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 1902 - 1946

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• Birth	28 Oct 1902	, Callaway, Missouri, USA
  Gender	Male
  Time of Death	10:00 p.m.
  Name	Silk Hat Harry
  Died	23 Nov 1946	Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, USA
  	Cause: Homicide, gunshot wound to the left side of neck
  Buried	Mount Carmel Cemetery, Callaway, Missouri, USA
  Person ID	I847	Herring Family of Callaway County, Missouri
  Last Modified	16 May 2009
  Father	John Milton Herring,   b. 23 Jan 1857, , Callaway, Missouri, USA ,   d. 1 Dec 1913, Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA
  Mother	Cassander Wood,   b. 16 Feb 1861, , Callaway, Missouri, USA ,   d. 20 Mar 1938, , Callaway, Missouri, USA
  Married	10 Dec 1878	, Callaway, Missouri, USA
  Marriage Notice	13 Dec 1878	Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA
  	Callaway Weekly Gazette
  Family ID	F338	Group Sheet

• Headstones		Harry W. Herring Harry W. Herring, Oct 28, 1902 - Nov 23, 1946. Harry W. Herring was a son of John Milton Herring and Cassander Woods. He was a grandson of Andrew Carver Herring and Latitia E. Crooks. He was my 2nd cousin twice removed.…
  Death Certificates		Death certificate of Herring, Harry William 28 Oct 1902 - 23 Nov 1946. He was my 2nd cousin twice removed.

