About This
Site Biddle Boys'
Background Mrs. Soffel's
Background The
Conspiracy The Escape
The Final
Battle The Aftermath
Ed Biddle's
Poem The Movie Famous Last
Words
Send Me
E-MailDuring one of my Mother's frequent wonderings about my interest in Bonnie & Clyde, she recalled a newspaper article about the Biddle Boys pasted in the pages of her mother's cookbook, of all places. The article was from 1925 and dealt primarily with the Perrysville schoolhouse where the fugitives sought shelter from the cold - the schoolhouse was being torn down at the time. The article included an overview of their story, and though I didn't realize it at the time, I was hooked. Several weeks later I found out about the movie, and after that, I did realize I was hooked!
The information on this site comes primarily from the book The Biddle Boys and Mrs. Soffel, written by Arthur Forrest in 1902, and period newspaper articles. It's my guess that the book was written immediately after the Biddles' deaths in an attempt to make a quick buck from their notoriety. While their background information seems plausible enough, there are enough glaring discrepancies of then current events between the book and the newspaper accounts to make me suspect of the book's accuracy. Therefore, when significant events have more than one version, I have tried to give all known accounts.
I am continuing my research and hope to be able to piece together more of the story as time goes. This site will be updated as new information is found. Anyone with anything to add, please e-mail me - I'd like to hear from you. I am especially interested in locating a copy of the song "They Died For Liberty". Enjoy the site!
Thanks to the following sources for providing information:
Our story begins in the 1860s in Canada. George Biddle, a New York native, had fled there, settling in Amherstburg, Ontario, to avoid service in the Civil War. He and his wife had 8 children. The 2 sons who were to become famous as the Biddle Boys, John (known as Jack) and Edward, were probably born in the mid 1870s. Jack was the older, but Ed was generally accepted as the leader in their criminal activities. Family life was apparently not good, with the Boy's father described as "drunken" and their mother as "worthless", and they received little or no formal education.
The Biddles began their career of crime at an early age and were soon arrested for robbing an old man in their neighborhood. Escaping, they entered the United States and made their way to Chicago, Illinois, where they took up with the local criminal element. Arrested following a jewelry store robbery, they were sent to the penitentiary but received only a short sentence because of their age. Upon release, they picked up where they'd left off, but pressure from the Chicago police forced them to leave town. Heading east, they arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and quickly knocked off a jewelry store, then left for Cincinnati, Ohio where they lived high off their spoils. When the money ran low, they turned up in Cleveland and began a wave of robberies said to be the worst the city had ever seen. Their biggest haul may have been a bank job which netted them $7000. The law prevailed, however, and the Boys soon found themselves guests at the Ohio Penitentiary. But not for long! At the pleading of their friends, the governor granted a pardon, and the Boys were on their way to Erie, Pennsylvania, where they resumed their old ways. This time they had help from 2 women, Jennie Zebers and Jessie Bodine. One method the gang used was for the women to seek employment as domestic help - later, when the family was out of the house, the Boys would be let in to rob the place. This worked for a while, but again pressure from the police forced them to move on, and by January 1901, they were back in Pittsburgh. This proved to be a fateful move.
The beginning of the end for the Biddle Boys and their gang came on April 12, 1901. There are 2 variations of this event, and I will tell the "book version" first. Upon learning that local grocer Thomas Kahney had amassed a large quantity of money which he kept in his home, a plan was devised where Jessie Bodine would enter the store to make a purchase and engage the grocer in conversation. Meanwhile the Biddles and Walter Dorman, former lover of Bodine, would break into the house, which adjoined the store. Jennie Zebers, dressed as a man, was to wait in the hallway between the store and house and act as lookout while the men searched for the money. Bodine entered the store around 10 PM, but while talking with her, the grocer heard a noise coming from his house and went to investigate. He encountered Jennie Zebers in the hallway, and in her panic, she fired a shot which hit him in the head, killing him. The gang, empty handed, quickly fled.
The "newspaper version" of the crime does not go into any details of the planning of the robbery but has the gang breaking into the Kahney residence and trying to chloroform Mrs. Kahney while she slept. She awakened and screamed, whereupon Mr. Kahney entered the bedroom and was shot by an undetermined gang member. Mrs. Kahney told detectives the person who shot her husband wore a fake beard, and they somehow determined it had been bought just hours before the attempted robbery at a local hair goods dealer. The store owner later identified Ed Biddle from sketches she was shown as the man who had purchased the beard.
