Bank of Benton Robbery
March 12, 1905
Written By Justin D. Lamb
Above: Bank of Benton as it looked in 1905.
(Photo courtesy of the Marshall County Archives)
On the morning of March 13, 1905, Solon Palmer, cashier at the Bank of Benton, walked from his home on Main Street and made the short stroll to the bank to begin business for the day. As he went to unlock the door, Palmer soon noticed that the lock was broken and the door kicked in. He entered the bank which he found ransacked with papers and ledger books scattered all across the floor. When Palmer went to the back of the bank, he saw the bank safe had been completely blown off with all of the bank’s holdings missing.
Sheriff Reeves was notified and began his investigation which revealed that the thieves had blown the safe with nitro-glycerin and took off with over four thousand dollars of bank assets. The sheriff began questioning people in the town, but no one offered any evidence or clues to the robbery. However, many began to recall that a group of suspicious strangers had been hanging around Benton days prior to the robbery, but no one could remember their names.
Above: Remains of the Bank of Benton safe following the 1905 robbery.
Photo courtesy of the Marshall County Archives
As word began to travel through Marshall County about the robbery, many customers of the Bank of Benton began to panic about their saving at the bank. Bank of Benton President J.D. Peterson immediately released a statement that all stolen money was insured and that no customer would lose a single penny. He even gave a few worried customers money out of his own pocket in order to ease their anxiety and to keep their business with the bank.
Later in the day, officials from the Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis Railroad Company contacted Sheriff Reeves about a missing handcar that was stolen at the Benton depot. They informed the sheriff that the handcar had been stolen the night before and was recently discovered in a stretch of woods three miles south of Paducah. It was determined that the thieves used the handcar as their escape and the Paducah Police Department was contacted and began searching for the crooks in their town.
As Paducah was put on alert, the City Marshall in Murray contacted Sheriff Reeves and informed him that two strange men had boarded a train in Murray and that he believed they were responsible for the robbery in Benton. As Calloway County authorities raced to apprehend the men at the Murray train depot, the train took off before the two men could be questioned. Authorities in Marshall, McCracken, and Calloway Counties continued to investigate the crime, but after a few weeks of disappointing leads all hope was lost on catching those responsible. The thieves were never caught and the case was never solved.
(Courtesy of Russ Claborn)
Following the robbery, the Bank of Benton Board of Directors took action to protect the bank from any future robberies when they purchased an 1892 Winchester 32.20 WCF for $15. Thankfully, the firearm never had to be used, and over one hundred years later, the gun is now on display in the main lobby of the Benton branch of CFSB in remembrance of this interesting story of the bank’s history.