• Notes

  In 1920, single, working as a clerk in grocery store with brother Earl. Living with mother in Kansas City. from Mt. Carmel listing Name: Harry W. Herring Birth Date: 28 Oct 1902 Death Date: 23 Nov 1946 His death certificate contained several errors. Information was given by his brother, John Carl Herring. Name of mother was given as Cassie A. Jackson. Jackson was the maiden name of his father's first wife. His mother's maiden name was Cassander Woods. His birth date was Oct. 28, 1902 not 1901. Death certificate says he was buried in Mexico Missouri, he was buried at Mt. Carmel in Fulton, Missouri. Cause of death was murder, he was shot in the neck at the corner of Independent Blvd. and Park and Brooklyn, outside on the sidewalk near south State Street. He was a small time gangster in Kansas City, known as Silk Hat Harry. Was in prison a couple of times. I have a copy of the newspaper report of his death but it is very hard to read. He was divorced, his wife's name was Gladys Herring. I have no information about her. His occupation was meat cutter, ss# 521-20-7807. He lived at 719 Highland Street, Kansas City, Jackson county, Missouri. The Kansas City Times, Sunday 24 November 1946 (Appears to be front page) SLAIN IN AMBUSH Man Identified as William H. Herring Is Shot on Independence Boulevard. GUNMAN HIDES IN DARK LOT Three Persons See Slayer Run South on Park Avenue and Escape. DESCRIPTION TO POLICE Man Was About 33 and Weighed 160 Pounds, According to Witness. A gunman, apparently lying in wait in a dark vacant lot on the south side of Independence boulevard approximately 100 feet west of Park avenue, shot and killed a man identified by police as William H. Herring, 45 years old, 719 Highland avenue, shortly before midnight last night. After firing three shots at his victim, one of which entered the left side of Herring's neck, the slayer fled on foot south on Park, according to witnesses. Herring was dead when police arrived at the scene. Disappears in Darkness. The slayer ran at least a block south on Park, witnesses said, and disappeared into the darkness. He was described as wearing a light suit. He wore neither overcoat nor hat, Charles H. Rodd, 2307 Independence boulevard, who saw the running man, said. Rodd heard the shots. Rodd told the police the gunman appeared to be about 35 years old, weighed 160 pounds and appeared to be about 5 feet 9 inches tall. Two boys who were on the way to work in the mailing room of The Star witnessed the shooting from a bus stop at Independence and Brooklyn avenue. They were Sam Cascone, 14 years old, 331 Olive street, and Norman Oryall, 16, at 630 Olive. They told the police that they saw a man running west on the south side of Indepandence, just west of Park. He stopped behind the victim and fired three shots into his back. They also saw the gunman run south on Park as his victim slumped to the sidewalk, the boys said. A Former Convict. At police headquarters the two boys and officers who viewed the body identified him from a photograph as Herring, alias Harry W. Herring, a convict who has served two terms in the Missouri state penitentiary for robbery. Herring, police said, had unopened half-pint bottle of whisky in an inside pocket of his suit coat when he was found. Police surmised he had purchased the whisky at a near-by drug store, and was returning to his home about eight blocks west and south of where the shooting occurred. Police were investigating reports that Herring's death may have some connection with the recent holdup of a poker game at the home of Yerla T. Havener, 3918 Walnut street. Two men were arrested in connection with the holdup, one of whom was Don L. Taylor. Taylor also occupied an apartment at 719 Highland. His apartment was on the fourth floor, Herring lived on the third floor. Police said that Herring had been living with a woman and neighbors verified that Herring had been living in the apartment about four months. Herring, a butcher by trade, was said to have been employed at a meat market on Twelfth street. Since Taylor's arrest last week, Herring had been visibly nervous, neighbors told police. The Kansas City Times, Monday 25 November 1946 (left column, page unknown) SEEK CLUES IN FEARS ? WAS AFTER HIM, GUN-? ? VICTIM BELIEVED. ? Morning of November 18 ? Men Tried to Enter His Apartment, William Herring Told Police. ?essed in the week before ? by William Harry Herring ? convict, who was shot ? Saturday night by a gun-? in a vacant lot on In-? boulevard west of Park ? being investigated by ? night for a lead to the ? ?d woman, who told poice she lived with Herring in his ? 719 Highland avenue ? months, was being held ? Throughout the day she ? Lieut. Charles Welch ? homicide unit that ? told her repeatedly ? was afraid someone was ? TELL OF HIS FEAR. [Photo caption] Victim of Spot Murder Saturday Night... William H. (Silk Hat Harry) Herring, 45-Year-Old Former Convict. ? fear led him to tell her he ? longer live in the apartment with her or remain in the neighborhood, she said. The feel-? was confirmed for police ? persons who knew Herring ? on the morning of November ? Herring telephoned police ? men had tried to enter his ? He asked police to ? to the home of a brother ? so but Herring revealed ? more concerning the two ? A neighbor living in the same apartment house told police that Herring had been visibly nervous ? a week. ? the former convict knew ? who his murderer would ? believed he could do nothing ? for his death had not been ? last night by police. ? search by police for acquaintences ? friends of the murdered ? widened last night in an ? uncover more details of his ? Police hoped to find some ? whom Herring had told more ? believed to be a menace to society. ? man with whom Herring ? made two statements to ? Saturday and was being held ? for further questioning. Last Arrest In 1943. ? were checking Herring's ? past. Their records showed he last was arrested in D? 1943, and held briefly for questioning. Previously he had served two terms in the Missouri state penitentiary for robbery. Herring, known to police as Silk Hat Harry, was first arrested in 1925 for a series of filling station robberies committed with a woman companion. July 25 that year he and his companion pleaded guilty to two charges of highway robbery. They were sentenced to fifteen years each by Judge Allen C. Southern. Paroled in 1930, Herring was arrested again in 1932 for a holdup of a hotel clerk at 916 Oak street. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to twenty-five years. He obtained a new trial. In his third trial in May, 1933, he was found guilty and sentenced to ten years. He was released from prison in June 1940, following a habeas corpus ? the Missouri Supreme ? which ruled he should have ? his unfinished first term before starting to serve the new sentence. March 19, 1942, Herring was sentence to serve six months in the ? jail at Omaha on a charge of ?ously entering a building ? months he had been employed as a butcher and had had ? sideline, as far as police learned last night. He was ? old.

• Event Map

  Event Birth - 28 Oct 1902 - , Callaway, Missouri, USA Died - Cause: Homicide, gunshot wound to the left side of neck - 23 Nov 1946 - Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, USA Buried - - Mount Carmel Cemetery, Callaway, Missouri, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth