Stand By Your Man

The following was compiled from issues of the Vincennes Sun Commercial, published on September 24, 25 and 30th

1921.

Roy E. Laughlin, a cashier for the Bridgeport Bank and Trust Company, made front page news in the Vincennes Sun Commercial, for several days in September 1921, when he was arrested for bank fraud, forgery, and embezzlement.

The bank closed its doors upon the arrival of the bank examiner and Sheriff Stivers took Laughlin to jail in Lawrenceville. Friends, who prior to the disclosures would have given Laughan their last dollar, turned their backs on him and it was suspected that he would not be able to make bond.

The amount of the forged papers, with the signatures of the Bridgeport Drug Company, Federal Supply Co., F. E. McElfresh, and Fred Middagh totaled more than $21,000. Liberty Bonds from the Shiloh Church in the amount of $3,000, earned from oil royalties on adjoining ground that the church owned, had been entrusted to Laughlin’s care and these were sold and appropriated for his personal use. The proceeds from the Bridgeport Stock show, in the amount of $8,000, were also involved. The total amount of the shortage in unaccounted funds was over $100,000.

A large majority of the depositors were oil workers and persons of limited finances, who could ill afford to stand the loss. Unofficial sources reported immediately that the creditors would probably only receive 25 cents on the dollars, and that the bank might never open again. However, the bank directors stated that this was not true, and that creditors and depositors would receive full value for their losses. The fact of the matter was that some of the bank officials would be severely hit by this financial blow if this were to occur.

 Speculation grew as to the cause of Laughlin’s downfall and what he did with the money. The opinion of many people was that he had saved a large part and intended to leave Bridgeport and settle somewhere else with the money… after he served his sentence in the penitentiary. Others were quick to note that his financial condition had changed quite rapidly in the last few months. He had purchased several automobiles, horses and other stock for his farm and launched himself into society. Recently at the Lawrence Country Club, he entertained lavishly for a number of guests despite his salary of only $150 a month.

Laughlin, age 38, vehemently denied that he had any money hidden away, but admitted that he was guilty. A week after his arrest, one of his farms which had no mortgage, was turned over to the bank. He agreed to do the same with his house and lot on Church Street, Bridgeport, as long as his wife could remain living there for one year. She was also allowed to keep a team of black mares, all the household goods and chickens.

Prior to Laughlin’s bond being fixed at $160,000, Laughlin was not locked in a cell at jail, but just kept under guard. The Rock Island Argus and Daily Journal reported on September 27, 1921, that his wife, Mary, guided by the words of Ruth to Naomi, followed her husband behind the bars, obtaining the consent of the sheriff to become a volunteer prisoner. The paper opined that no doubt, she would be a great comfort to him while he was in jail.

Most local folk just said she was foolish. She had committed no crime; therefore, she should not be made to suffer for something her husband had done. While it may have been her wifely duty to stand by him and to do all in her power to obtain his freedom, it was said to be sheer silliness for her to bring suffering to herself. She might claim to be happy behind bars, but soon she would crave the great outdoors, and it wouldn’t be many days before she would be content with looking at him from outside the bars.

(Editor's Note: But what if the wife wasn’t content with the chickens and household goods and was really craving the location of the lost $100,000? If she thought her ‘comfort’ might encourage her husband to tell her, how foolish was she?)

Biographical material: Roy was the son of Hillis and Harriet Laughlin of Denison Township. He had an 8th grade education while his wife, Mary Burkett whom he had married in Knox County, Indiana, had completed her first year of college. She was about the same age as he was. He had been working in the bank as early as 1910.

In 1930, Roy and Mary were living in Richmond Heights, Missouri, and he was a credit manager for a mercantile company. They owned a house worth $8000. By 1940, they had moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and he was working as a clerk in a household furnishings store. His yearly income was $1,975 and he told the census taker that he had other sources of income, as did his wife.

When he registered for WWII in 1942, the couple had returned to Richmond Heights, Missouri, and he was working for the Star Specialty Company. He died in 1968 and she in 1958.There is a substantial monument in the Sumner Cemetery for Roy. E and Mary B. Laughlin.