As a student of Brookfield history, Lois Werner likes a good story as much as anyone, and Brookfield has plenty.
However, Werner also likes documentation to back up the validity of a story. When it comes to the stories of Brookfield and noted national gangsters, Werner claims they simply aren’t true. This flies in the face of many anecdotes passed down through the generations in Brookfield, Masury and Yankee Lake, and others who have written about local history. The stories of the township’s sordid past are sources of local pride with many residents today. Bonnie and Clyde and Ma Barker are among the feted felons in local lore, but the leading figure in Masury mob ties was John Dillinger – bank robber, escapee, murderer, celebrity criminal and local hero.
“There are many stories of Dillinger’s time in Masury, none of which are true,” Werner wrote in her recently published book, “The History of Brookfield Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.”
Werner based her opinion on her review of the FBI files of noted gangsters published online.
The time of the gangsters
Let’s set the stage. It was the Great Depression. Many people were out of work and angry at the establishment, whether it was the government’s inability to fix the economy, stockbrokers who lost their investments or banks that closed, taking away their savings.
“People were hungry, there were no jobs, and life was poor and depressing,” Werner said in her book. “Gangsters became heroes and were considered celebrities until the loss of police and FBI agents to gang violence became too great.”
Brookfield had an active temperance movement that helped bring about Prohibition, which lasted from 1920-33. Prohibition divided the country and Brookfield Township. Brookfield’s Methodist community was strongly for Prohibition, and Brookfield native Wayne Wheeler became a power broker in Washington and pushed for the constitutional amendment that instituted Prohibition.
But the township also had an active anti-temperance sentiment, as evidenced by the moonshining and bootlegging that went on here. With one vice prevalent, others followed, including gambling and prostitution, and organized crime sought to control it all. The Youngstown mafia operated Brookfield’s brothels and gambling dens, Werner said.
A July 15, 1933, story in The Sharon Herald reported on raids on liquor establishments and brothels in Masury, which it called “Little Canada.”
“The name (‘Little Canada’) was brought about by the fact that, during this same period, Canada had unlimited gambling, an endless amount of whiskey and plenty of entertaining women, all of which was not lawfully available in the United States,” said Joe Tarkanick in his book “The Brookfield That Was,” which was published for Brookfield’s bicentennial celebration in 1976.
Dillinger’s bio
Dillinger’s first serious brush with the law occurred in the summer of 1924 in Indiana, when he robbed a grocer. He was arrested, convicted and sentenced to a prison term. He was released on parole on May 10, 1933, and began his famed bank robbery spree on June 21 in New Carlisle, Ohio. From then until Sept. 22, he and others robbed three banks in Indiana and one in Ohio.
Dillinger was arrested in Lima, Ohio, on Sept. 22, and his gang broke him out on Oct. 12. Dillinger finished 1933 by robbing two banks, in Indiana and Wisconsin, and getting some R&R in Florida.
In January 1934, Dillinger robbed a bank in Indiana but was arrested in Tucson, Ariz., and sent back to Indiana. On March 3, he escaped from the Crown Point Jail in Indiana. By this time, the FBI was involved in pursuing Dillinger, and the feds started receiving tips about Dillinger’s whereabouts. According to FBI documents available for review on the FBI website, authorities received tips that Dillinger was in Minnesota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, Tennessee and Michigan, and as close to Masury as Akron and Cleveland. He robbed banks in South Dakota, Iowa, Ohio and Indiana.
The net closed in on Dillinger on July 22, 1934, when FBI agents killed him in Chicago.
The Gully Bank robbery
Tarkanick, who did not provide sources for his information, said in his book that Dillinger spent “considerable” time in Masury, playing cards and gambling at the Green Parrot. Local law enforcement either stayed away from the gangsters or played cards with them, Tarkanick said.
Former Brookfield Historical Society President Elizabeth Boozer wrote a piece on Dillinger that was published in 2009 in The Vindicator of Youngstown. She called Dillinger “Our very own hoodlum,” said he lived on Edmond Street and was known locally as “Smitty.”
The Sharon Herald reported that Dillinger’s gang robbed the Gully Bank in Farrell on Sept. 12, 1933. That was six days after he robbed a bank in Indianapolis and 10 days before he was arrested in Lima. Dillinger loved fast cars and could have made the trips between those destinations, but the interstate highway system had not been built and motorists generally had to travel much slower than they do today. The Herald story also said Dillinger had been living in Masury.
John Jurko II said a story has been passed down that Dillinger spent the night after the Gully Bank robbery in Yankee Lake and a house maid at the house where he was staying walked in on him while he was counting the money. Jurko has compiled a timeline of Yankee Lake history at yankeelakehistory.com
Dillinger was never charged with robbing the Gully Bank.
Some believe that this photo shows John Dillinger, at left, George Yensick, center, and Legs Diamond, but others question the identifications of Dillinger and Diamond.
The photo
There’s a famous photo of three men that Tarkanick published in his 1994 book “The Brookfield That Was Part Two” that supposedly shows Dillinger, local man George Yensick and Legs Diamond, a New York gangster. Tarkanick said the photo was taken in 1933 in Masury.
One of the people who was surprised to see the photo was John Yensick, nephew of George. John Yensick, who lives in Brookfield, said his uncle was dead by the time he saw the photo so he asked his dad about it.
“My dad told me he (George) knew all those guys,” John Yensick said. “They all came through down there, like, Dillinger and Legs Diamond, the whole crew of those guys.”
“That’s definitely my uncle,” John Yensick said of one of the men in the photo. “I really believe that’s Legs Diamond and Dillinger.”
If the photo was taken in 1933, it can’t show Legs Diamond as he had been killed in December 1931 in Albany, N.Y., Werner said.