Soon enough evidence was gathered to seek the arrest of the Biddles. The following day police received a tip regarding 2 houses where the gang was thought to be hiding. In the first house, Jack Biddle was arrested without incident. Detective Patrick Fitzgerald and other officers hurried to the upstairs and encountered Ed Biddle and Jessie Bodine. A gunshot, believed to be fired by Ed Biddle, struck Fitzgerald in the chest, killing him. Ed was wounded and eventually overpowered by the police. He would later claim the shot which killed Fitzgerald was fired by one of the other officers. Walter Dorman and Jennie Zebers were arrested in the second house. In the trial following, Dorman turned State's evidence and confessed upon promise of immunity from execution. Dorman stated that while he did not know who fired the shot which killed grocer Kahney, the women were not aware that a robbery was going to take place and had been duped into taking part. Based largely on this testimony and a jury which sympathized with the women, Jennie Zebers and Jessie Bodine were acquitted, Walter Dorman received a life sentence in Western Penitentiary in the Northside section of Pittsburgh, and Ed and Jack Biddle were found guilty of murder.. No one was tried for the killing of Detective Fitzgerald. Jack Biddle was sentenced to be hanged on February 25, 1902, with Ed to follow 2 days later.
Mrs. Kate Soffel was the wife of Peter Soffel, warden of the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was well educated and well connected. Apparently the marriage of 15 years was strained, and Warden Soffel had begun to take steps to divorce her prior to the imprisonment of the Biddles. Mrs. Soffel had spent some time in a sanitarium and had been an invalid for a few years. The Soffels had 4 children - 2 girls aged 13 and 15, and 2 boys aged 7 and 10. She was called the "Queen of the Jail" by the prisoners and guards. Her father, Conrad H. Dietrich, was employed at the jail as Deputy Warden. She was 34 or 35 years old at the time of this story.
At some point during their jail time, Mrs. Soffel went to see the famed Biddle Boys. Perhaps it was just curiosity, or maybe she wanted to see for herself if Ed was really as handsome as the newspapers said. At any rate, she became a frequent visitor to Ed's cell and was said to have visited not less than 25 times. She took him a bible and other reading material, as well as special treats from her kitchen. Her behavior was likely quite unusual and unacceptable for a warden's wife, but apparently Ed's charm easily won her over. And amazing as it seems, Warden Soffel was apparently unaware or unconcerned by the special attention his wife was paying to Ed Biddle, though her flirtations were common knowledge of the guards, including her father, and the subject of a newspaper article.
By whatever means, the Biddles convinced Mrs. Soffel to help them, and escape plans were begun as early as November 1901. It so happened that the Biddles' cells could be seen from a window in Mrs. Soffel's room. Ed devised an alphabetical code of communications for them to keep in touch. By pointing to certain parts of her body, each having a unique letter designator, Mrs. Soffel could spell out words and keep Ed up to date with progression of the plans. It must have taken a great deal of courage on her part, but in the nearby town of McKeesport she purchased saws and a revolver and managed to sneak these into their cells. With these items in hand, the Boys began in earnest to prepare for their escape.
Using the saws provided by Mrs. Soffel, the Biddles cut through the bars of their cells. The bars were then held back in place with black wax or chewing gum. Learning that the cells were to be inspected on Thursday January 30, 1902, Mrs. Soffel informed the Boys they had better make their escape Wednesday night.
The original escape plans appear to have been for the Biddles to leave Pittsburgh alone and make their way into Canada. Mrs. Soffel was to follow a short time later, traveling through Buffalo and Niagara Falls, and finally meeting up with the Boys in either Toronto or Montreal. The Biddles intended to end their criminal ways and take up mining in a remote area of Canada.
Mrs. Soffel told her husband she was going to visit her sister in McDonald, 25 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, and would be leaving early on the morning of January 30. Whether she intended to leave for Canada from there is not clear. If not, it would appear that her absence from the jail at the time of the escape may have caused more suspicion than had she remained. Perhaps she had decided to leave with the Boys after all, or maybe she just didn't want to be there in the event they were captured.
In the early morning of January 30 at about 4 AM, Guard Reynolds was called to the cell of Jack Biddle, who complained of a headache and asked for a cold wet handkerchief for his head. After Reynolds left, Jack called out again, and this time Guard McGarey responded to his call for medication. When McGarey arrived at the cell, Jack grabbed him about the wrist, at which time Ed quickly removed the cut bars of his own cell and pointed a revolver at him. In attempting to break away from Jack, McGarey was thrown or fell to the stone corridor 16 feet below, where he remained motionless. Guard Reynolds joined the fracas and was shot in the hip and fell to the floor. The remaining guard on duty, Kosslow, rushed to sound the alarm gong but was stopped short by a gunshot which narrowly missed his head. The Biddles locked the 3 guards in cells and made their way towards the guard's office area. Breaking down the door, they were met there by Mrs. Soffel. The Boys changed out of their uniforms. And, sealing her fate and perhaps their own, Ed apparently convinced her to escape with them.
