Finding out why

While writing our three-part series on Florida’s notorious Ashley Gang, I was struck by a couple of questions. Why is the story so compelling and why am I devoting so much time, ink and paper to it?

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Ashley Gang being wiped out on the Sebastian River bridge on Nov. 1, 1924, the reader interest is clear. The Ashley Gang is Florida’s crime story of the 20th century, and the historical stories that we’ve featured about it have consistently been the top hits on our website, indianrivermagazine.com.

For the uninitiated, it starts out in 1911 as the story of a solo criminal, John Ashley, who kills a Native American, Seminole trapper DeSoto Tiger, and steals his valuable otter pelts. Ashley then goes on the run for two years, spending most of his time out west, before getting homesick and returning to Florida and hiding out in the Everglades. He turns himself in but later escapes from jail. What follows are train and bank robberies, the killing of two law officers and more jail and prison escapes before the gang reaches its ignominious end. All these crimes occurred against the backdrop of patriarch Joe Ashley and his sons running one of the biggest bootlegging enterprises in Florida.

Having experienced the injustices in the state’s early legal system, Joe had a contempt for law enforcement and no faith that the law would work for him. 

The story of the Ashley Gang is a story of family loyalty and poses the same question as the hugely popular The Godfather book and films.

To what extent will people go to protect those they love?

Joe and his wife, Lugenia, helped supply him during his years on the run, along with his eight siblings. None went so far as his younger brother, Bob, who shot and killed a guard in an attempt to free John from jail and then killed a police officer pursuing him. 

Like in The Godfather, the Ashley family had its own code of honor or dishonor. Joe Ashley might have uttered the same words to his family as Michael Corleone: “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family.’’ 

There’s no merit in glorifying criminals or romanticizing their lives, and it’s not our intention here. But it certainly is worth finding the truth about criminals who have so riveted the public imagination.

 

 

 

 

Gregory Enns
Reach Gregory Enns or 772.940.9005.

See the original article in print publication

Sept. 23, 2024