Victims of Joplin shootout remembered 90 years later

May 26—A former Springfield police officer is keeping alive the memory of Harry McGinnis, a motor car detective with the Joplin Police Department, and J.W. "Wes" Harryman, a Newton County constable, by keeping their gravestones clean and neat.

For Ron Hutcheson, it is a way of honoring the two law enforcement officials killed in the Joplin shootout with Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker 90 years ago.

"It's such a tragedy," Hutcheson said. "These guys were just doing their jobs, responding to a call. They pull up and they're dead. It's a terribly unfortunate situation, and it's good that we occasionally bring them to mind."

Hutcheson retired after 20 years with the Springfield Police Department with the rank of lieutenant. In his retirement, he picked up the hobby of cleaning gravestones. It gave him something to do with his time, he said.

When he visited his parents' grave a few years ago, Hutcheson noticed their stone was covered with growth. He researched how to properly clean gravestones, and as he became more familiar with the process, he started cleaning gravestones as favors for friends.

"It does take some time and patience," Hutcheson said. "I enjoy the atmosphere, the beauty of the time and the solitude. I occasionally run into people there and always find out they're good people."

Last year, Hutcheson saw a news report about the 90th anniversary of the Joplin shootout, which was in April. The report showed Harryman's gravestone in Saginaw Cemetery, covered with a lichenlike growth.

"I immediately recognized it could use some attention," Hutcheson said. "It took me almost a year to get it where it looks now."

He got in touch with Harryman's family and Saginaw Cemetery officials to get permission, starting the project in May 2022 and finishing it last month.

After Harryman's gravestone, Hutcheson traveled to Deepwood Cemetery in Nevada, Missouri, to clean McGinnis' gravestone. That one was in better shape, Hutcheson said, and only took a couple of trips to clean. He believes a group of officers have been looking after it.

Family members of the officers were grateful for his efforts, Hutcheson said. He expects the stones to stay clean for a while, possibly about 10 years. Ideally, someone would re-treat the stones every few years, he said.

About McGinnis, Harryman

In contrast to the numerous books, movies and websites devoted to Bonnie and Clyde, it's hard to find information on McGinnis and Harryman, said Jim Hounschell, a former assistant chief of police with the Joplin Police Department and currently the director of safety and security for the Joplin School District.

"I think history remembers Bonnie and Clyde," Hounschell said. "These officers, their deaths have been overshadowed by their notoriety. But, if it wasn't for their notoriety, the memory of these officers probably wouldn't be alive today."

Harryman, 42, lived in Saginaw, where he's buried. He was elected Shoal Creek Township constable in Newton County in late 1932. He was survived by his wife and two children, Hounschell said. After his death, his wife and children had to get jobs to support the family.

McGinnis had been with the Joplin Police Department for eight years and a detective for just a few years. At the time of his death, he was 53 and a widower after his wife was hit by a car a couple of years earlier, Hounschell said. McGinnis had planned to remarry, and a ceremony had been scheduled about three weeks after the shootout.

A sign outside the Joplin garage apartment where the 1933 shootout took place memorializes the officers. The two-bedroom, one-bath apartment is now an Airbnb, available for $195 a night.

Hounschell said a memorial wall at the Joplin Police Department station is dedicated to Joplin officers killed in the line of duty, with McGinnis being one of them cited. Harryman has been included in memorials at the Newton County Sheriff's Department. Both men's names are on memorials at the Missouri Capitol and the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Also included on these memorials are Officer Jake Reed and Cpl. Ben Cooper. The two Joplin officers were shot and killed while responding to a disturbance call on March 8, 2022, nearly 90 years after McGinnis and Harryman died.

"The one thing that hasn't changed (since 1933) is the danger that's involved in the profession," Hounschell said. "That is something that each officer that goes out there every day has to deal with."

Both Hutcheson and Hounschell say it's important to remember what McGinnis and Harryman did while on the job.

"They're heroes," Hounschell said. "These guys are out here putting their lives on the line for the citizens of the town that they're working for. When they lose their lives, that town, that society, owes them a great debt. Just remembering them is a small sacrifice to make for the price they paid."