SPRINGFIELD -- Seventy-two years ago this month, six law enforcement officers died at a farm in what is now Brookline.  It’s known as the Young Brothers Massacre and it was the deadliest raid for police officers in U.S. history.

   In his basement studio on a recent day, Ruell Chappell mixed music that tells the story of that cold, deadly day. 

   “The Young Brothers lived in the shade of the night,” says one song.

  Through their series of songs, Chappell and his new partner, LoriAnne Locke, chronicle the Young brothers' brushes with the law.

   “It's the story of two basically bad brothers that kind of went wrong and went real wrong at one point in time,” said Chappell.

  “We'll get our guns and now we go,” is another line from a song.

   The notorious brothers, Harry and Jennings Young, made headlines in the early 1920s and 30s, mostly from stealing cars and robbing people.  According to a family history that describes them as petty burglars and thieves, both of them served stints in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City and the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., as did Paul Young, an older brother.  The Youngs' parents had 11 children and lived in Oklahoma and Christian County, Mo., before buying a 98-acre farm about five miles west of Springfield.

  Locke did much of the research for the album.  She's a self-proclaimed housewife who says she knows little about song writing, much less performing.

   “Ruell's like, 'You can write songs,’” said Locke, “and I kept saying, ‘No, I can’t.’”

   “It took me two weeks to convince her she could write," said Chappell.

  “So stick 'em up,” says another line from the music.

    After many stick-ups, the boys turned to harder crime.  Harry Young shot and killed Republic City Marshal Mark Noe during a roadside traffic stop.  Then, on cold Jan. 2, 1932, the killing continued.

  The brothers were at the family's farmhouse when law officers went  looking for them.  One by one, after three officers burst into the house, the Young brothers fired deadly shots.  Within minutes, six law officers lay dead:  Greene County Sheriff Marcell Hendrix, Sheriff’s Deputy Wiley Mashburn, Springfield Police Department Chief Detective Tony Oliver, Springfield PD Detective Sidney Meadows, Springfield PD Officer Charles Houser and Springfield PD Officer Oliver Crosswhite.  Three other officers were wounded.  The Youngs fled and, on Jan. 5, died from gunshot wounds in a murder/suicide in a home in Texas as law officers tried to arrest them.  Harry Young was 27.  Jennings Young was 35. 

   "It was the largest law enforcement massacre during a raid-type situation ever in history and it happened right here," said Chappell.

    Today, the farmhouse still stands by itself in a field near the intersection of Farm Road 148 at Farm Road 115 (Haseltine Road).  One of the songs on the album pays tribute to the officers who fell there.

  “They were the good guys,” the song says.

    Though the Young family no longer owns it, the house stands as a testimony to a legend, one that's faded into obscurity -- but perhaps not forever.   Chappell and Locke hope the album will be used as part of a documentary detailing the Young Brothers Massacre.  Twenty years ago, Chappell was asked to do music for a movie but the movie was never made.

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Here's a synopsis of the songs, as provided by Chappell and Locke.

 

The Young Brother’s Massacre © 2003 CHAPPELLOCKE Publishing, Inc.

1. “Shine” words and music by Ruell Chappell

“The boys learned to love the taste of “potent brew”, Mother Young said.  On  June 2, 1929, Harry and his buddy had found some and Harry took the life of Republic City Marshall, Mark Noe over a simple traffic stop.  Noe said, “You’re drunk again.”  “What about it?” Harry replied. “I’ll have to pinch you,” said Noe.  Harry said, “Alright, get in.” On that night, the first life was taken.

2. “Stick’em Up” words and music  by LoriAnne Locke

Paul, Harry, and Jennings became inseparable. From robbing nearly every store on the Ozark Square in one night, to breaking into boxcars at Nichols Street Junction. they thumbed their noses at the law. They were invincible, or so it seemed. They had Texas law trying to get them for car theft and Missouri law trying to get them for stealing carpets and clothes. It was their unholy pride that got them caught.

3. “Storms Comin’” words and music by Ruell Chappell

The boys had been taught the “good ways” by Daddy Young. He was a good man. With the boys in prison., it was too much for him. When they went to the ‘stir’, they say he died of a broken heart knowing that he’d sired these lowly criminals. He kept them as good as they were. Once he passed, the storm was unleashed and there was no more hope for them. They went on their path of destruction.

