THE FIRST JOB

In 1862, most of the old-time bank robbers went out of business when Linus Yale, Jr. invented the modern combination lock. Bank men and police believed that finally a device was created that could be considered burglar-proof. That is, until a 4 year string of robberies beginning in Louisville, KY in 1872 and ending with the Northampton National Bank in Northampton, MA proved that, in the hands of determined thieves, nothing is safe.

Robert C. Scott spent his boyhood in Warsaw, IL. He served one term in the Illinois penitentiary for grand larceny and a second term for stabbing a man. Shortly following his release, Scott was introduced by a fellow inmate to James Dunlap. Both Scott and Dunlap were men of strength, health, nerve, patience and brains. It is not known how soon after the two befriended Billy Connors, a well known criminal from New York, but it is certain that within a few months after their acquaintanceship, the Falls City Bank of Louisville, KY was broken into and robbed by the Rufus Ring and some $200,000 stolen.