The escape was not discovered until the new guard shift arrived at 6 AM. The warden himself was unable to respond to the gunshots earlier because he had been chloroformed by his wife! Upon his waking, he telephoned his sister-in-law to see if his wife had arrived safely and learned that she was not there. At this time, he announced his suspicions that she had helped the Biddles escape. Warden Soffel also accused his father-in-law, Deputy Warden Dietrich, of being an accomplice and had him dismissed, threatening to shoot him on sight. Clearly it was not going to be a good day for Warden Soffel!
Upon leaving the jail, the Biddles and Mrs. Soffel may have found refuge at the home of a friend of the Boys for most of the daylight hours on January 30. Another version of the escape has them taking a street car to Perrysville, some 12 miles from Pittsburgh, where they hid in a schoolhouse all day. Either way, they stole a horse and sleigh in Perrysville around 1 AM on January 31 and continued their trek. By 7 AM they had arrived in Cooperstown, 38 miles north of Pittsburgh, where they stopped for breakfast at a country hotel. By this time, news of the escape was widespread, and the suspicion of the locals was aroused by Mrs. Soffel's clothing, apparently unsuitable for the weather, and the lack of robes and blankets in the sleigh (believe me, Pennsylvania winters are no treat!). Thinking the travelers could be the fugitives, police in Pittsburgh and Butler, the nearest city of any size, were called, and it was determined from the description that it was indeed the escapees. Armed posse members were immediately dispatched by train, and when the fugitives left Cooperstown, they were followed. Actually the authorities had been tracking the party ever since they made off with the sleigh in Perrysville, thanks in part to telephone reports of their movements. With the posse closing in fast, the fugitives pressed on, stopping for lunch in Mount Chestnut, 6 miles west of Butler and about 54 miles from Pittsburgh. It was apparently here that Ed Biddle and Mrs. Soffel became lovers. Meanwhile outside, the posse unwittingly passed by...
When the Biddle Boys and Mrs. Soffel left the hotel in Mount Chestnut the afternoon of January 31, 1902, they probably had no idea of the events about to take place. Heading northwest towards Prospect, they made it only a few miles before they met the posse head-on about 5 PM as they approached the crest of a hill. The posse consisted of 2 sleighs - one each of officers from Butler and Pittsburgh. As the sleighs approached, the Biddles were seen readying their weapons. At about 100 feet separation, Ed Biddle pulled up on their horse, handing the reins to Mrs. Soffel as he jumped from the sleigh, gun in hand. Jack Biddle jumped to the other side with a revolver. The posse's sleighs were stopped, and the fugitives ordered to surrender. They told them where to go. Ed fired the first shot, missing his target, then all the men began firing. The Biddles were hit repeatedly, while the lawmen were unscathed. As Ed fell facedown in the snow, Mrs. Soffel reportedly grabbed a revolver and began firing, at which time the horse bolted, taking her and the sleigh a short distance before one of the posse shot the horse. As the Biddles lay dying in the snow, they attempted to take their own lives; it seems they had formed a suicide pact whereby they would kill themselves if capture became certain. Ed fired a shot into his chest and Jack shot himself twice in the mouth. These wounds did not prove fatal. The posse had shot Ed twice and Jack 15 times. Even as the Boys were being handcuffed, one of the detectives reportedly shot Ed, struck Jack with his rifle and broke his jaw, and wanted to shoot Mrs. Soffel. She had been wounded in the left breast, a shot which may have been fired by Ed to fulfill the suicide pact, though he denied this in his dying confession, or by Mrs. Soffel herself.
For the Biddle Boys and Mrs. Soffel, the romance had turned tragic very quickly.
Following the battle, Mrs. Soffel was taken to the Butler Hospital and the Biddles were taken to the Butler County Jail. Mrs. Soffel was treated for her wound and visited by her stepmother, who was given a message to take to Warden Soffel asking his forgiveness. The warden would have none of it. She begged to see Ed but her plea fell on deaf ears. It seems the Biddles had plenty of company, however; local clergy had arrived and a crowd had gathered to see the notorious criminals.
