Blanche Barrow

Blanche Barrow was born Bennie Iva Caldwell in Garvin, Oklahoma, the only child of Matthew Fontain Caldwell (June 23, 1871 – September 19, 1947) and Lillian Bell Pond (August 25, 1895 – February 24, 1995).

At the time of her birth, her father was 39 years old and her mother was 15 years old.

Her parents divorced while she was still a young child.

She was raised by her father, a logger and farmer.

A devoutly religious man, he occasionally preached as a lay minister.

Barrow had a poor relationship with her mother, who arranged for her to be married to John Calloway, a much older man, at age 17.

Blanche Barrow (born Bennie Iva Caldwell; January 1, 1911 – December 24, 1988) was the wife of the elder brother of Clyde Barrow, known as Buck.

He became her second husband after his release from prison after a pardon.

To her dismay, Buck joined his brother's gang.

Blanche was present at the shootout which resulted in the Barrow Gang becoming nationally recognized fugitives.

She spent only four months with the gang.

Although she never used a gun, Blanche was blinded in one eye during a getaway.

In the same incident, she rescued her husband under heavy police gunfire.

She was caught along with her fatally wounded husband by a posse of local men in Iowa.

She served six years in prison for assault with intent to kill the sheriff of Platte County, Missouri, but he treated her sympathetically.

Upon her release, she remarried and lived quietly thereafter.

On November 11, 1929, while hiding in Dallas County from her husband, Blanche met Buck Barrow.

He was a twice-divorced criminal with children from a previous marriage, who was eight years her senior.

Several days after they met, Buck was shot and captured following a burglary in Denton, Texas.

He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to five years in the Texas State Prison System.

On March 8, 1930, he escaped from the Ferguson Prison Farm near Midway, Texas and Blanche hid with him.

She and Buck were married and she convinced him to surrender and serve out the remainder of his prison sentence.

Two days after Christmas 1931, Blanche drove him to the gate of Huntsville penitentiary, where he told surprised prison officials that he had escaped almost two years before and needed to resume his sentence.

They welcomed him in.

Two years later, he was released and granted a pardon which wiped out his conviction.

A few days after Buck's release, Bonnie and Clyde came to visit with him and Blanche.

Bonnie was visibly drunk, and Buck, who had been talking with Clyde in the car and also appeared to have been drinking, made a promise to his brother that he would join him in his gang.

This went contrary to Blanche's wishes to keep her husband out of further trouble with the law.

Buck tried to convince Blanche to accompany him on a vacation trip to Joplin, Missouri with Bonnie and Clyde.

He explained that his intention was to persuade his brother to keep out of trouble, but still she refused to hear of it.

Only when Buck threatened to leave her behind did she agree, saying that she was afraid that Clyde would drive a wedge between them.

Blanche and Buck spent three weeks relaxing in the two garage apartments with the gang of Bonnie, Clyde, and Clyde's seventeen year old sidekick William Daniel "W.D."

Jones.

The apartment building exists today at 3347+1⁄2 Oak Ridge Drive in Joplin, Newton County, Missouri, though it actually fronts on 34th Street, and is registered on the National Register of Historic Places.

While Blanche agreed to travel with Bonnie and Clyde, she was not overly fond of them.

The group passed time playing cards, doing puzzles, and drinking newly legalized beer.

Clyde Barrow parked his stolen car in the left side of the double garage beneath the two apartments while Blanche and Buck had to rent space at a nearby house for their car as a neighbor had the right-side spot already.

Blanche and Bonnie would go to the movies or shop for knick-knacks at Kress' store, but, to her chagrin, she ended up doing much of the cooking and washing for the others.

Barrow was extensively consulted for the fictionalized 1967 film about the Barrow gang.

She disliked her portrayal in it, despite Estelle Parsons winning an Oscar for the role.