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J. E. Shannon was being held in the Cass County jail
at this time in 1916. He was arrested March 28th, of that year, during
an attempted robbery and gunfight in the Fout & Porterfield Drugstore
in Davenport, south of Fargo. Five months later, on August 24th, Sheriff
John Ross discovered something unusual.
The Fargo Forum reported, “Every Sunday there is a thorough search
made of the jail, during which every article is gone over thoroughly.
In the last search...a most artistic set of two keys were found, that
would work to perfection. The keys were found in the jacket owned by Halsten
Wing, hanging in one of the cells, but it is not believed that Wing made
the keys alone, and may not have had anything to do with their manufacture...
“The keys show the work of a master hand, having been made from tablespoons
with the aid of a safety razor blade and a couple of pieces of spring
steel, such as are concealed in the soles of shoes by criminals when they
are expecting to get ‘pinched.’ The discovery of the keys led
to a further and closer search, which revealed the tools they were made
with, all being hidden in the same locality, and in such a way that the
officers are led to believe that the manufacturer anticipated being caught
with the ‘goods,’ and tried to place them where they would not
likely be charged to him.
“In making the keys,” the story continued, “tablespoons
were flattened out and part of the bowl used for the key part, while the
handle served as the shaft. In providing heat with which to soften the
metal, grease, taken from meats served prisoners, had been collected in
a small can, and used as a torch.
“In some way, probably from one of the trustees, a cardboard pattern
of the keys desired were secured by the artist. From these patterns the
keys were made, the necessary notches being cut by the safety razor blade...and
bits of spring metal...”
The story went on to explain there was no evidence linking the keys to
J. E. Shannon, but that he was the only prisoner they suspected. He had
tried to escape just a few weeks earlier, and Sheriff Ross believed he
was the only one with enough experience and talent to pull it off.
In the days following the discovery, Fargo’s Chief of Police Troyer
discovered Shannon had a 10-year criminal background that spanned the
country.
It began in June 1906, when he was arrested in Kansas City, MO, under
his real name – James Samon (or Salmon) for vagrancy. Five months
later, he was arrested for burglary under the same name in Denver. During
the next seven years, he was picked up for shoplifting, pickpocketing
and being a “suspicious person” in San Francisco, St. Louis,
and four more times in Kansas City.
In 1913, Samon realized he should change his tactics and started using
aliases. But it didn’t keep him from getting caught. In St. Paul
he was picked up as John Howard, a con artist. A few months later, he
was arrested for grand larceny in Louisville as Jim Evans. He skipped
town while out on bail and was next arrested in Chicago for two cases
of pickpocketing.
As Tim Stillman, Samon was charged with disorderly conduct in Detroit.
As J. E. Shannon, he was arrested for shoplifting in Pittsburgh, skipped
town, and was picked up on the same charge in Kansas City, where he broke
out of jail. In February 1916, he was arrested for drugs as James Evans
in Minneapolis. When he was jailed in Fargo the following month, Troyer
learned there was also an outstanding warrant for Samon in Kansas City
for arson.
Source: Fargo Forum. 24 Aug 1916 and 26 Aug 1916.
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