Looking at the man in the photo who is said to be Dillinger, Werner said the man does not have Dillinger’s chin cleft or hairline and appears to be taller.
Dary Matera, the author of the book “John Dillinger: The Life and Death of America’s First Celebrity Criminal,” said Dillinger “had a common appearance for a man of his era, and wore disguises and hats, which complicates the spotting.”
Werner contends the Youngstown mob probably sent an impostor to pose as Dillinger. The more the mob could lay the blame on Dillinger, the more it could take the heat off its own activities, such as the Gully Bank robbery, she said.
Johnny Chechitelli, producer of the podcast “Youngstown Mob Talk” said the idea that the Youngstown mob would sponsor a look-alike was “preposterous,” but Matera said Dillinger was assigned blame for many things he didn’t do.
“The media and police were crediting the Dillinger gang with bank robberies committed by others,” Matera said. “It amused Johnny D. Some look-a-likes were even arrested.”
Dillinger became so popular that “people were seeing him everywhere,” Matera added. “Kind of like reports of spotting Elvis at McDonald’s.”
In researching his book, Matera said, Masury, “Little Canada” and the Green Parrot never came up. But, he did not rule out that Dillinger visited here.
“Johnny D rambled all over the country in his hot, powerful cars, and liked to party, gamble, and enjoy brothels, so he very well could have hung out there,” Matera said. “He robbed some banks in Ohio, so we know he was in the area.”
Jurko said he has no direct evidence of Dillinger’s presence but “It does seem likely he was in the area in between prison and his big bank robbery sprees.”
“I think she’s (Lois Werner) mistaken as far as thinking Dillinger didn’t hang out down in Masury, Yankee Lake, Sharon,” John Yensick said.
Aside from the interviews and sources identified in this story, information also was retrieved from History.com, Britannica.com and Wikipedia.com
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Lois Wener’s book is available on Amazon. The Brookfield Historical Society wants to republish Tarkanick’s book. To sponsor the society’s effort, contact President Barbara Stevens at 724-456-7356.
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A timeline of the life of John Dillinger
June 22, 1903: Dillinger is born in Indianapolis.
July 21, 1922: Stole a car near Mooresville, Ind.
July 2, 1923: Enlisted in the navy. His service lasted five months before he jumped ship.
April 12, 1924: Marries Beryl Hovious, who was 16. They live with her parents in Mooresville.
Summer 1924: Robs a grocer, arrested and sentenced to serve 10 to 20 years in prison in Indiana.
June 20, 1929: Hovious obtains a divorce.
May 10, 1933: Dillinger is released from prison on parole.
June 21, 1933: Robs a bank in New Carlisle, Ohio.
July 17, 1933: Robs a bank in Daleville, Ind.
Aug. 4, 1933: Robs a bank in Montpelier, Ind.
Aug. 14, 1933: Robs a bank in Bluffton, Ohio.
Sept. 6, 1933: Robs a bank in Indianapolis.
Sept. 22, 1933: Arrested in Lima, Ohio.
Oct. 12, 1933: Dillinger breaks out of jail in Lima.
Oct. 23, 1933: Robs a bank in Greencastle, Ind. An FBI Western Union telegram dated this day and originating in Indianapolis states: “Convict gang running wild. One sheriff dead. One kidnapped. Two police stations robbed of arms. Bank raided today. $75,000 loot since last prison break.”
Nov. 20, 1933: Robs a bank in Racine, Wis.
December 1933: Cools it in Florida.
Jan. 15, 1934: Robs a bank in East Chicago, Ind.
Jan. 23, 1934: Arrested in Tucson and extradited to Crown Point, Ind.
March 3, 1934: Escapes from the Crown Point Jail.
March 6, 1934: Robs a bank in Sioux Falls, S.D.
March 13, 1934: Robs a bank in Mason City, Iowa.
March 20, 1934: Dillinger and girlfriend Evelyn “Billie” Frechette move into an apartment in St. Paul, Minn.
April 14, 1934: FBI receives information that Dillinger has an appointment with a doctor in Louisville for treatment of a bullet wound to the leg. The information is leaked to the local press, which publishes a story on the day of the appointment. Dillinger doesn’t show up.
May 3, 1934: Robs a bank in Fostoria, Ohio.
June 30, 1934: Dillinger robs his last bank, in South Bend, Ind.
July 21, 1934: A madam at a brothel in Gary, Ind., Ana Cumpanas, aka Anna Sage, approaches the police offering information on Dillinger’s whereabouts in return for cash and help in preventing her deportation to Romania.
July 22, 1934: Dillinger is killed by FBI agents in Chicago.
July 25, 1934: Dillinger is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
Sources: History.com, Britannica.com, the FBI, Wikipedia.com
What struck me is how the article captures the tension between local folklore and documented history. For years, the idea that Dillinger might have gambled or staked out time in Masury has been part of regional lore—stories shared over generations, adding color and identity to the area. Werner insisting that the face in the photo “does not have Dillinger’s chin cleft or hairline” hit as real evidence-checking against legend.
I also liked how the piece frames the setting—the Great Depression, bootlegging, Prohibition-era vice in Brookfield Township—and how those conditions helped crime narratives flourish. Werner argues that the mob in Youngstown may have used a look-alike or pushed blame onto Dillinger for their own purposes.
That idea—that myth sometimes serves vested interests—feels a sharp lesson in how history is shaped.
Reading this, what I come away with is a renewed appreciation for both the value and vulnerability of local history: how stories give place meaning and how, when unchecked, they can become more myth than fact. For anyone interested in Brookfield or Dillinger, this article doesn’t just tell you to doubt the legend—it makes you look at how we know what we think we know.