The "German Boys"
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The “German Boys”
Kleberg County was formed in 1913 and our courthouse was completed in January of 1915. There was great fan fair and excitement over the spectacular structure. Much was written about the modern jail facilities. Kingsville was very proud of their new courthouse. But the Kingsville Record of March 19th, 1915, tells the story of the first, great jail escape.
The newspaper called them the “German boys”. They were two young men of German descent, likable characters, and much of Kingsville had a very warm and forgiving feeling toward them. The “German boys”, Hans and Fritz, were horse thieves supposedly intent on leaving the country. Sheriff Scarborough caught them trying to steal two horses from the school yard and marched them off to jail.
By March of 1915, the two young men had already spent several months in jail awaiting trial. Prior to January the boys had spent time in other jail facilities in town. With the opening of the new Courthouse, Hans and Fritz found themselves confined in the women’s section of the new courthouse jail. The men’s part of the jail was reported to be full at the time.
Hans and Fritz set to work with only a soup spoon to make good their escape. They worked diligently to pry up the bars from the cement floor and worked their way out of their cell. They tied their blankets and bed sheets together to form a makeshift rope and climbed out a third floor window to freedom. The “German boys” apparently made a bee line to the railroad track and sneaked a ride on a freight train to get out of town.
This was the first successful jail break from the brand new, ultra modern, state of the art Kleberg County Jail. There had already been a major attempted jail break from the men’s section of the jail which was full to capacity. The Kingsville Record editorial writer made the comment that these “German boys”, who had a lot of sympathy from the community, either weren’t as innocent as many believed or Kleberg County had an “awfully faulty jail”.
The report stated the boys wanted to get out of the country, but they ended up heading north to Houston. Perhaps that was accidental or perhaps they were trying to throw off any law enforcement folks trying to locate them. They left a note for Sheriff Scarborough, written in German, stating that they were going to leave the United States and there was no point in trying to follow them. But their freedom didn’t last long.
Houston authorities captured the fugitives and returned them to Kingsville to stand trial. Hans and Fritz plead guilty to the charge of horse thieving, were sentenced to two years in prison, and the sentence was suspended. The “German boys” were finally free. They left Kingsville, but that isn’t the end of their story.
Come to Kingsville and visit the 1904 Kingsville Train Depot Museum. Ask what happened to the "German Boys".