In Ed's dying confession, he made it sound as if he had no special feelings for Mrs. Soffel and that he had played upon her sympathies to help them escape. Whether this was true or not is probably an unknown. Perhaps he thought this story might make the courts go easier on her when it came time to her sentencing. In letters he wrote her, he certainly sounded as if he loved her.
As Friday night progressed, it became obvious the Biddles were dying. The doctors were injecting them with morphine to ease their pain, but their wounds were too critical for any hope of recovery. Asked if they had any special last wishes, Ed requested to see Jack, who was carried into his cell. Slipping in and out of delirium, they reminisced about their boyhood. Ed said he never loved anybody but his mother.
Jack Biddle died at 7:35 PM Saturday February 1, 1902.
Ed Biddle died at 11 PM Saturday February 1, 1902.
The vest pocket of Ed Biddle contained a single violet wrapped in oil paper, believed to have been given to him by the small daughter of a Pittsburgh pastor. It was thought to be the inspiration for his poem.
The bodies were put on public display the next day at the jail. A crowd of more than 4000 gathered to view the fugitives during the 2 hour exhibition. The bodies were taken to Pittsburgh Monday morning, and on February 5 the Biddles were buried in a single grave at Calvary Cemetery on Hazelwood Avenue in Pittsburgh.
Mrs. Soffel, upon her release from the Butler Hospital on February 24, plead guilty to aiding and abetting in the escape and was sentenced to 2 years in Western Penitentiary. She served just over 20 months and was released for good behavior on October 10, 1903. Attempting to capitalize on her fame by reenacting her drama, she appeared in a play called "They Died For Liberty". The play was not well-received, and she took to using the names Katherine Dietrich and Katherine Miller to escape her notoriety. She supported herself by becoming a seamstress. Mrs. Soffel died August 30, 1909 at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh with no family present at the age of 42 after an 8 day illness thought to be typhoid fever. Mrs. Soffel was buried September 1, 1909 at Smithfield Cemetery on South Dallas Avenue in Pittsburgh.
Warden Soffel, disgraced and humiliated, resigned from the Allegheny County Jail. Following divorce from his wife on October 21, 1903, he remarried a widow. He died in 1936.
And so ends the story of Pittsburgh's tragic romance.
This poem was written by Ed on the fly leaf of a book of Longfellow's poems and given to the young daughter of a Pittsburgh pastor. It was in response to a flower the girl had sent to him by way of a guard while the Boys were in the Allegheny County Jail. The final verse is inscribed on the Biddles' tombstone.
Just a little violet
From across the way
Came to cheer a prisoner
In his cell one dayJust a little flower
Sent by loving hand
Has a kindly meaning
That true hearts understandJust a little violet
Picked with tender care
God has smiled upon it
And the sender fairSo now that little token
Wrapped tight in paper neat
Rests quietly within a grave
O'er which a heart does beat
Cast
Diane Keaton as Mrs. Soffel
Mel Gibson as Ed Biddle
Matthew Modine as Jack Biddle
Edward Herrmann as Warden Soffel
Produced in 1984, the movie Mrs. Soffel is a fairly factual and very entertaining version of the story. The prison footage was filmed inside the Allegheny County Jail, which adds to the historical value and accuracy. The jail certainly appears to be a very imposing structure, the exterior having an almost castle-like appearance, while the inside is quite spartan though artistically designed.
The movie begins with the Biddles entering the jail - no detailed attempt is made to describe the circumstances which brought them there, and while some of these events are woven into the story line, you really have to be paying attention to pick up on them. Most of the differences between the movie and the details described on this site are subtle enough to be of little importance; others, such as the final battle, have been blown out of proportion for the Hollywood effect and detract somewhat from the overall story. To me, a faithful copy of the real story would have created just as entertaining of a movie... of course, the writer may have found information on their story that I haven't been able to locate as of yet, so the movie could be more accurate than I believe it to be. Regardless, it's well worth the couple bucks to rent it. I won't spoil it for you by describing it any further.
An interesting note: Ron Nyswaner, writer of the movie, arranged to have a new tombstone put up on the Biddles' grave. A nice touch...
"Jail Warden P.K. Soffel is taking extra precautions to assure himself that there will not be a repetition of the Fred C. Fitzsimmons escape." The Pittsburgh Leader (newspaper) 4-17-01
"We would not have been captured if we had not stuck to the woman." Jack Biddle
"Some of the newspapers have said that I propose to go on the stage. Now that is a suggestion I would not entertain for a moment." Mrs. Soffel as quoted by The Pittsburgh Press (newspaper) upon her release from prison 10-10-03