The Red Letter Gang-1937

North Olean History - The Red Letter Gang--1937

“The Red Letter Gang” wrote the notes. When their intended victims read the notes they turned them over to the police, who after reading the notes turned them over to James McCready, the school attendance officer. Upon reading the notes, Mr. McCready checked the school records, compared the writing and then took action.

It all started one day when the North End residents began to receiving notes in a schoolboy scrawl and printing. They were signed by the “Red Letter Gang”, written in red crayon and demanded sums of money ranging from one to ten cents.

The first note was merely a preliminary, stating that the second and third notes would follow. The second note designated the sum desired by the gang, and instructions were given as to where the money should be left. The third note followed in the event the money was not forthcoming.

Failure to pay, the gang warned would result in measures being taken. These measures would include the moving of porch steps and the dumping of garbage cans.

Several persons, who did not pay attention to the notes, found the gang was serious when their steps came up missing and the contents of garbage pails made an appearance on their front lawns.

However, the case of the “Red Letter Gang” was now a matter of record. Mr. McCready had gone back to his task of chasing truants, and the North End residents could leave their homes secure in the knowledge that their descent from their porches would be graceful and the odor of table scraps would not assail their nostrils.”

(The end of the “Red Letter Gang” took place in March of 1937. I remember hearing the stories about them especially after they stole butter from the next-door neighbor, Mrs. Lane’s icebox that was sitting on the back porch. They also removed the front porch steps from Liz Clancy’s home on River Street that resulted in her falling off the porch and breaking her leg. I heard who the leader and a member of the gang were but this is my secret. The parents of the leader later transferred him from School No 7 to St. Mary’s School.)

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