Re: Dingledine's executed in Ohio
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In reply to:
Dingledine's executed in Ohio
Nancy M. Dickinson 7/10/02
I know it has been a few years since this was posted, but I thought I should reply as I just saw this and I have some info on this question.
The executions were of Harry Chapman, Harry B Dingledine, and Harry B's son Henry Dingledine, all done on the same day on April 19, 1938 by the State of Ohio.
On September 3, 1937, they were all involved (along with another man who was with the gang) in a shoot out that killed a local police officer and the 4th man involved. The full story is now online if you Google all the Dingledine's and Chapman's names.
What I would be interesting in learning is what happened to Harry's other children, Mildred T, Lawrence, and Edna M. They are only on public records up to the 1930 census (maybe on 1940 census, but we have to wait another year and a half for that).
The reason I mention this is that my grandmother, Lillian Marie Smith was briefly married to Henry, and by the 1930 census was listed as divorced and living in Detroit with her family and Henry's son, my Uncle Russell Lamar (Henry was listed as single in the same census, all living in Greenfield, Ohio area in the 1920 census). Eventually my grandfather, Rudolph Lange adopted Russell as his own after they were married around 1934. I do not even know Henry knew he had a son.
My grandmother and grandfather never talked about my Uncle's biological father while they were living. After my grandmother (1995) and my grandfather passed (1997), I witnessed my Aunt Rose (Lange, sister to Russell) asked directly Lillian's brothers Walter and Owen the real story behind Uncle Russell's father. It is there they told about Henry Dingledine, the brief relationship, and he and his father's shoot-out with the police. I wrote it down and in recent years, more and more newspaper and other sources have come online to give more details to the story.
Though executed in 1938, Henry ended up having one son, four grandkids, about 8 great grandkids, and 4 great-great grandkids to date here in Michigan.
Any more information on that family line would be terrific!
my best
-Ray Bottorff Jr
Son of Judith Lange, sister of Russell Lamar Lange (Dingledine), my godfather