A 10-part digital series beginning Wednesday, Oct. 23. Subscribe now

Deadly Conclusion is a 10-part digital series beginning Wednesday, Oct. 23, that leads up to the 100th anniversary of the Nov. 1, 1924, killings of Florida’s notorious Ashley Gang at the Sebastian River bridge.

The series is accessible able to Indian River Magazine Premium Digital Subscribers only.

During this 10-day period an installment of our Ashley Gang series will be released daily and made available to premium subscribers at indianrivermagazine.com.

In the days after the 100th anniversary on Nov. 1, 2024, Indian River Premium Digital Subscribers will have exclusive access to additional Ashley Gang story postings, including an epilogue and story updates. Notifications of each posting will be provided by email, if desired. Premium subscriptions last one year and also provide complete digital access to the entire IndianRiverMagazine.com website and all Indian River Magazine issues going back to 2006.

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SERIES SYNOPSIS

Lugenia Ashley
SANDRA MARIO PROVENCE ARCHIVE

PART 1, Wednesday, Oct. 23
IN THE BEGINNING — Ashley family ancestors arrive in Florida in the 1850s seeking new opportunity. Two generations of the family struggle to survive the Florida wilderness. With a corrupt or barely existent legal system in early Florida, Joe Ashley and his sons, including expert marksman John, practice their own brand of frontier justice. The family’s notoriety explodes in late 1911 with John Ashley’s shooting and killing of Seminole DeSoto Tiger during a hunting excursion in the Everglades. A deadly blood feud begins between the Ashley family and Sheriff George Baker and his chief deputy son, Robert C. Baker. (Also appearing in the summer 2024 issue of Indian River Magazine)

John Ashley with shotgun Florida backwoods
SANDRA MARIO PROVENCE ARCHIVE

PART 2, Thursday, Oct. 24
ON THE RUN — John Ashley spends two years running from the law, mostly out west, but returns to hide out in the Everglades near his family’s home in Fruita, located in what is now southern Martin County. He eventually turns himself in. But as jury selection begins in his murder trial , he escapes from the Palm Beach County, fleeing again to the safety of the Everglades. He again hides out in the Everglades and in 1915 he and younger brother Bob and others hold up an FEC Railway passenger train and rob the Bank of Stuart, a caper in which John is shot in the eye and loses sight in one eye. Needing medical attention, he turns himself in. Mistrials are declared two times when he is tried for the murder of DeSoto Tiger but he is found guilty during a third trial in Miami. During an effort to free John from the Miami jail after the verdict, brother Bob shoots two law officers but himself is killed in the effort. John’s guilty verdict in Tiger’s murder is thrown out on appeal, but John is sentenced to 17 years in Raiford state prison for the Bank of Stuart robbery. Four months after he arrives at Raiford, he escapes from a road gang and is back to the Everglades. (Also appearing in the fall 2024 issue of Indian River Magazine, with expansions)

Joe Ashley
SANDRA MARIO PROVENCE ARCHIVE

Part 3, Friday, Oct. 25
BAD DAD— The Ashley men’s criminality didn’t begin with John. His dad, Joe, was entrenched in a blood feud in west Florida that was bigger than the McCoy-Hatfield feud and was a suspect the 1900 shooting ambush of Tillet Whidden in LaBelle. In 1904, Joe and two of his boys were also briefly held briefly in the ax murder of 26-year-old Daniel Cash in Pompano, the Ashley family’s newly adopted home. (All-new digital release)

 

Hanford Mobley
STATE OF FLORIDA ARCHIVE

Part 4, Saturday, Oct. 26
THE BOY LEADER — After three years on the run, John is captured and is returned to Raiford. In John’s absence, leadership of the Ashley Gang falls to his 17-year-old nephew, Hanford Mobley. Hanford, son of John’s sister Mary, is raised near the Ashley home, where he hears stories of John’s criminal escapades. He’s also at the center of his grandpa Joe’s moonshine operation, which supplies illegal alcohol to much of South Florida. (All-new digital release)

Bank of Stuart
ELLIOTT MUSEUM

Part 5, Sunday, Oct. 27
ANOTHER BANK ROBBERY — Dressed as a woman, Hanford Mobley leads the gang in a second Bank of Stuart robbery. He is eventually captured, but follows the example of his uncle John and escapes from jail. (All-new digital release)

Laura Upthegrove
ELLIOTT MUSEUM

Part 6, Monday, Oct. 28
THE LOVE INTEREST — Laura Upthegrove, a married mother of three, joins the gang and becomes John’s partner in crime and romance. (All-new digital release)

Joe Ashley’s stills near the Ashley home
STATE OF FLORIDA ARCHIVE

Part 7, Tuesday, Oct. 29
SHOOTOUT AT THE STILL — Deputies raid one of Joe Ashley’s stills near the Ashley home with deadly consequences for both the Ashleys and lawmen. Bob Baker takes over for his dad as sheriff and intensifies his search for John, who has made yet another escape from prison, and other members of the gang. (All-new digital release)

Bank of PompanoPart 8, Wednesday, Oct. 30
BANK OF POMPANO ROBBERY — The gang makes an easy target of the Bank of Pompano and remains at large after a hefty take.

Everglades hideout
STATE OF FLORIDA ARCHIVE

Part 9, Thursday, Oct. 31
SEPTEMBER SEARCH — The gang’s plans to head to head to the Bahamas and commit acts of piracy there are thwarted when Sheriff Baker and his men seize their cabin cruiser, loaded with supplies and ammunition. The action pushes the gang deeper into their Everglades hideouts.

Sebastian River bridge trapPart 10, Friday, Nov. 1, 100th anniversary of the Ashley Gang shooting
DEADLY END — John Ashley, Hanford Mobley and two other gang members take off from their Everglades hideout, possibly to begin new lives in California. But a family member squeals on their plans and St. Lucie Sheriff J.R. Merritt sets a deadly trap at the Sebastian River bridge, where John, Hanford and two other gang members are gunned down by lawmen. A century later, the debate continues about whether they were executed. We give you the facts. You decide.

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