4. “No More Robbin’ Peter To Pay Paul” words and music  by LoriAnne Locke

Somewhere along the line Paul went on the straight path. In a Texas prison he was pardoned by the governor. He’d worked hard while he was there and decided to go down a better road. He chose the good way…He died in December 31, 1986.

5. “They Were The Good Guys”  words and music by LoriAnne Locke

This song is about the officers who would see their last watch January 2, 1932. They were described as kind, and approachable. A little of the old west still in them. They made sure we all got along. They were the good guys…This song is dedicated to all Law Enforcement officers, especially those that have fallen in the line of duty.

6. “I’m A Bad, Bad Man” words and music  by Ruell Chappell

Harry was described as a sickly, puny little runt as a child. He seemed to be no good from birth. He was a different kind of evil. He had an ungodly arrogance and he wanted everyone to remember who he was.  He was good shot and he knew it and when unsuspecting officers drove down the lane that afternoon, he knew there was no going back. He and Jennings shot those they had known their whole lives and ran for their own. 

7. “O Lord Where Are You Now” words and music by Ruell Chappell

Frank Pike was the only living officer to tell the story. He was standing behind a tree watching his friends get killed one by one. Harry called to him from the upstairs window to give himself up. They said that they had shot everyone else and there was no chance to get away. Empty of ammunition but full of prayer he ran like jack rabbit with shots ringing out all around him.  Pike ran through the field to safety…and he lived to tell the story.

8. “The Angry Mob Song” words and music  by LoriAnne Locke

Word spread fast of the killings. 300 to 400 Springfield citizens went out to the farm to capture the killers. The bodies still laying around the yard and house, they came with revenge in mind. Ambulances came and every funeral home sent a car to pick up the “unburied dead.”  When the crowd realized that the boys had fled, they set fire to a mattress on the porch. Evidence destroyed. A Constable deputized them all to find the killers.

9. “I’d Give Anything To Say Goodbye” words and music  by LoriAnne Locke

This was written for the widows of the slain, who never had the opportunity to say goodbye to their husbands. The newspaper reporter, remembered hearing ‘heartbreaking screams’ as Sheriff Hendrix’ wife was being told of her husband’s death. It was written for the women who had to find a way to go on with life.

10.   “I Wanna Be Like Greta Garbo” words and music by LoriAnne Locke

Two of the Young sisters, Vinita and Lorena were sent into town by Harry and Jennings to sell a stolen car. They were first to be brought to jail to make sure there was no one left at the farm but the boys. The sisters learned of the horrible event by overhearing a paper boy crying out the headlines. Vinita helped her mother at the farm,  played the piano and her favorite movie star was Greta Garbo.

11.   “Things Will Never Be The Same Again” words and music by LoriAnne Locke

Mother Young had been a much too forgiving parent. Her picture in the paper showed her, in jail with her head in her hands. She was broken. She talked about the boys ……about when they were children. She talked about them singing in the yard with their dad and playing. She didn’t understand what went wrong.  She was glad that their dad didn’t have to live through this tragedy. She also hoped that they wouldn’t live to see a noose. But she knew that life, as they had known it, was over.

12.   “When The Pale Horse Passes By” words and music  by LoriAnne Locke and Ruell Chappell

To a bungalow in Houston Texas the boys had fled.  Police outside the house ready to come in, they surely thought about their lives and what they knew would be their end.  In the bathtub they shot one another. They were told ‘to take your own life would mean hell for sure.’  The pale horse is death coming to get them. At their funerals, no preacher said flowery words. A funeral director said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Amen.” Only their Mother and sisters in chains, and the law were around when the boys were laid to rest.  They were fingerprinted one last time before being lowered in their graves.

13.   “The Ballad Of The Springfield Massacre” music by Ruell Chappell words from a 1932 poem

This song from a poem, written by Elmo Ingenthorn,  Superintendent of Taney County Schools,  published in  the Springfield NewsLeader in 1932. It gives the story as it happened from beginning to end.

14.  “ No More Robbin’ Peter To Pay Paul” revisited, words and music by Lori Anne Locke

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For a more extensive account of the massacre, click here.

To inquire about the album, send an e-mail message to Chappell at ruellc@mchsi.com.