to make a transaction to see what is going on.
Allen was approaching the bank door when Miller grabbed him and yelled at him to get back. “That’s what sounds the alarm. Allen turns around and runs and yells, “Get your guns, boys, they’re robbing the bank,” Farrington said.
Allen and another hardware store owner, A.R. Manning, began handing out rifles and shot guns from their stores. Across the street, a medical student named Henry Wheeler saw what was happening and ran to a nearby hotel that he knew had a rifle. Henry Wheeler soon shot and killed Clell Miller and A.R. Manning shot and killed Bill Chadwell.
Jim Younger and Bill Chadwell ride out from the square; at this point, they did not want to shoot townspeople. “They want to scare people and cause confusion. They were yelling and shooting pistols in the air over the people’s heads,” Farrington said.
Inside the bank, Heywood continued to refuse to open the safe. Bank Employee Alonzo Bunker panicked and ran out the back door. Charlie Pitts ran after him for a while, took a shot and hit him in the shoulder but did not kill him.
“Cole Younger yelled into the bank and says “For God sakes, come out they’re shooting us to pieces,” said Farrington. So the gang finally decide to leave with $26 out of the drawer which in today’s money would equate to $600.
At that time, money in the bank was not insured. If the robbers had succeeded, the town would have been broke and they would not have gotten their money back. There was $15,000 in the safe when the robbers came in, which is equal to $350,000 in today’s money. The robbers were unaware that the safe door was closed but not locked,” Farrington said.
Frank James, angry at Heywood’s obstinacy, jumped on top of the counter. He turned and took a shot at Heywood and missed. He then shoots Heywood in the head and he dies.
Shortly after this, the remaining gang members were able to flee, heading out of town. The entire raid from when the gang went into the bank until when they left town took seven minutes.
Over the next two weeks, the gang was chased through Madelia, Minn., outside Mankato. Somewhere between Northfield and Madelia, Frank and Jesse James split off from the gang. The Younger brothers Cole, Bob and Jim and Charlie Pitts were cornered by a posse and Pitts was killed. The Younger Brothers were wounded and captured and sentenced to life in prison. Jesse James was killed in 1882, by one of his own gang members, for the reward money. Frank eventually did a number of different jobs throughout the rest of his life and never served any time.
Heywood most definitely is seen as a hero,” Farrington said. “It was Heywood’s actions and refusal to open the safe that led to the failure of the raid.” Immediately after the raid, there was a large funeral held for him. The local G.A.R Civil War post in Northfield was renamed the Joseph Lee Heywood Post. Heywood was a veteran of that war. Heywood’s daughter when she grew up attended Carleton College, paid for by the president of the bank.
The events of the raid are reenacted in Northfield annually at the Defeat of Jesse James Day which first began in the late 1940s. More information on the robbery can be found at the historical society’s website at www.northfieldhistory.org. More information on the Defeat of Jesse James Days can be found at www.djjd.org.